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Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders

14 Games like Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders on Xbox that you should try

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Ranking compiled by Lluis Enric Mayans, Founder & Head of ContentHow this is calculatedOrdered by an attribute-similarity model, not editorial opinion.

We filtered the 48 games similar to Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders down to the 14 that fit the “Xbox” category. Borderlands 4, DOOM 3 and Left 4 Dead 2 top the list, ranked by affinity and similarity score to Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

iRank84/ 100

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GenreShooterSubgenreFPS
Tags
DarkSoloMultiplayer
Year 1994Dev id Software

Quick answer

Within the “Xbox” category, the closest game to Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders is Borderlands 4 — scoring 71/100 on our similarity scale. DOOM 3 and Left 4 Dead 2 follow close behind.

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The best games like Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders on Xbox

14 similar games foundUpdated May 2026

Handpicked by our similarity algorithm, these are the titles with the highest gameplay match to Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders. Each one has been evaluated across 11 real attributes — from combat style and progression mechanics to world structure and visual perspective — so every recommendation is based on how the game actually plays, not just its genre label.

#1Borderlands 4
Borderlands 4
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerCo-opFirst PersonSci-Fi
Steam👍 59%· 79KIGDB87· 4OC82· 140
Year 2025Dev Gearbox Software · 2KOn Xbox · Switch · PC

✓ Same family of first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and deep RPG systems

≠ Its own twist: adventure storytelling and setting scifi, while skipping dark, oppressive atmosphere

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

On reception: its Steam reviews are mixed, against very positive for Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Released 31 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Game mode100Visuals100Setting0
#2DOOM 3
DOOM 3
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerCo-opMeleeRangedDarkFirst Person
Steam👍 89%· 8.3KRAWG👍 77%· 632MC87IGDB86· 6
Year 2004Dev id Software · Bethesda SoftworksPlaytime ~1hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Fits the first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Stands apart with horror tension, survival mechanics and tower defense planning, while skipping deep RPG systems

DOOM 3 is a first-person shooter, the third installment in the series, serving as a reboot to the previous games. ###Plot As the game is set in a science fiction universe, the events span accordingly.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Same studio: id Software.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Visuals100Tone78Setting0
#3Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2
ShooterFPS
MultiplayerCo-opSoloRangedMeleeDarkFirst Person
Steam👍 98%· 1.0MRAWG👍 85%· 3.4KMC89IGDB89· 5
Year 2009Dev Valve Software · Electronic ArtsPlaytime ~9hOn PC · Xbox · Apple Macintosh

✓ Same family of first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Stands apart with survival mechanics, horror tension and horror setting, while skipping deep RPG systems

Everything the first game did plus melee weapons, daylight campaigns and special infected that force the team apart rather than just damage it. The AI Director still shapes every run. It absorbed the original so completely that the community split never healed, and the campaigns lean on finale set pieces that become rote once you know the safe corners.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Released 15 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Combat100Tone100Visuals100Game mode85Setting0
Aliens vs. Predator
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerCo-opMeleeRangedDarkFirst Person
Steam👍 91%· 21KRAWG👍 62%· 422MC68IGDB74· 4
Year 2010Dev SEGAPlaytime ~3hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Its own twist: survival mechanics, horror tension and adventure storytelling, while skipping deep RPG systems

Three separate campaigns — Marine, Alien and Predator — each rebuilding the game around a different body: the Marine's motion tracker and dread, the Alien's wall-crawling, the Predator's cloak and vision modes. The Marine campaign is the one that holds up. The other two are short and thin by comparison, and the multiplayer that carried it in 2010 is long dead.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Released 16 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Game mode100Visuals100Combat86Tone81Setting0
Quake
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerCo-opRangedMeleeDarkFirst Person
Steam👍 97%· 15KRAWG👍 88%· 487MC94OC87· 37
Year 1996Dev id Software · SEGAPlaytime ~1hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Where it differs: brings horror tension, strong narrative focus and horror setting, while skipping deep RPG systems

id's follow-up to Doom, and the first with true 3D movement — rocket jumps, full vertical aim, and a Lovecraftian gloom scored by Nine Inch Nails. The movement still feels quicker than most modern shooters. Long-time players tend to prefer a source port to the official re-release, which quietly altered difficulty tuning and is treated as a compromised preservation job.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Same studio: id Software.

Genre100Combat100Visuals100Game mode87Tone84Setting0
Left 4 Dead
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerCo-opMeleeRangedDarkFirst Person
Steam👍 96%· 67KRAWG👍 87%· 1.7KMC89IGDB85· 7
Year 2008Dev Valve Software · Electronic ArtsPlaytime ~5hOn PC · Xbox · Apple Macintosh

✓ Fits the first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Stands apart with survival mechanics, horror tension and strong narrative focus, while skipping deep RPG systems

The AI Director is the whole design: it places hordes and items based on how well you are doing, so no two runs of a campaign play the same and tension stays authored without being scripted. Four campaigns only, which is thin, and the sequel superseded it so completely that finding populated servers now takes patience.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Released 14 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Combat100Visuals100Game mode88Tone80Setting0
World War Z
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerCo-opMeleeRangedDarkFirst Person
Steam👍 83%· 31KIGDB74· 12OC71· 129
Year 2019Dev Saber Interactive · Focus EntertainmentOn PS4 · PC · Xbox

