The 10 HARDEST Boomer Shooters

Wizordum (2023)

On the surface, Wizordum looks like it could be the easiest boomer shooter on the market, what with its cheery visuals and whimsical music to match the high fantasy aesthetic. However, there is quite a bit of challenge hiding within. Wizordum places a heavy emphasis on uncovering secrets and and avoiding environmental hazards, making spatial awareness a key part in your survival as well as a bit of thinking outside of the box. Things do start getting more harrowing after a few levels as you acquire new spells and abilities, but the difficulty spike is par for the course in this FPS subgenre.

Star Wars: Dark Forces (1995)

What makes Dark Forces truly shocking in its challenge, first and foremost, is just how accurate the Stormtroopers are! Man, where were you guys in the movies, huh? Joking aside, the biggest hurdle youll face in Dark Forces is not the variety of Stormtroopers and Imperial officers, but the levels themselves. A lot of the maps youll encounter feel haphazardly thrown together, so a lot of your time might be spent wandering around and trying to figure out where you are. Hey, at least the gunplay and movement feel just as good as DOOM!

Heavy Bullets (2014)

One might look at Heavy Bullets and dismiss it as the antithesis of boomer shooters. In some cases, it is as youll only ever use a single weapon. But what makes this a difficult boomer shooter is how you move at considerable speed much like the famed Doomguy only to be forced to conserve your ammo. Should you miss a shot, youll have to retrieve your bullet before enemies can chase you down. And if youre not paying close attention to where enemies are at and where your misfired bullets landed, you can wind up with either a very light chamberor worse, one hit away from death.

Nightmare Reaper (2022)

Speaking of boomer shooters that try to limit your power, Nightmare Reaper is excellent in both its gunplay and how it maintains the pressure on the player. While youll come across a litany of unholy weapons to shred enemies with and carry you to the exit, you are only allowed to keep one weapon from your inventory to carry into the next level. This adds an element of strategy to Nightmare Reaper as youll have to consider each weapons utility, ammo count, DPS, and whatever else you deem important. Upgrades may help mitigate your losses later once acquired, but even so, youll have to enact some careful planning.

Sprawl (2023)

If youre looking for a boomer shooter that relies on quick aiming and a ton of wall-running, then Sprawl will definitely give you a run for your money. Enemies can overwhelm you so quickly that wall-running becomes a requirement in maintaining the high ground. Refine your skills enough, and you can wind up reaching insane heights, thus making you a harder target to hit. But for those of you who arent wired to comprehend ridiculous game speeds, you might find yourself struggling a bit. Trust us, once you get the hang of Sprawl, it is immensely satisfying to play.

Ion Fury (2019)

Those who are familiar with the classic Duke Nukem 3D might feel right at home with Ion Fury. Although, one key difference between the two games here is the almighty power behind alt-fire abilities. Many of Shellys weapons carry powerful alt-fires that can make mincemeat out of your targets. Of course, this level of power comes with a caveat: these alt-fires can eat up quite a bit of ammo if used too much. That said, you may want to only use them when you feel youre outnumbered and outgunned. As soon as you realize the best situations to use them in, Ion Fury becomes a ton of fun to play!

DOOM II: Hell On Earth (1994)

Many folks, perhaps including some of you out there, probably thought DOOM Eternal was going to make this list given how many folks deemed it to be this super hard entry in the franchise. No, the hardest game in the DOOM franchise goes to DOOM II. What many dont remember about this game is that it was filled with so many trappings that players often found themselves soft-locked out of progressing any further in certain levels. Couple that with DOOM IIs handful of new enemies like the Pain Elemental and labyrinth-esque level design, and suddenly, DOOM Eternal looks like mere childs play.

Selaco (2024)

In most boomer shooters, you may not have to worry about being super precise with your shots. Obviously, you still have to aim, but when you play Selaco, youll notice theres a higher level of precision needed. Think if Call of Duty tried its own boomer shooter spin-off. Youll have to utilize cover and ADS a lot more often than you may be used to, depending on your level of expertise in FPS games in general. Not only that, but even Selacos most basic grunts can deplete your health in a moments notice. Yeah, youre going to have to be a lot more tactical in your approach here.

ULTRAKILL (2020)

Of the boomer shooters to come out in recent years, ULTRAKILL is absolutely the hardest one that you can possibly play. In order to make it out of every level alive, youre going to have to think at such a breakneck speed that itll be almost borderline impossible to comprehend what youre doing, why youre doing it, and how youre even doing it. Jump, crouch, slide, wall-jump, shoot like a mad man - do anything you can without hesitation or else youll be knocking on Deaths door. That is the moment-to-moment gameplay of ULTRAKILL, and that level of difficulty is why so many people still play it to this day. And yet, one ancient boomer shooter still reigns supreme as the hardest of the subgenre.

Blood (1997)

Take everything you know about boomer shooters and what makes some of them hard, and you have Blood, the game that tops DOOM II and every game that came after it in terms of difficulty. Whether youre playing the original or the Fresh Supply remaster from Nightdive, you will find that Blood pulls every single trick in the book. Enemies hidden around corners, rooms containing hordes of hordes of enemies, trap doors, tanky enemies, environmental hazards, frenetic combat, so much crap being thrown at you that youll have to make save-scumming your best friend. This should go without saying, but when it comes to Blood, there will definitely be blood, most of it coming from you.

Whats the hardest boomer shooter youve played? Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments below, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!