Best Shoot 'Em Up games on Steam

Unlike generic lists, our shoot 'em up game recommendations are based on a rigorous analysis of Steam user reviews. We believe that player feedback is the most reliable indicator of a game's true quality and enjoyment. Our algorithm evaluates user reviews to identify shoot 'em up games that consistently deliver exceptional experiences. This means you can be confident that our lists feature only the best shoot 'em up games on Steam, validated by the community itself.

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Super Killer Hornet: Resurrection

'Things will explode, things will die, you will dodge, you will do maths...Yes maths!' Super Killer Hornet Resurrection is an intense vertical shooter with a brain train twist. Through the chaos and explosion try to answer the falling math problems to increase your multiplier and power up your ship.

Price -67% 1.00€
Rating 6.1
Release 05 Feb 2014

Aqua Kitty - Milk Mine Defender

Aqua Kitty is a fast paced retro styled submarine arcade shooter with optional 2 player local Co-op.Blast through hordes of mechanical sea monsters in your kitty sub and defend the deep sea milk mining kittens!THE MILK MUST FLOW!

Price 6.89€
Rating 8.1
Release 03 Feb 2014

Ballpoint Universe - Infinite

Ballpoint Universe Infinite is a shoot-em-up adventure game featuring artwork entirely drawn in ballpoint pen. Explore immaculate worlds, discover the secrets of the doodles, and customize your Ink-Ship for battle! Press"Ballpoint Universe Infinite is too exuberant to ignore.

Price 2.99€
Rating 7.4
Release 17 Dec 2013

Savant - Ascent

A malicious orb has cast Savant out of his tower and transformed his surroundings into dangerous enemies!Dodge and shoot your way back up the tower, and blast down waves of enemies as you make your way towards the top! As you progress, you unlock CDs that not only give you new tracks to play to, but also grant you powerful new abilities!

Price 1.99€
Rating 8.8
Release 04 Dec 2013

Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages

Ring Runner combines the fast-paced action of space combat with the rich story and skill variety of an RPG.Trek across the universe in a 30 hour long story-driven campaign based on a companion Sci Fi novel, or challenge 6 scenarios alone, cooperatively, or competitively through local or online multiplayer.

Price -80% 0.99€
Rating 7.9
Release 19 Nov 2013

PixelJunk™ Shooter

In PixelJunk™ Shooter, you must pilot your spacecraft through a range of cavernous environments in a bid to save the scientists trapped underground. Making your way through the game will rely on your keen sense of observation and the ability to manipulate your surroundings.

Price 8.99€
Rating 8.4
Release 11 Nov 2013

Syder Arcade

Killing zombies never gets old, but sometimes you just need a break. Get back to some serious old-school gaming with Syder Arcade! Syder Arcade is a love letter to Amiga games of the ‘90s, no coins, no upgrade grinding, just your tenacity and a motherload of alien invaders.

Price 9.99€
Rating 7.9
Release 24 Oct 2013

Super Amazing Wagon Adventure

Super Amazing Wagon Adventure is a fast-paced 2d shooting game with a random story. You control a group of three migrants traveling west along a wagon trail. The game consists of short scenes that are sequenced together in a semi-random way to tell a crazy adventure story.

Price 2.99€
Rating 9.1
Release 17 Oct 2013

Soundodger+

Dodge the music and dance through a mesmerizing ballet of choreographed bullets, each synced to music from over a dozen international artists. Push your creativity and skills with the fully-featured Level Editor and never run out of things to dodge.

Price 7.99€
Rating 8.4
Release 11 Oct 2013

The Chaos Engine

Prepare for the dark world of The Chaos Engine, a steampunk Victorian age in which one or two players must fight the hostile creations of the Chaos Engine across four dynamic landscapes and take part in the ultimate battle.Choose from six hard-nailed mercenaries each with their own unique weapons and skills.

Price 9.75€
Rating 6.5
Release 29 Aug 2013

Bleed

Wryn is a girl with a big arsenal and big dreams -- she wants to be the ultimate videogame hero! Help her take down the Greatest Heroes of All Time in an action-packed bid to claim the title for herself and show the world what a true hero looks like!

Price -50% 2.49€
Rating 8.8
Release 03 Jul 2013

Thunder Wolves

When this “wolf pack” strikes, you hear the thunder roll. The Thunder Wolves attack from the air. They are mercenaries, and the best helicopter pilots in the world. Every one of them is ready for action at all times—and ready to fight evil, wherever it lurks.

Price -86% 1.36€
Rating 8.1
Release 15 May 2013

Retro/Grade

Play a classic Shoot 'Em Up... in reverse!

Price 9.99€
Rating 7.8
Release 20 Mar 2013

Ultratron

Experience the addictive gameplay of old-school arcade favourites, updated and improved for the 21st century! Unique retro-futuristic sound and graphics, player responsive difficulty, and a subtle system of tactics combined with classic gameplay make Ultratron a fun and hypnotic arcade blast.

Price 10.79€
Rating 8.3
Release 18 Mar 2013

ETHER VAPOR Remaster

Ether Vapor Remaster is a cinematic 3D arcade shooter and visual treat from developer Edelweiss.

Price -60% 3.19€
Rating 7.2
Release 27 Sep 2012

Intrusion 2

"This is some of the most fun I've had with a game so far this year, and it will go down as one of the best side-scrolling shooters of all time." - 9/10, Destructoid

Price 7.99€
Rating 8.5
Release 11 Sep 2012

Symphony

A mysterious entity is absorbing and corrupting your music before your very eyes. You must battle through your own song collection and fight to reclaim your music!

