Even at its most basic level, PlayStation's premium subscription service, PS Plus, usually offers gamers three free titles per calendar month. While each month tends to vary in quality, with some being far stronger than others, PlayStation has chosen to offer three varied games in December, which each present something unique. Headlining the trio is the Mass Effect Legendary Edition collection, which in itself contains the entire Mass Effect trilogy, meaning gamers are actually getting five titles this month instead of three. Alongside this, PS Plus is also offering Biomutant, an action-RPG, and day one release Divine Knockout, an online third-person platforming brawler. Gamers may be surprised to learn just how many hours of fun these three titles combined should provide.
In a time when finances are tight for many, video game subscription services are judged on their merits, and this usually boils down to two things: How good the library of available games is, and how many hours' worth of playtime the best titles equate to. Regarding the former, PS Plus has divided opinion, with many feeling the available content is inferior to that of its main rival, the Xbox Game Pass. The month of December's free PS Plus titles though, not including the batch of free Premium games that should be unveiled later this month, equates to approximately over 80 hours' worth of content to enjoy.
This Month's PS Plus Games Offer Hours of Fun
One area that PS Plus is particularly lagging behind Xbox Game Pass is day one releases. While Xbox offers a vast amount of brand-new games available at launch, so far PS Plus has mainly offered indie titles such as Bugsnax and Stray. Adding to that list now though is Divine Knockout, one of December's free titles from developer Red Beard Games. Dubbed as 'The world's only 3rd-person platform fighter', Divine Knockout offers an online brawling experience similar to games such as Multiversus and Super Smash Bros., but in a fully three-dimensional, third-person perspective. While initial user feedback has been good, it remains to be seen how successful this title proves to be, but as with all online brawlers, in theory it offers unlimited hours of content.
Biomutant is an open-world action-RPG from developer Experiment 101, featuring anthropomorphic furry creatures armed to the teeth with various weapons, ranging from high-powered guns, to swords and magical abilities. Players are able to fully customize the protagonist to their liking, before setting out on a quest to clean up the Tree of Life at the center of the world. The main campaign should take players approximately 12 hours, but as with most open-world games, those wishing to see and do everything will probably need to double that.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is undoubtedly the biggest game on offer, providing approximately 65 hours' of content across the three remastered games in the collection, and that's if gamers only focus on the main campaigns. The original Mass Effect game, which is by far the shortest of the trilogy, will still take players the best part of 18 hours to see through, although completionists could easily spend over 40 with it. The sequel, which is considered by many to be the strongest of the three, is longer, and if players move through the campaign as efficiently as possible it will still take over 24 hours to beat. This can easily be doubled for those striving to 100% the game though.
The third and final game in the trilogy, Mass Effect 3, offers roughly the same amount of content as its predecessor, with a main campaign clocking in around the 24-hour mark, and plenty of other things to do which should take gamers closer to 50 hours. The five titles offered this month ensure that PS Plus is ending the year on a high, and hopefully lays the groundwork for a more consistent year in 2023.
December's free PS Plus games are available now for PS Plus subscribers.