In the stretch leading up to the release of the PS5, Sony has decided to play it safe with their Plus free games for October. Sure, folks would like to see heavy hitters during this crunch time before new-console enthusiasm kicks into gear, but the pair of titles being offered this month manages, in theory, to deliver variety, bigger-budget substance, and a dose of Halloween-themed potency in one of ’em. When it comes to critical reception, however, neither of these games did very well with either the pros or the players, and that’s where some sluggish enthusiasm might set in from its subscribers.

  Are folks too excited about what’s to come next month to really care? Probably – and that’s the case for both of the big sub services – but there’s no risk of accidentally distracting from PS5 details or, conversely, building new enthusiasm for being a Plus member with this pair. Let’s jump into the games, but be sure to fuel up your account with a Year PlayStation Plus Subscription Card from Amazon beforehand.

PS4

Vampyr

The folks at DONTNOD got started by developing what I consider to be one of the more overlooked third-person sci-fi games out there: Remember Me, a pseudo-cyberpunk brawler with clever dystopian world-building and an intuitive hand-to-hand combo creation system. It was a sleeper hit, for sure, but one would think it’d possibly lead to bigger things in the action genre … yet instead, they’ve become more focused on interactive stories such as Life is Strange.  

Before this pivot came the release of Vampyr, though, which attempts to mesh action-oriented gameplay with some of the role-playing aspects that made Vampire: The Masquerade such an interesting property (both the pen-‘n-paper game and the Bloodlines PC title), tapping into the absence of a videogame sequel to that cult-classic franchise. It also demonstrates why DONTNOD moved away from action titles: while the storytelling, world-building, and interactions earn high marks, the resulting serviceable combat and RP systems drain some of the life out of it. Didn’t drain enough to not give it a shot, though.

Need for Speed: Payback

The Need for Speed franchise just celebrated its 25-year anniversary, maintaining a very long history with the PlayStation format across that entire timespan. Despite being published by the often-demonized Electronic Arts, it’s also sustained a robust and appreciative fanbase, even as the publisher began passing the torch to Ghost Games for future installments. That attitude started to shift with their recent reboot of Need for Speed, an online sandbox racer praised for its aesthetics and controls while heavily criticized for just about everything else, and reaches a head with Payback.

While Ghost Games corrects a big mistake by allowing players to stay offline with the campaign this time around, critics have been brutal towards the quality of the scripting and the action-movie design propelling the three main characters through a fictionalized take on Las Vegas. And that’s just on the story front, as nearly everything but the car selection, graphics and controls have been viewed as something of a wreck by frequent players of the franchise.

PS+ Stalls Out With October’s Attractive, Yet Anemic Free Games

Next month, players will be delving into a new generation of video games, one hallmarked by both main systems exploring a vastly different strategy than last cycle: backwards compatibility.  Not only will previous generation games be playable on this new console, but some will also receive high-fidelity upgrades for free once the next-gen version of the game gets released. Point being, the stark division between “old games” and “new games” doesn’t exist nearly as much as it did in years prior, which makes it so current-generation games releasing in the month-and-a-half leading up to their reveal don’t feel quite as inconsequential. October’s new releases are, therefore, considering the time they’re being released and considering the awkward situation the globe’s in right now with the pandemic, pretty satisfying.  Let’s take a closer look at the docket.

Star Wars: Squadrons – October 2

Older gamers and fans of the Star Wars property immediately enjoyed some nostalgic vibes upon the reveal of Squadrons, reminding them of the tense, enthralling spaceship flight simulators of yesteryear. Younger players, and those who keep up with franchise, know that the Battlefront games have been dabbling in responsive ship dogfights, though not from that familiar and realistic cockpit viewpoint.  Squadrons hopes to unite these two sections of the Star Wars fandom by delivering a deep, multiplayer compatible spin on space combat simulation, set in the period after Return of the Jedi in the wake of the Galactic Empire’s defeat. With a campaign that familiarly alternates between the Empire and the Republic on a by-mission basis, Squadrons takes on an almost RPG-like tone in how players upgrade their ships through experience, as well as in how the gameplay differs based on the “class” of ship chosen to pilot. Whether it can hit the target by mixing all this together remains to be seen.

Get Star Wars: Squadrons at Amazon

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time – October 2

During the later ‘90s, Crash Bandicoot jumped in popularity as a competitor to the platform game kings on the console circuit, notably Sonic and Mario, with the character even making similar jumps to cart racing and party games like those other franchises. However, he’s essentially been on ice for a decade, only enjoying a few remasters of past favorites since 2010. Just like many other things from the ‘90s right now, Crash Bandicoot has been brought back to gaming realm in the eighth main installment in the franchise, It’s About Time. The characters all look great, the level design appears highly vibrant and chaotic yet manageable for most age audiences, and the overall enthusiastic, rejuvenated tone feels exactly the way it should being released this many years later and in the year 2020.  

