Fortnite Battle Royale
The speedy advancement of gaming technology in recent times, especially in the PC sphere, has led to the latest AAA-titles becoming rapidly more demanding on our hardware.
It seems each year there’s a leap in system requirements that leaves the growing group of low-end gamers behind and wanting.
Well, fret not, we’ve heard your call and have decided to assemble a list of great online multiplayer shooters that will feel right at home on your low-spec PC. Now, let’s get started…
If you’re looking for a great shooter game with a bustling player base and low system requirements, few titles will suit your needs better than Fortnite’s Battle Royale.
Currently, this free-to-play third-person shooter boasts a mind-boggling 3.4 million concurrent players, a number it wouldn’t have been able to reach without its purposefully reasonably low system specifications.
It also features an admirable lack of pay-to-win systems as all weapons can only be collected once you’ve entered a match.
If you’re keen on spending some cash though, there’s a load of amusingly eccentric cosmetic items to purchase so that you can win, or at least die, in style. Now, let’s see some of that dance moves!
Minimum System Requirements:
Intel HD 4000
Core i3 2.4 Ghz
4 GB RAM
Windows 7/8/10 64-bit + Mac OSX Sierra
Recommended System Requirements:
Nvidia GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 equivalent DX11 GPU
2 GB VRAM
Core i5 2.8 Ghz
8 GB RAM
Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
This post was originally written by Wiehahn Diederichs.
Team Fortress 2
More than a decade later, this classic and wonderfully quirky team-based shooter is still going strong as one of the most popular online multiplayer shooters around.
Team Fortress 2 features smooth and fast-paced gameplay, detailed player statistics, regular updates, a massive range of official and community-made maps and, since June 2011, is a free-to-play title.
With more personality than a Golden Retriever on crack, Team Fortress 2 is also one of very few strictly-multiplayer titles that give attention to developing interesting playable characters and inserting some welcome humor in a game that is pretty much just about digitally murdering people for hours on end.
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows® 7 (32/64-bit)/Vista/XP
Processor: 1.7 GHz Processor or better
Memory: 512 MB RAM
DirectX: Version 8.1
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 15 GB available space
Recommended System Requirements:
OS: Windows® 7 (32/64-bit)
Processor: Pentium 4 processor (3.0GHz, or better)
Memory: 1 GB RAM
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 15 GB available space end.
Heroes and Generals
If you’re looking for an active and great WWII-based multiplayer shooter but your dreadfully low system specs prevent you from enjoying the juggernauts such as Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: WWII, then Heroes and Generals is undoubtedly one of your best choices.
Although the game does slightly suffer from the pay-to-win scourge and it takes a bit of a grind to progress your character, as a free-to-play game with low system requirements, it’s not a bad way to spend your time.
Also, how many other games allow you to charge into battle while riding a bicycle?
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows 7, 8 or 10
Processor: 2GHz CPU w. SSE3 instruction set- dual-core
Memory: 3 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI HD 4810/NVIDIA 9600 GT or above (with >512mb RAM)
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 2 GB available space
Recommended System Requirements:
OS: Windows 7, 8 or 10
Processor: Intel i5 processor or higher / AMD Phenom II X6 or higher
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 series or higher / AMD HD 6870 or higher
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 3 GB available space
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CS:GO is one of the world’s most competitive and addictive online first-person shooters.
As another multiplayer gem to come from Valve (originally released as a fan-made mod for Half-Life 2), the game boasts solid gameplay mechanics and runs amazingly well on low-end systems.
One down-side of CS:GO though is its rather toxic community and its prevalence of hackers and cheaters.
But, with that being said, the game does sport an average of over 280,000 players on Steam alone, so you won’t have any problem finding a new server if you happen to find yourself in one infested with dirty players.
Otherwise, as the sacred and unspoken law of CS:GO proclaims, you simply just need to “git gud”.
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows® 7/Vista/XP
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8750 processor or better
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: Video card must be 256 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for Pixel Shader 3.0
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Storage: 15 GB available space
Paladins: Champions of the Realm
Paladins is a multiplayer “hero-shooter” much in the same vein as Overwatch.
In contrast to other online shooters, which usually provide you with generic playable characters and abilities, Paladins offers a selection of distinct characters to choose from, each with their own unique respective talents.
While some might mockingly refer to it as the “poor man’s Overwatch” (some of the similarities are certainly uncanny), Paladins does offer some unique features that make it firmly stand its ground against its monolithic counterpart such as greater character customizability (cosmetics can be mixed and matched together) and fun game-wide weekly challenges.
Another important thing to note is that Paladins is free-to-play with minor pay-to-win system incorporated.
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista or Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or Althon X2 2.7 GHz
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI or Nvidia graphics card with 512MB video ram or better and Shader Model 3.0+ support. (ATI Radeon 3870 or higher, Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT or higher)
Storage: 10 GB available space
Recommended System Requirements:
OS: 64-bit: Vista, Win 7, Win 8, Win 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-750, 2.67 GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 965, 3.4 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 / AMD Radeon HD 6950 or better with 768 MB+ of VRAM (DirectX 11 Compatible)
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 10 GB available space
Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the more distinct shooters on this list, pitting humans and a horde of terrifying Undead creatures (aka “The Infected”) against each other in an all-out battle for survival.
