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Matinee Fisticuffs and Shootouts

Sometimes you just want to play the hero. These games are violent and include shooting but, as with B-movies and 1980s TV series, it’s as much about the quips, characters and fantasy settings as it is about killing. The drama may be peppered with cinematic gunfire but, like those TV series, the real draw is spending time with the heroes every week.

This list includes 96 games from the last 25 years, with 1,095 likes. They come from a range of different genres and play-styles and are all good games if you want to take on baddies with fists and guns.

List Details

PEGI Ratings: PEGI 3 to PEGI 18
ESRB Ratings: ESRB EVERYONE to ESRB MATURE 17+
IGEA Ratings: ESRB MATURE 17+
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative, Open World, Physically Active, Platform, Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Racing, Rhythm, Role-Playing, Shooting, Simulation, Strategy and Turn-Based
Total Likes: 1,095

Related Lists

We have other age related lists of games:

Valorant

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 14+ year-olds

Release Date: 02/06/2020

Platforms: PC, PS4 and Xbox One

Genres: Action and Shooting

Accessibility: 4 features

Developer: Riot Games (@RiotGames)

Players: You can play this with 10 players online

Valorant is a team-based online shooting game, where two teams of five compete under the role of agents with unique abilities. It's designed to be competitive and requires considerable skill and practice to win matches. Between rounds players spend...

Halo

Halo (Series)

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 10-16 year-olds

Release Date: 15/11/2001, updated in 2020

Platforms: Android, Mac, PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS

Genres: Action, Fighting, Narrative and Shooting

Accessibility: 19 features

Developer: Halo (@Halo)

Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room and up to 16 players online

Halo is the longstanding sci-fi shooting video game series that started when Halo: Combat Evolved launched alongside the Xbox in 2001. The franchise has featured on every Xbox platform since then, with Halo 5: Guardians serving as the latest entry in...

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 13-18 year-olds

Release Date: 13/10/2009, updated in 2015

Platforms: PS3 and PS4

Genres: Action, Adventure and Shooting

Accessibility: 20 features

Developer: Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog)

Players: This is a single player game

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is an action-adventure game that puts you in the role of treasure hunter Nathan Drake. You head to Nepal looking for the lost city of Shambala, unfortunately, you're not the only one looking for it. On your journey, you'll...

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 13-18 year-olds

Release Date: 23/08/2017

Platforms: PS4

Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Puzzle and Shooting

Accessibility: 26 features

Developer: Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog)

Players: You can play this with 10 players online

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is an action-adventure game where you Chloe Frazer and your counterpart Nadine Ross seek the Tusk of Ganesh. Set in the Western Ghats mountain ranges of India in the midst of a civil war, it's the first Uncharted game not to...

Planet of Lana

Content Rating: PEGI 7

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Release Date: Coming soon

Platforms: PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

Genres: Adventure, Platform and Puzzle

Developer: Wishfully Games (@Wishfully_Games)

Players: This is a single player game

Planet of Lana is an adventure where you play a young girl Lana and her loyal animal friend Mui, on a rescue mission. Set on a planet under siege from cold machines and unfamiliar creatures. Rather than the war, though, this is a game about the vibrant...

Rainbow Billy

Content Rating: PEGI 3

Skill Rating: 8-12 year-olds

Release Date: 05/10/2021

Platforms: PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Genres: Adventure, Narrative, Platform, Rhythm and Turn-Based

Accessibility: 32 features

Developer: We Are Mana Void (@WeAreManaVoid)

Players: This is a single player game

Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan is a role-play adventure where you save the world from a colourless darkness. Unusually, battles are won through listening and conversation rather than traditional attacks. It combines the excitement and...

Jailbreak

Jailbreak (Roblox)

Content Rating: PEGI 7

Skill Rating: 8-11 year-olds

Release Date: 01/08/2017

Price: Free

Platforms: Android, PC, Xbox One and iOS

Genres: Action and Role-Playing

Accessibility: 1 feature

Developer: Badimo (@Badimo)

Players: You can play this with 30 players online

Jailbreak is a popular Roblox game about escaping prison and getting away with various crimes. Based on the popular Prison Life and Madcity Roblox games, but adds a large open world in which you could drive vehicles, earn weapons and rob various...

Biomutant

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Release Date: 25/05/2021

Platforms: PC, PS4 and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Open World, Role-Playing and Simulation

Accessibility: 29 features

Developer: Experiment 1 O1 (@Experiment1O1)

Players: This is a single player game

Biomutant is an open world role-play adventure game where you play a Raccoon warrior in a large world filled with mutated animals. Exploring this living breathing ecosystem has the feel of Zelda Breath of the Wild, but in a broken down steampunk...

