Ready to download on PS4 & PS5 today
Sony has rolled out its “Essential” tier offerings for all PlayStation Plus users today. As of today, all PS Plus members can download March’s games, which include Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 2042, Bandai Namco’s Code Vein, and Xbox Game Studios Minecraft Dungeons.
Released in the fall of 2021, Battlefield 2042 is the 12th mainline installment in the Battlefield series, once again developed by EA subsidiary studio, DICE. This entry features all of the land, sea, and air combat one has come to expect from the series, but earned infamy for its litany of bugs, balancing issues, and technical problems upon launch, while also receiving derision for being the first title in the series not to offer a single-player campaign, focusing solely on multiplayer.
While the furor has long since died down, Battlefield 2042 was railed across the coals at launch, with negative reviews, players calling for refunds, and piss-poor sales ultimately killing the title before it had barely gotten out of the barracks. An update would fix much of the game’s problems, but the horse was long out of the barn, with the title, even in improved form, failing to meet sales expectations.
Developed by Bandai Namco’s in-house studios, Code Vein is an anime-gothic soulslike that launched on PS4, PC, and Xbox One in September 2019. It tells the tale of a post-apocalyptic world, where an endangered race of vampiric creatures known as “The Revenants”, embark upon a grim and hazardous journey for sustenance, lest they become the frenzied monsters known as “The Lost”.
Though divisive, Code Vein has its own sense of style — pushing its “Metal” edge to the point of cheese which is, in itself, an endearing quality. The title poses a significant challenge to all players, and maintains flow with an interesting cast of characters and a dark overworld. Worth checking out for Soulslike fans, maybe you’ll find that it pushes all of your requisite buttons.
Minecraft Dungeons, as the name suggests, takes the globally popular world builder and marries it to the dungeon-crawler genre, ultimately producing the cutest little Diablo clone you ever did see. Played from an isometric perspective, heroes battle their way through procedurally generated dungeons while slaying monsters and bagging loot. The ultimate goal is to reach a lost friend, who has fallen under the influence of the powerful Orb of Dominance.
Minecraft Dungeons is a perfectly fine dungeon crawler, but is perhaps better suited for younger players, given its ease, short length, and relatively shallow nature. As a gateway to a world of dungeon crawling, however, it very much achieves its goals with ease.
Battlefield 2042, Code Vein, and Minecraft Dungeons are available now to all PlayStation Plus users.
