You might not love the idea of paying for a PlayStation Plus subscription, but that R750 a year includes a massive bounty of free games.
Each and every month, Sony trots out a new selection of games you can download for free all month and then keep and play forever, so long as you maintain your Plus subscription. You’ll always find at least a couple of PlayStation 4 picks, along with games for PS3 and Vita as well.
Looking for a heads-up on which games you can grab right now and soon ahead? We’ve got you covered: these are SA’s PlayStation Plus freebies for July 2017, which will be available to download starting 4 July. And if you didn’t grab June’s free downloads yet, then scroll further down for a quick look at those titles.
FREE ON PLAYSTATION PLUS IN JUNE
Until Dawn (PS4)
Until Dawn is a big bundle of horror film and gaming clichés all wrapped up together… and it’s great. It’s an interactive movie of sorts that tosses you into terrifying situations, with stellar scares, real consequences for your actions and decisions, and plenty of reason to revisit and change up your run. It’s much better than it has any right to be, honestly.
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Series (PS4)
HBO’s Game of Thrones is back in a matter of weeks, so if you haven’t played Telltale’s episodic game adaptation, now is pretty much the best time. You’ll get the entire six-episode haul for free, and the storyline kicks off during the infamous Red Wedding and fills in some gaps alongside the TV story. And the real actors reprise their parts, too! We liked it, even if the season’s ending falls short. Will there be another?
That’s You (PS4)
Here’s something different: you’ll need a smartphone or tablet to play That’s You, which is the first of Sony’s new PlayLink titles. With a touch device as your controller, you can play this irreverent party game, which has you doodle, answer questions, snap photos, and more. And this one is free for Plus members into October, so you have time. No rush.
Tokyo Jungle (PS3)
You might’ve missed this little gem from the PS3 days, but Tokyo Jungle is a cult favourite. Sony’s offbeat game takes place after the fall of man, when animals of all sorts take over the deserted Tokyo. This survival-centric affair blends action, stealth, and strategy and ends up with a decidedly unique concoction.
Darkstalkers Resurrection (PS3)
Capcom’s Darkstalkers has always lived in the shadow of Street Fighter and Marvel vs Capcom, and if you’ve lived the fighting franchise, you can catch up with Darkstalkers Resurrection. You’ll get the PSone entries Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge and Darkstalkers 3, both updated for the PS3 era with enhanced graphics, online play, and more.
Element4l (Vita)
PlayStation Plus’ free Vita games haven’t been terribly exciting of late, but Element4l is truly worth a look. This indie platformer has been praised on PC, and now you’ll be able to play it on the go on Vita, harnessing the abilities of fused-together elements to overcome puzzling challenges.
Don’t Die Mr. Robot (Vita/PS4)
Don’t Die Mr. Robot might not look like much by comparison, but it actually received pretty solid reviews. This frantic arcade-style experience finds your little robot chomping up fruit, which unfortunately causes him to explode – but that also kills the approaching baddies, so you’ll just do it over and over again. This one’s playable on PS4 too, if you please.
STILL AVAILABLE UNTIL 3 JULY
Life is Strange (PS4)
Life would be awfully odd if you could rewind time to change your actions and those of the people around you, right? Well, that’s probably especially true when the power is in the hands of a teenage girl, as see in the episodic Life is Strange, a powerful and emotional adventure in which best intentions can go massively awry. The first episode is already free, but you can grab the whole first season as well — before the end of June.
Killing Floor 2 (PS4)
Less concerned with emotional reactions and more focused on… well, killing, Tripwire’s Killing Floor 2 is a first-person blaster that finds you mowing down waves upon waves of zombies. There isn’t much plot to speak of, but if you just need an excuse to pump out thousands of rounds, then Killing Floor 2 ought to suffice – especially for free.
Neon Chrome (PS4/Vita)
Not enough shooting for you? Well, maybe Neon Chrome can fill the balance. This top-down, cyberpunk-themed shooter finds you shooting your way through floor after floor of a robot-infested skyscraper, and the pumping tunes and cool hero enhancements make it a compelling jaunt. This one’s free on both PS4 and Vita in June.
Abyss Odyssey (PS3)
ACE Team makes some distinctively weird games (see Zeno Clash and Rock of Ages), and Abyss Odyssey looks like it’s right in the same ballpark. This side-scrolling action roguelike has deeper fighting mechanics than most platformers and sets your heroes off into stunning, surreal fantasy worlds. Reviews were mixed, but at the very least this PS3 pick will feel very unique.
WRC 5: FIA World Rally Championship (PS3)
Rally up! WRC 5: FIA World Rally Championship is a couple years old at this point, so the names and locales may not be fully up to date, but this authentic rally racer should still be well worth a look for anyone still rocking a PS3 at this point. You’ll find 13 tracks here across a wide variety of terrain, with online showdowns available to show off your speeding supremacy.
Spy Chameleon (Vita)
Neon Chrome is all about combat, while Spy Chameleon is instead focused on stealth. This cartoonish game puts you in charge of the secret agent reptile, who can use his natural colour-changing and camouflage abilities to blend into the environments and evade capture. Not the most thrilling Vita offering, but again, it’s something to play on the thing.