Free to play games like League of Legends, Fortnite and Valorant are becoming more and more popular each year, but what about the completely new games that are coming out soon?
This is undercoverdudes, and these are the 15 best upcoming free to play games to play in 2022, including some you can play right now!
ARC Raiders
One of the most exciting free to play games in 2022Â is ARC Riders, a cooperative third-person shooter.Â
The developers, who are made up of former DICE members, call this a reimagined shooter and that’s for good reason, you’re not just matching ammo to a weapon and having mindless PvP matches which is awesome. In ARC Raiders you’ll also need to heavily work together as the raiders are severely disadvantaged, so you will need to band together to defeat the robots. The gameplay overall looks awesome, large scale battles against huge mechs, it’s different and definitely not your typical point and shoot title.Â
Furthermore, you’re able to scavenge the map, weird different tools and gadgets to outsmart the enemy, there seems like there is a lot to offer. One of the most obvious aspects about this game is for sure the graphics, as they look incredible for a free to play game. This in conjunction with the gameplay is a guaranteed win, and I’m super excited for its release which will be sometime in 2022.
Disney Speedstorm
By far one of the most hyped games on this list is Disney Speedstorm, a hero-based combat racing game set on high-speed circuits inspired by Disney and Pixar worlds.
An obvious attempt to rival Mario Kart, Speedstorm features a huge cast of characters including Captain Jack Sparrow, Mulan, Mickey Mouse, Sulley, and more.
Each has unique skills that can hugely sway the race, and you’re also able to upgrade their stats which is awesome for progression.
Focusing on the gameplay itself it looks absolutely top notch, high quality kart racing with drifting and advanced driving mechanics. This meshes with the fantastic graphics which you can see in not only the characters but also the Disney and Pixar inspired racetracks.
Platform wise this will be available on all current gen and next gen consoles along with the PC with full cross play enabled, which is a huge play to rival Nintendo, let’s see if it works when it comes out sometime in the US summer, so relatively soon.
Overprime
Paragon was the next generation of multiplayer online battle arena games, a 3rd person League of Legends like title that had a passionate fanbase. However, this game was shut down but thankfully Epic Games released the assets to the public for free, and hence Overprime was born.Â
Overprime is a completely free to play team-based third person based Action MOBA. You choose one of the many powerful heroes with unique skills and work with your teammates to conquer the battlefield, so standard Moba stuff. Now Instead of being a complete recreation of Paragon, Overprime goes in more of a fast paced hyper brawler direction which is cool, paving out a new path.
Release date wise for Overprime we have had a few closed betas and the such, but an actual launch window has not been announced.
VEILED EXPERTS
Next up today is Veiled Experts, a strategic action third person shooter being developed and published by Nexon.
From first impressions this game looks like a more realistic Rogue Company, with many tactical shooter and battle Royale elements thrown in.
This can be seen not only by the cast of agents, but also the round by round buying system where you can purchase weapons, tech tree advancements and tactical items.
On Top of this Veiled Experts has your standard set of 3rd person shooter movement, including rolling, vaulting, climbing and hanging, all of which can be incorporated while shooting for dynamic combat.
A new factor to the equation though is the dynamically changing battlefields as throughout the match you can encounter unexpected sandstorms, sea fog, buildings being destroyed, bridges collapsing and more.
This is cool and all but still seems a little generic, which makes sense given Nexon is behind it, but I’m keen to see how it actually plays. Now release date wise a closed beta has just finished but a more concrete date is not set in stone.
Spine
One of the most exciting games on this list, but also one we really don’t much about is Spine, an upcoming free to play action game
Spine is a team-based action game, where you take control of heroes that can boost their reflexes beyond limits with the help of an implant technology.
There’s a large range of unique heroes to choose from, which definitely works with the team based theme.
From the official trailer, which is all that we really have to go off, it looks like a fast paced, parkour focused martial arts game, where you rapidly change between firearms and melee weaponry.
That’s pretty sick, but we don’t have actual gameplay so its hard to know exactly how it will play out. The game description says that every fight in Spine will be a combination of breathtaking scenes, with a big emphasis on unique camera work that you’ll find nowhere else in multiplayer games. Sounds exciting but I’m a tad skeptical to be honest, so we’ll see when more gameplay is released.
Alien Removal Division
The next one I want to show off is a smaller indie game called Alien Removal Division, a completely free to play shooter title made by students from Breda University.
It’s super refreshing when a game is focused on just raw fun, and that’s exactly what ARD does.
A fast paced shooter, ARD has parkour front and center, where you can use your skillset to wall-run, double jump, and dash through the infested military research facility.
This combined with the gory combat, vast amount of alien enemies and large array of weapons means whatever you’re doing in this game is guaranteed to be fun.
The Cycle Frontier
Next up today is The Cycle Frontier, the next generation of first person shooters. Originally the Cycle was a player vs environment based battle royale game, however after limited success the developers decided to completely flip the concept and move towards an escape from tarkov like idea.
The core concepts are the same, you need to get in, capture resources, complete contracts and extract before the planet destroys itself, however there is so much more intensity as you need to bring in your own weapons and gear that you will lose if you die. It just works fantastically, the gameplay is easy to pick up but also has it’s tense moments, graphics are awesome, and the cherry on top is the easy to run graphics.
