With that being said, right now the focus remains on the PlayStation 4 and with the majority of the world currently stuck indoors for the foreseeable future, Sony is trying to make quarantine a little more exciting for PlayStation owners by offering two free PS4 games to all players. April has been a great month for games, but it’s time to start looking toward what free games we’d like to see on PlayStation Plus next month, so here’s our complete PS Plus free games wish list for May 2020.
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
When Gearbox released Borderlands: The Handsome Collection back in 2015, it was baffling the collection included remastered versions of Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, but not the original game. The collection was aptly named after popular antagonist Handsome Jack a la Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection; however, the reasoning seemed strange when there were only three games in the series at the time. Fast forward to April 2019 and 2K finally released Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition for current-gen consoles in preparation for Borderlands 3, with a Nintendo Switch release expected next month.
Borderlands made an immediate lasting impression on the industry, not only for its cel-shaded aesthetic but for being one of the first successful looter-shooters. Taking the loot-driven gameplay grind of Diablo and combining it with RPG mechanics in a first-person shooter, Borderlands was the beginning of a whole new genre of games that really took off this generation with the likes of Destiny 2, The Division 2, and more.
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Gris
Gris is a gorgeous adventure-platformer that follows a young woman whose coming to terms with the five different stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. While the story is entirely open to interpretation, players control a woman by the name of Gris (which means “Grey” in Spanish) and must traverse a world that is completely devoid of color, completing levels to slowly bring different colors one by one, and find Gris voice so that she can sing again.
Made by Spanish developer Nomada Studio and published by Devolver Digital, Gris has a stunning minimalistic design that uses water-colors for its aesthetic. Accompanied by an orchestral score, Nomada has created a beautiful and moving 3-4 hour platformer experience that’s sure to please fans of Journey, Limbo, The Gardens Between, and even Celeste, minus the difficulty.
Gris is available now for PC, PS4, iOS, and Nintendo Switch.
Layers of Fear 2
Looking back at the previous generation, there was once a time when the AAA video game industry had all but abandoned horror games in favor of shooters and multiplayer modes, relegating the entire genre to indie developers and PC. Luckily, the widespread success of YouTube and Twitch, and games like Amnesia, Outlast, and Slender, finally put the genre back on the map and brought about recent hits such as Resident Evil 2 Remake, The Evil Within 2, Alien Isolation, and even some dark fiction-style games like Bloodborne.
One developer that’s been quietly working away in the background is Bloober Team, consistently releasing quality horror games year after year including Layers of Fear, Observer, and last year’s Blair Witch. Labeled as a psychological thriller, Bloober Team’s Layer of Fear 2 is one of the best horror games available on PS4 at the moment. Lasting roughly 5-7 hours, players take control of a Hollywood actor that “heeds the call of an enigmatic director,” and must explore a mysterious ocean liner to find their way out all while being chased down by something that’s not quite human.
Layers of Fear 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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Star Wars: Battlefront II
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 has had an interesting history. Prior to launch, fans were underwhelmed with the direction of the reboot and eagerly awaiting a sequel that appeared to be making good on everything they were asking for: a campaign mode, an interesting story from the perspective of the Empire, characters from all three trilogies, and a more robust multiplayer experience. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 promised it all, and industry defining loot-box controversies aside, it couldn’t deliver on that promise.
Fast forward to 2020 and developer DICE has managed to completely turn the game around through years of consistent support and updates. In the past five months, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 has received an update for The Rise of Skywalker, a major update focused on the original trilogy, and is due to receive Rogue One themed Scarif content in the coming weeks. DICE has taken the time and care to deliver on the promise it made for Battlefront 2 from the start and releasing the game on PS Plus is a great way for lapsed fans to come back and give it another chance.
Star Wars: Battlefront II is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Earlier this week, Sony released the latest firmware update in the form of PS4 System Update 7.5 which aimed to improve system performance across the board. Unfortunately for some players, the update has led to some unexpected issues with a percentage of users reporting system-wide crashes, infinite boot loops, and disk drive errors, amongst other problems. Hopefully, Sony will be able to come up with a quick fix so users aren’t kept away from the free April PS Plus and ‘Play at Home’ games for too long.
PlayStation Plus members receive two free games every month with their subscription.
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