Free games are always a welcome addition to any online service, especially as the price of them keeps climbing every year. While it used to be enough for an online subscription to just offer the bare minimum, times have changed, and now Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch Online, and PlayStation Plus are all competing to be worthy of their yearly subscription price. While Xbox has integrated its online service with its stellar Game Pass system, and Switch Online offers a slew of classic NES and SNES titles, PlayStation Plus offers a healthy in between, giving subscribers three free games a month. And while this system isn't always worth the money, October's selection of free PS Plus games is certainly a step in the right direction.
Over the last few months, PS Plus subscribers have become more and more disheartened with the free games on offer. For those playing on PS4 still, they're offered two free games per month, while those on PS5 get three. Though this year has had plenty of great offerings, like Persona 5 Strikers, God of War, FIFA 22, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot 4, these titles are few and far between. But October's free games break that trend, giving subscribers three distinct, excellent games.
October's PS Plus Offerings Are a Big Step In The Right Direction
For the first time in a long time, each of PS Plus' October games is a show-stopper. On the PS4 side of things, PS Plus subscribers will get to download and keep both Injustice 2, and Superhot. While these games certainly aren't new, coming out in 2017 and 2016 respectively, they more than hold up today, and they're absolutely worth picking up if gamers haven't done so already.
Injustice 2, for those unaware, is a fighting game set in the DC universe. With NetherRealm at the helm, Injustice 2 offers some of the tightest fighting mechanics in the genre, and delivers a surprisingly engaging and unique story that centers on the DC heroes having to team up with the villains to fight off Brainiac's horde of robotic skeleton monsters. Injustice 2 has a packed roster, with characters from across the entire spectrum of DC comics, and its DLC brings even more into the fray, including crossover characters like The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Superhot, on the other hand, is an incredibly unique first-person shooter in which time only moves when the player does. The graphics are super simplistic and the mechanics themselves aren't too complex, but the unique premise and the strategic gameplay make Superhot one of the most addictive FPS games out there. Though the story mode isn't too long, players can drop hours into the game's many challenge modes, each of which tests the player in different settings and contexts.
PlayStation 5 owners get another free game on top of Superhot and Injustice 2, and it's another superb title. PS Plus subscribers can also download and keep Hot Wheels Unleashed, a lighthearted arcade racer that dropped just a year ago. As far as PS Plus offerings go, Hot Wheels Unleashed is a pretty impressive one, having earned surprisingly great reviews on launch and having only released a year ago. Each of October's PS Plus free games offers a distinct experience, with racing, fighting, and FPS fans all having a critically-lauded experience to dive into on October 4, setting a high bar for PlayStation Plus moving forward.
