Original verdict
7.6/ 10VerdictA genuinely distinctive WWII shooter whose squad mechanic and scale make it the standout free infantry FPS, held back by grind-heavy progression.
Enlisted has always been the WWII shooter I keep coming back to and never quite know how to recommend without a footnote. On its best day it does something no other free infantry FPS pulls off, and on its worst it reminds you exactly who publishes it. After returning to it through the Reinforced relaunch, I am more convinced than ever that the good outweighs the frustrating, but only just, and only if you know what you are signing up for.
The pitch is simple and brilliant. You do not control one soldier; you control a squad of up to nine, directly steering one while the rest follow orders, and you can hot-swap to any of them the instant your current body drops. Die, and you are not sent to a respawn screen and a loading loop; you snap into the next man in your squad and keep fighting. It changes the entire texture of a WWII shooter, and it is the reason Enlisted is worth your attention.
Gameplay: one death is never the end
That squad mechanic is the whole game, and it is fantastic. Getting cut down by a machine gunner used to mean a trip to the menu; here it means dropping into your rifleman two meters back and immediately trying to flank the position that just killed you. Battles feel relentless and dense because the map is never suddenly empty of you. It rewards aggression, tactical thinking about which soldier to leave where, and a kind of chess-like squad management most shooters never attempt.
Combine that with genuinely large battles across historical theaters, Normandy, Berlin, Stalingrad, Tunisia, the Pacific, and Enlisted generates atmosphere that bigger-budget shooters routinely miss. Bolt-action rifles crack, tanks grind through rubble, aircraft strafe overhead, and the AI squadmates fill out the chaos so a match feels populated even when the human count is modest. The gunplay itself is weighty and satisfying, favoring deliberate engagements over twitch reflexes.
It is not flawless. The AI teammates are useful but dim, and there are moments where a bot squadmate wanders into a wall while you are trying to hold a point. Vehicle balance can swing games, and a well-flown plane or a heavy tank in the wrong match can feel oppressive. But the core loop, push, die, respawn into your own squad, push again, is one of the most quietly innovative things in the free shooter space.
Content and progression: the grind is the catch
Enlisted is generous with content. Multiple fronts, a steady stream of squads, weapons, and vehicles to unlock, and enough historical breadth that you can specialize in a campaign that appeals to you. The research and upgrade system gives you a long ladder to climb, and for the first stretch that climb is engaging.
Then the grind reveals itself. Progression is heavily gated, and without a premium account or targeted purchases, unlocking the squads and gear you actually want takes a real investment of hours. The game hands you research tokens and daily rewards to keep you logging in, and to be fair, that structure is more honest than a pure paywall. But there is no pretending it away: the pace is tuned to make premium look attractive, and the higher you climb, the slower the free lane gets.
Where Enlisted earns credit is that it is not egregiously pay-to-win in the way some free shooters are. Premium squads and vehicles are strong, and they show up in matchmaking in ways that can feel unfair, but skill and smart squad play still decide most fights. You are buying time and convenience more than raw victory. Compared to some of its stablemates, this is a comparatively fair economy, which is a low bar the game clears by a comfortable margin.
