Whether you’re a veteran PlayStation 5 fan or someone that has only just picked up Sony‘s latest console, getting a roster of free games installed is a fantastic way to build your library quickly without any additional expense.
Every console comes bundled with a copy of the fantastic Astro’s Playroom right out of the box but, as good as it is, it’s quite a short experience and you’ll soon find yourself scrambling for more to play.
1. Call of Duty: Warzone
Believe it or not, I’ve never been much of a Warzone fan despite loving the Call of Duty series. Something about the massive maps in this free-to-play battle royale spinoff just made it seem so slow paced and, frankly, a little boring to me – especially compared to your average frantic match of free-for-all in Black Ops 7.
Then there’s the skill ceiling. Although I like to think of myself as a skill CoD player, the sheer range of most engagements had me dying time and time again against players that had the best gear and thousands of hours of experience.
That’s all changed with the recent arrival of Haven’s Hollow, though, the latest map for its Resurgence mode. What is Resurgence, I hear you ask? It’s basically battle royale with all the boring bits cut out.
It takes place on quite small maps that are filled with high-end loot. You don’t really have to scavenge to build a good loadout here, and engagements with enemy teams are constant. There are even respawns too, automatically bringing you back for revenge if the rest of your team is still alive.
The new environment itself, a quaint American town, is fantastic to explore too and even has some cool easter eggs. My pro tip would be to try and land right in its waterfall – there’s actually a hidden cavern that’s only accessible at the start of the match filled with good gear.
I’ve been playing non-stop for weeks now, and I’d highly recommend jumping in – especially if other battle royale games haven’t clicked for you.
2. Delta Force
Forget Battlefield 6 and hop on Delta Force. This free-to-play shooter from Chinese gaming giant Tencent (the makers of Call of Duty: Mobile) definitely takes liberal inspiration from EA’s flagship FPS but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a lot of fun.
Teams of 32 players face off on massive maps that blend land combat with intense confrontations between sea and air vehicles. The shooting is snappy and the environments offer a decent level of destructibility, which you can exploit to gain a tactical advantage.
This game has it all, including extensive customization for your gear and vehicles (with no real pay-to-win that I’ve noticed so far) and a dedicated extraction shooter mode that plays almost exactly like the famous Escape from Tarkov.
There’s even a single-player campaign based on the movie Black Hawk Down. It gets the job done for sure, but this is definitely the weakest part of the package with some poor balancing that makes it a slog to play for more than an hour or two.
3. Where Winds Meet
Massive open-world action RPG Where Winds Meet might be the ultimate virtual world. There is a ridiculous amount of content to discover here, ranging from magical martial arts combat to larger-than-life parkour.
The story is inspired by Chinese Wuxia cinema and tells an epic tale of a young sword master with a mysterious past. Cutscenes are lavishly animated and seriously stylish, so much so that it’s easy to overlook the fact that you have no idea what’s going on at basically any time.
There are so many things to do in the game that it’s honestly hard to list. I’ve learned powerful moves from wild animals, beaten random villagers at chess, tried my hand at fishing, learned a musical instrument, and even built my own house.
Apparently you can even go to prison if you attack friendly NPCs, but I’m a little too shy to try that.
There are no pay-to-win elements, with paid content relegated to cosmetics (that I honestly don’t even think look all that snazzy in the first place) resulting in a gigantic experience that you can occupy you for hundreds of hours without dropping a single cent.
4. Zenless Zone Zero
Out of all the games by mobile giant HoYoverse, it’s Zenless Zone Zero that I keep coming back to.
Billed as an urban fantasy RPG, it’s got a great little story (that’s still receiving new chapters every few months) and a raft of memorable characters.
It is a stunning game, particularly on PS5, with a high-quality anime art direction that blends clean and fluid animations with delightful cel-shaded colors.
The bulk of your time in the game is spent either in combat, which is a bombastically stylish experience similar to something like Devil May Cry 5, or exploring the open-world areas of New Eridu. Cutscenes are great, but there are some convenient features (like automatic plot summaries) designed to help you if you would rather just focus on the fighting.
This is a gacha game, with a pull system to unlock new characters, but it’s quite generous and there are plenty of free events to reward frequent players.
5. Fortnite
How much do I really need to say about Fortnite? This battle royale took the world by storm and has only gone from strength to strength in recent years, growing into a massive gaming platform that contains multiple spinoffs.
The battle royale mode is still the big one, but you also shouldn’t sleep on Fortnite Festival: an entire rhythm game in the style of Guitar Hero with loads of songs to try. Fans of Minecraft should get a kick out of Lego Fortnite – which is a crafting survival game set in a bricky world inspired by the popular building toy.
There’s also a whole racing game in Rocket Racing, not to mention a tense tactical FPS with Ballistic. If this sounds a tad overwhelming, it’s because it really is. Still, if you take the time to learn the ins and outs of each distinct mode, you’ll inevitably find one that you enjoy.
They all share elements of cross-progression too, so you can often use your unlocks from one in another.
6. The Sims 4
The Sims 4 used to be a paid game, but developer Maxis made it free back in 2022.
Sure, there are a lot of downloadable content (DLC) add-ons to buy if you wish – but the core experience is still plenty of fun without them and a must-have given the low cost of well, nothing (except your storage space, I suppose).
It’s a wacky life simulator that focuses on creating your own virtual characters, the titular Sims, and living out their stories as you see fit. You can get a good job, build a cool house in the amazing build mode creator, master loads of skills like cooking or public speaking, romance other Sims, or just mess around making enemies out of everyone you come across.
The possibilities are practically endless and the very approachable controls make The Sims 4 a good pick for more casual players despite the level of depth.
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dash.wood@futurenet.com (Dashiell Wood)