Get Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time at Amazon

Torchlight III – October 13

The third installment of the Torchlight line of isometric action-RPGs arrives in a gaming environment that’s vastly different than when the first one came out and made a name for itself. It filled a void for hack-‘n-slash dungeon crawlers when the bigger names of the genre, notably Diablo, hadn’t yet shown up either on PC or on the latest consoles. Now, however, the subgenre and its adjacent type, turn-based isometric games like Pillars of Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera, have not only showed up but are enjoying a resurgence in popularity.  Where does that leave Torchlight III? Well, developer Echtra Games has taken over for now-defunct Runic Games – former members of Runic are now at Echtra — and first tried to make this an MMO-style title. In a similar trajectory to that of Kingdoms of Amalur, Torchlight III has refocused its objectives on single-player, linear campaign strategies, resulting in a title that’s fighting for innovation and relevance while being surrounded by higher-tier competition.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit – October 16

Speaking of cart (kart?) franchises, The Switch will also be releasing a new installment in the Mario Kart franchise with Live: Home Circuit.  It’s going to be a bit more expensive at $100, but there’s a very good reason for that: it comes with a remote-controlled car that serve a gameplay design purpose. Strapped to the back of one of the franchise’s signature vehicles – Mario’s red one for the standard release; Luigi’s green one for a limited release – is a camera, in which the player drives their car around their nearby environment (read: their home) and videotapes a theoretical race course.  The information is then sent to Mario Kart Live, and the digital data and footage can be molded into an entirely new racing course playable in the game. This isn’t the first time that a racing game has taken place in the space of a house, but Nintendo’s going somewhere innovative and appealing in their ability to transform a person’s home, where they’re spending way more time than normal right now, into an exciting location for kart racing antics.

Get Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit at Amazon

NHL 21 – October 16

One of the sports that has best weathered the impacts of the pandemic this year has been hockey. Despite a delayed and drastically rearranged season that resulted in an round-robin tournament design at the end, teams competed for the Stanley Cup and landed on a winner at the end of September … and, for the most part, fans have been able to get enough of a taste of the sport. For those that didn’t get enough of the regular season format, they could always pick up a controller and play NHL 21 for something resembling that thrill. This release could be a bit awkward, though: the game has been delayed to such a point that it’s in the neighboring month of the next-gen console release, and comparison videos of the graphics in sports titles are already showcasing the stark differences. Only on PS4 and Xbox One, NHL 21 hopes that its focused improvements on advanced skills on the ice, responsive teammate AI, and overhauled career “Be a Pro” mode will be enough to win folks over.

Get NHL 21 at Amazon

Watch Dogs: Legion – October 29

Ubisoft’s techno-stealth franchise will be getting a bit of the Assassin’s Creed treatment with Legion, the third installment that’s taking place in the city of London. Jumping ahead to the not-so-distant post-Brexit future, the game’s design seems like it’s transplanting the core mechanics and ideas from the first two Watch Dogs games and dropping them in a new environment … with new gameplay conditions. There are noteworthy differences in how the player can recruit a brotherhood roster of procedurally generated NPCs from the city to become part of DedSec, and the variety of tools in each recruit’s arsenal make for varied gameplay opportunities. From the neon pop to the English architecture, Legion comes across as feeling like a different environment, and the addition of this new integrated character mechanic should theoretically result in a fresh experience from Ubisoft.  The tech sounds promising, sure, but gamers know by now not to get too hyped about that kind of thing until it’s playing out in front of ‘em.

Get Watch Dogs: Legion at Amazon

There are a few other intriguing releases escaping into the wild during this month, including the latest installments in a few creepy franchises: Remothered: Broken Porcelain will be arriving on October 20 and The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope on October 30, both before Halloween. There’s also a new G.I. Joe title answering the call to action on October 13, a third-person action game called Operation Blackout that features numerous characters from the series.  FIFA 21 will also roll into the month on October 9 for the soccer fans out there.

October’s Squeezing In a Few New Decent Video Games Before Next-Gen Arrival

A few months back in one of our monthly subscription free game articles, we discussed a little bit whether video game players would be more or less drawn to hardcore “everyday life” simulation games right now, such as farming or city building. Is that too much “realness” for them to be enjoyable in a difficult time like this, reminding them of regular life aspects amid a pandemic, or do they offer a unique type of everyday routine and digital productivity that make it satisfying?

A similar, but less difficult to answer thought exercise can be had with August’s big release: IT’S MADDEN TIME. One might wonder whether going through new seasons on the yearly football game juggernaut might be bittersweet due to the complications with sports right now … but yeah, being honest, it’s going to be nothing but a big hit elevated by socially-distanced fans looking to vicariously play and enjoy the game. Yeah, there are other titles in August, but anticipation for Madden always dominates this first sleepy back-to-school month.

Fast & Furious: Crossroads — August 7

It’s getting close to the 20-year mark where the original Fast and the Furious film accelerated onto the scene … and, boy, has it evolved since then.  What was once a smaller-scale tale of custom cars, drag races, undercover cops and moderate high-speed heists has evolved into a mammoth blockbuster movie franchise involving explosive antiheroic missions, wrapped up in espionage and laced with advance technology befitting a sci-fi property.

Therefore, whatever though that comes to mind about a Fast and Furious video game will be quite different for those with memories of the original, and those who’ve followed the franchise to its recent installments.  Fast & Furious: Crossroads is born of the latter half of the franchise’s history, with Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez – among others – voicing their characters in an action-adventure racing hybrid experience from Slightly Mad Studios, a development crew under the umbrella of renowned racing game producer Codemasters.

Get Fast & Furious: Crossroads on Xbox One

Microsoft Flight Simulator — August 18

Asobo Studio has a tough journey ahead of them: they’re about to revive the Flight Simulator franchise after being grounded for nearly a decade and a half, excluding a “complete edition” style release in 2014 of the most recent installment, Flight Simulator X.  Considering there hasn’t been a full new release in 15 years, there’s a bit of technical ground to cover, both in the video game stratosphere and in the aviation world itself.

The stats for this one are pretty incredible: over 35,000 airports based on satellite imagery will be included; between 20 and 30 different planes will be available to be piloted, depending on the selected edition; and billions of buildings and trillions of trees will be rendered in the game’s brand-new engine. Naturally, the objective is to make this latest Flight Simulator the most accurate and photorealistic version of the concept to-date, complimented by the developer’s own physics and weather engines. It’ll arrive on PC first, but will come to the Xbox after a short delay.