The Looker
You know the game in the beginning that I said was featured by videogamedunkey, well this next title is it and it’s called The Looker. A parody of 2016’s The Witness, The Looker is a fun and weird puzzle game featuring over 55 puzzles across its approximately 2 hour play time.
Though the puzzles are not the only big draw, as this game is also big on the jokes and humour making it a joy to play.
The combination of these two elements is perfect, making this one of the best gameplay experiences in 2022, not just the free to play realm, and this is reflected in the overwhelmingly positive Steam reviews that confirm you must try this game out.
Fall Guys
Fall Guys is a game that absolutely blew up in 2020, with its colorful graphics, wacky gameplay and overall fun capturing the attention of gamers across the globe.
However, the player count fell rapidly as people just got bored. Fast forward to 2022 and out of nowhere Epic Games has bought Fall Guys and put it on the Epic Games Store, completely free of charge.
Unfortunately though you cannot buy it on Steam, but if you already have it you’re all good. But yeah this sudden announcement shot the playerbase up to 20 million, so if you’ve seen this game and wanted to give it a try, now is definitely your best chance.
Overwatch 2
Next up today my friends is Overwatch 2, the upcoming huge update slash rerelease of 2016’s Overwatch. This game has had plenty of coverage recently of its development, most recently the closed betas which got huge views on twitch.
From this we can see the differences, updated gameplay, new modes, new maps, UI updates, tons of new heroes and much more. It’s a big change and is definitely one of 2022’s biggest releases.
Now I get why they’ve done this whole Overwatch 2 thing but they probably could have released these update by update to keep Overwatch alive. On the other hand, the move to 5vs5 and the map changes might be substantial enough to be a sequel, so it’s hard to say.
Regardless this game looks pretty sick, and furthermore Overwatch 2 is actually going to be free to play. To what extent they’ll monetize we don’t really know but it’s exciting that there will be no paid barrier to entry.
Now in terms of when this game is coming out, we actually have a release date for the 4th of October, expect some more betas coming soon.
Banana Shooter
One game I absolutely have to mention is Banana Shooter, which is for sure one of the weirdest games on today’s list. Banana Shooter is a fun focused first person shooter that has Karlson DNA running through its veins.
From the graphics, to the gameplay, to the character models, it’s obvious that the developers have been inspired by Dani but they take this base and absolutely run with it, pulling off a unique and enjoyable shooter.
Banana Shooter definitely puts the priority on the shooting mechanics, the guns feel fantastic and blasting your enemies is super fun.
Combine with the simple but intuitive maps along with the super easy to run graphics, and we’ve found an absolute gem on the Steam store.
UNDECEMBER
Next up today is Undecember, a hack and slash action rpg that has gotten people really excited with its fluid combat and large array of customisation options.
Off the bat you have to admit it looks like Path of Exile, with the isometric camera and looter nature coming through very strongly. However it’s more than just the camera angle and the combat is very much front and center, with it looking really fluid and in depth with the large amount of abilities and enemy types.
There is also a heavy emphasis on its rune system which generates an almost infinite number of skill combinations, bringing forward tons of content.
One big positive is that Undecember is going to be a totally crossplatform title available not only on the PC but also on android and ios which is huge.
Now release wise we actually have a solid date of quarter 1 2022, so get hyped.
Engine Evolution 2022
Next up today is Engine Evolution 2022, a multiplayer racing game that uses similar principles as World of Tanks. With each race against 11 other players, you gain experience and credits, which you can use to buy various upgrades for your vehicle, or unlock newer ones. Made by a single developer during his University studies, this game is the sequel to EE 2021 which was an awesome free to play title.
Gameplay looks awesome, easy to pick up but has a good element of depth but the huge draw is the vast amount of content, featuring 90 vehicles from 7 nations, 25 real and custom tracks, thousands of various vehicle setups and much more.
To top it off the system specifications are incredibly low, as all you need is a 2.2 plus gigahertz processor, 2 gigs of ram and a GTX 660. In terms of release dates, we’ve got an early access release in quarter 3 2022.
HypeSquad
HypeSquad is an upcoming fast-paced, close-quarters combat game, which prides itself on being easy to pickup and play.
From my first impressions it looks like the next generation of S4 League or GunZ like games, focusing on skill based dueling. This is highlighted as you can personalize your combat style with unique weapon combinations and augmenters to really show off your skill.
Another big element of this game is the large group of heroes to choose from, and this in conjunction vast array of melee and ranged weapons gives heaps of variety which is sweet. Matchmaking wise you can squad up in groups of 3 in a 20 squad battle, so up to 60 players per match which is quite a lot.
System spec wise it’s quite reasonable, as an i3 processor and a GTX 750 ti is all you need, but release date wise all we have right now is a tbd
GUNDAM EVOLUTION
Starting off this list we have Gundam Evolution, a completely new free to play first person shooter that looks absolutely incredible. In this game you take control of mobile suits straight from the anime and battle enemies in 6 vs 6 matches.
I would say heavily inspired by hero shooters such as Overwatch, Gundam Evolution features units across the Gundam universe, all having different abilities, support functions, HP levels and so on.
The common thread that links them though is speed with the thrust system giving you sudden bursts of speed to move around the map, giving you a higher sense of pace then other hero shooters.
Add in the cool weapons, objective focused gameplay, easy to run but nice looking graphics and the polish from a veteran studio like Bandai Namco and its easy to see why Gundam Evolution is hyped, get keen for it sometime in later 2022.
