The debate regarding PlayStation Plus rages on for another month, as May 2015's selection of free software is... Well, divisive to say the least. As always, we're following up our news story with a fuller feature outlining everything that's set to join the Instant Game Collection from 5th May in North America and 6th May in Europe. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin.
PlayStation 4
The kind of game that has Graham Banas written all over it, Ether One is a first-person adventure with a pretty interesting premise. You play as the employee of a memory-retrieval company, and must investigate and reconstruct the thoughts of a 69-year-old dementia patient. Hard hitting stuff, then – furthered by the fact that the release has been praised for its depiction of the illness.
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition
There's only one Juan Mata – and there's only one Juan Aguacate, too. Drinkbox Studios' critically acclaimed adventure started life as a Pub Fund project on the PlayStation 3 and Vita, but this PlayStation 4 port adds a few additional levels and bosses to the Mexican flavoured Metroidvania. With tight platforming, lush visuals, and surprisingly good combat, this is one beefy burrito.
PlayStation 3
The Unfinished Swan – Cross-buy with PS4 and Vita
One of the few releases to receive an esteemed 10/10 rating on these hallowed pages, The Unfinished Swan is something of a miniature masterpiece. Exploring various different themes – from loneliness and loss to rediscovery and hope – this first-person adventure both surprises and delights in equal measure. It looks and sounds great, too – don't miss out on this classic.
Race the Sun – Cross-buy with PS4 and Vita
A game that doesn't live up to its exciting name on first appearances, Race the Sun is actually a really addictive arcade title. Boasting a fairly straight-forward, Star Fox-esque art style, the game sees you controlling a solar powered craft which requires the sun's rays in order to operate. Persistent upgrades and a really addictive endless runner-like loop make this something of a sunny surprise.
PlayStation Vita
Hohokum – Cross-buy with PS4 and PS3
How could you possibly dislike a game that stars a worm-like protagonist named the Long Mover? Honeyslug's whimsical exploratory escapade won't be to everyone's tastes, but Dick Hogg's varied art direction is as sharp as ever – and the soundtrack, which features various different artists from indie label Ghostly International, really is quite exceptional. One to veg out with, this.
Murasaki Baby is a game that tries to utilise all of the unique features of the PlayStation Vita, but does so with mixed results. Shadows of the Damned director Massimo Guarini's first collaboration with Sony XDev Europe blends a Hot Topic style with touch-based puzzles, and while it fails with regularity, its ambiguous plot about parenthood is just about worth experiencing for free.
Are you happy with this month's selection of complimentary curios, or are you becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Instant Game Collection? Pick a side in the comments section below.
Which PS Plus title are you most looking forward to in May? (76 votes)
- Ether One
- Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition
- The Unfinished Swan
- Race the Sun
- Hohokum
- Murasaki Baby
Please login to vote in this poll.
Comments 42
Can we get non indies games for once?
Not too excited. Glad to have Unfinished Swan though. Anyway, I am not complaining. Enjoy your free games everyone.
I am most eager for Ether One, for some reason it reminds me of Proteus but that one was boring.
What I really like form this month is how muich of kids friendly it is, I know that my spawns will like the games and this will give me some days of relaxing
Somehow I wish the rumours from earlier this week were true nothing that I feel I want to play in my limited game time. May give race the sun a shot maybe on my vita, but nothing for me on ps4 and ps3
I already have Super Guacamelee and Unfinished Swan, but I'll still give all of these a fair chance. No complaints here.
Strong lineup! I'm very excited for Ether one and The unfinished swan. I will try out the rest of them aswell. I have no complains on this month's plus games.
Not much that tickles my fancy, but I'm still going to try every one. Its good getting games you wouldn't normally pick up yourself as you can occasionally be pleasantly surprised, like I was with Doki Doki Universe.
@optic_efun11 An indie game is still a game and many of them are way better then your average AAA game.
Most of the games on this lineup has good review scores aswell
I have been meaning to play both Guacamelee and The Unfinished Swan so I'm happy.
.....I don't know.
I love The Unfinished Swan so im glad more people get to try it. Race the Sun is destined for my Vita and im liking the sound of Ether One. Considering I still have CounterSpy and Never Alone to start im more than covered till Arkham Knight. No complaints here.
Ether One looks promising. I will download that one for sure.
Ether One does sound really cool. I must admit, I wasn't aware of its premise prior to today.
Can we have 'none of the above' as a voting option?
I certainly won't be bothering to download any of these myself...
The Missus has wanted the Unfinished Swan for a while , so look forward to that but haven't touched hardly any of the recent freebies like Dishonoured ,Crysis ,Deus Ex in fact I've just got too many games and too little time.
