What are the best free online multiplayer games on Xbox One?

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What are the best free online multiplayer games on Xbox One?

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Feb 18, 2021

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4 Games Considered

Best free online multiplayer games on Xbox One	Price	Genre	Co-Op
-- Warframe	Free	Action	Yes
-- Hawken	Free	Sci-Fi / Mechs / Action / FPS	-
-- Path of Exile	Free	Dungeon Crawler RPG	-
-- SMITE	Free	MOBA	-

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score 7 · Answer 1

Warframe

Top Pro

Fast-paced, space ninja action

Warframes are essentially space ninjas that can move incredibly fast. Just running won't be enough, so you'll have to build momentum by sliding, jumping, and rolling. Each of these moves also help you dodge enemy attacks, while allowing you to attack. It takes a while to get used to the fast pace, but when you do, it feels incredibly satisfying. See More

Top Con

Crafting new equipment takes really long

The crafting system in Warframe involves very long wait times, varying from 12 to 72 hours. The wait times can be be skipped by paying platinum (bought in the in-game store with real money), but most of the time it's not worth it. See More

Specs

Genre:Action

Co-Op:Yes

Top Pro

A huge array of weaponry

Warframe boasts over 300 weapons, split into 3 classes: Primary, Secondary, and Melee. Primary weapons are the big guns such as assault rifles, shotguns, bows, and grenade launchers. Secondary weapons are the sidearms, usually handguns, machine pistols, and thrown weapons. The melee weapons consist of swords (even katanas), hammers, fist weapons, scythes, and others. Most of the weapons have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Simulor is a weapon which creates small balls similar to black holes, which pull in and kill enemies. Unfortunately, the range is very short, so you'll have to predict enemy movements and place the shots carefully. Another example is the Zarr, a massive canon, which has two firing modes, allowing you to use it as a canon or a shotgun. The downside is that you'll get damaged by your own explosions, so you have to always keep distance. The weapons can also be upgraded, adding various elemental damage types such as radiation or corrosion. You can also improve other stats such as rate of fire, crit or reload speed. See More

Top Con

New content is poorly optimized

Warframe was released in 2012 and has received a lot of improvements over the years. This includes updating the old tilesets with new textures, which has caused a lot of performance drops. The prime example would be the Earth tileset update, which caused performance drops and made it unplayable to a lot of people, even though they could play normally before it. See More

Top Pro

Great selection of classes

In Warframe, you're able to play as one of the many Warframes, which are essentially character classes. You start off by choosing one of the three basic frames. Excalibur who specializes in swords and has an ability to equip an energy sword and shoot beams of energy. Volt who uses electricity to boost his damage, movement speed and attack speed. Or Mag, a frame specializing in magnetism and controlling the enemy. After that you can run missions to find plans for new ones, or purchase them with platinum (the real-money currency). There are currently more than 30 basic Warframes and their "Prime" variants, which are superior versions of the basic frames. See More

Top Con

Can get repetitive easily

At the very core, Warframe is a game that needs a lot of grinding. You'll always be grinding for new blueprints, relics, materials, credits or just leveling your existing equipment. After a while some of the mission types such as defense (where you fend of waves of enemies), will get really boring. Then it turns out the blueprint or relic is really rare and you'll probably have to repeat that mission about a hundred more times. Coupled with the fact that there's no real progression outside the Mastery Rank, some players may quickly lose interest. See More

Top Pro

Great contact physics

Many online titles and MMOs feature combat with poor contact physics, so it often feels like you're not actually hitting the enemies. In Warframe, hitting an enemy with a hammer will make them fly and sliding at their legs will make them trip. This makes it feel more like a single player game than an online co-op game. See More

Top Pro

You can choose your own play style

In Warframe, there are tons of weapons, both ranged and melee, that will let you fight however you like. Maybe you want to be a long-range sniper, or a massive melee beast with a huge hammer, or maybe you want to stick closer to the ninja tradition and use a sword and a bow. Whatever you prefer to play, Warframe has an option. See More

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score 3 · Answer 2

Hawken

Top Pro

Almost completely free

In Hawken, almost everything can be bought with in-game currency. Unlike most free to play games this even includes items such as cosmetic changes. While you may have to do a bit of grinding, this game can be fully played without spending a dime. See More