Get Microsoft Flight Simulator on Amazon

Battletoads — August 20

Amazing, isn’t it? That something named “Battletoads” remains in the list of top 10 most difficult video games of all time, with some claiming that it’s the absolute most difficult they’ve ever played. In this day and age of thriving niche markets, especially those of gamers hungry for the frustrations of a good challenge, continuing that legacy could be seen as a positive thing; it doesn’t hurt that the Ninja Turtles, who originally inspired their creation to be “competitors”, are also gaining in popularity again.

Whether the reboot of Battletoads will be able to tap into the same caliber of difficulty or the same nostalgic ‘80s appeal remains to be seen, but it’s evident that Dlala Studios – with the help of original developers Rare – are aiming to go in a very different direction with the visuals, combat, platforming, and even racing aspects of the property. Far more cartoonishly drawn character, slower battles, and racing from behind instead of side-to-side, this isn’t the Battletoads one might remember from their youth.

Get Battletoads 2020 at Microsoft

PGA Tour 2K21 — August 21

Remember The Golf Club, HB Studios competitor to the dominant PGA Tour franchise from EA? Yeah, 2K Sports probably doesn’t want you to remember too much about it either, as they’ve carefully restructured, merged, and retitled the golf game into something both familiar yet quite new: PGA Tour 2K21.  Since EA’s rights for the branding lapsed, 2K Sports have taken over publishing duties of the officially licensed PGA video games, and with that of course comes authorized use of courses and about a dozen of the athletes against whom the player can compete.

One aspect that The Golf Club that’ll hopefully be further changed in PGA Tour 2K21, however, is the reputation the games have built for growing tedious and repetitive due to a lack of variety and visual panache. With this big of an overhaul, it’s hard to know what exactly to expect from HB Studios and 2K, outside of looking at the advancements made in last year’s title and hoping for the best in terms of dedicated aesthetic polish. There’s a long stretch still to go before they get to the hole.

Get PGA Tour 2K21 at Amazon

Wasteland 3 — August 28

You don’t often see sequels released a quarter-century after the original came out, yet that’s exactly what Wasteland 2 aimed to do with its Kickstarter campaign, and it succeeded in doing so. In 2014, right at the beginning point of when isometric role-playing games were experiencing a revival of excitement for that particular format, the sequel endured the rigors of indie development at InXile Entertainment and delivered on their promise: to essentially make the Fallout game that’s been missing for years.

Some couldn’t get their grip around the combat and the role-playing grinding aspects of Wasteland 2, but others have been able to wrap themselves in the atmosphere, RP variation, and party-based customization of its adventuring. Wasteland 3, once again crowd-funded and constructed by the team members behind the recent Torment: Tides of Numenera, aims for a continuation of the same choice-and-consequence, turn-based and tactical role-playing environment.

Get Wasteland 3 at Amazon

Madden NFL 21 — August 28

Sometimes, it can be a struggle to talk at length about Madden. From year to year, the franchise has become so refined and focused on what it does well – and avoiding what it doesn’t – that the annual releases have become clones of each other, updated only by its rosters. Oddly enough, this year marks two significant developments that could makes the release of Madden 2021 fairly interesting.

First, in response to the political energy around the ballclub’s name, the game will require a significant update at release to change the branding of the Washington Redskins to the … uh, something else that hasn’t been determined as of this writing.  Watching how this will be handled will be an adventure itself. On top of that, EA has received a wealth of negative feedback for early impressions of the game powered by concerns that it’s a marginal update from previous titles, so much so that a call to “Fix Madden Franchise” trended on social media.  Have they done so? Who knows.  Will it hurt sales? Probably not!

Get Madden 21 at Amazon

Some other goodness can be found sprinkled throughout the month of August. The latest creation from Dontnod Entertainment, Tell Me Why, begins its three-episode arc on August 27, while the decidedly Zelda-like action-RPG Windbound – a combination of Breath of the Wild and The Wind Waker – shores up the next day on August 28. Horizon: Zero Dawn will be getting a Windows port on August 7, while EA Sports UFC 4 keeps the sports train rolling on August 14 and into Project Cars 3 on August 28.

August’s Video Games Run Same Old Pattern With Madden 21

Shopping for a PS4 this year? We’ve looked through all the Black Friday ads and broken down where you can get the cheapest PS4 bundle, the best bundled games option as well as the cheapest PlayStation VR bundle on Black Friday this year (as well as advice on the PS4 Pro).

Best Price on a PlayStation 4 Bundle: $199.99 + $60 Gift Card

This PlayStation 4 bundle is ideal for a Fortnite fan, as it includes $20 of in-game Fortnite currency as well as exclusive digital items. This bundle normally sells for $299.99.

Unlike the Xbox One offers, there are a limited number of PS4 deals that offer a bonus gift card this year; a shift from offers during Black Friday 2018.  However, Kohl’s is still one of them.

• Best Overall Deal: PS4 Fortnite Bundle for $199.99 + $60 Kohl’s Cash

You will likely be able to find this bundle for the same price at other retailers, but without the gift card. You would probably be better off getting the next bundle for the same price.

Best Bundled Games with a PS4 Console: $199.99

This bundle includes three of the best-reviewed games in the PS4 generation, The Last of Us, God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn. These 3 games can typically be found for $60 total typically.

This bundle is being offered at multiple retailers at $100 off the $299.99 MSRP. Best Buy is probably your best bet on Black Friday, due to significant inventory.

• Best Buy: LINK

You will likely find this bundle at Amazon, Target, Sam’s Club, Costco and many other retailers this month; both online and in-store.

Best Price on a PlayStation VR (PSVR) Bundle: $199.99

If you already have a PS4 (or want to add VR to the above console deals), you can’t go wrong with the PSVR bundles on Black Friday. This bundle normally sells for $299.99.

