Hope you all grabbed your free games for April, cause May 2017 is here and with it comes a new set of free games from both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Games with Gold. We’ve got the lists, the promotions are live, now it’s just time to figure out which service is offering the best deal this month. Not that anyone is waiting to decide which console and membership service to get based on the free games. Instead this is a bit of fun to stoke the usual rivalries between the consoles. So, let’s get stoking and see who wins PlayStation Plus vs. Xbox Live Games with Gold for May 2017.
PlayStation Plus Free Games for May 2017
Tales from the Borderlands, PS4 – 86%
Abzu, PS4 – 78%
Blood Knights, PS3 – 43%
Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants, PS3 – 56%
Laser Disco Defenders, PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4) – 80%
Type:Rider, PS Vita (Cross Buy on PS4) – 67.5% on PlayStation
MetaCritic Average Score – 68.4%
Oldest Title – 2012
Newest Title – 2016
Xbox Live Games with Gold for May 2017
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Director’s Cut, Xbox One – 80%
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Xbox One – 72%
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Xbox 360 & Xbox One – 61%
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Xbox 360 & Xbox One – 80%
MetaCritic Average Score – 73.25%
Oldest Title – 2007
Newest Title – 2014
The Winner Is…
What a terrible month for both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Games with Gold. And what’s interesting is that they’re both bad in the ways expected from these services. Each has its strengths and weaknesses in their game selection, and there’s usually a theme across the services that makes them unique.
PS Plus throws out the highest number of free games, and they’re usually newer, but often they’s smaller indie games that players might avoid otherwise. Xbox Live Games with Gold on the other hand gives us just four games, and they’re usually very, very old. A game from 2007 is antiquated in the video game world, even if it is a good game. Anyone who was interesting in LEGO Star Wars already bought that game, or could have picked it up for $5 out of the bargain bin.
So, with two piles of not great games, who’s the winner? The Metacritic numbers say Xbox Live Games with Gold, but that’s not the whole story. PS Plus has easily the best game of the bunch with Tales from the Borderlands. It also has one of those games that players probably missed out on, even if they would enjoy it, with Abzu. Combine these with the largest and newest selection of titles, whose overall score was dragged down by a couple of stinkers, and PlayStation Plus wins the matchup for May 2017.
This is, of course, just my opinion though. Let me know in the comments whether you agree or disagree. See you back here for PlayStation Plus vs. Xbox Live Games with Gold for June 2017.
Published: May 1, 2017 02:29 pm