Third Person Shooters with Actual Movement

In which the action is actually exciting. The actual quality of the games may vary.

To define "good movement" the bare minimum is that it needs to be more than just a simple dodge button. Lara Croft and Ratchet's side jumps or Max Payne's dives qualify as more than just a dodge because you're allowed to shoot while moving, something that simple opens up a lot more possibilities in combat. This is why I included Uncharted 4 and its DLC but not the previous games, the grappling hook you can swing on while shooting makes for a very different experience. Even the ability to shoot while jumping alone could be enough, if there's enough airtime or you have a gliding ability like in inFamous or Destroy All Humans. Many of the games in this list also generally avoid using cover systems, but it's okay if a game has them as long as it doesn't rely entirely on them.

Why not first person shooters? I find that those that have good movement are pretty well documented and have been getting more and more popular with the return of boomer shooters, even beyond that everyone knows their TF2s (Team Fortress 2) and their TF2s (Titanfall 2). The third person perspective should, in theory, allow for even more freedom of movement since you can actually see your character, but this is rarely even attempted.

I realize most mecha TPS games could fit in here, but I'm not that familiar with that subgenre, so suggestions in general are very much appreciated, I'd like to make this list as complete as possible.

Pretty much the whole series from this point on
Whole series until the 2013 reboot
Complete series
Whole series, I guess

4 Comments


1 year ago

Great list! It's an interesting distinction; I keep coming up with games that have interesting traversal mechanics but they don't really impact combat. I think Vanquish and the Just Cause games are the perfect poster children for this list.

Dark Void is built almost entirely around its jetpack mechanic IIRC. I feel like the Star Wars Battlefront games probably also deserve to be considered but it's been so long I don't remember the specifics.

11 months ago

@cowboyjosh Hey, sorry it took me so long to reply to this. I've considered Dark Void when I first made this but ultimately didn't add it because the core gameplay is really limited on what the jetpack can do and it's stiff. For the most part, the game is just a typical cover shooter where you autofly to the next cover. The sections where you can actually fly freely are essentially the same as controlling a ship or plane.
All the Battlefronts are actually good suggestions though, and I'm surprised I forgot about them.

2 months ago

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2 months ago

How about the Sin & Punishment duology?

Also: Shadow the Hedgeog (the PS2 and Cube game) belongs in this list. Nobody can change my mind. :v


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