This particular bundle is exception because it offers $100+ in bundled games along with the VR headset. Those games include Skyrim, Astro Bot, Resident Evil, Golf VR, and PlayStation Worlds; (Total MSRP: $145).

• Target: Not listed on site yet.

You will find plenty of PSVR bundles for a similar sales price, but this it likely the best deal when it comes to bundled VR games (which are priced at a premium compared to regular PS4 games).

Best Price on a PlayStation 4 Pro: $299.99 + $25 Gift Coupon

Sony just announced all retailers that carry the Pro will be discounting the base model from $399.99 to $299.99 for Black Friday sales. You can read more on their blog post here. But GameStop will be offering a bonus $25 gift coupon with the purchase of a White Glacier PS4 Pro, at the $299 sale price.

Just FYI, you can already find deals like this in the Ben’s feed, which discounted the PS4 Pro to $294 with an extra controller as a bonus.

• GameStop: LINK

Here’s the cheapest PS4 on Black Friday 2019

We’ve arrived at this awkward stage in the life cycles of the current video game systems, where searching for an “Xbox One” or a “PlayStation 4” isn’t a straightforward experience anymore. Now, there are S versions and X versions and Pro versions of the consoles available, and they’re usually the ones to pop up in online searches before the regular old systems.

Luckily, buying any Xbox One or PS4 system will ensure that you – or the person receiving it as a gift – will be able to play all available Xbox One or PS4 games, respectively, so there’s no going wrong there.  However, all these systems don’t operate in the same ways: some will play games better than others, and some will contain other functions (such as movie and streaming abilities) that others cannot.  It’s a bit of a mess, but we’re here to help.

Below, this guide will cover a bunch of different gaming consoles and accessories primed for gifting to those seasoned gamers and potential game lovers in your life, offering both hardware to upgrade their “quality of life” and cost-efficient bundles to get them involved from scratch. Also, you can head over to Ben’s Bargains Software Gift Guide to check out the games that’d pair nicely with any of the below systems.

For Those Serious About 4K and Library Compatibility, Gift This.

Xbox One X 1TB Launch System

Pros: 6 Tflops Processor, 4K Gaming/Media, Backwards Compatibility | MSRP: $499

Click Here to Buy on Amazon Or Search Ben’s for Xbox One X Deals

Historically, being a first adopter of a new videogame console involved a few jarring experiences after the purchase. On the positive side, playing the slate of brand new launch games showcased how powerful the new machine could truly be; on the negative, the player had to, y’know, pay for all these games alongside the new console itself. The Xbox One X, Microsoft’s latest gaming console focused on 4K capability, significantly changes the rules this season.

They don’t want gamers to buy entirely new libraries this time around, since the One X will be backwards compatible in the truest sense of the word. Current games for the One will be playable on this new system, but many will be optimized with the new 6-teraflops hardware, especially noticeable to those who have made the plunge into a 4K home theater. Legacy games will also be playable, including original Xbox titles, and the enhanced hardware of the Xbox One X will even elevate the resolution and color quality.

The Xbox One X operates more like a PC upgrade experience than a new console generation, and it’s a beautiful thing.  Also, like the Xbox One S, it’s also a 4K Blu-ray player and media streamer, so you’re able to knock out two birds with one stone.

For the Aspiring Gaming Jedi, Gift This.

In a similar but not quite as drastic new-console experience for the 4K gamers out there, this marks the one-year anniversary of the release of the PS4 Pro, which means the bundles are a comin’. Continuing to sport the pleasures and pitfalls of last year’s model – enhanced GPU performance focuses on 4K enhancements and VR, yet doesn’t support 4K Blu-ray playback – it’s a commendably beefed-up version of the gaming console of choice this generation, so far.

All standard PS4 games are playable on the Pro, and a few select ones receive boosts in resolution and color range for 4K/HDR-compatible televisions, ranging from broad upticks in resolution to subtler processing effects that smooth out gameplay.

Fans of that little, lesser-known space opera Star Wars who haven’t jumped aboard the new consoles will dig this themed bundle, equipped with a 1TB harddrive, sharply-implemented logo accents, and a copy of the Elite Trooper Deluxe Edition of Star Wars: Battlefront 2.  For those who just want a sleek white iteration of the console bundled with a game, there’s also the straightforward Destiny 2 bundle.

For Those Who Dig Sleekness and Stealth, Gift This.

At this point, whether the Xbox One S was merely a placeholder for Microsoft’s latest gaming console doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that it’s now a robust, polished iteration of this gen’s machine in a console that’s nearly half the size of its predecessor, and its boosts in performance – including HDR compatibility — and inclusion of 4K UHD Blu-ray playback position itself ahead of the chase in terms of value.

Last year saw a collection of bundles that ran the gamut of console colors and included games, but the standout this year comes in the polar-white 1TB version of the console packaged with Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Ubisoft’s innovative new spin on their stealth franchise set in ancient Egypt, as well as Rainbow Six: Siege tossed in for a little added spice.

For the Patient Nintendo Fan, Finally Gift This.

Look, it happens with nearly every system released by Nintendo, but – mamma mia! – it sure was a pain in the rump trying to find their new portable-hybrid console earlier this year.  Luckily, supply has finally caught up with the demand, as one can readily pick up a Switch now at most retailers; heck, you might even have a choice of colors, either the gray-themed controllers or the signature red-blue design.

There’s even a slick new bundle including the latest, acclaimed Super Mario Bros. game, Odyssey, featuring dual red controllers and a themed carrying case.  It’s in and out of stock at Amazon on a regular basis, but it can also be easily found at the usual suspects – Target, GameStop, etc. – for those who don’t want to roll the dice.

For On-the-Go Kids Both Young and Old, Gift This.