Price -49% 2.53€
Rating 8.0
Release 06 Aug 2012

Waveform

Navigate the beauty and hazards of the solar system while riding a wave of light through 100+ levels in this innovative action-puzzle game!

Price 0.99€
Rating 8.0
Release 20 Mar 2012

Really Big Sky

A super fast, twin analogue shooter for the modern age!

Price 4.99€
Rating 7.3
Release 24 Feb 2012

Titan Attacks!

As the last surviving tank commander on Earth, single-handedly turn back the evil invading alien army, drive back the Titans across the Solar System, and defeat them on their homeworld... Titan Attacks has the same easy-to-learn and addictive gameplay of the classic arcade shoot 'em up, but is packed full of extras - new features, new...

Price 10.79€
Rating 8.6
Release 03 Feb 2012

SATAZIUS

The year is 2051. Location: SATAZIUS, a long-abandoned planet. The cruiser Agano was on patrol when it was attacked and stricken by a confederacy of space pirates that had established a base on SATAZIUS. The pirates attacked the Agano intending to steal the assault ship ‘Trafalgar’ that was stowed aboard the Agano, but the Trafalgar made...

Price 5.89€
Rating 7.8
Release 16 Dec 2011

Waves

Waves is an Arcade Twin-Stick Shooter that's all about High Scores. Build your combo and drop bombs in pursuit of Leaderboard dominance over seven game-modes!

Price Free to play
Rating 9.0
Release 16 Nov 2011

Renegade Ops

Blast your way through enemy lines to defeat Inferno, a madman intent on global domination. Destruction just got awesome.

Price -45% 7.12€
Rating 8.2
Release 26 Oct 2011

Jamestown

Jamestown: Legend Of The Lost Colony is a neo-classical top-down shooter for up to 4 players, set on 17th-century British Colonial Mars. It features all the intensity, depth, and lovingly handcrafted pixels of a classic arcade shooter, with a modern twist: deeply-integrated cooperative gameplay.

Price 8.19€
Rating 9.0
Release 08 Jun 2011

DETOUR

A true test your wits and spatial reasoning. Detour combines highway-building fun with the excitement of a competitive real-time strategy game. Construct a path for your convoy to reach its destination in this incredibly addictive title. With online multiplayer!

Price 0.99€
Rating 6.0
Release 16 May 2011

BEEP

A combination of platforming with a gravity gun, BEEP is an amazing physics-platformer. Despite its friendly art style, this is a hardcore platformer in the truest sense.

Price Free to play
Rating 8.2
Release 06 May 2011

Alien Breed: Impact

Experience the explosive science fiction arcade-shooter that resurrects a much revered franchise in an epic single player and co-op multiplayer campaign.

Price -80% 1.79€
Rating 7.2
Release 03 Jun 2010

Beat Hazard

Experience your music collection like never before with this intense music driven arcade shooter. Each of your songs will have its own unique ebb and flow based on the music.

Price -90% 0.97€
Rating 9.2
Release 15 Apr 2010

Altitude

Now Available on PC, Mac and Linux!

Price Free to play
Rating 8.8
Release 04 Dec 2009

Nation Red

Nation Red is an ultra fast infinite play arena-based shooter providing an exceptional close-quarter battlefield experience. Fight thousands of zombie mutants and their bosses in frantic bloody gameplay while earning close to 100 perks. Fight in Barricade, Survival or Free Play mode.

Price 2.79€
Rating 8.5
Release 03 Sep 2009

Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded

This is the unique alloy of arcade action and RPG elements which combines well-established world of classical games and unmatched dynamics of the first part.

Price 4.99€
Rating 8.8
Release 27 May 2009

Zombie Shooter

The human race is in danger again. This time scientists could not cope the imminent threat and became monsters themselves. Crowds of zombie people filled the secret research base. The dreadful contagion is about to spread earth wide. Use the last chance to save the humanity from total annihilation!

Price 4.99€
Rating 7.9
Release 27 May 2009

Larva Mortus

Larva Mortus is a fast-paced hack and slash top-down shooter. As an agent specializing in exorcism, you are tasked to hunt monsters of the supernatural in a dark, ominous, and randomly generated atmosphere full of undead, terrifying and demonic nightmares.

Price 4.99€
Rating 7.2
Release 19 Mar 2009

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved is a old school style shooter, but remixed for the 21st century with next generation graphics and deep, modern gameplay. Playing is simple: you are a geometric "ship" trapped in a grid world, facing off against waves of deadly wanderers, snakes, and repulsars.

Price 3.99€
Rating 8.6
Release 18 Jun 2007

Heavy Weapon Deluxe

It's shoot-'em-up arcade action at its best! Use an incredible assortment of heavy artillery to blast away enemy tanks and planes, and fight your way to victory. What are you waiting for? Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get into the action!

Price 4.99€
Rating 8.0
Release 30 Aug 2006

Shadowgrounds

Shadowgrounds breathes fresh air into the action genre with explosive combat sequences, an innovative weapon upgrade system, and an intriguing storyline. The adrenaline-pumping, top-down gameplay and audiovisual fireworks set the scene for this new action experience which also includes single computer (split keyboard or joystick) co-op...

Price -80% 1.00€
Rating 7.8
Release 08 May 2006

Darwinia

Darwinia blends real-time strategy, action, and puzzles with a unique gesture-based control system. Save the Darwinians, battle viruses, and restore order in a retro-inspired digital world. Winner of multiple prestigious  awards, including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at IGF 2006.

Price 9.75€
Rating 7.6
Release 14 Jul 2005