Genshin Impact

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Release Date: 27/09/2020

Price: Free

Platforms: Android, PC, PS4 and iOS

Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Open World and Role-Playing

Accessibility: 20 features

Developer: Genshin Impact (@GenshinImpact)

Players: You can play this with 4 players online

Genshin Impact is a role-playing adventure set in a fantastical open world you explore by walking, climbing, swimming and gliding as necessary. Like the Zelda games, you can collect items, and craft new weapons. However, in this game to create a party...

Ark: Survival Evolved

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Release Date: 08/08/2017, updated in 2018

Price: 33% off

Platforms: PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Fighting, Open World and Simulation

Accessibility: 22 features

Developer: Survivetheark (@Survivetheark)

Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 8 players online

This game offers hunting-and-harvesting gameplay in a primal setting. Although not as polished or streamlined as a game like Horizon Zero Dawn, this is a more ambitiously open world where you can choose your own way to survive. With crafting and...

Savior

Expected Content Rating: PEGI 7

Release Date: Coming soon

Platforms: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Adventure and Platform

Developer: Starsoft PDX (@StarsoftPDX)

Players: This is a single player game

Savior is an action adventure game with hand-animated pixelated graphics. You play as Sam, a mysterious woman with hidden powers and innate acrobatic skills who has lost her memory and all possessions. Use diplomacy, parkour, and intricate combat to...

Hogwarts Legacy

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Release Date: Coming soon

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

Genres: Action, Adventure, Open World and Role-Playing

Developer: Avalanche Sweden (@AvalancheSweden)

Players: This is a single player game

Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world role play game set in the world of Harry Potter. You control a wizard character who starts as a student at Hogwarts but then ventures out on a dangerous journey with a mystery to solve. You design your character, learn...

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Series)

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Skill Rating: 10-16 year-olds

Release Date: 14/08/2014, updated in 2020

Price: 24% off

Platforms: 3DS and 2DS, Switch and Wii U

Genres: Action and Fighting

Developer: Koei Tecmo US (@KoeiTecmoUS)

Players: This is a single player game

The Hyrule Warriors series of games are hack and slash action games, set in the Legend of Zelda Universe and focussed primarily on close combat against large groups of enemies. The latest in the series Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, merges the...

Brawl Stars

Content Rating: PEGI 7

Release Date: 14/06/2017, updated in 2018

Price: Free

Platforms: Android and iOS

Genres: Action and Fighting

Developer: Super Cell (@SuperCell)

Players: This is a single player game. You can play with up to 10 players online

Brawl Stars is a fighting game where you battle the computer or other players in all against all and team matches. You can play as any of the game's 50 plus characters, called "Brawlers", in an arena. The cartoon style lends the game a more lighthearted...

Horizon Zero Dawn

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 14-18 year-olds

Release Date: 01/03/2017

Platforms: PC and PS4

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative, Open World and Shooting

Accessibility: 29 features

Developer: Guerrilla (@Guerrilla)

Players: This is a single player game

Horizon Zero Dawn, and the follow-up game Horizon Forbidden West, has a post-apocalyptic feel familiar from movies like Planet of the Apes. It plunges you into an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life where animalistic machines...

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 13-18 year-olds

Release Date: 19/11/2016, updated in 2017

Platforms: PS3 and PS4

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative and Shooting

Accessibility: 32 features

Developer: Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog)

Players: You can play this with 10 players online

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is an action-adventure game set several years after the events of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. You play Nathan Drake, a happily married former treasure hunter coaxed out of retirement by his brother. This leads into...

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 11-16 year-olds

Release Date: 15/02/2012

Platforms: PS Vita

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative and Shooting

Accessibility: 24 features

Developer: Bend Studio (@BendStudio)

Players: This is a single player game

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is an action-adventure game. It's a spin-off of the Uncharted series, although also a substantial experience in its own right that features the series protagonist, Nate. As with the other games you explore, run, jump and shoot...

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 13-18 year-olds

Release Date: 01/11/2011

Platforms: PS3 and PS4

Genres: Action, Adventure and Shooting

Accessibility: 20 features

Developer: Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog)

Players: This is a single player game

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is an action-adventure game and the third entry in the Uncharted series. In Uncharted 3 you once again take the role of Nathan Drake, treasure hunter, in the hunt for the lost city Ubar (also known as Atlantis of the...

Little Nightmares II

Little Nightmares II (Series)

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Release Date: 10/02/2021

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

Genres: Action, Platform and Puzzle

Accessibility: 5 features

Developer: Tarsier Studios (@TarsierStudios)

Players: This is a single player game

Little Nightmares II is a running and jumping game wrapped in a horror theme. You play a little boy named Mono who explores a dark and disturbing world. On your journey, you meet a little girl called Six and together you try to survive and uncover the...

