Strategy geeks and narrative nerds rejoice. It's time to jump into this week's selection of free games, and the best additions to the subscription services you're already paying for. There's a solid variety over here, and some will get you stuck in for weeks on end if you're not careful.
That's right, we have some real treats this week in our free games column, from all kinds of genres and consoles. It's all here, so you'd best check to see if they tickle your fancy.
There's bound to be some kind of freebie available on this list to wet your whistle, so let's jump right into it.
Total War: Warhammer III Is Available RIGHT NOW
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It's time to get strategising. Total War: Warhammer III is available now on Xbox and PC Game Pass, and looks extremely exciting for fans of both Warhammer and real-time strategy. I haven't played the series since Shogun 2, so maybe now is the time to jump back into it.
Phil's review speaks of the game in glowing terms, so I'll defer to the expert.
"Just like any top-tier strategy game, it’s easy to get lost in Total War: Warhammer III, losing hours, days and weekends to waging war on settlements in The Old World. It really feels like an epic conclusion to a storyline which has been many years in the making, and that resolution alone will be a powerful selling point for series fans."
Not a series fan? Don't worry - Phil was still "very involved" in the storyline as a newcomer, and lauded Warhammer III as a "sensational strategy experience". I might just be sold on this one to be honest.
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Check out the trailer for Total War Warhammer III right here to whet your appetite.
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons Tells An Epic Fairytale
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Want an adventure game for free? Not a problem. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is the first game by director Josef Fares, who went on to lead up award-winning games like A Way Out and It Takes Two.
It's also free on the Epic Games Store this week!
Fares clearly has a penchant for unconventional control schemes, but this might just be even more unique than the co-op split screen of A Way Out and It Takes Two. Here, you're controlling two brothers at the same time - a co-op game in single player. Controlling one brother per thumbstick, you'll be setting out on a vast adventure to save your father from impending death.
It's a short game, at only a few hours long, so should be well worth trying out if you like adventure games with an emotional and touching core.
Fighting Dinosaurs With Sticks In ARK: Survival Evolved
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Now for something completely different! Have you played ARK: Survival Evolved before? Well, now might just be the time to start on PC and Xbox Game Pass. You'll receive the Ark: Ultimate Survivor Edition, which contains the original game, the Ark: Genesis Season Pass, and the Ark: Survival Evolved Season Pass. It's a hell of a lot of content.
Dropped naked on the shores of an island you know nothing about, it's up to you to survive in a world that seems utterly out to get you. There are horrifying dinosaurs you can turn into useful weapons, resources to collect and build up bases, and an absolutely enormous world to explore, making it a hugely exciting prospect for those of you who love to get chased around by beasts far bigger and stronger than yourselves.
It's the kind of game that can sucker you in for weeks on end, so be warned (or get excited)! Even Vin Diesel likes it, apparently.
Edge Of Eternity Will Take At Least 30 Hours Of Your Week To Finish
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But hey, maybe you aren't satisfied with a deep story or incredibly low odds of survival. Maybe you want both. Well, here you go: Edge of Eternity.
Released in 2021, Edge of Eternity is the JRPG experience you've been missing since whatever the last JRPG you played was. It's got turn-based battles, exquisite hairstyles, and a story in which you have to find a cure to the capital-c Corrosion. It's free on Xbox and PC Game Pass and if you're thinking value for money, it's definitely got that on its side, clocking in at an average of just over 30 hours for the main story according to HowLongToBeat.
If you're a fan of the JRPG genre or are looking for one to dive into, you could easily do worse than Edge of Eternity for free!
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That's all for today! What's planned for your weekend? I've just come off of a four-day week, so I'm going to be frantically looking around confused as to why it's the weekend right now. Can't wait.
Since Brothers is pretty short I'll need something else to whet my gaming appetite too. Maybe it'll be one of those weekends where I turn on a sports game like Madden or FIFA, blink, and then realise ten hours has passed. Or maybe, just maybe, this will be the week I finally find myself engrossed in The Witcher 3. Come to think of it, I still haven't seen Season 2 of the Netflix show, and I have RuPaul's Drag Race to catch up on.
Blimey, it's going to be a long one. Enjoy!
Featured Image Credit: Sega, Creative Assembly / Studio WildcardTopics: Free Games