‘Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’ headlines January’s free PlayStation Plus games

By Gabe Gurwin Published January 2, 2018

The holiday season is coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop playing great games. In January, PlayStation Plus subscribers will be treated to one of the best lineups of free games in recent memory, including a slow-burn stealth-action sequel from 2016.

Beginning on January 2, PlayStation Plus members can download seven free games, and they don’t stick to just one or two genres, either. The biggest title included in the batch is Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the PlayStation 4 game once again follows augmented agent Adam Jensen as he attempts to keep the peace between natural humans and those outfitted with machine parts. The game mixes stealth and action elements together and can be played either as a pacifist or a genocidal maniac.

Recommended Videos

Also free on PlayStation 4 is Batman: The Telltale Series. With the studio’s famous comic book-inspired art style, the game places players into the role of both Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, and features appearances from characters like Catwoman and Harvey Dent. The sequel series, Batman: The Enemy Within, recently released on the console as well.

PlayStation 3 owners will be able to grab Sacred 3 for free in January. The action-role-playing fantasy game wasn’t particularly well-received when it released back in 2014, with critics taking issue with the way it streamlined role-playing mechanics. Also free on the console is The Book of Unwritten Tales 2. The point-and-click adventure game released for both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in 2015, but it’s strangely not a cross-buy title through PlayStation Plus.

The PlayStation Vita is still getting freebies from the program again and this month’s games are also free on PlayStation 4. First up is Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness, a visual novel based on the anime series. Vita and PlayStation 4 owners will also receive the pixel-art survival-horror adventure Uncanny Valley.

If you picked up a PlayStation VR headset during one of this holiday season’s ridiculous sales, you will also get a freebie. Starblood Arena is a competitive aerial shooter with a sense of humor reminiscent of Borderlands, and it should be the perfect game to try out with fellow virtual reality newcomers. If you want to try out the free-to-play Warframe, you can also receive a special booster pack containing credits, weapons, boosters, and a mod pack through February 13.

Former Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Topics

Gaming

Sony’s new PS5 Prism Collection gives a beautiful retro makeover to your console and controller

The new collection lets you peek inside your PS5 and DualSense controller with a glossy transparent design.

sony-prism-collection-ps5

Remember when transparent gadgets were the coolest things you could own? Sony is bringing that late '90s aesthetic back with its new PS5 Prism Collection. The gorgeous lineup gives your DualSense controller and PS5 console a glossy, see-through makeover in three eye-catching colors.

https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/2115459064981512662?s=19

Gaming

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s Stranded mission had me hooked for hours, yet left me wanting more

I spent hours sneaking through North Korea, scavenging supplies, and clearing outposts, and I’d happily do it all again.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Stranded mission gameplay

For years, Call of Duty’s campaign mode has used big, scripted set pieces to tell the overarching story amid all the adrenaline-pumping action. The 2023 Modern Warfare 3 tried to shake up the established formula by introducing a handful of short open combat missions, and I genuinely liked the idea, but the game's overall negative reception seeped into how those missions were received.

I feared the next iteration might abandon the idea because of the backlash, but I am glad it didn't. MW4’s “Stranded” mission uses the same approach, but instead of fragmenting it across the campaign, it puts it all in a single large-scale open-world mission.

Computing

The $1300 Acer Predator Atlas 8 handheld is finally US-bound, and its pre-orders are already sold out

Acer’s first gaming handheld to launch in the US arrives November 1 with Intel Arc G3 Extreme hardware.

Intel Arc G3 Extreme Hands On with Acer Predator Atlas 8

Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.

Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.