✓ Both are first-person shooters — sharing shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Its own twist: third-person shooting, adventure storytelling and survival mechanics, while skipping deep RPG systems

A co-op horde shooter whose swarm tech is the draw: hundreds of zombies climb over each other into structures, and the class system rewards coordinating rather than scattering. Levels are short and replayable. The shooting itself is functional but unremarkable, and the campaign chapters are thin connective tissue between the set-piece swarm moments.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Released 25 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Combat100Tone100Game mode80Visuals61Setting0
Singularity
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerRangedMeleeDarkFantasyFirst Person
Steam👍 93%· 5.9KRAWG👍 82%· 447MC76IGDB80· 4
Year 2010Dev Raven Software · ActivisonPlaytime ~5hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Both are first-person shooters — sharing shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Where it differs: brings puzzle design, horror tension and adventure storytelling, while skipping deep RPG systems

Time manipulation applied to objects rather than the whole world: you age a crate to dust or restore a collapsed staircase, and it is used cleverly in traversal and combat. A tight, short campaign. It borrows heavily and openly from BioShock and Half-Life 2, and the shooting itself is unremarkable once the time device stops surprising you.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Released 16 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Combat100Visuals100Game mode72Tone71Setting34
Gotham City Impostors Free to Play
ShooterFPS
MultiplayerCo-opRangedMeleeFirst Person
Steam👍 86%· 12KRAWG👍 32%· 168IGDB73· 7
Year 2012Dev Monolith Productions · Warner Bros. InteractivePlaytime ~2hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Fits the first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and ranged combat

≠ Its own twist: online features, skill tree progression and free to play, while skipping deep RPG systems

A class-based arena shooter with genuinely inventive movement — roller skates, grappling hooks, gliders — that gives it a mobility profile nothing else has. Loadout customisation is deep for a free game. Its problem is population: matchmaking depends entirely on how many people are playing, and the tutorial does little to explain its many systems.

Released 18 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Combat100Visuals100Game mode79
Quake 4
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerRangedMeleeDarkFirst Person
Steam👍 88%· 3.8KRAWG👍 69%· 352MC81IGDB75· 6
Year 2005Dev Aspyr Media · Bethesda SoftworksPlaytime ~1hOn PC · Xbox · Apple Macintosh

✓ Fits the first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Where it differs: brings horror tension, strong narrative focus and horror setting, while skipping deep RPG systems

A conventional military shooter wearing Quake's skin: corridor combat with heavy weapons, at its best in the mid-game once the Strogg conversion sequence gives it a hook. Level design is repetitive metal hallways for long stretches, and the squadmates who accompany you do little beyond soaking damage and opening doors.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Released 11 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Combat100Visuals100Tone85Game mode72Setting0
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerRangedMeleeDarkFirst Person
Steam👍 85%· 9.3KRAWG👍 77%· 690MC79IGDB76· 7
Year 2009Dev Warner Bros. InteractivePlaytime ~4hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Stands apart with horror tension, strong narrative focus and horror setting, while skipping deep RPG systems

Wider environments and better lighting than the original, with the slow-motion shooting mostly intact and a mech section that breaks up the pacing. The AI is noticeably less sharp than in the first game, though, and the horror leans on jump scares rather than the dread the original built. Competent, rarely surprising.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

Released 15 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Combat100Visuals100Tone82Game mode72Setting0
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
ShooterFPS
SoloCo-opMultiplayerMeleeFantasy
Steam👍 87%· 898RAWG👍 64%· 73MC76IGDB76· 3
Year 2011Dev Shadow Planet Productions · Microsoft StudiosPlaytime ~1hOn PC · Xbox · Apple Macintosh

✓ Same family of first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and melee combat

≠ Where it differs: brings Metroidvania exploration, adventure storytelling and puzzle design, while skipping deep RPG systems

###Interesting mix The game is a mixture of 2D shooter and puzzle genres developed by Shadow Planet Production and released by Microsoft Studios for its Xbox360 console. As part of the HumbleBundle pack, a soundtrack for the game is available, which was released separately.

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: visuals and combat.

Released 17 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Game mode90Setting63Combat49Visuals0
Grand Theft Auto Online
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerCo-opFirst PersonSandbox World
IGDB94· 1
Year 2014Dev Rockstar North · Rockstar GamesOn Xbox · PlayStation 3 · PS4

✓ Fits the first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and single-player focus

≠ Where it differs: brings adventure storytelling, sandbox freedom and sandbox world, while skipping deep RPG systems

Released 20 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Game mode100Visuals72
Overwatch
ShooterFPS
SoloMultiplayerCo-opFirst PersonPvP
Steam👍 30%· 401KIGDB83· 3OC90· 138
Year 2023Dev Blizzard EntertainmentOn Xbox · PS4 · Switch

✓ Fits the first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and single-player focus

≠ Its own twist: setting scifi, PvP competition and visual third person, while skipping deep RPG systems

Where it drifts furthest from Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders: setting.

On reception: its Steam reviews are mostly negative, against very positive for Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Released 29 years after Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Genre100Game mode87Visuals72Setting0

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