Looking for the Best Free Action Games in 2016?
Here it is: an overview of the hardest-hitting, fastest, angriest action games available for FREE on your PC! There's something for everyone in this list—an array of genres and difficulties to fit your gaming preference. Let's start with a real heavy hitter: the tons of metal monsters in World of Tanks.
1) World of Tanks
World of Tanks Cinematic Trailer
Face off against enemy tanks attacking from cover in bushes or storming straight at you in World of Tanks, conquering missions by capturing enemy bases or destroying all enemy tanks on the battlefield. Realistic tank maneuvering combined with fantastic graphics propel the action as you drive through the countryside and swivel your turret from one opponent to the next, hearing enemy rounds slam your armor if you are foolish enough to stay still or out in the open.
Target Enemy Armor and Destroy Them Before They Destroy You!
Earn resources to upgrade and customize your tanks, add new vehicles from all over the world to your platoon, and become a battlefield master! It will not be easy: this game has over a million players worldwide, each aiming to be the best. The Imperial Steel sequel is coming soon, so get ready by practicing on the blasted battlefields now!
2) Fistful of Frags
Fistful of Frags Gameplay Trailer
Fight the local gunslingers to bring them your personal kind of justice. Fire bullets from your six-shooter, arrows from your bow, or just swing your trusty fists and throw in an occasional boot to the head—these guys all deserve it! Just be ready when you are heavily out-gunned...
Two Pistols Are Better Than One
Fistful of Frags features fast fighting amidst a world of highly-detailed and creative settings: jump on the train and blast robbers, run through town to coldcock drunkards, rampage every corner of the wild west and show them all who's boss! The game features deathmatch-style Shootout mode, team-play mode to achieve objectives with other players, and even a harrowing Break Bad mode where teams of players compete against each other in massive deathmatch shootouts.
3) Brawlhalla
Brawlhalla Open Beta Trailer
Question: Can 3,000,000 players be wrong? Find out for yourself! Jump into the action in Brawlhalla, a fast-paced, power-packed 2D platform fighter that redefines its genre. You simple goal is to beat the crap out of everyone! Simple, intuitive controls instantly allow smooth movement and fighting.
Keep Smashing Until You Stand Alone
The cute appearance of the game characters is deceptive: they are killing machines! Gain experience in combat to level-up your hero and win more glorious battles. Choose from instant-action free-for-alls or tiered challenge fights to advance to new heights. Prefer to use a game controller?--no problem! Brawlhalla supports multiple controllers. The game is frequently updated and growing all the time!
4) Double Action: Boogaloo
Double Action: Boogaloo "In One Second" Trailer
WOW! Double Action: Boogaloo steps WAY out of the ordinary shooter and snatches for its own handfuls of coolness from the best action movies have to offer. The combat is, of course, the centerpiece of this gorgeous game, but who wants to just stand and shoot? Where's the shooting while leaping through the air?--the flipping and falling and fancy footwork the best action heroes shows us in the flicks? I'll tell you where: RIGHT HERE.
Yeah... I'm Cool Even While Falling
The controls take a little practice, but in short time, you'll be flipping in the game and for the game. The beauty of the graphics is outshined only by the amazing effect of what you can do in Double Action: Boogaloo. And if you think it can't get any cooler, check this out: this game was created by a huge community of artists and designers, and they are STILL calling for more to contribute to the content as they continue to expand!
5) Block and Load
Block and Load Tutorial Trailer
Block and Load may sound simple, but it is not your average shoot-em-up. Teams work in two phases of competition: build and attack. Your objective is the destruction of the enemy base and defense of yours, and the build phase lets players put up defensive blocks, traps, turrets and more to defend against the enemy. But not so fast!--the defenses cost money, and you'll have to work within a budget, deciding as a team what to build and where to put it.
Defend Your Base by Strategically Building Blocks, Turrets, and Traps!
Block and Load beckons to action-lovers who want more than just the action; strategy, teamwork and a good sense of budgeting make this a tension-builder to die for. Heroes range from ninjas to rambos to mad scientists, each with their specialty, but all effective once mastered. Be prepared for the unexpected in this absorbing world—your enemies are already tunneling!
