My Thoughts on This Month’s FREE Games

By: Ryan Ramakrishnan

Every month, gamers across all platforms are treated to “free games” with subscriptions. And over the last several years, as a result, my PSN library has gotten substantially bigger than it would have been if everything was directly out of my pocket. PlayStation Plus and Games With Gold aren’t the only means of getting free games. I save everything to my libraries on Twitch Prime and Epic Games and occasionally check out NES and SNES games with Nintendo Switch Online. But I feel that the PS4 and Xbox One games are the ones most covered. So, let me hop on the bandwagon. But you already know of the news., I’m not your news guy. So here is a reaction instead. A reaction to October 2020’s PS Plus and Xbox Games with Gold free games.

PlayStation Plus

Alright, so PS Plus. Last month, we got “Street Fighter V,” a fighter I bought a month earlier. Yep… Oh and it's a fighting game that isn’t “Mortal Kombat,” AKA, a fighting game I don’t care about. Oh and there was “PUBG.” It always looked cool from the outside. But I don’t mess with battle royales. So yeah, what a “great” month it was for me personally.

Need for Speed: Payback

So I played through “Need for Speed: Payback” and quite liked it. But I also feel that it is a pretty flawed. This was low key, my first true experience with the series. So diving into “Need for Speed” with this game, yeah, probably not my best idea. Nevertheless, my friends and I had a good time racing with one another. And I enjoyed customizing my rides. The racing itself was really fun! There are the Speed Cards which were the worst thing the game had. It was loot boxes that made it impossible to know what type of upgrades you'll unlock. I don’t like that at all. But the gameplay was fun, yeah! And the story? It tried to Fast & Furious but failed. But hey, for free with PS Plus, if you dig racing games, I feel like you should definitely give this a try! 

Vampyr

Now this one interests me. Of course, I bought it on Xbox with a nice Gold discount last month. Whatever! “Vampyr” looks pretty dope in my opinion. I know this game was liked by many, disliked by many and also, if you’re anything like me, missed. Not skipped, just missed since 2017 was full of cool games I played instead. But now that it is free, from what I can tell, “Vampyr '' is a unique action RPG. I like the combat from what I see, though admittedly not too crazy. And the choices and storytelling really have my interest. I am super curious of this gothic world that Dontnod Entertainment created. Will I go and play it on Xbox where I bought it or PS4? We’ll see if I even play it. 

Games with Gold

Wow, I really had to do my research this time. What’s up Xbox, all your well-known, high quality Halloween-ready games are already on Game Pass?

Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut

This game, I never heard of it. But I kind of dig the premise. It is a puzzle game and the graphics are purposefully cute and blocky. Oh and it stars a serial killer. Yeah, interesting. I like that it is inspired by 80’s slasher films. A quirky game that I wanna try but I also admittedly probably won’t. But hey, a delight for this month, no? No? You don’t think so?

Sphinx and the Cursed Monkey

Okay, this Original Xbox game looks decent. I kind of want to play it. It is about a demigod prince of sorts and a fresh mummy. The former fights in a classic hack n’ slash style and the mummy is all about stealth. “Sphinx and the Cursed Monkey” is from the first Xbox, so I don’t expect anyone, myself included, to play it for the first time and be disappointed as if it’s some 2020 game. For what it is, a random game that doesn’t seem to have much of a place in many gamers’ schedule of game time this month, it looks cool. Still, super odd choice!

Maid of Sker

“Maid of Sker” is a horror game. Check. At least this is inherently a horror game, perfect for October. It looks decent. I didn’t watch much of its gameplay but from what I can tell, it is a scary game about sneaking around and surviving in a haunted house of sorts. The enemies look creepy. And the vibes are fitting for what I want this month. I plan to try some horror games over the next few weeks. And hey look what is free… Oh but I also still have the entire “Resident Evil” series and both “Outlasts” and at least one “Amnesia” game, courtesy of PS Plus, to play. So yeah, I don’t know about… Oh I forgot the game’s name. Yeah, I don’t know about “Maid of Sker.” Time will tell.

Costume Quest

Oh okay, I HAVE heard of this. Yes, “Costume Quest” is kind of revered isn’t it. The colorful and delightful nature of this otherwise, Halloween night themes adventure looks pretty good. I have never played it. I appreciate the kids becoming the costumes they wear. And I respect DoubleFine. So will I actually play this title? Maybe. The charm gets me. I mean, like I said, October has me wanting to play through real scary games but this may be a good time in between.

Okay, there you go guys. Those are my hot takes on the games we are getting for free this month on PS4 and Xbox One. I covered the two PS Plus titles and the four from Games with Gold. So what do you think? Are you interested in any of these games? Let me know in the comments below!