Despite its portable nature, one of the drawbacks to the Nintendo Switch comes in the newness of its library and a notable lack of backwards compatibility with the company’s other systems, even considering its download interface.  Thus, the best way to get one’s hands on a substantial library of classic games that can travel anywhere still comes in Nintendo’s DS consoles, furthering their legacy and value even in the age of the Switch.

The full DS catalogue can be played in the incredibly cost-effective 2DS system, running all the popular games for the platform – heaps of Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, and Phoenix Wright titles – in a standard screen fashion.   Yet another handsome 2DS bundle arrived in August that includes New Super Mario Bros 2, featuring a white-and-red accented console and the game preloaded on the system.

For Those Needing a Controller as Colorful as They Are, Gift This.

Xbox consoles have always offered a revolving door of colorful, unique designs for their controllers, and the One has been no exception. Just this year, they’ve released another version of their Shadow ombre color line in vivid orange, a navy tech-inspired design, and an entire batch dedicated to the pixelated aesthetic of Minecraft. Sometimes, the controllers available simply don’t have just the right combination of body, trigger, and button colors to satisfy everyone, which is where Xbox’s Design Lab comes into play.

Launched last year and costing $20 more than a standard controller, this process allows for complete customization of the components from nearly twenty different colors — four of which have been added this year – and, for an additional cost, the choice of rubberized and metallic-shine elements for handles and triggers.  They’ll also throw an engraving on there for $10.

For That Player Running Low On Hard-Drive Space, Gift These.

As consoles get more advanced, the games they run take up even more digital space with their installations, updates, and downloadable content. Base models of this generation’s consoles, capped at 500GB, can’t store very many games, which throws a conundrum at owners: should they upgrade their systems to newer ones with bigger hard-drives, or upgrade their storage solutions?

Thankfully, it’s a fairly easy problem to solve on both consoles, as the Xbox One supports external USB hard-drives and the PS4’s internal hard-drive can be swapped out. Seagate has affordable, compatible options for both, with each of their 2GB varieties priced at around $85.

For Online Players and Freebie/Deal Hunters, Gift These.

Xbox Live 12 Month / PlayStation Plus 12 Month

Pros: Free Monthly Games, Weekly Exclusive Deals, Online Gaming Access | MSRP: $59

XBLA 12 Month on Amazon PSN 12 Month on Amazon

While the primary reason for purchasing subscriptions to either PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live used to boil down to having access to online gaming, both companies have taken strides over the past year to make their paid memberships really worth the monthly, quarterly, or yearly investments.

Weekly exclusive deals on a variety of digital games can be nice, of course, but how they’ve upped their value games can be found in the monthly free game offerings (regularly covered here at The Checkout), which range from quirky indies and day-one releases to the occasional high-profile title. And in the case for Xbox, their 360 offerings are routinely backwards compatible on the newer console, too, bringing Xbox One owners up to four available freebies per month.

For the Nostalgic Who Are REALLY Worth The Effort, Gift This.

Super NES Classic Edition

Pros: 20 Games, Authentic Small-Scale Recreation, Retro Graphics Filters | MSRP: $79

Click Here to Buy on Amazon Or Click Here to Buy at Target

The Switch wasn’t the only Nintendo system in recent memory that was hard to come by; in fact, it’s tough to decide which one was more difficult to obtain. The NES Classic was included in last year’s gift guide, but that was written a few weeks before the novelty console’s launch, so the extreme scarcity of it wasn’t something that could really be predicted or discussed at that point.

This year, Nintendo’s at it again with the foreseeable Super NES Classic, an $80 experience in a box preloaded with over twenty classic games – A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Star Fox and its previously cancelled sequel, etc. – in a shrunken chassis designed to look like the original SNES. And, also foreseeable, it’s not easy to obtain … but it does seem easier to find than last year’s fiasco, which has kept after-market prices manageable.

2017 Gift Guide: Video Game Hardware & Accessories

Over the past year, a trend had begun to settle into Sony’s PS+ freebies on a month to month basis.  The company would offer a handful of secondary, yet intriguing games that fall in the indie, arcade, or just straight up under-the-radar niches, but neglect to pair them with a substantial AAA or noteworthy title to bolster subscriber enthusiasm.  After a righting of the ship over the past few months with the right balance, now Sony has gone in the opposite direction. They’ve included one very strong title as the cornerstone of its free downloads, then surrounded it with uninspired, often lukewarmly received indies of several platforms. It begs the question: can one game carry an entire month? It comes close, but not quite this time. Let’s take a look at ’em.

Click Here to Grab a 1-Year PlayStation Plus Subscription at Amazon

Sucker Punch Productions

PS4

inFAMOUS Second Son

Morality systems in videogames — which also falls into the spectrum of a Karma Meter — can be tricky, as they often wobble along the line between authentic transformation and role-playing of a character and the reward-based system of the player experience. It’s an issue that other action-RPGs have tackled with varying degrees of success across roughly twenty years, from Knights of the Old Republic to Fable, and it’s surprising how little certain contemporary games stray from the lopsidedness of that paradigm. inFAMOUS Second Son delivers a robust third-person superhero experience befitting the entries that came before it. Jumping ahead ahead seven years to tell the story of new protagonist Delsin Rowe, the player navigates a sandbox environment with his newly-gained powers to control elements commonly found in urban environments.  That aspect of Second Son works splendidly, but the game’s responses to his decisions fall into the binary “good vs. evil” morality system that’s existed for decades, and it shows.

