Bioshock: The Collection is free on Epic Games Store: Play it or skip it?

A screenshot of gameplay from Bioshock Infinite
(Image credit: Bioshock Infinite)

Welcome! This is a weekly series where we tell you which game the Epic Games Store is offering for free. We'll keep you updated on the free games you can get every week, and whether we think they're worth your time.

If you're looking for the best PC games, you need to check out the Epic Games Store. Not only are there plenty of great titles to purchase there, but you can also download a free game to add to your collection permanently every single week.

Even though the games are available for free, they're not any old freeware you'd find collecting dust on the App Store. Epic Games often has big-budget titles up for grabs, and this week's game is no exception. Until 11 AM ET on June 2, you can download Bioshock: The Collection to your game library, totally free of charge. Just head to the Free Games page on the Epic Games Store to get your copy.

Bioshock: The Collection: Is it worth your time?

Bioshock is an excellent, well-crafted series of first-person shooter/RPGs. In the first game, you'll dive underwater to explore the dystopian city of Rapture, and slowly piece together the story of what exactly went wrong there. As you do this, you'll be struggling to survive against the remaining population of the city, with an arsenal of pistols, shotguns and crossbows at your side.

Bioshock 2 sees you return to Rapture in the shoes of a Big Daddy, a popular type of enemy from the original. Meanwhile, Bioshock Infinite switches things up to a floating steampunk city setting.

For our money, all three games are absolutely worth your time if you're looking for thrilling gameplay, as well as a deep story that has plenty of interesting themes to chew on. Bioshock: The Collection tackles some pretty heavy subject matter, whether it's the collapse of a collectivist society in Bioshock 2, or dismantling early 20th-century American values in Bioshock Infinite.

If you've never played them, this trio of games is definitely worth a go. The free cost-of-entry means that only your time is at stake, not your wallet.

Need some more convincing? Bioshock: The Collection got an 80/100 critical rating on Metacritic, while users gave it a 7.5/10. Most complaints about this remastered collection were simply that it had not done much to improve each game, compared to their original releases. But it's hard to hold that against the games, when they were already so good to begin with. The original Bioshock came on PC and Xbox 360 in 2007, and still holds a critics' score of 96 on the site.

You have until 11 AM ET on June 2 to download Bioshock: The Collection, after which there will be another free game up for grabs.

Looking for something a little different? Check out what we're playing at Tom's Guide this week.

Millie Davis-Williams

Millie is a Deals writer at Tom's Guide specializing in deals content. She also covers the latest tech news and and creates how-to articles about everything from phones, streaming devices, and headphones to apps and video games. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gaming on her Nintendo Switch and creating digital art.