Top 5 Best Free-To-Play Multiplayer Games To Try Out In 2023

Free-to-play games usually do not offer a fair and balanced experience if you do not pay, however, there are some exceptions to this rule.

In this article, Gurugamer is going to showcase the top 5 best free-to-play multiplayer games to try out in 2023.

1. Destiny 2

Destiny 2 is an action MMO set in a single, evolving world that you and your friends can join anywhere, anytime, absolutely free. It offers several great dungeons and raids as well as a superb PvP. The game itself is free, but contains many paid DLCs.

The gunplay is fantastic. Guns pack a proper punch. The handling feels solid, and there is nothing better than sniping another guardian in the head. The movement slightly differs from class to class but the mix of dodges and jumps provides more flexibility and a greater skill gap. There are certainly some balancing needed, however all in all I would say the gunplay is great.

The dungeons and raids are a great combination of puzzles, combat, parkour and boss fights. To finish a raid you pretty much have to have a mic and communicate with your team, but as long as your team consists of your friends its gonna be a great time. However, if your team is filled with randoms, prepare for a horrible time.

2. Apex Legends

Apex Legends is one of the best ‘feeling’ fps games on the market, everything is tight from the looting, to movement, the gunplay, and so much more. Being one of the few games standing after the battle royal craze, Apex Legends proves it is here to stay.

Gunplay in Apex Legends is near perfect for any FPS game period. With 24 weapons available to choose from, each feeling as great to use as the last. Every gun in Apex is deadly if wielded correctly, this is because each gun feels skillful and is a joy to shoot. There is just a feeling of having the shooting in this game just ‘click’, and once it does you’ll never look at another FPS the same. The variety of recoil patterns, enjoyable to master bullet drop, etc. all combine to provide the core of Apex’s masterfully crafted gunplay. When you lose a fight in this game it doesn’t feel cheap, it feels warranted you know the mistakes you made. If there is one word to describe the feeling of gunplay in Apex Legends it is skill.

Arguably one of the most popular aspects of Apex Legends is its movement system, and how fluid it feels to traverse the map. Mastering the gunplay is only one half of the battle, the best players are able to zip through the map in tandem with near-perfect aim.

3. Warframe

Warframe is an MMO, co-op, third-person shooter, taking place in our very own solar system, at an unimaginably distant point in time, where two major factions vie for control in the aftermath of a great war. Players take on the role of the Tenno – ancient warriors now needed more than ever to keep balance within the universe and protect innocents from the new war they find themselves in. The Tenno operate the titular Warframes, battlesuits with exceptional combat prowess, agility, and space magic.

After choosing your Warframe, you’re dropped into a tutorial where you learn the basics of Warframe’s excellent combat and movement systems. You get a primary, secondary, and melee weapon, and can switch between them on the fly. Each Warframe also has four unique abilities, ie. space magic. Although the game doesn’t have a combo meter, it is very evocative of Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and similar hack-n-slash games. The movement is cathartic, as you can glide through the air, run on walls, slide, twirl, and generally parkour all over the place. It’s a lot of fun.

After the tutorial, you get your very own spaceship, from which you’ll be able to fly across the galaxy and participate in the abundant content Warframe offers. You can visit all of the planets in the Solar system, and then some. While some of them have open-world areas, the majority of Warframe’s game modes you’ll get to play will be standalone missions, such as Survival, Defense, Assassination, Excavation, etc. As you do so, you will be awarded crafting resources and blueprints on which to use them, usually for crafting new weapons and Warframes. You’ll also be awarded Mods, which you can equip on your equipment to modify its various stats.

4. Path of Exile

PoE found the perfect medium place between Diablo 3's smooth/satisfying but somewhat shallow style, and Diablo 2's clunkier but more complex and deep style.

Path Of Exile Player Count — Path of Exile

Like Diablo and any other ARPG, PoE is fundamentally about the classic grindy gameplay loop of "kill monsters to acquire gear to increase your power so you can kill higher level monsters to get more gear to increase your power level more etc etc etc". The trick to these games is to have a wide variety of different builds and playstyles so people can keep grinding without feeling bored. PoE delivers this in spades.

The class system with the passive tree, Ascendancy classes that you unlock via in-game challenge puzzle levels, and other decisions you make in the campaign that effect your character allow for an insane level of complexity, without even addressing the gear. Want to be a spellcaster, but who focuses almost exclusively on melee attacks? You can do that. Want to be a physical brute that focuses on summoning minions? You can do that too. Just about any combination you can imagine can be made, though obviously there's no guarantee it'll be any good.

Add to this the gearing system with it's skill gem sockets/links, and the actual gear itself with all the incredibly deep and complex crafting mechanics, and you can make a truly mind-boggling array of different characters. Coming from Diablo 3 where there's usually about a dozen or maybe two dozen "good" builds in any given season, I was flabbergasted by PoE where you can easily find hundreds if not more. The difficulty isn't in finding a decent build, it's in picking one amongst so many options.

5. Genshin Impact

Genshin Impact is a free-to-play action RPG developed and published by miHoYo. The game features a fantasy open-world environment and action-based combat system. The aforementioned system is the highlight of the game, with players using elemental magic that reacts with each other and character switching. The game is one of the most successful titles in the last 3 years, with a huge expansive open-world map that expands with each update.

It definitely draws from BotWs bag, but it's fairly genuine in its attempt at imitation. The game is fun and runs great. It has excellent voice work, and the characters are a lot of fun.