I'll keep this brief. We're busy people. Not so much because we've places to go and people to see - please, remember there's a deadly virus that's raging, so stay safe and ideally stay home - but certainly because there are games to play.
We're fairly fond of a freebie around these parts, and a rather massive one's just dropped from League of Legends makers, Riot. Games The studio's much-hyped new 5-vs-5 shooter, Valorant, officially released just the other day, making this weekend the first weekend that anyone can take it for a spin. A multiplayer game that's heavy on teamwork and tactics, Valorant's been getting good reviews - PC Gamer awarded it 90, and JeuxVideo (in French) says if you're a fan of the genre, this one "deserves your full attention".
Valorant is free to play on Windows PC, and seems perfect for fans of Overwatch and CS:GO, who might fancy a little twist on familiar formulas. You can check it out via the game's official website.
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As always, the Epic Games Store has a freebie just waiting for you to click over to it and make it yours. This week, it's the turn of Ghost Town Games' phenomenal multiplayer broil 'em up Overcooked. If you've never witnessed the sides-aching hilarity of an Overcooked session gone wonderfully wrong - by which I mean, perfectly right - then, please, do pay a visit to the EGS and do what needs to be done to get this one for keeps. A few clicks, and there you go: the Onion King's a pal for life.
Football fans who already own eFootball PES 2020 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or PC - last year's entry in Konami's long-running Pro Evolution Soccer series - can, right now, download the game's UEFA Euro 2020 content, absolutely for free. But what does that mean, I hear you ask. Lemme tell ya...
As part of the game's Data Pack 7.0, the UEFA Euro 2020 content adds a whole heap of stuff to eFootball PES 2020. And yes, it's all based on the continent-spanning football tournament that, sadly, hasn't been able to happen this year due to the (ongoing!) coronavirus pandemic (please, stay home). That's all 55 UEFA national teams, with full kits and complete squads; recreations of London's Wembley Stadium and St Petersburg Stadium; other featured players and themed matchdays; and the official ball for the tournament's group stage.
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And, obviously, the update adds the official UEFA Euro 2020 tournament mode, too - meaning you can recreate the whole thing from the comfort of your home, without so much as a soggy meat pie or overpriced pint of weak lager in sight. Data Pack 7.0 also adds a selection of 'Moment Series Legends' to eFootball PES 2020, including Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pirès and Íker Casillas Fernández. I'm not sure what that mode is all about - but I'm sure if you play the game, this is a nice thing.
It's also worth adding that eFootball PES 2020 is on Xbox Game Pass for Xbox One, so if you're a subscriber, you should be able to check out this new content for, well, no extra money on top of what you already pay for the service. And speaking of Game Pass, reminder that Red Dead Redemption 2 is on the service right now, if Western Epics are your thing. Other recent additions include Moving Out, Minecraft Dungeons, Streets of Rage 4 and Gears Tactics - click those links to find our reviews!
On the topic of subscription services, a gentle reminder that the 'free' games on PS+ right now are Call of Duty: World War II and Star Wars Battlefront II - should you not have downloaded them yet. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers might have missed that new SNES titles have been added to that service recently, too - Wild Guns, Operation Logic Bomb and Panel de Pon are waiting for you, likewise a new NES addition in the shape of Rygar.
But for something completely different, you could head to GOG where, until June 7th at 1pm UTC, you can grab Total Annihilation: Commander Pack for free. That'll get you the original Total Annihilation, a strategy classic from 1997, along with its two expansion packs, Battle Tactics and The Core Contingency. Click to GOG to get it, while it's available - and there are other savings to be had there right now, such as Life Is Strange: Before the Storm at 80% off.
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GOG's description of Total Annihilation: Commander Pack reads as follows: "What began as a conflict over the transfer of consciousness from flesh to machine has escalated into a war that has decimated a million worlds. The Core and the Arm have all but exhausted the resources of the entire galaxy in their struggle for domination. Choose your side, build an army, and crush your enemies on huge, three-dimensional battlefields. And remember, there is no such thing as 'too many guns'!"
Finally, something curious but compelling - Signs of the Sojourner: Prologue is the free-to-play first chapter in a game that uses card-based deck building to form a branching narrative experience. You match emotion cards to push the story forward. The game's official blurb reads: "navigate conversations in a colorful world reminiscent of our own. Learn and grow through the cards you choose to play. Who will you become? What will you leave behind?"
So if that sounds up your street, head to Steam to download Echo Dog Games' Signs of the Sojourner: Prologue for precisely zero pounds and pence. And if you like what you see, the full game can be unlocked for £15.49.
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Is that it? It's never it, is it? There are bound to be more freebies out there. I could say, hey, Call of Duty: Warzone is a thing, so too Fortnite. But be fair. You know.
Featured Image Credit: Team17, Riot Games, KonamiTopics: Valorant, Xbox, Epic Games store, Nintendo, PlayStation