Top 10 First Person Shooters on iPhone

First person shooters should be one of the most ill-suited genres to hit the iPhone.

After all, we are talking about a series of games that have historically relied on input systems like keyboards, mice, dual analogue sticks and even waggling Wii remotes.

But, by some grace of god, the iPhone manages to house these first person experiences without too much of a hitch.

Who would have guessed that wiggling your thumbs on a touchscreen - like a OCD sufferer desperately trying to clean their iPhone clean of smudges - could result in a pretty accurate representation of a console blaster.

So while we wouldn't go as far as to say the genre has exploded on the iPhone, a few hardy designers with development chops, 3D engines and great ideas have managed to squeeze out some experiences that suit Apple's smartphone.

Those alien bastards are going to pay for shooting up my ride. 3D Realm's snarky six-pack-in-shades character Duke Nukem brings his classic 90s shooter to iPhone, complete with all the lines he nicked from Bruce Campbell and They Live.

Some seasoned Duke fans have found the King of Karnage's controls a little fiddly - despite the 1.1 update - but if you can get used to the movement, you'll have the true heart and soul of 90s shooters in the palm of your hand, complete with dancing geishas and strippers. Shake it baby.

It's the game that got delayed as often as an OAP's bowel movement and was getting close to matching the legendary Duke Nukem Forever status until it dropped out of nowhere onto PC and consoles in 2006, gaining middling review scores as critics decided it didn't really live up to the hype. Plus it had a native American character called Tommy Hawk. Seriously.

Regardless, the iPhone spin-off wasn't half bad with pretty impressive graphics and controls, and garnered some top review scores.

Who'd have thought that a spin-off bonus game in Call of Duty: World at War, that sees you defending a base from the undead corpses of Nazi solders, would come close to overshadowing the main game? It went on to receive a ton of downloadable content, grab a dedicated fanbase, and even make its way to iPhone.

Which is, of course, what we're going on about. COD Zombies, as the cool kids call it, features four player co-op over wi-fi, where you and three like-minded zombiephobics can repel an endless scourge of alive-again Third Reich bodies with an arsenal of weapons and defences.

Doom Resurrection (id Software, £3.99 - iTunes)

Often considered to be the first authentically real game on the iPhone, Doom Resurrection's console-like feel was a guiding light for other developers to jump on the iBandwagon and bring their big name brands to our favourite mobile platform.

Resurrection, which has you fending off more hell-born beasties from id Software's lengthy series, is more like a light gun shooter than a true FPS, seeing as you glide through the levels like you're on a fairground ride's rails. But despite its restrictive movement it still maintains that FPS feel.

Call of Duty, Medal of Honour and Battlefield may have given up on World War 2 in favour of more modern pastures, but Brothers in Arms is one series that's stuck to the 1940s global tussle like glue on sellotape.

Brothers in Arms 2 is actually a pretty damn accurate representation of the console and PC franchise on the iPhone's little screen, giving you both the Pacific and European theatres, tons of weapons and even vehicular based levels, just for a bit of variety.

Freemium blaster Eliminate Pro lets you go toe to toe (or, more accurately, plasma rifle to rocket launcher) with a bunch of friends for absolutely zilch. Sure, you can absolutely drain your wallet by buying upgrades, batteries and tweaks for your sci-fi warrior, but the base game is utterly free.

You can even play co-op with a buddy, which has you defending yourselves against waves and waves of nasty robots as you collect loot and level up your gear. Not bad for a free app, eh?

This is it; the granddaddy, the original and the influencer of all. Okay, so its not the first FPS ever, buy they didn't call them 'Maze War clones' for a reason.

Doom really is one of the most iconic games of all time, in any genre. Its legendary status and immense popularity has seen it crop up on just about every piece of hardware under the sun, including the TI Calculator, Tapwave Zodiac and Zune HD. We'll take this great iPhone port though, thanks.

Doom not old enough for you, gramps? Want to plunder the archaeological depths of FPS gaming even further? Want to shoot a robotic version of Hitler in the face? Obviously. So download Wolfenstein.

The control scheme isn't designed by some lackey at id Software with nothing to do between making cups of tea. These controls have been designed by none other than the FPS daddy himself, John Carmack. That's like Barack Obama taking the time to design the White House's official Twitter avatar.

Okay, we'll admit that Modern Combat bears mode than a passing resemblance to the most recent editions in the now contemporary Call of Duty series. But you can't really trademark 'shooting terrorists in the face', so we'll give Gameloft a pass.

The game comes packed with lots of levels, weapons, multiplayer and the ever so important range of control systems. Like a bunch of other games on this list, including Duke Nukem 3D and COD Zombies, Sandstorm made the quick leap to iPad, so you can get your FPS gaming in 10 inch chunks, if you so desire.

And speaking of Gameloft brushing dangerously close to other developer's intellectual properties, N.O.V.A rips off Halo almost to the point of parody.

Look at the evidence: fully armoured dude shooting little grunts and giant ape-like beasties on spaceships and in jungles, a blue computer A.I. chick giving you missions and a dual-syllabic, four letter name. We rest our case.

But hey, who cares?

It's almost inconsequential when N.O.V.A is this fun, this fast and this fluid. The fact that rubbing your greasy thumbs all over the iPhone effortlessly translates into the fluid movement of Colonel Whats-his-face, is great. This space faring adventure is seriously impressive, it's packed with content and looks just stunning on the iPhone's gorgeous display.

Indeed, N.O.V.A is the crème of the crop of the FPS genre on iPhone - bring on the sequel, we say.