From Prey to Stray: 10 must-play games from PlayStation Plus Extra
Sony's PlayStation Plus Extra subscription lets you discover dozens of new games. Considering that games are not a cheap pleasure, this innovation helps you save money, because for $10-15 per month, the price depends on the region, you get access to the library, which contains everything you can. Shooters, open-world games, indies, interactive movies, RPGs, Sony exclusives and more. PS Plus Extra has collected games that you can't beat. If you want to find out right away what Sony has to offer and not flip through the library, but immediately start exploring new worlds, this material is for you. The editors of gg have prepared 10 of the most interesting games on the PS Plus Extra subscription.
Prey - how to save a space station from monsters with a wrench and glue
Prey is a creepy first-person shooter. The events of the game take place in a parallel dimension where the Soviet Union and the United States have created the Talos 1 space station orbiting the moon, operated by Transtar. "Talos-1 has been taken over by aliens and now the fate of the crew and the entire station is in your hands. Protagonist Morgan Yu has to remember his past and understand what he has forgotten here. Helping in this will be the clues left by Morgan for himself. The station itself is designed in the style of the 1960s and is a huge labyrinth with dozens of locations: greenhouses, cafes, laboratories, residential complexes and majestic halls with gold decorations. Each such location has secret rooms and exits. How to get into this or that place depends only on the player. Crawl through a pipe, find a hatch in the wall, or find a map that opens a door. But at every step Morgan is in danger in the form of aliens called Typhons. Mimic - crawling on the floor and can take the form of any object. So you need to be prepared that the cup you see on the table may turn out to be something horrible and slippery. Phantoms are tall creatures that actively seek out their prey, and encounters with them are always a challenge. Telepaths - giant creatures with tentacles, it's difficult to come out alive in battle with them. To fight with typhoons you will be helped by the arsenal of weapons: pistol, shotgun, crossbow, wrench, cannon that shoots glue and slows down the enemies and different grenades. You can pump yourself with neuromods (neuromod), special modifications. With neuromods Morgan Yu can increase his health, armor, learn engineering or turn into a Typhon. Learn telepathy, take into account other objects, launch shockwaves and much more. Only by choosing the path of a Tiphon there is no going back.
Release Date: May 5, 2017
Metacritic Rating: 82/8.2
Developer: Arkane Studios
Genre: FPS
Time to pass: 16-30 hours
Favorite Neuromode: Mimic matter - the ability to disguise yourself as any object, from a cup to a pot.
What's memorable: the game's conditional genre is Immersive sim. It gives the player a wide range of choices during the course of the game. It's like a simulation where you decide where to go, what to interact with, how to evolve, and no one and nothing will interfere with you. The most important weapon here is ingenuity and originality.
Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut - Mongolian Peacekeepers Got their Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is an open-world adventure game, where the player has to save the island of Tsushima from the Mongol invaders. First of all, the picturesque Tsushima is worth mentioning. Forests, lakes, fields of flowers, beaches, mountains and Japanese architecture create a variety of landscapes and give the gaming industry one of the most beautiful games. It's impossible to walk past a field of red flowers or a forest of golden trees and not take advantage of the game's photo mode. A special feature of the gameplay is a unique combat system. Four combat stances are available, which you have to use against different kinds of enemies. In Samurai arsenal there is a katana, that helps to turn the battlefield into a dance of death, two bows, kunai, smoke bombs, bombs and poison darts. If these are skillfully combined, sweeping the lands of Tsushima from the enemy will be a pleasure. The game is also not stingy with plot. The story revolves around the samurai Jin Sakai, one of the few who survived the first Battle of Tsushima. Sakai will have to transcend the samurai code and choose a new path - that of a ghost. As well as creating a new army to bring peace back to his homeland. The Director's Cut edition also includes the additional location of Iki Island, which will force you to stay in feudal Japan for a few more hours to complete new quests, meet new characters and explore new landscapes.
Release Date: August 20, 2021
Metacritic Rating: 83/9.1
Developer: Sucker Punch
Genre: Adventure
Time to complete: 15-30 hours
Favorite weapon: Flaming Sword
What is memorable: the main character struggles with his inner self, goes against the Samurai code and chooses to be a stealth assassin, which turns him into a living island ghost.