Marvel Contest of Champions

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Release Date: 10/12/2014

Price: Free

Platforms: Android and iOS

Genres: Fighting

Accessibility: 14 features

Developer: Kabam (@Kabam)

Players: This is a single player game

Marvel Contest of Champions is a fighting game where you collect teams of Marvel characters to fight against computer-controlled characters. The fights are one versus one that work through increasingly harder opponents. It's novel because you can form...

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 13-18 year-olds

Release Date: 19/11/2007

Platforms: PS3 and PS4

Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative and Shooting

Accessibility: 20 features

Developer: Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog)

Players: This is a single player game

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is an action-adventure where you, treasure hunter Nathan Drake, follow in the footsteps of your ancestor Sir Francis Drake in search of El Dorado. You run, jump, fight, shoot, and explore a rich world that unfolds a film-like...

Alien: Isolation

Content Rating: PEGI 18

Release Date: 06/10/2014, updated in 2019

Price: 40% off

Platforms: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Adventure and Narrative

Accessibility: 14 features

Developer: Feral Games (@FeralGames)

Players: This is a single player game. You can play with up to 1 player online

Alien: Isolation is an adventure horror game set in space, remastered in 2019 from the 2014 game due to its popularity. You play Amanda who is trying to find out the truth behind her mothers disappearance. You explore Sevastopol, a decommissioned...

Control

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 14+ year-olds

Release Date: 28/08/2019

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

Genres: Action, Narrative and Shooting

Accessibility: 29 features

Developer: Remedy Games (@RemedyGames)

Players: This is a single player game

This game is an outlandish paranormal fantasy where you are swept into a role as the new director of the Federal Bureau of Control agency of the ‘paranatural’. With impressive cinematic visuals and storytelling, your interactions involve exploring,...

Evil Genius

Evil Genius (Series)

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Release Date: 30/03/2021

Platforms: Mac and PC

Genres: Narrative, Open World, Puzzle, Simulation and Strategy

Accessibility: 30 features

Developer: Rebellion (@Rebellion)

Players: This is a single player game

Evil Genius 2 is a tongue-in-cheek strategy game where you play the evil villain. You must build a detailed, functional lair from where you can take control of the world. Similar to Sim City and 2 Point Hospital, you use your resources wisely as you...

Distrust

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Release Date: 23/11/2017, updated in 2019

Platforms: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Adventure, Simulation and Strategy

Players: You can play this with 4 players online

Distrust is a survival game where you try to survive after a helicopter crash at an arctic base. Inspired by The Thing film, this is a horror game that initially seems to be about surviving the wild, but soon descends into something darker and...

Hypercharge: Unboxed

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Release Date: 31/01/2020

Platforms: PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Adventure, Shooting and Strategy

Accessibility: 2 features

Developer: D Cyber Cherries (@DCyberCherries)

Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room and up to 8 players online

Hypercharge: Unboxed is a shooting game where you play a small toy from the 1990s in human-sized arenas like a toy shop, back garden and a garage. It combines base defence play with exploration and collection running and jumping in a wide range of...

Barbearian

Content Rating: PEGI 7

Release Date: 29/10/2020

Platforms: Android, Switch and iOS

Genres: Action, Role-Playing and Strategy

Developer: Gimblll (@Gimblll)

Players: This is a single player game

Barbearian is a hectic action game where you fight through three-level missions by hacking and slashing hundreds of tiny enemies, collecting cash and rescuing minions to add to your army. It's a role play game you can take on in bite sized portions each...

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Release Date: 25/08/2009

Platforms: Mac, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting and Open World

Accessibility: 13 features

Developer: Rocksteady Games (@RocksteadyGames)

Players: This is a single player game

Batman: Arkham Asylum is an open-world adventure game. It's the first game in the Batman: Arkham series. In the game, the Joker has taken over Arkham Asylum trapping Batman inside and watching him as he tries to escape, sending various enemies after him...

Batman: Arkham City

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Release Date: 18/10/2011

Platforms: Mac, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting and Open World

Accessibility: 21 features

Developer: Rocksteady Games (@RocksteadyGames)

Players: This is a single player game

Batman: Arkham City is an open world adventure, the second instalment in the Arkham series taking place one year after the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum. You play Batman fighting crime, and his dwindling reputation,...

Batman: Arkham Knight

Content Rating: PEGI 18

Release Date: 23/06/2015

Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Open World, Role-Playing and Shooting

Accessibility: 19 features

Developer: Rocksteady Games (@RocksteadyGames)

Players: This is a single player game

Batman: Arkham Knight is the final installment of the Batman: Arkham series. Nine-months after the events of Batman: Arkham City, Gotham seems safer as crime drops significantly. All good things must come to an end, as it is Halloween night and the...

