Feeling disappointed with the current state of gaming? You’re not the only one. After the fall of the biggest community event, Fortnite, many gamers have returned to their childhood roots in search of the next great game. To the surprise of the masses, these new titles all seemed to be disappointing. The unsavory aftertaste of microtransactions, battle passes, and an overwhelming lack of new content has left many Call of Duty, Halo, and even Battlefield players begging for refunds. 

There is hope for all of us,  though, ,in a place you’d least expect. A grand title that has overshot every mark our mainstream releases couldn’t reach, and it’s from nowhere other than Roblox. The grand title? Phantom Forces, an advanced tactical FPS bringing to us what none other could, and looking good while doing it.

Phantom Forces truly is the needle in the haystack when it comes to first person shooters. I was awfully hesitant to call a game from Roblox of all places the best of the best, but as I raced home from work to hop on with five of my friends until deep into the night, I knew there was no other choice. No shooter has kept me coming back in the way Phantom Forces has. It simply brings so much that we know and love on top of new creative ideas and additions that it’s definitely a difficult game to set down.

At this point, I’ve clearly stated multiple times that this game is a clear solution, and that it’s just too great to put down, but what sets phantom forces from the rest? Not only is the game completely free to play, all in game content is completely obtainable without any spending whatsoever. Every month we get new content, including fixes, new weapons, maps, or events. It doesn’t end there ; the game also includes both map and gamemode voting. The numerous stats, hundreds of weapon modifications, and even more weapon customization choices really put the brightest red cherry on top.

It only gets better. Instead of having skill based matchmaking, which defeats all desire to progress, the game has team balancing instead, so that better players are rewarded for their hard work. Finally, to address the one problem that no major company can seem to get right, hackers, Phantom Forces comes with a vote kick system that enables the players to vote to have a player removed from the game. Plus, it can easily be run on any device.

Phantom Forces is a game that I’ve known and loved since 2015, also gaining a positive rating from over 2 million others. I have seen this game grow far greater than I would’ve expected, and 7 years later, my attention is still held. Phantom Forces truly delivers the best shooter game, available to the largest audience. With vast customization, and hundreds of weapons to unlock and build to your personal taste, what’s stopping you from joining forces?