Control: Ultimate Edition - In Search of Her Brother Walks Into a Secret Bureau and Takes Control
Control: Ultimate Edition is a third-person adventure game that tells the story of Jesse Faden, who enters the Federal Bureau of Control with two goals: to find her brother and to figure out what's even going on at the bureau. But early on, Jesse learns that she is the director of the Federal Bureau and now it's time to deal not only with her own problems, but also to save the bureau from the threat that hangs over it. The bureau itself is created in a brutalist style and is one big concrete labyrinth with dozens of rooms and locations. Offices, parks, mines, reactors, junkyards and parallel dimensions. The gameplay won't let you get bored for a second. The heroine can tear a piece of concrete out of the wall or take a cylinder of gas and throw it at the enemy. Create a shield, wait until the enemies are exhausted, and then take to the air and attack from above. Or take control of monsters. Different types of weapons are available to players: pistol, shotgun, analog of grenade launcher and submachine gun. There are dozens of variations on how to sweep the control bureau from the undead. Most memorable in the game are the boss battles. Not all of them are mandatory, but the design of the enemies and the locations where they are found are stunning. How, are you unfamiliar with a creature that you have to throw a clock at to overpower it? Or a giant monster living in a refrigerator? The game clearly has no problems with design and creativity. A Ultimate Edition will give you two additions that will make you explore the bureau even more and uncover its deepest secrets.
Release Date: August 27, 2020
Metacritic Rating: 82/7.3
Developer: Remedy
Genre: Action
Time to pass: 12-20 hours
Favorite unexpected moment: appearance of Alan Wake, a character from Remedy's game of the same name
What's memorable: solid brutality, the game creators' creativity in battling opponents and a confusing sister and brother story.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - 17-year-old Miles learns to take charge
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an open-world action game where players get a closer look at New York's second Spider-Man and Peter Parker's disciple, Miles Morales. From the first mission to the end credits, it shows how Miles grows up: he discovers new powers, becomes smarter, stronger and more responsible. For a time, the teenager remains the only superhero in town, and in the midst of gang conflicts and sinister corporations, only he can save his city from disaster and realize that with great power comes great responsibility. What is the price of heroism and what does Miles have to sacrifice for the greater good? These questions will accompany the teenage spider until the final battle for his hometown. As for the gameplay, it can make you dizzy. After all, Parker Morales is distinguished by bioelectric abilities: electrified gloves with different applications and combinations, as well as "invisible" mode. There is no going anywhere driving flights on the web, acrobatics, a variety of gadgets and dynamic combat system will definitely not let you get bored while saving the snow-covered and atmospheric metropolis.
Release Date: November 12, 2020
Metacritic Rating: 85/7.7
Developer: Insomniac Games
Genre: Action
Time to pass: 7-13 hours
Favorite costume: Bodega Cat (with a backpack carrying a red cat wearing a spider-man mask)
What is memorable: stunning flights on a spider web across snowy New York City and battles using all the hero's super powers. Growing up Morales, during which he learns how to transcend adversity, confront new enemies, take responsibility, and lose the things he cares so much about.
Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition - primitive humans faced with the works that have taken over the world
Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition is a third-person adventure game whose events unfold in a post-apocalyptic world. Many thousands of years ago, humanity rebooted and began its journey from the beginning. Of the then civilization, only the large and deadly machines that have taken over the Earth remain. In order to make sense of what happened and find a clue, the young hunter Eloy (Aloy) embarks on a long and mysterious journey. The world of Horizon is large and elaborate. On her way, Aloy will meet many tribes with their own traditions and culture. Sun worshippers, inventors and blacksmiths, hermits who have settled in the snowy lands, a matriarchal tribe and bandits scattered all over the world. In parallel, players explore all sorts of ecosystems. Jungles, mountains, forests, fields, deserts and the ruins of a long dead civilization. The basis of gameplay is the hunt for machines. Each requires a different approach and a different weapon. You can't just shoot everyone with an arrow. You have to throw a freezing bomb at some machine, tie someone with an electric rope, or shoot down the machine's built-in weapon and use it to your advantage. There is no problem with the variety of enemies here, given that the machines in the game are analogs of animals for the proper operation of the ecosystem, then you will meet machine hippos, crocodiles, petrels, crabs, bears and many others. You can use different bows to fight them, which can be used to shoot regular, fire or heavy arrows. A sling to throw bombs, a rope thrower to knock them down and a spear for close combat. A special pattern will also help you, showing the weaknesses of the vehicles, their route and what they are vulnerable to. And The Frozen Wilds add-on will send you to the far snowy lands, where another threat with unique vehicles looms.
Release Date: February 28, 2017
Metacritic Rating: 89/8.4
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Genre: Adventure
Time to complete: 20-40 hours
Favorite Machine: Thunderbirds is one of the biggest and scariest machines in the game. Equipped with a variety of weapons: lasers, machine guns, bombs. Especially dangerous in close combat, thanks to its gigantic tail and its ability to trample anyone.
What's memorable: the life of primitive people on the wreckage of the formerly developed world with jobs that were supposed to protect nature, but a glitch in the system made them cold-blooded predators. As well as revealing the game's theme that human ego leads to dire consequences.