6) APB Reloaded
APB Reloaded "Goes Free to Play" Trailer
APB Reloaded aims high and hits the mark. No gamer is excluded by their attitude here: you can choose to enforce the law or break it hard. A comprehensive character creation system allows for superbly detailed, individualized heroes...or villains, take your pick. Your objective is to make war on the other side. Cruise through the city on foot or on screeching tires, fire every weapon you can find, and send the other side to an early grave.
Law Enforcement Teams Prepare to Scour Scum from the City
Make no mistake about the content of APB Reloaded: the Mature rating is no joke. Definitely dark and splattered with violence, this is NOT for your kids to enjoy! Adults, however, who want to open fire on the law-enforcers or the law-breakers will LOVE the speed, intensity, and outright coolness here!
7) ARK: Survival of the Fittest
ARK: Survival of the Fittest Launch Trailer
ARK: Survival of the Fittest poses challenges not for the weak of heart. In a world that's used as a species arena, 72 opponents face off against each other in a bid for domination. Complicating this setting are the marauding monsters and world-changing evolution events that keep players on their toes every minute. You'll want heavy firepower, but you'll have to start with less formidable weaponry—you know, like a sharp stick...
Hunting Dinosaurs Proves Difficult With Nothing but a Spear
This game is HUGE in every way: the graphics are slick and detailed to convincing realism, the combat is so fast you'll sometimes only see a blur, the challenges are so massive you'll want a notebook, and the potential for greatness looms above all as the ultimate prize for your species—survival. Gamers might mistakenly think this game will be slow when first starting it, but go ahead and hold your breath, because you'll be running for your life in no time.
8) Street Warriors Online
Street Warriors Online Mixed Trailer
Storm straight into vicious gang fights in an underground society where lawless thugs clash and leave chaos and blood in their wake. Easy movement and control blend with outright beatings, and there's no room for weak stomachs when you're kicking the guy you've already beaten down. Throw cans and other projectiles into the warring crowd, punch and slam, smash and kick until nobody moves. Customized characters choose from sundry street outfits just to get them bloodied in the next brawl.
Thugs, Punks, Hoodlums and Hooligans Battle in a Stadium
Street Warriors Online spends little time on complicated plotlines, strategy contemplations, or anything that stands in the way of what really matters here: kicking butt. A growing player base calls for add-ons and expansions, new characters and accessories, and more killer locations, and Crazy Rocks Studios is responding. This is the perfect game to work out that lingering stress!
9) Path of Exile
Path of Exile: Ascendancy Official Cinematic Trailer
Dark and beautiful style abounds in Grinding Gear Games masterpiece of action, Path of Exile: Ascendancy. Stunning visual effects support the excitement of combat in mysterious dungeons and halls of beasts. Specialized character creation fuels the furious charge through monsters and demons and lets players personalize their hero before facing forces of darkness and death.
A Ring of Fire Forces Close Combat with a Demon
Lighting, sound and special effects dazzle in this game, but you won't have much time to focus on anything but surviving. Master weapons and magic to face stronger, faster and deadlier enemies. While plenty of free games promise it, few actually deliver a truly free game experience, but game creators promise that Path of Exile “is completely free and will never be 'pay-to-win.'”
10) War Thunder
War Thunder "Victory is Ours" Live Action Trailer
Gaijin Entertainment hit an action home-run with War Thunder. Participate in major battles from World War II and the Korean War, both on the ground and in the air. Players compete and cooperate in the action by flying fighters and bombers, driving tanks, and engaging the enemy in the most intense battles from the era.
Take to the Skies in Blazing Aerial Combat Action
The live action trailer is barely more realistic than the stunningly detailed vehicles and airships that blaze across the scene—easily the finest imagery of the WW2/Korean period ever seen in a game. The realism is gripping, and the fast action is thrilling! Be ready to get hooked on this one: War Thunder is as engrossing as anything you will ever experience.
11) Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 "Free to Play" Trailer
There's no denying how cool it is to blow up an unsuspecting target, and this game plays it up in style. Your mission is to compete against other players in a competitive first-person shooter offering 9 unique character classes. Featuring stylized animation over realism, Team Fortress 2 uses moments of fun to punctuate the flow of running, shooting, detonating, and assassinating your way through all comers.
Players Target Each Other in a Death-Match Style Shootout
The beauty of this FPS is the multiple class options: each character has strengths and weaknesses, so players who prefer stealth over strength or would rather use technology than tactics can find exactly who they prefer to take into combat. Smooth and sleek, this game masterfully uses pacing and style to enhance every step in every fight. I'm already hooked, so I'll be seeing you here... in my sights!
12) Dirty Bomb
Dirty Bomb London Bridge Gameplay Trailer
After a mysterious attack leaves devastation everywhere, mercenary teams in London scramble to recover whatever secrets and resources they can find, fighting each other along the way. In this multiplayer FPS, lead your team through London and defend against opposing teams, playing in deathmatch style or mission-based scenarios. Urban combat calls for skill in hiding, sniping, and quick movement from one cover point to the next.
Mercenary Teams Scour London for Any Available Resources
With graphics a hybrid of realism and stylized animation, Dirty Bomb finds a good balance between action, character, and atmosphere. Newsflash: the industry scuttlebutt is that additions and changes to the game's developers and publisher have lead to a new name: Extraction. Look for it under either name, and you'll find a satisfying and suspenseful urban combat shooter.
13) PlanetSide 2
PlanetSide 2 Offical Cinematic Trailer
Touted as a “massive-scale” shooter...and it is! Set in a sci-fi future, players choose from three opposing factions and pick one of six character classes to join forces with others online. Missions involve fighting on foot, in vehicles, and in the air, and you'll need speed and skill to survive!
Close Enough to Kill … or Be Killed
Controlling the game takes practice, but it is worth the time—fighting on massive battlefields leaves no time for mistakes. The game is realistic in display, but the alien world settings warp the fighting into a surreal experience that is both breathtaking and thrilling. Ground vehicle and airship combat moves at a blistering pace that challenges the quickest. You'll need a rest after these fights!
14) Hawken
Hawken Cockpit Gameplay Trailer
Enter into combat on the scale of the machine in Hawken: War is a Machine. Fire guns and missiles at incoming enemy mechs to progress to your next match—match by match, you'll earn awards and new, more powerful weapons and weight-classes for your death machines. Combat flies at the speed of war and as relentlessly as death itself in the gritty, eerie landscapes and cityscapes of the planet Illal.
Incoming Enemy Missiles Wreak Havoc on Mechanized Metal
Hits in Hawken come loud and hard, stunning in their contact with your armor. Outfitting and configuring your mechs becomes as exciting as the combat once you've been gunned down a few times and really FEEL the need to get it right.
15) No More Room in Hell
No More Room in Hell Release Trailer
The simplest mission ever—SURVIVE--is not easy when zombies overrun the world. No More Room in Hell is a Half-Life 2 mod created as a salute to George Romero's and other classic zombie flicks. Hammering boards on doors and windows won't help you for long; there's no other option than to find some weapons and start destroying the brain-eating undead.
“When There's No More Room in Hell, the Dead Will Walk the Earth.”
As straightforward as a bullet, this game puts you straight into the action and won't let you rest—after all, the dead do not sleep! Of all the things to kill in a game, zombies are arguably the most fun, and this game is full of them! Players can co-op in teams up to 8 members for maximum gore.
16) World of Warships
World of Warships Cinematic Trailer
Engage the enemy at sea and fight hard for victory... or be destroyed! World of Warships puts the power or the navy at your fingertips as you command destroyers, battleships and aircraft carriers against fearless foes. Controls are moderately complicated, but training videos abound to move you quickly along, and the pace is fast and the action is red-hot in these watery theatres of war. The visuals are incredible, and the battles are truly epic!
Ships Guns Pivot and Tilt to Fire Heavy Shells at Enemy Vessels
The detail in the graphics is as high-quality as it comes, and effects are frighteningly realistic as explosions rock ships and fires erupt on deck. Captain your vessel against enemies on the surface, under the water, and in the air. Obtain total victory or lose liberty and life!