Horizon Forbidden West

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 14-18 year-olds

Release Date: 18/02/2022

Platforms: PS5

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative, Open World and Shooting

Developer: Guerrilla (@Guerrilla)

Players: This is a single player game

Horizon Forbidden West is a post-apocalyptic action-adventure where you explore an overgrown landscape with now-crumbling remnants of modern life. The story of Aloy continues as she sets out to investigate a plague terminating from an arcane frontier...

Limbo

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Release Date: 05/06/2013, updated in 2015

Platforms: Android, PS Vita, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One and iOS

Genres: Narrative, Platform and Puzzle

Accessibility: 14 features

Developer: Playdead (@Playdead)

Players: This is a single player game

Control a small boy as he runs, jumps and climbs through a dark, silhouetted forest that clanks and hums with foreboding. As the age-rating suggests, he is killed in all manner of gruesome ways. But this is not without reason. Rather than violent...

Star Wars: Republic Commando

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Release Date: 28/02/2005, updated in 2021

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

Genres: Action, Fighting, Role-Playing and Shooting

Accessibility: 27 features

Developer: Aspyr Media (@AspyrMedia)

Players: This is a single player game

Star Wars: Republic Commando is a shooting game set in the Star Wars universe, where you complete missions as part of an elite squad of Clones. Still regarded as one of the best Star Wars games over 16 years after its initial release, its fast-paced...

Alan Wake

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 14+ year-olds

Release Date: 14/05/2010

Platforms: PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative and Shooting

Developer: Remedy Games (@RemedyGames)

Players: This is a single player game

Bright Falls is the sleepy Midwest setting for this Twilight Zone-style horror game. The action focuses on surviving attacks from possessed ‘Taken’ locals. You use flashlights to burn away the possession before dispatching them with firearms. It’s...

Another World

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Release Date: 30/11/2019

Platforms: 3DS and 2DS, Android, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative and Platform

Developer: Eric Chahi (@EricChahi)

Players: This is a single player game

Another World (Out of This World in North America) is a retro cinematic running, jumping and shooting game about a young scientist who, as a result of a failed experiment finds himself on a dangerous alien world where he is forced to fight for his...

Batman: Arkham Origins

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 13+ year-olds

Release Date: 25/10/2013

Platforms: PC, PS3, Wii U and Xbox 360

Genres: Action, Adventure and Open World

Accessibility: 1 feature

Developer: Rocksteady Games (@RocksteadyGames)

Players: This is a single player game

Batman: Arkham Origins is an open-world adventure game. It's the prequel game to the Batman: Arkham series, taking place about five years before the first game, in the early years of Batman's career as a crime-fighter. You explore Gotham, collect items,...

Hidden Agenda

Content Rating: PEGI 16

Skill Rating: 16+ year-olds

Release Date: 24/10/2017

Platforms: PS4

Genres: Adventure, Narrative, Point-and-Click, Puzzle and Turn-Based

Developer: Super M Games (@SuperMGames)

Players: You can play with 6 players in the same room

Hidden Agenda is an adventure noir crime thriller. It's from the people who made Until Dawn, but uses the PlayLink technology to let multiple people play on the PlayStation using their smartphones to interact and make decisions.

Ratchet and Clank

Ratchet and Clank (Series)

Content Rating: PEGI 7

Skill Rating: 9-16 year-olds

Release Date: 04/11/2002, updated in 2016

Platforms: PS Vita, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5 and PSP

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Platform and Shooting

Developer: Insomniac Games (@InsomniacGames)

Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room and up to 4 players online

Ratchet & Clank looks more cartoony but still offers the B-movie-style action. As Ratchet, you explore planets and space stations, battling enemies with a variety of weapons and gadgets. Sidekick Clank sits on Ratchet’s back and offers more abilities,...

Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart

Content Rating: PEGI 7

Skill Rating: 10-16 year-olds

Release Date: 11/06/2021

Platforms: PS5

Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Platform and Shooting

Accessibility: 25 features

Developer: Insomniac Games (@InsomniacGames)

Players: This is a single player game

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a running, jumping and shooting game. The latest in the series, Rift Apart focuses on jumping between parallel worlds.

Treachery in Beatdown City

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Release Date: 31/03/2020

Platforms: PC and Switch

Genres: Action, Fighting, Role-Playing and Turn-Based

Developer: a Nu Challenger (@aNuChallenger)

Players: This is a single player game

Treachery in Beatdown City is a fighting game with a retro pixilated art style. It combines the popular beat'em up mechanics from games like Double Dragon, where you take on enemy characters with fists, kicks and weapons, with role play elements....

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Matinee Fisticuffs and Shootouts

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