Who Wins?
PS Plus vs. Xbox Games with Gold: Which Free Games Win November?
We would have liked to have seen both online services end the year on a high, but December is hardly a vintage month for either. If we had to choose between the two, though, Xbox Games with Gold edges out PS Plus. All of the games on offer over on Microsoft’s service are well-reviewed games that offer a diverse selection of genres, spanning cooperative multiplayer, single-player action adventure titles, and even a rhythm game, too. For Xbox One owners, in particular, backward compatibility means there are four acclaimed titles free to download this month.
Over on PS Plus, sure, Darksiders II: Deathfinitive edition is certainly the most eye-catching AAA title available for download across both the services this month. Its Zelda-like design and third-person hack-and-slash gameplay certainly have a greater scale than anything else available this month. Objectively speaking, however, Darksiders II isn’t really a standout game – entertaining enough, but hardly a must-play. And PS Plus really needed a must-play title if its other offerings were going to be this lackluster. Beyond Darksiders II, this is a pretty poor month for Sony’s online service. Kungfu Panda, as fun as it is, is ultimately a weak Smash-clone that hasn’t received much in the way of positive critical praise.
As always, the service offers free content across a greater amount of platforms than its rival, but even that doesn’t save it this month. Particularly so, given that PSVR owners get no new game this month. The free PS3 games are notably poor, too. Xblaze: Lost Memories is surely only going to be interesting to those already in-tune with the BlazBlue franchise, a fairly niche series unknown to many. The Syberia games were excellent on PC, but the console ports of these games are woeful in comparison to the originals.
Perhaps the only saving grace for the service this month is that those interested in Monster Hunter: World will be able to take part in an exclusive open beta test. Ultimately, though, we’re giving the nod to Microsoft this month for fleshing out Games with Gold in December with quality over quantity.
