Enlisted

Enlisted is a free-to-play World War II shooter that stands out from the crowded military genre by making you an entire infantry unit instead of a lone-wolf gunman. Rather than dropping you in as a single isolated soldier, you lead a whole squad into battle—directly controlling one soldier while issuing quick orders to your AI squadmates trailing behind you. The genius of this system is how it handles death: when your active soldier takes a lethal hit, your camera immediately snaps into the eyes of a surviving squad member right where they stand. This mechanic floods massive World War II battlefields with hundreds of troops, giving every single spawn an unusual degree of tactical staying power, adaptability, and immediate revenge potential before you're ever forced back to the main deploy screen.

Squad specialization is where the game’s tactical depth truly opens up. You aren't just running around with generic riflemen; you are tailoring squads built around engineers, radio operators, anti-tank specialists, tank crews, and pilots. Engineers in particular completely dictate the pace of battle—a single well-placed rally point or sandbag fortification can single-handedly alter the flow of a match and turn a losing point into an impenetrable line. Meanwhile, tanks and aircraft aren't quarantined off in separate game modes. Armor rumble down cobblestone streets and close-air-support strikes rain down from above while infantry battle room-to-room, forcing you to constantly read the sky, watch open roads, and respect cover rather than treating every match like a basic corridor duel. The overarching research trees span four major World War II factions, offering an astounding library of historical firearms, artillery, and armored vehicles to unlock.

However, all that grand scale comes with a serious, undeniable grind. Upgrading individual soldiers, unlocking high-tier weaponry, and maxing out squad perks takes a massive time investment, heavily pushed by premium subscriptions and paid squad packs designed to speed up the process. While matchmaking attempts to tier teams based on gear strength, gear imbalances still show up regularly. The AI squadmates are another mixed bag: on a good run, they will lock down a room and draw enemy fire; on a bad run, they will happily line up in an open doorway and get your whole unit wiped out by a single machine-gun nest. PlayBound strongly recommends Enlisted for its ambitious squad mechanic and chaotic, high-population battlefields—just go in knowing the free progression loop demands real patience. Since the official PC launcher is available directly from the developer, you can jump straight into the breach without running through Steam.