Top Con

Lack of story is a missed opportunity

A current trend in online gaming is that many games do not offer a single player campaign or any means to tell a story. Sadly Hawken continues this trend as it does very little to expand on its interesting setting, which is very disappointing. See More

Specs

Genre:Sci-Fi / Mechs / Action / FPS

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Top Pro

Fast-paced and fun action

Hawken breaks the idea that large heavy mechs equate to slow movement. You'll instead move at a brisk pace, constantly firing your machine guns and launching rockets at the enemy. The mechs are also equipped with jump-jets, allowing you to make very swift evasive maneuvers and hover above the battlefield, so it has a 3D tactics aspect unlike most FPS games. All of this makes the action really enjoyable. See More

Top Pro

Encourages teamplay

In a genre saturated with lone wolf games like Call of Duty, it's nice to have a game like Hawken which makes teamwork a necessity. You'll immediately notice how disadvantageous 1v2 battles are, so you'll always look to cooperate with your teammates. From things like providing covering fire to defending each other when repairing mechs, it feels nice when you can rely on your teammates on a regular basis. See More

Top Pro

Great sense of immersion

Hawken does an excellent job of making you feel like you really are in the mech. From the vibrations on the glass when you're firing off a salvo of missiles to the swaying of the cockpit when you're stomping your way through a destroyed city, there are many details that considerably add to the immersion. See More

Top Pro

No PS+ subscription required

Most PS4 games with multiplayer modes require an additional subscription called Playstation Plus. However, free games that have online multiplayer don't generally need PS+ to play online, which is a much welcomed feature for players who can't fork out money for this subscription. See More

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score 1 · Answer 3

Path of Exile

Top Pro

Great setting

Path of Exile is set in a dark fantasy world where everything is gradually becoming worse. At the foreground, you have the massive continent of Wraeclast that once was the home to a flourishing empire, but now is a place filled with the undead, evil spirits, ruins, and echoes of the past. To make matters worse, malicious entities from another dimension seek to corrupt the world and its inhabitants, giving birth to disfigured monstrosities that seek to end you. The end result is an immersive setting with dark motifs, body horror, loads of gore, and a very tense atmosphere, which is refreshing in an era dominated by family friendly content. See More

Top Con

Some aspects of the graphics look dated

While the graphics have received updates over time, a lot of the visuals still lack polish you'd see in most AAA games. Some textures are fairly low res, certain character models look weird when they have armor on, and the animations feel somewhat stiff and clunky. You probably won't notice this during active gameplay, but when you stop for a moment to look around it becomes painfully obvious. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG

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Top Pro

Feels exhilarating to play

While the gameplay might feel a little slow and clunky in the beginning, it gradually picks up speed as you progress, allowing you to swiftly destroy large groups of monsters with any skills you choose. Whether you're shooting ice arrows with your bow, freezing and shattering every enemy on-screen, or if you're cleaving enemies with a massive axe, causing them to bleed and explode on death, it just feels incredibly satisfying. See More

Top Con

Very high learning curve

There's quite a lot to learn when starting to play Path of Exile. There are the mechanics, the crafting system, and the skill gem system. However, the most intimidating factor is the massive skill tree with over 1000 skill nodes, 6 classes and 19 subclasses, allowing you to create hundreds of unique builds. Unfortunately, creating a functional build is really difficult, taking hours of theorycrafting, so it might be better to stick to guides as you're starting out, unless you're fine with possibly messing up. See More

Top Pro

Regularly updated

Every 4 months or so, Path of Exile has major updates, adding new interesting mechanics, skills, items, and various other content. As a result, every time you come back to Path of Exile after taking a break, it feels like a new game. See More

Top Con

Endgame can get really repetitive

It takes an exceptionally long time to get any wealth, useful items, or access to endgame bosses in this game. You endlessly farm the same maps, hoping you'll get lucky with a few good items, but that usually won't be the case, which can be really discouraging to keep playing. This is made worse by the fact that your character progression comes to a grinding halt near the upper 80s of character levels, requiring you to buy insanely expensive items to feel any progression at all. If you don't like grinding, you'll get quickly bored of Path of Exile. See More

