If you’re sick of exploring the same old open fields, deserts, tundra, and cityscapes, then maybe a game set in the jungle is the cure for what ails you. Carving through dense forest, battling exotic animals, and taking in the gorgeous surroundings is an experience that most people will only have in video game form. Thankfully, there are lots of titles that can provide it.
Below, we’ll be looking at some of the best FPS games set in jungles. Not just that, though. We’ll also be looking at why playing these games is an unforgettable experience. For those seeking a shooter that takes place in the most untamed nature on Earth (or elsewhere), these games are exactly what you need.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
Far Cry
A Classic Shooter With A Sci-Fi Twist Unique To The Series
It would be just as fair to put Far Cry 3 here, because it’s also a fantastic game set in a jungle, but to my mind, the most unforgettable thing about that game is its villain, Vaas Montenegro. Besides the brief sequence where you burn a field of cannabis to the tune of Skrillex, the actual missions themselves aren’t all that memorable. The very first Far Cry, though? Oh, you won’t forget this one.
2004’s Far Cry is the only game in the series that features a mid-point twist that takes things from typical shooter to sci-fi horror shooter, and it’s a moment that is truly unforgettable. Besides its frankly unbelievable graphics and its excellent gunplay, the first Far Cry’s claim to fame is that it takes such a major genre swing. Every other Far Cry game either advertises as genre fiction (Blood Dragon, New Dawn) or sticks to its political thriller lane. The first game traps you in a jungle full of mercenaries, and just when you start to feel comfortable, it starts throwing monsters at you. It’s a blast.
Crysis
The Kind Of Jungle That Melts PCs
Crysis
- Released
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November 13, 2007
- ESRB
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M
We might as well just get all the Crytek stuff out of the way. After Ubisoft took over the Far Cry brand and immediately started oversaturating the market with it (in true Ubisoft fashion), the devs at Crytek decided they would rather melt PCs than reproduce IPs. Their next game was Crysis, notorious for at least five years for being the game that only top-of-the-line gaming PCs could run. You may have a superpowered rig, but can it run Crysis?
The thing is, Crysis is also a phenomenal game. Sure, its visuals were groundbreaking, but so was its gameplay. I think of it as something like a supersoldier immersive sim. Your character has a nanosuit that grants them some impressive abilities, from a cloaking system to super speed and strength. The catch is that you have to switch between these modes, which forces you to think tactically and read each situation. Stealth is often just as valid as a full-on assault, and that’s where the dense jungle really comes into play. Also, there are aliens! Again, around the halfway mark, funny enough. When it comes to game design, Crytek has a type.
Green Hell
Survival In The Amazon
Is Green Hell truly an FPS? It’s open for debate, I suppose. It’s played in first person, and you do occasionally shoot things. With a bow and arrow, mostly, but that’s still shooting if you ask me. It’s also one of the most grueling, brutally detail-oriented games you’ll find that’s also set in a jungle; in this case, deep in the Amazon Rainforest. In that sense, it’s impossible to forget, because it takes every iota of your focus just to play it.
Green Hell is one of those survival games where you don’t just have to worry about gathering resources; you also need to monitor your body temperature, thirst and hunger levels, illness, injury, poisonous bug bites, and plenty more. This is on top of building a shelter, hunting for food, and avoiding predators, like the panthers hiding in the trees above. In this case, you trade some of the action-packed shooting for an incredibly detailed jungle simulation, one that feels not only alive, but incredibly dangerous.
Turok Evolution
Dinos In The Trees
Turok: Evolution
- Released
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September 1, 2002
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Acclaim Studios Austin
Series fans will tell you that Turok 2: Seeds of Evil is the best game in the franchise, and they’re absolutely right. That said, I have a lot of time for Turok: Evolution, even if it’s kind of unpolished and has some frustrating levels. Even with its flaws, Evolution captures exactly what made the original games so beloved: a cool mix of shooting and platforming, some wild sci-fi weapons, and a jungle brimming with vicious dinosaurs.
Look, the flying sections are pretty annoying, it’s true. They’re not as bad as some people will have you think, but they’re rough, and worst of all, they’re just a distraction from the FPS sections, which are the true highlight. Blowing up a pack of dinos with a rocket launcher is an experience that you just can’t get outside of Turok, and since this is, as of this writing, the most modern game in the franchise (we don’t need to acknowledge the 2008 reboot), Turok: Evolution is the best way to experience the unique prehistoric thrills this series has to offer.
Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
The Best-Looking Jungle In Any Video Game
It may not be an earthly jungle, but the vast wilderness in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is by far the best-looking jungle environment you’ll ever find in a video game. Say what you will about Ubisoft open-world games, but this depiction of a fully-explorable Pandora is one of the most immersive virtual worlds ever created, especially if you turn the HUD off and just let yourself wander across the map. You don’t even need to be a fan of the movies to enjoy it.
Funny enough, the FPS portion of the game is its weakest component. Not that it’s bad or anything; the shooting is very competent, and playing as a towering Na’vi is a special kind of gaming power fantasy when you’re swatting aside puny human soldiers. That said, it’s the moments where you’re sprinting through the jungle, leaping from giant tree limbs to mossy cliffs while the moon gleams overhead that will stick with you for a long time afterward.
Gray Zone Warfare
A Tactical Shooter Set In A Dense South Asian Jungle
As the only multiplayer game on this list, Gray Zone Warfare comes with a couple of caveats. For one, it’s still in Early Access, so it’s still polishing things and adding new content to what is currently an incomplete package. Second, this is a PvE game, and a hyperrealistic one at that. If you’re not a fan of games like Escape from Tarkov or Arma 3, you’ll probably be turned off by this one as well.
Gray Zone Warfare is absolutely oozing with passion. The dedication to realism is very impressive, from the absurdly detailed guns to the lifelike traversal and injury mechanics. The world is massive, and while a lot of it is dense with jungle foliage, there are also villages, plains, rivers, and more to discover and contend with. It’s a challenging game that expects you to come in with some degree of firearms and tactics knowledge if you want to succeed. In that sense, it won’t be for everyone, but for the right kind of gamer, Gray Zone Warfare will scratch an itch that no other product can to this degree.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