Metro Exodus - A Tour of Ruined Moscow or Journey to the Future
Metro Exodus is a post-apocalyptic first-person shooter. The story revolves around Artem, his wife Anna and the Order of Sparta, who one day learn that after World War 3 the world did not die, but is trying to move on as best it can. Now, after 23 years of life in the Underground, Artem, along with the Order, embarks on a summer journey in search of a clean and suitable place to live, not survive, already on the surface of the earth. The crew will travel by train and will meet many interesting places on their way. A flooded village where electricity is considered a sin. A desert with bandits. An abandoned children's camp in the woods, where there is a life of its own. And creepy cities long dead from radiation. The gameplay consists of the fact that in each location you need to solve several problems and move on with your team. Some of these locations contain an open world that doesn't box the player in, as was the case in the first two installments of the Metro series. The game also features one of the most interesting weapon modifications. All the sights, examples, magazines, silencers you can put on any weapon, there is simply no limit. From an ordinary pistol, you can create a small shotgun that will kill your opponent in one shot. Everything is limited only by the imagination of the player. Complete additional tasks, explore interesting places, defend from mutants and bandits and communicate with vivid characters. Regarding the latter, the authors of the game prescribed them so well that the names of most of them you will remember for a long time. Each of them has his own story, his own character, they perform tasks together with Artem and just talk about the whole world. And the final episode won't leave anyone indifferent. Those emotions, experiences and the course of events that took place in the last two hours of the game didn't let me go for a long time. A nice bonus is that this is one of the few games that has a full Ukrainian localization.
Release date: February 15, 2019
Metacritic rating: 82/7.3
Developer: 4A Games
Genre: FPS
Time to pass: 15-20 hours
Favorite moment: capturing a bunker in the Urals
What is memorable: journey through the rubble of a post-apocalyptic world where new laws, religions and tribes have formed. A wide arsenal of weapons with the ability to explore the world, a heartwarming story of an entire crew, and the opportunity to fulfill a long-held Ukrainian dream and see Russia destroyed.
Ghostrunner - Cyberpunk Ninja Only Goes Wrong Once
Ghostrunner is a hardcore first-person slasher in cyberpunk style. After a world-wide collapse, humanity has found a last refuge in the towering Dharma Tower. But as time goes by the situation in the tower city is getting worse and extinction of all living things is coming. The situation must be rectified by Ghostrunner Jack, who must take revenge on Mara, one of the tower's founders, who has turned into a tyrant and despises human life. The mysterious "Whisper" will help you climb to the top of the tower, where Mara is placed, and fight her in a decisive battle. A special feature of the game is the "one hit = one life" mechanic - it works for both the enemies and the protagonist. It makes the gameplay dynamic and intense, and players have to be mobile, because stopping even for 1 second can send you to the last checkpoint. There are different types of enemies with guns, shields, submachine guns, sluggers (which attack only in close combat), drones and bosses. To defeat them Jack uses a katana, superhuman reflexes to freeze time and a variety of skills. For example, you can jump on the drone and use it as a way to move around the location, or use the whip to shorten the distance and strike a precise blow. It all takes place in a beautiful and at the same time creepy cyberpunk megastructure.
Release Date: October 27, 2020
Metacritic Rating: 81/8.2
Developer: One More Level
Genre: Action
Time to complete: 7-10 hours
Favorite Skill: Use an enemy drone as your helper to strike the enemy.
What makes it memorable: The opportunity to really challenge the player and test their skills and reactions in a fierce battle for the last refuge of civilization in the cyberpunk tower.
Death Stranding Director's Cut - Cinematic Postapocalypse
Death Stranding Director's Cut is a third-person open-world adventure game. The story shows a post-apocalyptic America where the world of the dead has infiltrated the world of the living. The protagonist Sam Bridges must connect all the survivors of the terrible event and create a unified system that gives hope to mankind for further survival. People call Death Stranding a "courier simulator", because the most of the gameplay is the delivery of valuable things. But the way from point A to point B is never easy. First of all you need to distribute the cargo properly. If you take everything at once, your character will become unbalanced, and as a result most of the things you will either lose or damage. You need to constantly scan the terrain, where the river may be deeper, where the terrain is uneven, or in general you need to use a ladder or rope to cross this or that place. A special feature is that players can build their own structures to facilitate travel, which are also available to others. Of the enemies you will encounter BTs - black ugly ghosts that have left the world of the dead and MULEs - a nomadic tribe that hunts couriers. In general, Death Stranding is a meditative game where players wander alone in a dead America. This specific gameplay is not to everyone's liking, but it is simply impossible not to experience the work of Hideo Kojima. Also here there is a real Hollywood cast: Norman Reedus, Troy Baker, Mads Mikkelsen and others. The Director's Cut edition will add new equipment, vehicles, locations and story missions to the game.
