October is jam-packed with exciting AAA games — Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Super Mario Odyssey, The Evil Within 2, to name a few — but if you are not looking to break the bank, and you have a PlayStation Plus subscription, the latest lineup of free games features the swan song of an iconic series.
On Sunday, October 3, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the final Metal Gear title to be led by Hideo Kojima, enters the program. As far as AAA titles go, the 2015 open world stealth game is one of the biggest, and most acclaimed games to join PlayStation Plus in quite some time. The Phantom Pain takes place nearly a decade after the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, which was given out to PS Plus subscribers in early 2015.
While it helps to have previous knowledge about the franchise to play The Phantom Pain, the Metal Gear Solid series featured one of the most obtuse and difficult to follow plots in video games. Konami even had to come out a year after the game launched to state that the ending of The Phantom Pain wasn’t missing. Basically, we’re saying The Phantom Pain can and should be enjoyed for its excellent stealth gameplay and presentation. Don’t worry too much about not fully wrapping your head around the story.
If stealth action games aren’t your thing, you can explore a dreary castle in the 2010 atmospheric survival horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Along with Dark Descent, subscribers gain access to its unrelated sequel A Machine for Pigs, as part of the Amnesia: Collection. Like The Phantom Pain, the Amnesia: Collection is only available for PS4 owners.
Two additional cross-buy titles bring the PS4 playable October freebies count to four. Hue, a charming side-scrolling puzzle game that tasks players with changing backdrop colors to make progress, is available for both PS Vita and PS4. Top-down shoot ’em up Sky Force Anniversary can be played on PS4, PS Vita, and PS3.
PlayStation 3 free games continue to be underwhelming for October, though. Billiards sim Hustle Kings and Monster Jam Battlegrounds will be available for download.
Make sure to pick up September’s free games, including Infamous: Second Son, before the new free games take over.
PlayStation VR owners can still snag Rigs: Mechanized Combat League for free throughout the month of October. The great arena-based battler will be up for grabs until November 7 as part of Sony’s one-year celebration of PSVR.
