LAST YEAR ON PS PLUS

2019 was the year we said goodbye to PS Vita and PlayStation 3, and it must be said PS Plus has struggled to fill the hole they left behind. Admittedly few of us would have still downloaded PS3 freebies, and only Oscar rubbed his thighs in excitement over a new free PS Vita game. But we needed, and still do need, something to fill the void.

With that said, Sony has treated us to some stellar PS Plus games this year. One of joys of the service is we get to try games that have always eluded us, such as indie classics What Remains of edith finch, The Witness, and Overcooked. All three came early in 2019 and were essential distractions.

PS Plus proved time and again in 2019 that its greatest strength comes from convincing us to give hidden gems a try. Everyone kept telling me Sonic Mania is the greatest game in the Blue Blur’s catalogue, and now I agree. Its PS Plus debut in June had me hooked.

Likewise the double feature of Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain revealed how even games I struggled to enjoy on release feel acceptable when they’re free. I even managed to take a tour in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare

Remastered when it came to PS Plus in March, which perfectly set up the September reboot.

The year ended with Sony somewhat acknowledging it had struggled to find a replacement for those missing PS3 and PS Vita games. The inclusion of Wipeout Omega Collection (August) Batman: Arkham Knight (September), The Last Of Us Remastered (October), and Nioh (November) suggests 2020 could be the year of the Triple-A freebie. If only because when PS Plus delivers we all play: Titanfall 2’ s player base blew up in December when it arrived in members’ download lists. Perhaps it’ll convince EA it needs to make a sequel.