15 Best Free Online Shooters to Play in 2024
There are plenty of free-to-play shooters out there, but there's also plenty of garbage. We come to the rescue and give you 15 best free online shooters that are honest, fun, and – most importantly – constantly updated.
Table of Contents
Overwatch 2
Today, players can pick and choose from a plethora of valuable free-to-play titles with a variety of styles and mechanics. There are so much games available, in fact, that you would be forgiven for having a hard time making up your mind. That's why we decided it would be a good idea to compile a list of the best free-to-play shooters. We compiled the list so that it was really diverse – in order to accommodate all tastes.
2024 UPDATE
2024 brought at least three significant changes when it comes to free shooters, which was reflected in our ranking. We removed the game Splitgate from the list, as it has essentially died out. In exchange, we added XDefiant. Besides, CSGO was replaced by Counter-Strike 2, and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was replaced by The Finals. Changes were done by Matt Lugowik.
Of course, as is usually the case with similar rankings, this one cannot be considered complete in any way. So if you have your favorites that we have omitted, mention them in the comments and write down why you think they are worth reading.
OVERWATCH 2 IN A NUTSHELL
- Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
- Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
- Platform: PC, PS4, XOne, Switch, PS5, XSX
- Release Date: October 2022
Blizzard added number 2 to the title probably mainly for marketing reasons. The fact that there will be a sequel to the warmly received shooter was widely reported by gaming media and some players took the opportunity to return the game. In terms of gameplay, little has changed, which doesn't mean that Overwatch 2 is a bad game. It's definitely not!
The new-old Overwatch didn't cut away from the foundations established in 2016. Instead of reinventing the wheel, it was only slightly modified. The biggest change seems to be limiting the number of players to 5 per team. Thanks to this, the chaos during the game is more controllable. At the same time, limiting the number of tanks (the strong division into classes is still relevant) to one per team, made the fights more dynamic. Novelty also reached the characters themselves. Practically each of them was modified with the aim of balancing their powers better. On the day of Overwatch's release, three completely new heroes were also made available.
The biggest revolution was undoubtedly the transition to the free-to-play model, which meant that this great online shooter could be featured here. However, there are also microtransactions. It's not a pay-to-win title, though new players arriving in Overwatch 2 will feel lagging behind, and it seems like the only sensible way to get some of the heroes is to spend real money. Sure, extremely time-consuming grind is a viable alternative, but before you can obtain the old characters in this way, more are bound to appear. Classic characters known from the prequel are unlocked by playing and you don't have to spend many hours on it. People who bought the first part don't have to do it at all – they get the old heroes right away.
You need to know, however, that Overwatch 2 completely replaced part one. In practice, this means that the first installment cannot be played. Initially, this caused an avalanche of discussion and controversy, but ultimately, such a move is understandable. After all, unlike the original, part two is not only free, but also contains all the elements of the original. This is actually more like a huge update rather than a full-fledged sequel, which, however, doesn't prevent you from having a great time.
Overwatch 2 is the game for you if:
- you were a fan of the original;
- you like role-playing shooters;
- you're not afraid of grind.
