Sony has revealed the PlayStation Plus Essential July lineup, and it's arguably one of the best hauls in a long time for the service. As ever, you're getting three games, and this time around, there's fun to be had if you love brutal platformers or horror-inflected movie-style games.
What's in the PlayStation Plus Essential July lineup?
This is the first major PlayStation Plus Essential lineup since the service's revamp earlier this month, which introduced two extra tiers with lots more games to check out. The Essential tier is basically the same as the old-school PlayStation Plus, with three games up for grabs if you subscribe. Here's what you're getting with the PlayStation Plus Essential July lineup.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (PS5/PS4)
It's clear how Activision and Toys for Bob feel about all of the Crash Bandicoot platformers since Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Crash Bandicoot 4 pledges to get the series back on the straight and narrow with some good old-fashioned platforming fun, and just like its forebears, it's brutally, nail-chewingly difficult. It's also great fun, so if you're up for some retro 3D platforming goodness, it's well worth taking a trip with Crash, Tawna, and company. If you love Crash 4, we'd also recommend taking a look at our top 10 PlayStation Plus Premium platformers.
Arcadegeddon (PS5/PS4)
From the developer of Friday the 13th: The Game and Predator: Hunting Ground comes this PvE-PvP hybrid multiplayer shooter. You and up to 3 friends can team up online to search a series of varied biomes for loot, competing in minigames and battling some seriously crazy enemies and bosses along the way. Still hankering for some PlayStation Plus shooter goodness? Why not take a look at our top 10 shooters on the relaunched service's Premium tier?
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (PS4, playable on PS5)
Part of Supermassive Games' series of branching cinematic horror games, The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan sees a group of friends embark on the world's most ill-advised diving trip. Every playable character in the game can either survive the horrific events of the narrative or die, and their deaths will have an impact on how the story plays out. You can either play this one solo, play it alongside a buddy online, or play with up to five friends offline.
As you can see, the quality of the PlayStation Plus Essential July lineup is pretty high this month, which might go some way towards assuaging the lack of NTSC support for PlayStation Plus Premium classics. This is also your last chance to download the PlayStation Plus June lineup: God of War (2018), Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. God of War is available on PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium, though, and it's also available via the PlayStation Plus Collection.
A quick reminder: no matter which tier of PlayStation Plus you're subscribed to, you can download the above three games, even though they're part of the Essential tier. You can check out the new PlayStation Plus service and subscribe over on the official PlayStation website.