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Metacritic Rating: 85/7.1
Developer: Kojima Productions
Genre: Action
Time to Go: 30-60 hours
Favorite Actor: Mads Mikkelsen, who played Clifford Unger, a captain in the US Army Special Forces.
What's memorable: Meditative gameplay that allows you to quietly explore the game world and the ability to find your own unique path to successfully deliver a shipment. And also the actors who, at times, turn Death Stranding into a real movie.
Valiant Hearts The Great War is an anti-war novel about World War I
Valiant Hearts The Great War is an adventure graphic novel about four very different people and one loyal four-legged friend whose fates intertwine against the backdrop of World War I. Emile is the Frenchman who is the protagonist of this novel. Freddy is an American who volunteered. Anne is a Belgian woman who went to the front as a nurse. Carl is a German who fought on the other side of the barricades. And the dog Walt, who will help to overcome obstacles. For each of these characters, players will visit the forests of France, Paris in the early days of the war, ruined cities, dark trenches, prison camps and military bases. Although the story is fictional, it shows cities where real battles took place: Reims, Montfaucon, the Battle of the Marne, and the Somme. Leaflets are scattered all over these places to tell the real facts about the war. Gameplay consists mainly of puzzles and moving from one point to another. Although it did not do without dynamic scenes where the heroes run away from the enemy, or infiltrations into the rear with sabotage. Still, it is the anti-war narrative of how horrible war is that appeals most to the game. We are shown people's pre-war lives, where they are happy. And then the first training of the fighters, the hardships of decisions made, desertion, panic, chaos, the ability of people to find common ground, to go through difficulties together, to love and not give up. And at the end we are shown a tragic finale that evokes double feelings.
Release Date: June 25, 2014
Metacritic Rating: 79/8.6
Developer: Ubisoft
Genre: Adventure
Time to pass: 6-8 hours
Most tragic moment: refusal of one of the characters to follow the order of the commander
What is memorable: simultaneously such different, but so similar fate of each of the characters. A depiction of the entire tragedy of war: destroyed cities, death, fear, joy, love and friendship.
Stray - a cat together with a drone solves the mystery of the cyber city, which was filled with darkness.
Stray - third-person adventure game, where you play as a cat in a mysterious city, which is inhabited only by works and ugly creatures stars (Zurks), seeking to destroy all living and nonliving things. Wandering around in the dirty, creepy and dying cybercity you have to figure out why the Zurks live here instead of humans and how to escape from this horrible and mysterious place. Helping you in all this will be the friendly drone B12. It will translate robot language, help you fight a crowd of stars, solve puzzles and help you find your way home. You won't be interacting with just B12, though. On your four-legged path you will meet a lot of interesting characters. What's most appealing about the game is the atmosphere of a half-dead city and the duo of cat and drone. Scratch carpets, walk around the keyboard, let yourself be petted by the works, be invisible, explore the cyber city, apply all the grace of a furry cat and press O to meow.
Release Date: July 19, 2022
Metacritic Rating: 83/8.7
Developer: BlueTwelve Studio
Genre: Adventure
Time to play: 4-6 hours
Favorite NPC: Robot Loader who has a hangover
What's memorable: Jobs adopting the manner of humans. The establishment of a dictatorship, the search for family, the desire to get out for a better life, and the player becomes a direct participant in these events, also in the role of a ginger cat.
What's next for PlayStation Plus?
According to a recent survey Statista in the U.S., PlayStation Plus is the most popular service. 41% of the 1,099 people surveyed prefer Sony's service. And gamesindustry reports that Sony CFO Hirok Totoki said in the company's latest report that gamer engagement has dropped off significantly since 2021, and bringing gamers back into the industry will help bring more PlayStation 5 titles to market and the new PlayStation Plus subscription model. Already, PS Plus has more than 47 million subscribers worldwide. That's almost half of all PlayStation console users (102 million). As for the PlayStation Extra service, a variety of hits are already available to players at release, and the library is only growing. In July, 21 December were added to the service, and in August the figure should be at least 12 projects. PlayStation Plus Extra for the minimum price has already given a huge number of good games and how many more we will see over time. And let's not forget the minimum PlayStation Plus Essential rate and the most expensive Extra, which contains remasters, and retro games from past generations of PlayStation and PSP. Together, these three subscription tiers contain more than 400 games. We'll be sure to talk about these services as well.
For those who want to know more
Our game editor has been playing games since he was 4 years old and can't imagine himself without it. He has played 100+ games on PlayStation, but still considers The Last of Us Part II to be the best in the industry. In January 2022, he joined the gg team. He studies at the Faculty of Journalism at Kyiv International University.
