It's coming up to that time of the year again - the one month of the year where horror games and movies get to reign supreme and those that are easily spooked quell their fears to join in on the fun. Not only does October mean that it's almost Halloween, but it's also the last full-month before the launch of PlayStation 5, a brand new generation of games, and hopefully, at least a few exciting changes to PlayStation Plus and the online ecosystem.
Until then, fans can only wait and see what's in store as gamers the world over enter a new console generation. With a few spooks for Halloween in mind, here's our full PS Plus free games wish list for October 2020
Alien: Isolation
One of the PS4's most underrated horror games, Alien: Isolation, released at the beginning of the generation and unfortunately is unlikely to ever get a proper Alien sequel due to low sales and ongoing changes with the series licensing. Marketed as a proper sequel to Ridley Scott's horror classic, Alien: Isolation directly follows the events of the original film, set during the time between Alien and Aliens. It tells an interesting and wholly original story about Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley, in her search to find out what happened to her mother.
Admittedly, Alien: Isolation is a little long in the tooth and would have benefitted from being a few chapters shorter. However, it makes up for the length in pure horror as players attempt to escape the Sevastopol space station, all while playing a never-ending game of cat and mouse with a Xenomorph. Alien: Isolation's biggest highlight is its brilliant AI system for the Alien, a frightening beast with a mind of its own and enough free will to make sure no two encounters with the creature will ever be the same. There's a lot of great horror games on PS4 to choose from, but Alien: Isolation would definitely be a winner on PS Plus this Halloween.
Alien: Isolation is available now for PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Switch.
Blair Witch
Just like Alien: Isolation, Blair Witch is another all-original tale based on a popular horror film franchise that acts as a sequel to the original film. Developed by Bloober Team, best known for the Layers of Fear series and the upcoming Series X exclusive, The Medium, Blair Witch is set two-years after the events of the original film and follows former police officer, Ellis Lynch, in search of a missing nine-year-old boy in Black Hills Forest, home of the infamous and titular Blair Witch.
While the game starts out simple, things quickly start to go wrong for Ellis in Black Hills Forest and what began as a rescue search for a missing boy soon becomes a psychological thriller about a troubled man with a dark past. Blair Witch also puts a large focus on the player's companion Bullet, a German Shepherd that can be commanded to search for clues, who warn Ellis about nearby threats or rolls over for a good old fashioned belly rub. At around 5-7 hours (a fairly standard length for the developer), Bloober Team does a good job at making sure Blair Witch doesn't outstay its welcome and goes all out in the game's final hour, leading to one of the most frightening encounters in a horror game.
Blair Witch is available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Concrete Genie
When most people think about PlayStation's first-party lineup, they think about big AAA games like The Last of Us 2, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima. At thirteen first-party studios worldwide, smaller studios like Media Molecule (Dreams) or London Studio (Blood & Truth) are often overlooked and that extends to one of PS4's most unique (not to mention family-friendly) first-party games: Concrete Genie - a fun, unique, and lighthearted game that's all about looking at the bright side of life, even when things seem tough.
Developed by Pixelopus, a first-party PlayStation studio that was formed out of video game development program sponsored by Sony at Carnegie Mellon University and San Jose State, Concrete Genie released in October 2019 and follows a young boy named Ash on a quest to recover his stolen art book pages, overcome a series of bullies, and bring life back to his abandoned hometown. Concrete Genie is all about creativity and sends players to a variety of locations where the main objective is to paint and graffiti the town to bring color and life back into the world. Using the powers of Genies, Ash's creatures fight off the darkness that polluted the environment in the first place.
Concrete Genie is available now on PS4.
Tetris Effect VR
Almost forty years after the original release, Tetris is arguably still as big as ever as it ever was and with so many iterations of the classic puzzle game, it can be difficult to know where to start. Praised for everything from its colorful aesthetic to its exciting new game modes and soundtrack, Tetris Effect is the best way to experience Tetris on current and next-generation hardware. The base game has a lot to offer and there's an upcoming multiplayer expansion called Tetris Effect Connected releasing on PS4 in Summer 2021, but the primary reason that it should make PS Plus is for its PSVR support. Sony has started promoting PSVR a lot more this past year, and after the release of Firewall: Zero Hour on PS Plus earlier this year, Tetris Effect VR would be a great addition before the PS5 arrives and takes over.
Tetris Effect is available now for PC, PS4, PSVR, and Oculus Quest.
What's New? PlayStation Plus Collection
As part of the PlayStation 5 release date and price announcement, Sony announced the PlayStation Plus Collection, a collection of the PlayStation 4's greatest hits that will be made available for subscribers that purchase the next-generation platform. The PS Plus Collection offers free games including God of War, Persona 5, Batman Arkham Knight, and Mortal Kombat X as an added bonus to go alongside the standard monthly offerings and PS Now. Not everyone got a chance to play every heavy hitter from this generation, so the PS Plus Collection is a strong incentive to make the leap to next-gen without leaving something behind.
PlayStation Plus members receive two free games every month with their subscription.