You Decide the Greatest FPS Mode Ever: Round 1 Voting Opens

Ever argued with your squad about whether Team Deathmatch or Battle Royale is the true king of shooters? Now's your chance to settle it. PC Gamer's FOV 90 column, written by staff writer Morgan Park, has kicked off a single-elimination tournament to decide the greatest FPS mode of all time—and you get to vote.

The bracket features 16 of the most established and enduringly popular FPS formats from past and present. It's not an exhaustive list, but a curated battle of the heavyweights. Park notes that mode variants like Kill Confirmed are excluded, and the bracket uses generic names while acknowledging well-known aliases.

Round 1 matchups are live now. You can choose between Team Deathmatch and FFA/Deathmatch (aka Team Slayer or Slayer in Halo). Then there's Battle Royale versus Extraction, two modes so massive they've spawned their own subgenres. Conquest takes on Domination—large-scale point capture with vehicles (think Battlefield) versus small-scale point capture with random respawns (Unreal Tournament, Call of Duty).

Bomb Defusal faces Hostage in a single-life elimination showdown. Bomb is historically more competitive, but many players have a soft spot for escorting NPCs. Gun Game goes up against Payload: race to kill with every gun, or push a cart with a coordinated team? Infection battles Prop Hunt in an asymmetrical party mode clash.

VIP squares off against Capture The Flag—two legendary objective modes where one player becomes the most important, yet vulnerable, team member. Finally, Attack & Defend meets King of the Hill. Park expects that one to get spicy: take turns attacking and defending on a singular front, or fight over one moving control point?

Voting for Round 1 closes on Saturday, October 3 at 11:59 PM PDT. The more votes, the more interesting the results, so tell your friends. Next week, Park will share the results and kick off Round 2.

So, which mode gets your vote? Will you be rallying your friends to support your favorite? Head over to PC Gamer and cast your ballot before time runs out.