Unfinished swan for me, but if you look at the games, as they are cross buy there is 5 titles there for the ps4. No complaints from me. I will give them a go until witcher arrives
You know, I've never been one to complain about the free games, but May's line up is just plain weak... I'll be skipping them.
I'm busy enough that the plus games are largely a bonus now, so shorter games suit me. This month though, it's just poor. Guacamelee is superb, but I have it. Ether one just seems overly smug and worthy to me, one of those games that just leaves me wondering why they bothered to make it.
endless runners are just cheap and nasty, so I couldn't care less about Race rhe Sun, Murasaki Baby is not for me. I really dislike the art style and the game play seems.... unpleasant. Hohokum? Please. As if I'd be caught dead playing that.
Axiom Verge would have been nice, or Helldivers, or Strike Suit Zero. You know, something nice and violent. Ah well, the Witcher is out soon and I'm still playing Bloodborne ane Shovel Knight.
Dammit I gotta stop buying games. They keep turning up on PS+
Nope, nope, nope, and ehh nope. If I didnt need ps+ for online I would not be paying for it anymore. In a year time I have only played Batman and Duke Nukem. And DukeNukem only for nostalgia reasons
@optic_efun11 This times 10, knack could've been fine. I'm def tired of an indie every month. How long will this last.
GUACAMELEE!!!!!!! And Ether One/Unfinished Swan because I guess I need some good exploration titles in my library on PS4...
After 2 years been thinking of dropping PS+, money better spent elsewhere.
@Tunmats true
Pretty much every game there I've wanted at some point but been too cheap to buy. Very happy with this
Guacamelee? Hell yeah.
Awesome month. I have Guacamelee and it's great, and I've heard great things about the rest.
Hohokum I've been meaning to try when it went cheap so that's okay. The rest? For God knows how many months in a row now, not for me. Guacamelee STCE is a great game but the original has already been on PS+ and this version adds rather little so feels cheap. Murasaki Baby bored me, as did Unfinished Swan after the first five minutes. The other two I've never heard of and will try but don't really look like much.
@BAMozzy Yeah, that option should really be on each months poll. People - rightly or wrongly - are constantly not satisfied with the games month after month so surely they should be allowed to say so.
This turns out to be four new games for the Vita, doesn't it? I still play Canabalt on mine from time to time. Race the Sun might scratch that same itch when I just need something fun to do. I bought it on PC last year and enjoyed it. Murasaki Baby is a game I'd like to play if time and opportunity present themselves. Now I guess it's just time.
Great lineup... Enough moaning already!
Race the Sun is one game that I'll download, as my 4-year old daughter loved playing the demo in Gamestop. Other than that, the other games may be a download to play for a little while. Not a lot of big titles this month, but maybe next month!
@JLPick #4TheKids!
As a PS3 and Vita owner, I regret in December buying a whole year of Plus. It will never happen again, the Plus offerings have been nothing but garbage, and May might be the worse of all. I won't be downloading any of these games.
ETHER ONE! I heard about this game a couple months ago and knew they were developing it for the PS4 (it's already out on PC), but the developer hasn't clarified a release date for a while. So this has come as a surprise to me! Can't wait to play it for myself. Oh, and just so everyone knows, look up the soundtrack by N.J. Apostol. It's absolutely fantastic.
really excited for ether one! been waiting for it! woohooo.
Murasaki baby is the perfect game for me on plus. I would never pay for it, but am interested in trying it out.
Why does the link for each game link to the Playstation Blog which states the same thing? It would be more beneficial if that linked to the review of the free game on the Pushsquare website?
Nothing for me.
Already have Unfinished Swan on PS3/4. It's a fun change of pace. Have Guacamelee for PS3/Vita already, but it's a great game--shkuld be fun on PS4. Hohokum could be fun. Murasaki Baby could be fun. Race the Sun could be fun. Ether--ok, cool. Neato!
I remember seeing Ether One at E3 last year and thought it looked really good. Im actually really looking forward to getting these games. People need to chill out and give these games a try. We're getting four games on PS4 through PlayStation Plus this month and it only costs £11,99p every three months. You probably couldn't get Ether One for that price alone.
Last month I felt wasn't very good for the PS Plus selection apart from Never Alone which was a very enjoyable game and educational at the same time. The other free games we got were pretty terrible imo.
Its nice to see Sony giving us real value for money this month, although, reading alot of these comments you wouldn't think so. I think a few of those people will be pleasantly surprised once they try them out.
Last year free games are MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better than these ones...
Other: Nothing for me, even if I had PS Plus, which I don't.
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