 Strike Vector EX

Arcade flight simulators have been in short supply on consoles over the past decade or so, to such a degree that the announcement that Crimson Skies — a game going back two generations — would become backwards compatible sent a legion of fans into euphoria. In swoops the like-minded Strike Vector, which sets its sights on crafting an experience that captures both the classic, fast-paced energy of arcade cabinet experiences from yesteryear with a science-fiction edge.  Toggling between first-person precision and third-person speed controls similarly to regular FPS games, Strike Vector accelerates through tight spaces for breakneck arena-style multiplayer combat, though a lack of additional content surrounding its well-executed, nostalgic premise might cause it to run out of gas for some.

Nordic Games

PS3

Truck Racer

In the Twisted Metal car-vs-car fighting franchise, there’s a semi-truck named Darkside that provides a unique experience when selected as the combatant in the game. Surrounded by fast speedsters and large clunky behemoths with specific powers, the semi’s blend of moderate acceleration, power, and control involved with balancing its wheels while hooking around corners offered a compelling, albeit underappreciated alternative in the arena battle design. That’s the same kind of appeal presented by Truck Racer, which essentially duplicates the same-old formula of track racing games with a pack of semis speeding and swerving along both dusty and stable roads. With a graphical interface and visual tone similar to Burnout Paradise, Truck Racer lets its concept speak for itself, capturing the destructive mayhem of the races in a simple, unrealistic, but lively package.

Handball 2016

The sport of handball fits somewhere between basketball and soccer, two games that, obviously, have been highly represented on consoles for decades now. Of course, while playing handball in person, there’s enough deviation in strategy and physicality to lead someone to pursue the sport as an interest; whether the same holds true for a videogame of said sport, which maintains popularity in countries outside the US, is another thing altogether. Handball 2016 gives it a whirl, though, replicating the sport’s maneuvers alongside dozens of real European teams and with play-by-play commentary.

Vertex Pop

PS Vita

We Are Doomed

If the folks at PixelJunk had decided to tackle the Asteroid-like twin-stick shooting arcade game, then it probably would’ve looked a whole lot like We Are Doomed.  Much like Geometry Wars, Vertex Pop’s creation boasts vibrant colors, unique geometric shapes, and a unique soundtrack, only the aesthetic they go for — blocky designs for transitions and explosions, more pastel and softer colors — lands on something categorically different. Unfortunately, the diversion in art design tends to be the only real distinguishing trait here, almost as if We Are Doomed functions more as a skin layered atop previous games than its own creation.

Hatoful Boyfriend

And finally, there’s Hatoful Boyfriend, which is also called … Pigeon Boyfriend.  It’s a dating sim visual novel that takes place in a school for pigeons, and, well, you can put two and two together in terms of what you’ll be doing in this oddity.

Semi Racing, Handball, and Pigeon Dating Comprise Infamous PS+ Games for September

The Humble Bundle usually focus on Steam and Android games, but every once and a while we get a console bundle. Now is one of those times with the Humble 2K PlayStation Bundle, with a slew of PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita titles for your playing pleasure.  Let’s get right into the good stuff:

$1 Tier

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Plus (Vita)

XCOM: Enemy Unknown made some big waves when it first released on the PS3 and PC, and this portable version is a port of this popular game.  This version, as it may not be readily easy to tell, also includes the content from the XCOM: Enemy Unknown expansion.

Civilization Revolution 2 Plus (Vita)

Civilization Revolution 2 is a simplified version of the 4x Civilization series, and the tweaks make it far more accessible on a handheld console like the Vita.  This Plus version adds new leaders, scenarios, and units over the original version.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (PS3)
Includes all DLC

While XCOM is more well known now as a strategy series, but The Bereau: XCOM Declassified is a shooter in that same series.  The Humble Bundle version of this PS3 game also comes with all the DLC, making this the definitive experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NiWSTXaiLc

Evolve (PS4)

Evolve has four human players going against one gigantic monster, trying to work together to defeat the enemy that can so easily defeat them.  The player playing the monster can work to evolve their character, making them more deadly and able to wipe out the four human team.  Remember that you need PlayStation Plus in order to play online on the PS4.

Beat the Average Tier

XCOM: Enemy Within (PS3)

XCOM: Enemy Within is an expansion of sorts to Enemy Unknown, but the game is standalone so there’s no worries about being unable to play it if you don’t have the PlayStation 3 version of Enemy Unknown.  Enemy Within really ramps up the difficulty with scenarios that can affect your ability to defeat the alien threat, particularly because the humans still can’t stop fighting long enough to unify and fight the common enemy.

BioShock (PS3)

BioShock is a very well known first person shooter, with a fascinating narrative explored in the ruins of the utopic Rapture.  If you haven’t had a chance to experience this iconic game yet, now’s the perfect chance to pick it up with a slew of other titles.

Battleborn (PS4)
Includes Platinum VC

Battleborn is essentially Gearbox’s answer to Overwatch.  The title has recently gone free to play, but the bundle includes that Platinum VC, which gives you some extra goodies.

Borderlands (PS3)

Borderlands has become a well-known series for mixing first person shooter and RPG elements into a crazy game with its own unique setting.  This version of Borderlands is on the PS3 too, so no need for PlayStation Plus to play online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9aW1ZrI1HM

Borderlands 2 Ultimate Edition (PS3)

Not only do we get the first Borderlands, but its sequel, too.  Borderlands 2 improves on many aspects of the original title, and this Ultimate Edition comes with a ton of the DLC.  It’s valued at $100 on the PlayStation Store, so seeing it here in this bundle is a hell of a deal.

Mafia II (PS3)

Mafia II has you playing as a gangster working through the ranks of the Mafia crime families, clawing and killing your way to the top.  This is an open world game similar to the Grand Theft Auto series, and released to critical acclaim on the PlayStation 3.

Spec Ops: The Line (PS3)

Spec Ops: The Line may seem like a typical military shooter, but it manages to impress gamers with a plot that really makes you question what you’re doing.  It’s interesting to have to face what is essentially second nature at this point, and the truth may leave you unsettled.