Top Pro

Completely free without pay to win mechanics

You can just download and install the game without any purchases. On top of that, there are no pay-to-win mechanics and the only things locked behind paywalls are cosmetic effects, pets, and additional storage space. You can easily play the game for hundreds of hours without spending a dime. See More

Top Pro

Hundreds of possible character builds

There's a staggering amount of builds and skills you can try out in Path of Exile. There are 7 classes, 19 subclasses, 194 active skill gems, 107 support gems, and over 1000 skill nodes on the expansive skill tree. As a result, there are hundreds of possible combinations, allowing you to spend hours theory-crafting just to create the perfect build. Even if you don't feel like planning out a build from scratch, you can just look up one of the many guides online and get straight into the action. See More

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score 2 · Answer 4

SMITE

Top Pro

The least toxic community for a MOBA

The community of Smite is the nicest in the MOBA genre and has many members who are ready to provide help and coaching to new and less experienced players. See More

Top Con

Third person camera limits your view of the battlefield

Your camera is locked behind your character, so you won't have an overhead view or be able to view the entire battlefield like in most MOBAs. This makes communication much more important since you can only react to what happens in your line of sight. Without proper communication you won't be able to set up regular plays you could do in most MOBAs. See More

Specs

Genre:MOBA

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Top Pro

Beginner friendly

You get five free gods of every role at the start to help you learn the role you want. You can learn the game basics and mechanics in the Practice mode and the Jungle Practice map where all gods are available for you to try and experiment with. The community is also friendly to new players. You won't have a hard time adjusting to SMITE's mechanics and gameplay. See More

Top Con

Excessive snowballing on certain characters

If not countered or shut down early, some characters can become extremely strong, making a comeback for the other team virtually impossible. This is especially annoying for new players since they'll have to learn it the hard way. See More

Top Pro

Provides a lot of incentives to play the game often

You have the daily quests which rewards you favor and gems (in-game currency). So you don't have to worry logging in daily, like its previous predecessor, the daily log-in reward. There are gem events, which is a limited period of time in which players can get gems (valued in game currency). There's a First Win of the Day reward (FWOTD). Rewards every time you win a match, insane sale discounts. Also, Hi-Rez employees sometimes give away in-game freebies in their Twitter account. See More

Top Pro

6 great game modes and a rotating match of the day

Smite has 6 game modes and all of them are extremely popular: Arena. A 5v5 death match, no lanes or objectives. Arena is best for people who prefer intense combat over strategy. Good for impatient but independent players. Joust. A 3v3 mode, with a single lane and monsters camps on one side, and an objective lair on the other side. Surprisingly focused on teamwork, despite small teams. Everyone has a role to fill, and learning how to adjust your play for your two teammates is half the battle. Conquest. The typical 5v5 mode, three lanes, jungle, towers, objectives. Conquest is the standard MOBA game mode, requiring lots of communication. Siege. A 4v4 objective push map slightly similar to Joust, but instead of small skirmishes it has massive battles. Two lanes definitely add chaos to the mix. Assault. A 5v5 ARAM (All Random All Mid) mode where everyone gets a random hero and has to fight on a single lane. You'll often get unevenly balanced teams but nobody ever gets upset because of the sheer fun of the game mode. Clash. A 5v5 mix between Conquest and Arena modes. Additionally, there's the Match of the Day (MOTD) feature. It takes a random game mode each day and gives it a twist. This includes having no ability cooldowns, not being allowed to use basic attacks, being able to character swap and more, which can sometimes be a lot more fun than the regular game modes. See More

Top Pro

3rd person view is a unique twist on the genre

The 3rd person view used in SMITE is a big change from the top down views normally used in a MOBA. The game also utilizes analog controls, unlike the traditional point-to-move system of traditional top down MOBAs. This creates a large blind spot behind the users character and also makes sneaking behind someone for stealth attacks a viable option. See More

