PS Plus vs. Xbox Games With Gold: Which Free Games Are Better? (February 2019)

PS Plus vs. Xbox Games With Gold: Which Free Games Are Better (January 2019)?

Sony PS Plus

It’s not often that a PS3 headlines the month, but this February is an exception. What an absolute crack Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is!

This stealth action epic from Hideo Kojima is set immediately after the events of MGS2 and marks the dramatic conclusion of Solid Snake’s story. It has all the hallmark features of an MGS classic, from compelling stealth sequences to intense boss battles. There’s plenty of fan service here, too, with Raiden returning as a ninja badass and an entire chapter revisiting Shadow Moses.

Too bad PS4 owners won’t be able to play it as a backward compatible game, huh?

For owners of Sony’s current-gen hardware only, you can instead look forward to playing Ubisoft’s For Honor. The multiplayer melee action game recovered from its initially wonky launch with oodles of new content and updates that have kept a decent community of players invested.

With plenty of different modes, crossovers, and the aforementioned steady stream of updates, it’s a multiplayer experience well worth trying, if not just as a point of difference from typical shooters you might be playing.

Elsewhere, Hitman: The Complete First Season is also free for PS4 owners. This brilliant compilation of six Hitman episodes is the package that put IO Interactive back on the map and the Hitman franchise firmly back in the spotlight. Notably, it actually has a higher Metacritic rating than the recently released sequel.

There are no PSVR games this month, but Vita owners have Gunhouse and Rogue Aces as freebies. Of the two, Rogue Aces is the highlight, a side-scrolling arcade dog-fighter with a distinctly retro vibe.

February PS Plus Games:

• For Honor (PS4)
• Hitman: The Complete First Season (PS4)
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
• Divekick (PS3)
• Gunhouse (PS Vita/PS4)
• Rogue Aces (PS Vita/PS4)

PS Plus vs. Xbox Games With Gold: Which Free Games Are Better (February 2019)?

Xbox Games with Gold

Microsoft continues 2019 by headling its Xbox One lineup with another pixelated indie title. Developer Inti Creates Curse of the Moon caused a big stir when it released last year, even though it wasn’t the Bloodstained game that we’ve all been waiting for.

From legendary developer Koji Igarashi, Curse of the Moon is actually a sort of tide-over until Ritual of the Night is finished.

It was promised as a bonus after reaching a funding milestone in the companies crowdfunding campaign over on Kickstarter. Few would have tipped it for such high acclaim at launch, but it’s definitely a brilliant experience and all the better now its free on Games with Gold.

The retro-theme extends to the second Xbox One title this month with Super Bomberman R, which launched on Nintendo Switch back in 2017 to middling reviews. Still, if you’re a fan of the genre or the franchise then you’ll no doubt be happy to see it as a freebie.

Over on Xbox 360, Assassin’s Creed Rogue is available, an Assassin’s Creed title that launched for previous generation consoles just as the Xbox One was starting to blossom. But ironically, despite releasing in the shadow of Assassin’s Creed Unity, it’s actually a far better game.

Moving on, if you’ve been missing quality Star Wars games and aren’t up to speed with Stars Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, then look no further. This third-person action game is a lot of fun and still holds up today.

Thanks to backward compatbility, Xbox One owners can look forward to downloading all of the freebies available on Games with Gold in February.

Games with Gold February:

• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Xbox One) Feb. 1-28
• Super Bomberman R (Xbox One) Feb.16-March 23
• Assassin’s Creed Rogue (Xbox 360) Feb. 1-15
• Stars Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Feb. 16-28

PS Plus vs. Xbox Games With Gold: Which Free Games Are Better (February 2019)?

Who Wins?

After Microsoft’s strong start to 2019 last month, we were curious to see whether that momentum would carry over to February. While this month is certainly solid, it’s not enough to prevent a comeback by PS Plus.

There’s a bit of a gulf in both the quality and prestige of games on offer over on Sony’s PS Plus this month, and we love that the PS3 is getting a big send off with a critically acclaimed classic in MGS4.

Overall, there’s a really nice balance of games on Sony’s service, spanning single and multi-player action. For Honor continues to impress as Ubisoft supports the game moving forward, Hitman is arguably the series’ most complete overall package to date, and every gamer should be excited to try MGS4 if they haven’t already.

As for Microsoft’s Games with Gold, well, it’s hardly a poor month. Perhaps if we were being ultra critical, we’d like to see a more high-profile AAA game as the headline title for the service.

As much as we love indie games, Curse of the Moon is hardly a high-value package, and it’s a rather niche sort of experience. Last month’s Celeste was a bit of a different case –it brought fresh innovation and an accomplished narrative to the table. Curse of the Moon, as good as it is, isn’t quite on that level.