$20 Tier

XCOM 2 (PS4)

The sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 takes the series to the current generation with updated visuals and gameplay.  Even at the $20 tier, XCOM 2 is a relatively recent release and is a steal at that price… not to mention all the other games you’ll get with it!

Grab the 2K Playstation bundle here!

Everything in the Humble 2K PlayStation Bundle

Resident Evil. Yes, Sony is offering a number of other free games across all three platforms to PS+ subscribers in October, but it’s hard to shake the impact of that title’s appearance in the rundown for the month of Halloween. Part of the blame falls on the enduring influence that the franchise has had upon the survival-horror genre, but it’s also because of the somewhat nondescript nature of the rest of the titles made available this month. From a fast-paced beat-’em-up set in a popular ’80s franchise and to a vivid experience where you guide and preserve the fate of a prehistoric tribe, the overall batch of games for October have their bright spots beyond the HD remastering of an iconic title, but not enough to generate much enthusiasm for the month’s offerings as a whole.

 Click Here to Grab a 1-Year PlayStation Plus Subscription at Amazon

Capcom

PS4

Resident Evil

Other horror games did come before Resident Evil, but it’s hard to dispute that the original trek through a mansion in Raccoon City claims responsibility for the outbreak of the survival-horror genre. Since then, it has been remade and remastered several times, yet in the process hasn’t lost its spine-chilling potency or difficulty. What it’s gained in this latest HD version for current-gen consoles, however, can be found in the moody widescreen graphics, surround-sound atmosphere, and the option to flip off the frustrating tank controls while navigating through the mansion’s fixed angles. These improvements are incremental over the Gamecube’s revamped presentation from 13 years prior, yet one can chalk that up to Capcom’s diligence in respecting the original intentions from floor to ceiling. This is survival horror as it should be, focused on survival and genuinely horrific elements above run-and-gun zombie killin’.

Transformers: Devastation

Platinum Games has developed a reputation for creating fast-paced, chaotic experiences, whether they’re taking on new properties — like Bayonetta or Vanquish — or established franchises. Their taken on the Transformers universe, Devastation, brings together their love for anarchistic destruction with the scale of the iconic metal robots, with a similar kind of rapid fighting style to their other games driving the story through the streets of a cel-shaded New York. With a visual style reminiscent of the classic cartoons and a no-holds-barred approach to the battle mayhem, it speaks to both those with ’80s nostalgia and those who dig the current cinematic universe. Transformers: Devastation earned praise from critics and players alike for the strengths that Platinum Games have made their fans accustomed to for the better part of a decade.

Ubisoft Montpellier

PS3

From Dust

The term “power fantasy” frequently gets tossed around with video games, but the term very aptly applies to From Dust. Falling into the subgenre of “god games”, this title from Ubisoft Montpellier finds the player taking control of both terrain and terrestrials as The Breath, an ethereal entity with the fabric of nature and ancestral knowledge at its beckoning. The goal is to assist a tribe in the rediscovery of their ancestors, spurring their expansion across a primordial landscape of lava, water, and vegetation that’s altered by the player to help in their endeavors … and to shield the tribe from disaster. Beautiful visuals melt together with dazzling physical manipulation of the terrain to create a strategic, intuitive environmental puzzle game.

Mad Riders

Lighter and more arcade-inspired than its competitors, this budget off-road racing title from Techland and Ubisoft puts the player in the seat of a four-wheeler and sends them careening through nearly 50 of fast-paced, outlandish tracks. While gathering bonuses scattered along the pathways, the player races several other opponents while avoiding obstacles and performing stunts for extra boosts in experience. While brisk and beautiful within its cel-shaded presentation, both players and critics dinged Mad Riders for its iffy controls and responses to physics, along with a lack of innovation in its melting-pot approach to the off-roading genre. For a budget racer, however, it seems like it gets across the finish line well enough.

PS Vita

Code: Realize – Guardians of Rebirth

Sony continues their journey into free visual novels with Code: Realize – Guardians of Rebirth, often regarded as one of the better entries in the otome genre from developers Idea Factory and Otomate. Taking control of an isolated young woman named Cardia, whose body courses with poison that’s transmitted by touch, the story follows how she comes to be associated with Arsene Lupin, an antiheroic thief, and how the pair embark on a search for the girl’s father. Traditional dialogue choices have overarching impacts upon both the characters’ impressions of the main character and the plot’s trajectory throughout a vaguely steampunk-esque atmosphere, yielding an experience well-received by both critics and fans of the visual-novel niche.

Actual Sunlight

Brought to life through the Steam Greenlight initiative, Actual Sunlight first arrived on PC as an experience that shares many similarities with the visual novel genre. Alas, this one carries very gloomy, non-escapist subject matter — depression, futility, and suicide — that might keep some at arm’s length from its text-based ruminations. The folks at WZO Games urge those considering Actual Sunlight to ponder their individual perceptions of those upsetting topics, but both players and critics felt that it’s worth the time and energy to follow along with protagonist Evan Winter’s trials through the bleak rat race of life.

Chills, Tears, Spirits and Warring Robots in October’s PS+ Goodies

It’s hard not to feel nostalgic while looking at the roster of freebies available to PS+ subscribers for the month of August.  Familiarly-shaped blocks dropping on top of one another, ships zooming around  in the expanses of space, and energy blasts fired off at robots in a closed-off arena?  Sounds more like the cabinets in an arcade during the ’80s than a slate of new games released on the latest consoles. Save one heavy-hitter sequel in a semi open-world franchise, the offerings from PlayStation this time around are mostly small-scale, pick-up-and-play diversions.

