Sony's generosity with monthly free games is the stuff of legends as each month PlayStation Plus members get their hands on a half-dozen quality classic, indie, and big-name gaming titles for the popular console line. With March right around the corner, we take a look at our predictions for which games will be free to the PlayStation Plus network starting on March 3.
According to the official PlayStation Blog, the free games list will be fully revealed this Wednesday or Thursday, but in the meantime, we can take a look at the new games that will launch and make some educated guesses as to what we will see on the free side of things.
For the PlayStation 4, we have four games that will launch on March 3: Helldivers, Shiftlings, White Night, and Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode 2. Any one of these could potentially be offered for free as Sony likes to give away at least one newly-released game to entice players to go for the PlayStation Plus upgrade, but which one will it be?
Our money is on Helldivers, since it will have a platform-wide release on the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita simultaneously on that day. Resident Evil is also a good choice since it's such a familiar franchise, but we'll have to wait and see.
Helldivers is a top-down shooter from Arrowhead Game Studio that allows you to play in a procedurally generated universe where you fight against enemies to save a fictional Super Earth. The game has been praised by reviewers since its reveal at GamesCom 2013 and is a treat for those who enjoy the old-school top-down shooters from several years ago. It's available as a cross-buy, meaning that it can be played on all platforms. This is usually an important feature to promote for Sony as they've done it previously with games like Rogue Legacy in February and The Swapper in January.
There's also a good chance that The Order: 1886 may be among the free games for March as it just released on February 20th. Sony has previously let a highly anticipated game enjoy those launch sales for a week or so before bringing it into the fold of free games, and The Order is one of the most anticipated of the season so far.
In the new single-player game, you play in an alternate history version of London where you are part of an order of modern-day knights who are dedicated to keeping the world safe from a breed of animal-human hybrids. The game has so far enjoyed a relatively low Metacritic score of 65/100, and is available exclusively on the PlayStation 4.
For the rest of the list, we can guess that there will be a few low-budget indies to help promote that growing trend in video games, but also there will undoubtedly be a few arcade classics that are sure to keep even the pickiest gamer entertained.
Look for the list of PlayStation Plus free games to drop later this week. The free games for March will begin on March 3 for North America and March 4 for Europe, at which time February's free games will transition back to paid.