16 Best Top-Down Shooter Games To Play On Steam

Westerado: Double Barreled

• Release Year: 2015
• Platforms: PC, Xbox One
• Steam Page

Westerado: Double Barreled is one of the most underrated indie games of all time. It’s an open-world western top-down shooter with a classic revenge story and parts that are generated by a computer. Not many people have heard of this game, which is a shame because it has a lot of new ideas and is a great open-world game that can be played over and over again.

The main story is pretty intense, and the killer who burned down the player’s land and killed their family changes each time they play. In theory, players can kill anyone they want in the game, which is amazing in its own way.

Grand Theft Auto 2

• Release Year: 1999
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Game Boy
• Steam Page

Before the series switched to an over-the-shoulder view and 3D, Grand Theft Auto games were more like arcade games. The games were played from the top down, and players had to complete a bunch of tasks and get the highest score they could while causing chaos and damage in these worlds.

Grand Theft Auto 2 is a lot of fun to play, and getting to know the game’s version of London is also a lot of fun. The gameplay is a little old, but it gets the job done, and players will love learning about the history of what is now one of the most famous open-world franchises of all time! Fans can’t wait for the sixth game to come out, but they can play this one in the meantime to satisfy their hunger.

Neon Chrome

• Release Year: 2015
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Vita, Switch, Xbox One, Mobile
• Steam Page

Neon Chrome is a great game for people who want to try something where the guns feel very powerful and the upgrades make a real difference in how well they work. This roguelike game is very stylish, with a bright cyberpunk look that is fun to look at in every way. This game’s art style is more than enough to make most people want to try it out for themselves.

The amount of damage players can do to their enemies is truly amazing, and it does a great job of showing how brutal the fighting in this game really is. Players can’t be unhappy while playing this game, especially now that they have more weapons to use. If players needed another reason to check out this shooter, the fact that Neon Chrome also lets players play together will make them very happy!

Nuclear Throne

• Release Year: 2015
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Vita, Switch, Xbox One
• Steam Page

Nuclear Throne is a game set after the end of the world. It takes place after a nuclear winter. It’s not a typical story because it doesn’t have people save the world from its own mistakes. Instead, the freaks in this game are the ones who will save the world.

This gives mutants even more freedom, since they can just take in radiation and change into something stronger. And as they go, they get to try out a lot of different guns in this fast-paced, high-octane shooter. If that doesn’t sound good enough, the music that plays during the gunfights will.

Brotato

• Release Year: 2023
• Platforms: PC, Mobile, Nintendo Switch
• Steam Page

Brotato is one of the best games on Steam, as shown by the fact that it has one of the top ratings. It was in early access for a year before it was finally made available to everyone.

The basic idea is easy to understand: players are in charge of Brotato, a good member of Potato World. But his spaceship crashed on a world inhabited by aliens who don’t like French fries. So, the only way for Brotato to stay alive is to shoot waves and waves of aliens.

Red Hot Vengeance

• Release Year: 2019
• Platforms: PC
• Steam Page

Have you ever wanted to see what would happen if Superhot and Hotline Miami got together? This is Red Hot Vengeance. It looks like a stickman game, and the only color other than black and white is red, which is probably because of all the enemies’ blood.

In this game, players take on the role of a disloyal hitman and use violence against a violent gang. Because the graphics are simple, it’s one of the best top-down shooters you’ll ever play. Even after the story is over, you can still have fun with the game because it has a level creator, which is free.

Snake Force

• Release Year: 2021
• Platforms: PC
• Steam Page

Snake Force is different from other games in a similar way. It’s a mix of a top-down shooter, a first-person shooter (FPS), and the old Nokia phone game Snake (ask any young grandpa, they’ll know it). In FPS view, players will start as a lone gunner.

Once they’ve found and saved their soldier brothers, they can bring out the gun-toting snake from above. This is such a unique idea that it needs to be seen and experienced in person, because words can’t do it credit. Any way you look at it, it’s a fun game with a cute look and great gameplay.

Akane

• Release Year: 2018
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC
• Steam Page

It’s not hard to figure out where the idea for Akane came from. It’s an action game set in a Cyberpunk world that got a lot of ideas from classics like Ghost in the Shell and Akira. Even if you’re not looking for a cyberpunk game, the music and scenery are enough to make you want to play.

In a story similar to Kill Bill, players take control of the game’s main character and fight their way out of Mega-Tokyo against cyber-Yakuza with the coolest weapons ever made, like the katana. This place is full of blood, death, and bright lights.