Click Here to Grab a 1-Year PlayStation Plus Subscription at Amazon

Double Damage Games

PS4

Rebel Galaxy

Rebel Galaxy welds together the thrills of classic space-warfare simulators, the choice-based flair of an RPG, and the general attitude of a space opera. Hot on the heels of No Man’s Sky, which also boasts lots of freedom in terms of planet-hopping combat and commerce, Double Damage Games strikes first with its fusion of ship-to-ship warfare, vessel customization, bartering and choice in where to travel throughout a randomly-generated environment. Some have taken issue with a few of the game’s drawbacks, namely the two-dimensional controls in combat and the grinding nature of its progression. That doesn’t seem to have slowed down the satisfaction that Rebel Galaxy offers folks longing for the return of this style of game, earning praise for its amusing writing, audiovisual delights, and capturing of the spirit of the space-pirate adventures from yesteryear.

Tricky Towers

Imagine trying to line up and fit together Tetris-style jigsaw pieces without walls on either side of the playing field to keep everything together. Then, flip the concept so that the objective is not to eliminate rows, but to pile up as many pieces together as possible while working against the push and pull of gravity and the pokiness of the pieces’ angles. Toss in competitive multiplayer, and that’s Tricky Towers. The brand-new puzzler from WeirdBeard games was released at the beginning of August for the PSN, so it still needs a bit of time to build a consensus on how the game stacks up to other tower-building or competitive puzzler games. While its influences are pretty plain to see, the vibrant style and fast pace of Tricky Towers have something going for it.

SEGA

PS3

Yakuza 5

After four successful entries, there’s little reason for SEGA to deviate from what’s previously worked so well in the Yakuza franchise. Instead of changing things up, Yakuza 5 merely expands its scope, incorporating five distinct fictionalized locations across Japan — all inspired by real cities — while allowing the player to control five different characters as it tells their stories.  Continuing the narrative from Yakuza 4 while focusing on a truce between clans that’s on the cusp of being broken, SEGA unites authentic open-world exploration with sharp hand-to-hand combat in its realistic take on gang warfare on the streets of Japan. Being that it was only released on the PS3 and considering its “competition” in The Witcher 3 and Fallout 4, Yakuza 5 understandably fell somewhat under the radar in North America.  Now’s the time to give it the attention both critics and fans feel it earned.

Retro/Grade

It’s not uncommon to hear somebody talk about getting in the groove of an action or shooter game, but that’s literally what has to happen in Retro/Grade to keep propelling forward. The game essentially takes place in reverse, where a fighter pilot named Rick Rocket must follow the sequence of his shots during a massive battle with rival spacecraft to prevent a tearing in the space-time continuum. This occurs by way of rhythmic controls that play like a fusion of Guitar Hero and Gradius, where the player navigates the ship into the pathway of the blasts and moves away from inbound hostiles. Colorful visuals, a nifty soundtrack from Skyler McGlothlin (aka Nautilis), and a uniquely engrossing mood created by the controls and audiovisual tempo make for a totally different kind of rhythm game.

Puppy Games

PS Vita

Ultratron

Humanity has been wiped out by evil robots, and all that remains is a humanoid battledroid with one thing on its mechanical mind: vengeance.  If that sounds like something straight out of the ’80s, then the sights, sounds, and controls of Ultratron will do nothing but reinforce that. Dual-stick shooter controls akin to Geometry Wars — and many, many others from the old-school arcade era — collide with profoundly retro aesthetics in this indie from Puppy Games, with 40-plus vibrant levels to keep the legacy goodness going for quite a while. Whether the nostalgia will hold one’s interest throughout those levels likely depends on the player, but those who relish racking up high scores and fighting out of tight spaces will likely get a charge out of this one.

Patapon 3

For a while in the middle of the PSP’s popularity, the original Patapon was one of those most-play games for the handheld console.  The rhythm franchise that put the player in control of a tribe of black silhouettes, who journeyed forth to recover their land and discover true contentment, enjoyed success in two sequels that more or less duplicated the strengths of the original entry.  Patapon 3 finds the tribe nearing the end of their voyage, to which they’ve encountered many obstacles on the way to nirvana, illustrated against handsome graphical backgrounds and marching to the beat of a catchy drummer. Unfortunately, the notable presence of multiplayer and a lack of innovation within the premise prove to be obstacles that the final installment couldn’t conquer, leading to a positive yet unenthusiastic reception from both critics and longstanding fans of the little tribe.

August PS+ Offerings Dominated By Spaceships, Blocks, and Robots

Launching in the 3.5 PlayStation software update this week, Sony PlayStation 4 owners will be able to stream video games from their gaming console to a Windows or Mac computer. Already available on the Xbox One (limited to Windows 10), the functionality can be quite useful when the television hooked up to the gaming console is already in use, someone watching Netflix perhaps.

Of course, you will need a PC running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. If you have a Mac, you will need to be running either OS X 10.10 or OS X 10.11. Resolution is set at 540p by default, but you will be able to increase that to 720p if your network can handle it. There’s also a 360p streaming option as well.

Framerate is set as 30fps as the standard, but it can be increased to 60fps in the settings. To play on your computer, you will need to hook up your Dualshock controller to your PC / Mac with a USB cable. You will also need to install the “Remote Play Installer” software on your computer. It will be located here once the 3.5 update actually goes live.

Other options in the 3.5 PlayStation update include the ability to set your profile to appear offline when you are online playing games, the ability to set notifications when a specific friend comes online, the ability to schedule planned events that friends can join and a “Play Together” feature that lets friends join each other in specific games (or start a new game entirely.)

As always, PlayStation updates are free for anyone with a PS4 to download and will likely be required in order to play multiplayer games in the future. You can find more information on the official Sony blog here.

Freebie Alert: PS4 gets Remote Play soon (Play on your PC)