Sony has been very good to gamers with the PlayStation Plus monthly titles lately. 2021 alone has seen heavy hitters like Control: Ultimate Edition, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Days Gone drop on the service, among many other smaller efforts. Last week, we learned what June’s offering would consist of, and space shooter Star Wars: Squadrons is the biggest game, closely followed by Sega’s Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown and then (for PlayStation 5 owners) co-operative spy adventure Operation Tango. And now, you can download them all free of charge if you’re a PS Plus member.
Squadrons is a particularly great choice. In an unexpected move for EA, this is an online multiplayer-focused game largely free of microtransactions and pointless cosmetics. You’ll pilot iconic Imperial and New Republic crafts as you team up with friends to participate in large scale space battles. There’s also an engaging single player story that reminded me of classic Rogue Squadron novels and is refreshingly straightforward.
But if you have a PSVR, Squadrons is absolutely essential, as it’s unbelievably cool being sat inside a hyper-detailed X-Wing cockpit and having 360 degree situational awareness of the battle around you.
Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown is also a great addition. This newly remastered take on the fighting masterpiece is geared towards online play and I’ve already put a couple of hours into it today. After so many years away, I’m pleased that my Pai skills from Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution are still sharp and have been burning my way through the low level rankings in search of some real experts.
And, while I don’t know much about Operation Tango, I’m always a sucker for a co-op game and plan to give it a whirl with a friend over the coming week. It’s worth remembering that even if your buddy can’t claim the title, they can access the free Friend Pass download, meaning PS5 owners can play with their PS4 pals.
Once again, PlayStation Plus subscribers are able to go into the month with a hell of a lot on their plate, and if you’ve already checked out June’s line-up, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. In the meantime, I have a whole bunch of scrub-tier Jacky fighters to demolish.