PlayStation Plus Essential tier subscribers have access to three new games come February 4th. If you've been around for a while, you'll know that the offerings haven't been incredibly stellar, and unfortunately, February is not much different.
But free games are free games!
Here are your free games for the month of February:
- Payday 3
- High on Life
- Pac-Man World Re-Pac
Before we jump into the free games, PlayStation also announced that starting in January 2026, they will focus on only offering PS5 titles. This won't affect any PS4 offerings you've downloaded in the past; they just won't be offered going forward starting next year. It seems like an odd but not surprising choice.
Okay. Onto the free games for February.
First up is Payday 3, which released in 2023 and is a solid co-op heist simulator FPS. The story is around the same crew of criminals from the first couple games, but it's pretty paper thin... and includes a random cameo from Ice-T. The good thing is that the gunplay and the movement of this third game is far superior to the second game, so it already feels better to play.
There are fewer heists and fewer weapons compared to the second game, but the good news is that the game is much better now than it was at its disastrous launch, so if you were hesitant to pick it up because of that, now's the time to give it a second chance.
Next up is High on Life, which is a comedic, irreverent FPS (with dashes of a Metroidvania) that came to the PlayStation in 2023. It's about what you'd expect if you're fans of Rick and Morty and this is not a game for young kids.
The schtick of this game is that the guns you use can talk. And they're about as foul-mouthed as they come. Most of the irreverent jokes land, which is good because the game takes about 8-10 hours to beat and that can get pretty old pretty fast if it's not done right. Thankfully, High on Life gets it pretty right.
Last up is Pac-Man World Re-Pac. This is actually a remaster of the platformer that released in 1999. It gives you an improved user interface, better mechanics, and updated visuals. You set out to Ghost Island to save your family from the Ghosts. There's not much else to say about this old school platformer except if you haven't played a Pac-Man game in a while, this would be a fun one to pick up in February.