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PlayStation Plus Essential games for May announced

 (Sony PlayStation)
(Sony PlayStation)

The list of games coming to PlayStation Plus has been published on the PlayStation blog.

These titles are available to anyone with a Plus subscription, regardless of whether you are an Essential, Extra, or Premium tier member. But you have to claim them before June 6, after which the roster will switch to the next month’s picks.

So what’s on offer to subscribers? We take a look:

PlayStation Plus May games list

Descenders

Descenders is the new addition we would recommend trying first if you fancy a quick blast of fun. It’s a PS4 title that sees you ride a bike along downhill courses at intense speed. You deal with challenging terrain and have to try to pull off tricks, often likely to end in a bone-crunching coda.

This is the kind of game you can have fun with even if you are absolutely rubbish at it, and the skill ceiling is very high for those who get into its fast-paced action. Levels are generated rather than designed, path by path and plant by plant, so you won’t get tired of the same old tracks.

Chivalry 2

This is the highest-rated May PlayStation Plus game according to Metacritic, with an average 85 per cent score on PlayStation 5. The PlayStation 4 version did a lot worse, with a 66 per cent average, but some of the original bugs may have been fixed since its 2021 release date.

This is a medieval multiplayer title in which you take part in epic battles, swinging swords and firing crossbows, both with and against other real-world players, up to 64 of them, including you. There’s no Skyrim-style wandering about, talking to random villagers here, as the multiplayer-only style means Chivalry 2 is pretty much all-action. However, it’s packed with chaotic fun.

Grid Legends

 (Amazon)
(Amazon)

Grid Legends is perhaps the most high-profile and conventional release among PlayStation Plus’s games for the month of May.

It’s a racing game, the 2022 instalment of a series that has been around since 2008. It wears the garb of a serious, realistic racer, but is actually more of an arcade-style title, the kind a much wider audience can enjoy. There’s also a story mode, a super-digestible series of races inspired by Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive.

How PlayStation Plus works

Sackboy (Sony)
Sackboy (Sony)

The announcement of these May games is also a good reminder for PlayStation Plus subscribers to snag the April titles before they exit stage left. April’s games are Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Meet Your Maker, and Tails of Iron.

Yep, that’s not quite as high profile a haul as we will get in May. But, as ever, once you grab these games, they are linked to your account and available to play as long as you have an existing PlayStation Plus subscription.

PlayStation Plus tiers explained

PlayStation Plus comes in three flavours; Essential, Extra, and Premium. All three tiers get access to these monthly games.

In addition, Extra members can play a wider catalogue of PS5 and PS4 games. The most expensive PlayStation Plus Premium subscription unlocks streamed access to older PS3, PS2, and PS1 games, plus game trials.

PlayStation Plus Essential costs £6.99 a month, Extra is £10.99 a month, and Premium £13.49 a month. In each case, you can save some money by subscribing for a year rather than month-to-month.