17) Warframe
Warframe Cinematic Trailer
In the sci-fi setting of Warframe, you must fight and destroy your enemy, the Grineer, who are flooding battlefields with terrifying armies of clones. As a member of the war-master species Tenno, you must forge your weapons for both melee and ranged combat, then fight alone or with teams online, to cut and crush the Grineer legions without pause or mercy!
Configure Your Warrior for Optimal Battlefield Performance
Character specification quickly blooms into tons of choices, demanding tactical attention. Blinding fast action electrifies this highly stylized and gorgeously rendered game.
Enemy Clones Are Ugliest When Fought Hand-to-Hand
Be warned: this game is addictive. Looking for a sequel?--this IS a sequel... to the original Dark Sector, also available on your PC.
18) Tribes: Ascend
Tribes: Ascend Gameplay Teaser Trailer
Touted as “the world's fastest” shooter, Tribes: Ascend certainly runs at heart-stopping speed. Fight enemy teams in 5 gameplay modes. You can run, jump, jet, and even ski – or drive one of the game's three awesome combat vehicles. The movement freedom is exhilarating; it also makes enemy soldiers more formidable as they jump and jet away from your crosshairs!
Beware Snipers and Surprise Attacks When Advancing on Defensive Positions
Team action works best in Tribes: Ascend, but those with skill and courage can go solo. The locations are exhaustively huge, beautiful and detailed, and filled with flying troops and speeding bullets! This game has a special Spectator option that allows for viewing of specific player actions and stats.
19) Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age
Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age Cinematic Trailer
Face off with evil, living and dead, natural and unnatural, in Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age. Set in the late 19th century, this shooter puts you at arms-length to terror and slings action at every turn. Play as one of a 4-member team, using a customized character to defeat the creatures in the dark.
Fast Action Gets Too Close for Comfort
This game is dark and gritty, filled with amazing locations to blast bad guys and scares that come at unexpected moments—it will surely keep you on high alert! Just when you think you've gotten the hang of a setting, the game's content regeneration system throws you a curveball and changes every enemy, so you can NEVER know what to expect!
20) Riders of Icarus
Riders of Icarus Official Open Beta Cinematic Trailer
Take action to amazing new heights in Riders of Icarus. From the capital city of Hakanas, you embark on quests to earn rewards, treasures and weapons, and the most important—beasts. Train your captured creatures as pets, guardians, steeds of the earth or the air, and ride your dragon into combat with fantastic creatures!
Ride Your Dragon into Battle with Beings Beyond Imagination
Riders of Icarus features a vast world of adventure and combat that challenges your boldness, skill and strategy. Fights here get messy—dropped weapons, falls and fumbles—but monsters don't wait for you to recover: you've got to move fast and fight hard! Capture and train beasts from a huge range of types and return to battle stronger than before!
The Final Word
The explosion of the gaming industry has made leaps and bounds since the first, old-school, coin-operated video games appeared in the arcades of the 1980s, and no longer do avid gamers like me have to spend hard cash on a game to install at home. The Internet and the intense competition among game creators has brought us to a modern reality where fast, smart, beautiful action games can be played by virtually anyone, anywhere, anytime... for free! Our only problem is there are now SO MANY games to choose from that we get lost in the jungle of possibilities. Action games come in all forms to satisfy all gamers, and these 20 free PC games prove themselves worthy of devoted hours at the computer.
If you'd like to check out reviews for more PC action games, check out some of these as well:
1) 11 Great Action Adventure Games to Play in 2016
2) 11 Best PC Games of 2015 That Every Gamer Should Check Out
3) 11 Good PC Games on Steam (2015)
4) 13 Best MMO Games in 2015 and 2016
5) 11 New RPG Games Coming Out in 2016
Whatever you do, take advantage of this Golden Age of Gaming without buying an expensive gaming system or forking over big bucks for a single game. Instead, get FREE games for your PC... and enjoy the heart-pounding action!