Top Pro

Great community events in the form of Odyssey event and Smite World Championship

Every year, SMITE releases an Odyssey event months before the Smite World Championship. Over the course of several weeks, cosmetic items are released every week until the start of the SWC. These cosmetic items will be available for purchase some time after the SWC and will be branded as "Exclusive Skins" after the event. Every purchase in the Odyssey contributes to the SWC Prize Pool. Players can obtain limited edition items when they purchase a certain amount of items. For example, the Archon Thanatos, and Ragnarok Force X Thor can be obtained by the player when they have purchased all the Odyssey Items. Additionally, every item purchase will grant an Odyssey Chest roll that can be claimed in the rewards center. This chest can contain god skins, ward skins, and voice packs . There is also a slim chance that the chest will grant exclusive in-game items. See More

Top Pro

Updates often

Smite receives new characters, maps, and balance patches quite often. So you can expect a steady stream of content to keep the gameplay fresh. See More

Top Pro

Features three ranked modes

Smite features 3 ranked modes, mainly the 1v1, the newly added 3v3, both of which utilizes the new Joust map. And the 5v5, on the Conquest map. All of which features experienced players and intense matches to satiate your search for glory and honor in the league of Smite. See More

Top Pro

Characters are derived from mythological gods

Instead of imaginary champions and heroes, Smite derives its characters from ancient mythological gods from around the world. The roster currently consists of 92 gods from the Norse, Hindu, Greek, Roman, Mayan, Egyptian, Chinese, Celtic, and Japanese mythologies. See More

Top Pro

You can use the VGS for efficient communication

SMITE uses the Voice Guide System (VGS), which is the most efficient way to communicate in a competitive game to date, providing keyboard shortcuts for preset voice commands. For example, pressing the keys V>F>1 would send out a message saying "Enemy missing left", which means an enemy has disappeared from the left lane. While pressing V>B>F would send "Enemies at the Fire Giant'" or in simpler terms, the enemies are trying to take the objective. These simple shortcuts are very convenient, allowing you to quickly exchange information with your teammates without losing focus on the game. See More

Top Pro

Hi-Rez approaches the SMITE community for feedbacks, brilliant ideas and mechanics they could use in the game

The company behind SMITE, Hi-Rez studios, actually listens to community feedback and looks for potential ideas and mechanics provided by the community. For example, the Odyssey ultimate reward in 2014, was nominated by players. The SPL Ticket Announcer Packs rewards were also picked by the community. And some in-game skins are actually created by players. The Harajuku Neith skin, The Ba5s Drop Janus skin, the Opera Bacchus skin, were all conceptualized by Smite players. And the most recent one, the Demon Bull King mechanic, which disables the towers and phoenixes in Joust to prevent camping, and the addition of the Japanese Pantheon to the game, were taken from community feedback as well. See More

Top Pro

Titans bring a twist to the standard MOBA formula

Unlike the immobile and passive bases of other MOBAs such as DOTA 2 and League of Legends, SMITE features mobile structures called Titans, which defend themselves and their teammates. See More

See All

What are the best free online multiplayer games on Xbox One?

4 Games Considered

Warframe

My Recommendation for Warframe

My Recommendation for Warframe

Fast-paced, space ninja action

Crafting new equipment takes really long

A huge array of weaponry

New content is poorly optimized

Great selection of classes

Can get repetitive easily

Great contact physics

You can choose your own play style

Hawken

My Recommendation for Hawken

My Recommendation for Hawken

Almost completely free

Lack of story is a missed opportunity

Fast-paced and fun action

Encourages teamplay

Great sense of immersion

No PS+ subscription required

Path of Exile

My Recommendation for Path of Exile

My Recommendation for Path of Exile

Great setting

Some aspects of the graphics look dated

Feels exhilarating to play

Very high learning curve

Regularly updated

Endgame can get really repetitive

Completely free without pay to win mechanics

Hundreds of possible character builds

SMITE

My Recommendation for SMITE

My Recommendation for SMITE

The least toxic community for a MOBA

Third person camera limits your view of the battlefield

Beginner friendly

Excessive snowballing on certain characters

Provides a lot of incentives to play the game often

6 great game modes and a rotating match of the day

3rd person view is a unique twist on the genre

Great community events in the form of Odyssey event and Smite World Championship

Updates often

Features three ranked modes

Characters are derived from mythological gods

You can use the VGS for efficient communication

Hi-Rez approaches the SMITE community for feedbacks, brilliant ideas and mechanics they could use in the game

Titans bring a twist to the standard MOBA formula

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