Narratively, Left 4 Dead 2 is set in a post-pandemic world where most of humanity has been turned into various zombie-like monsters by “the Green Flu”.
While the game is mostly known for its co-op campaign, which can also be played alone with AI-controlled teammates, it also features other popular game modes such as Survival mode (basically survive increasingly large waves of zombies), Versus mode (pits player-controlled survivors and creatures against each other), and Scavenge Mode, which requires players to fulfil an objective while the hungry zombies try to stop them.
Also, like most Valve games, the game boasts a thriving mod community that helps keep the game fresh and interesting.
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows® 7 32/64-bit / Vista 32/64 / XP
Processor: Pentium 4 3.0GHz
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: Video card with 128 MB, Shader model 2.0. ATI X800, NVidia 6600 or better
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Storage: 13 GB available space
Recommended System Requirements:
OS: Windows® 7 32/64-bit / Vista 32/64 / XP
Processor: Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: Video Card Shader model 3.0. NVidia 7600, ATI X1600 or better
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Storage: 13 GB available space
Battlefield 3
The Battlefield franchise is among the crème de la crème of prolific shooters, with Battlefield 3 taking that sweet spot between reasonable system requirements and graphical fidelity.
Due to this balance, the game still retains an active player base sporting over 6,000 concurrent players at the time of writing, according to bf3stats.com.
It is admittedly one of the more demanding titles found on this list but, thanks to great performance optimization, it runs surprisingly well on low-end rigs, especially if one dabbles with the graphic options a bit.
Battlefield 3 is considered as one of the best titles in the series and, including the subsequent years’ post-release content, it also has a lot to offer to newcomers.
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Vista Service Pack 2 32-bit
Processor: 2GHZ Dual Core (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ or Athlon x2 2.7GHZ)
Memory: 2GB RAM
Hard drive: 20GB
Graphics card AMD: DirextX 10.1 compatible with 512MB RAM (ATI Radion 3000, 4000, 5000 or 6000 series, with ATI Radion 3870 or higher performance)
Graphics card Nvidia: DirectX 10.0 compatible with 512MB RAM (Nvidia GeForce 8, 9, 200, 300, 400 or 500 series with Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT or higher performance)
Recommended System Requirements:
OS: Windows 7 64-big
Processor: Quad Core CPU
Memory: 4GB RAM
Hard drive: 20GB
Graphics card: DirectX 11 compatible with 1024MB RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 or ATI Radeon 6950)
CrossFire
CrossFire might be considered as one of the lesser-known multiplayer shooters, as one of Asia’s most popular shooters, this free-to-play game currently boasts a staggering 8 million concurrent players, with more joining every day as it increasingly gains worldwide recognition.
It’s set in a world where two warring factions, namely ‘The Black List’ and ‘Global Risk’, fight each other in a planetary-wide conflict.
It features a massive variety of game modes, a staggering 30 to be exact, ranging from the familiar Team Deathmatch and Battle Royale to the bizarre Boss Battle Mode, which let players demolish each other as weaponized monsters.
As a free-to-play game though, CrossFire does include some annoying pay-to-win elements such as upgraded weapons that can only be bought with monetary currency.
Minimum System Requirements:
CPU: Pentium 4 – 1.5GHz
CPU SPEED: 1.5 GHz
RAM: 512 MB
OS: Windows XP, Windows Vista And Windows 7
VIDEO CARD: GeForce 5600 Or Equivalent Class
FREE DISK SPACE: 1.2 GB
Recommended System Requirements:
CPU: Pentium 4 – 2 GHz
CPU SPEED: 2 GHz
RAM: 1 GB
OS: Windows XP, Windows Vista And Windows 7
VIDEO CARD: GeForce 6600 Or Equivalent Class
FREE DISK SPACE: 1.2 GB
Warface
Warface is a solid free-to-play FPS multiplayer with a very Call of Duty-ish edge, providing you with the opportunity to either play strategically or go in guns blazing, the latter being the norm among its fan base (360 heashot!).
It might not really bring anything new to the table but if you don’t have extra cash to spend on its mainstream cousins (COD, Battlefield) or you’re running a low-spec PC, it certainly does scratch that action-packed shooter edge.
While the game also does have a healthy dose of microtransaction systems, you can easily just jump in without putting down any money and still have a decent time.
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
Processor: Intel/AMD Dual-Core 2.0 GHz
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 256MB / AMD ATI Radeon X1950 256MB
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 10 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers
Recommended System Requirements:
OS: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core2Duo E6-series / Athlon64 X2 6400+
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT 512MB / AMD Radeon HD 4830 512MB
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 10 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers
Insurgency
Insurgency is a tactically-focused FPS multiplayer, akin to Squad and Rising Storm, brought to us by the creators behind Day of Infamy. Teamwork is essential to excel in this game and anyone looking to go all-out cowboy won’t get very far.
It puts emphasis on slow-paced and thoughtful combat, with respawns taking up to a minute (and that is only if your team even has a spawn point under control).
In terms of hardware requirements, Insurgency is by far the most demanding on this list but it is a remarkably fun game if you can run it (I’m playing it right now and having a blast).
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows® 7
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8750 processor or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Video card must be 512 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for Pixel Shader 3.0
Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space
DirectX: 9.0c
Recommended System Requirements:
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Video card 2048 MB or more
Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space on a SSD
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