If you're struggling on deciding whether to subscribe to PlayStation Plus, look no further as I'll be giving a detailed breakdown of what the service has to offer and how much money you could potentially save. I became a member in October 2012 and since then I don't regret ever subscribing. I sound like a Sony salesman here, but I genuinely would like to share the benefits of this service.
1. The Price
There are currently two prices in the UK to pay for PS+, you can pay £11.99 every 3 months or can pay £39.99 for the whole year round. It may sound like a lot, or it could very well seem reasonable, whichever way you look at it, you will definitely be getting your money's worth. For any US readers, that comes to $17.99 every month or $49.99 each year.
2. The Games
Each month the store is updated with a generous amount of full retail games (including Vita) and a few PSN games here and there, these games are completely free and as long as you're a subscriber, you can delete them, re-download them - the reason I point this out is because recently all of the free content has taken it's toll on my HDD space, so I've had to delete games I no longer play in order to download the newer ones, but I never have to worry about deleting the games as I can get them back whenever I want with no hassle.
This month's free content has included Spec Ops: The Line, Mafia II, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Lego Lord of the Rings (Vita), and When Vikings Attack (PSN and Vita).
Now, you might notice the diversity in those games, each one is considerably different to the other, which shows that no matter what type of gamer you are, they'll probably be something for you each month to enjoy. This next bit relates back to the price, but I did a quick search of those games mentioned earlier on a popular gaming shop website, and found that to actually but all those games it would cost around £65-£70, and I'm not saying you would actually buy all those games but it's a good example of the money you can save.
Of course, you will be getting the digital version and not the physical copy, so if you're a bit of a collector, you might want to spend the extra cash instead of subscribing. I'm a self-obsessed hoarder when it comes to video-games but I still do enjoy the benefits of PS+ - free random games each month, it's just something to look forward to and enjoy.
3. The Games So Far
This is the complete list of games given away for free to PS+ members since the service started, this list is based on the European PlayStation store. However, please remember that past games are no longer available if you weren't a PS+ member at the time, but this is just here to give you an idea on what's being offered if you do decide on subscribing.
Full PS3/PSN Games
- Batman: Arkham City
- Battlefield 3
- Big Sky Infinite
- Binary Domain
- Bioshock 2
- Borderlands
- Bulletstorm
- Catherine
- Chime Super Deluxe
- Crysis 2
- Cubix HD
- Darksiders
- Dead or Alive 5
- Dead Space 2
- Demon's Souls
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Double Dragon Neon
- Gotham City Imposters
- Guardians of Middle Each
- Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
- Hitman Absolution
- ICO and Shadows of the Colossus HD Collection
- InFamous 2
- Joe Danger 2: The Movie
- Just Cause
- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
- Knytt Underground
- Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light
- Limbo
- LittleBigPlanet 2
- LittleBigPlanet Karting
- Lord of the Rings: War in the North
- Machinarium
- Mafia II
- Magic Orbz
- Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom
- Malicious
- Mass Effect 3
- Mortal Kombat 9
- Motorstorm: Apocalypse
- Mushroom Wars
- Need For Speed: Most Wanted
- Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
- Okami HD
- Payday: The Heist
- Quantum Conundrum
- Ratchet and Clank All 4 One
- Red Dead Redemption
- Renegade Ops
- Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition
- Retro/Grade
- Rock of Ages
- Saints Row 2
- Saints Row: The Third
- Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
- Sky Fighter
- Sleeping Dogs
- Smash Cars
- Spec Ops: The Line
- Starhawk
- The Cave
- Thomas Was Alone
- Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
- Vanquish
- Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
- Wakeboarding HD
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Full PS Vita Games
- Big Sky Infinite
- Chronovolt
- Coconut Dodge Revitalised
- Gravity Rush
- Jet Set Radio HD
- Knytt Undeground
- Lego Batman: The Video Game
- Lego Lord of the Rings
- Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
- Mortal Kombat 9
- Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus
- Pinball Arcade
- Puddle
- Rayman Origins
- Sine Mora
- Super Stardust Portable
- Thomas Was Alone
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- Unit 13
- Velocity Ultra HD
- When Vikings Attack
- WipEout 2048
- Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
It's quite rare, but sometimes PlayStation 1 and 2 games are free too, examples of this are Resident Evil and Max Payne.
4. Other
There are other benefits of PS+ that include free themes, avatars, and opportunities to try out full retail games for 60 minutes long, in other words - an hour long demo of a fully finished game. Early beta access is also sometimes available for soon to be released games.
Cloud Storage also becomes instantly available when you subscribe, meaning you can store your save data files on a virtual server, so if by some horrible way your HDD becomes corrupted, your saves will still be safe. Discounts on games are offered to subscribers too.
Based on what you've read, I hope you can come to a decision. The benefits are huge and I'm extremely happy personally as a subscriber and as a gamer. Feature1