Synthetik: Legion Rising

• Release Year: 2018
• Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
• Steam Page

Don’t let the 16-bit style trick you. Synthetik is a shooter game where the shooting is so loud and big that you can almost feel it. The sounds, animations, and general gameplay all work together to create one of the most powerful shooter highs that even FPS games can’t reach. Also, the game is roguelike, so be ready for that.

Like most top-down shooters, there isn’t much of a story here. Players are just thrown into dangerous sci-fi military bases where they have to shoot their way to their goal, which is to free the world from the Machine Legion and their gods. This is a pretty good reason to start blowing things up and show off the game’s main power.

Helldivers Dive Harder Edition

• Release Year: 2015
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PC
• Steam Page

Were there not enough Synthetik games for Sony’s consoles? Don’t worry, because Helldivers is also available for PlayStation devices, and it’s just as exciting. In this twin-stick shooter, the goal is to protect Earth and defeat humanity’s enemies in a fight across the galaxy.

So, players take on the role of Hell Divers, an elite team that is generally sent into dangerous areas to search for and save people. But on one of the dives, they found something bad that could be a threat to the future of Earth. That’s nothing that a few tons of lead and some bombs can’t handle.

20 Minutes Till Dawn

• Release Year: 2022 (early access)
• Platforms: PC, Mobile
• Steam Page

But enough with top-down shooters set in the future. What about a story with a Lovecraftian theme and anime girls as the main characters? Because 20 Minutes Till Dawn is all about that. The idea is simple: Lovecraftian monsters keep going bump in the night, and it’s up to some 16-bit anime girls with different jobs, called Heroes, to shoot them down.

Each hero has a unique set of skills, weapons, or powers that make them strong. There are a lot of different kinds of builds, and the action will satisfy players who are used to bullet-hell tasks from games like Enter the Gungeon.

Foxhole

• Release Year: 2017 (early access)
• Platforms: PC
• Steam Page

Foxhole is a unique way to play a wargame for people who want to see some action from World War II. They get to watch their man die from above, instead of seeing him die on the ground like a normal foot soldier. Foxhole is even better because it is a massively shared game with a world that stays the same.

A player takes control of each soldier and tells him or her what to do during the fight, like storming the bunkers or driving the tanks. The game isn’t finished yet because it’s in early access, but anyone who likes war games should check it out. It’s like a foot army version of the game Company of Heroes.

Ruiner

• Release Year: 2017
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
• Steam Page

Before cyberpunk became too common in video games as a setting and theme, games like Ruiner took some unique risks. Still, that type of video game was ahead of its time back then, and it still hasn’t found its right audience. That’s why it was mostly a “sleeper hit.”

Still, Ruiner is beautiful enough on its own to be worth it. This cool twin-stick shooter adventure game is based on the most philosophical and thought-provoking ideas of the cyberpunk setting. It also helps that the action moves quickly, looks good, and never stops. If it had come out now, it would have been more well-known.

Voidigo

• Release Year: 2021 (early access)
• Platforms: PC
• Steam Page

All of these twin-stick, top-down shooters have dark and serious themes, so here’s something to break up the monotony. Voidigo is busy, chaotic, and full of color, but boss fights and fast-paced action are its main focus. Also, the game is a rogue-lite (semi-roguelike), so you can expect a different level of difficulty than in simpler games.

But that just means that the way the game looks will keep players interested or busy enough to keep trying. Again, the story is mostly generic and is just a way for players to try out different builds and fight monsters that look like piatas. To be fair, the game doesn’t really need a setting, especially once players see it in action.

Star Valor

• Release Year: 2022
• Platforms: PC
• Steam Page

There’s a top-down gun with a space theme, of course. After all, it’s one of the best places to shoot from above. Star Valor fits into this group. This game is easily one of the best space RPGs of the last 10 years. It didn’t get as much attention as games with bigger budgets, but it’s still one of the best.

Its high Steam review scores show that. Star Valor is like games like Funny Shooter 2, where players can choose who they want to be in the vastness of space. They can choose to be pirates, bounty hunters, traders, miners, or business tycoons. All of these things are possible when you shoot from above.

Brigador: Up-Armored Edition

• Release Year: 2016
• Platforms: PC
• Steam Page

Like Ruiner, Brigador came out into the gaming world long before cyberpunk became so famous that it was used in most games. The findings for popularity were the same. Brigador didn’t get much attention, but just based on its music and graphics, this game deserves more praise.

Players take control of a mech and send it on a rampage through cities to bring down the oppressive cyberpunk dictatorship. It doesn’t get much easier than that, but driving through the streets of a cyber dystopia in a car while being shot at and hit by synthwave music was a bit ahead of its time.