Announced today, Xbox Game Pass will receive seven new titles during January, including Injustice 2, What Remains of Edith Finch, and the 2021 PES update. However, it appears that Microsoft’s gaming-on-demand platform won’t be the only subscription service offering some new games for January, and PlayStation Now reveals its new line of free titles that will be available to subscribers this month.
While it can’t match the seven Xbox games, PlayStation Now offers three new experiences for subscribers, with the lineup featuring a city builder, racing title, and strategic survival game. The games available are The Crew 2, Frostpunk: Console Edition, and Surviving Mars, with the trio available to download on PlayStation Now starting today.
PlayStation has cited The Crew 2 as the headliner for this month, with the Ubisoft-developed driving game originally hitting stores in mid-2018. The concept sees players jump into a variety of cars, ships and planes, touring a great open world interpretation of North America. The game averaged 64 on Metacritic at launch, with critics citing that the title was beautiful and had great multiplayer, but was buggy and a bit underwhelming despite its ambitious concept. Still, gamers who are intrigued by the premise of Ubisoft’s racing title can access it on PlayStation Now until July 5, 2021.
January’s PlayStation Now additions let you race across the U.S., colonize Mars, and lead a society through inhospitable cold. More details: https://t.co/aKIdPoBpAR pic.twitter.com/8jRLQgdhvl
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) January 5, 2021
Frostpunk: Console Edition, on the other hand, is a port of the well-received survival city simulator for PC that originally released in 2018. The title sees players take on the role of a leader of a post-apocalyptic alternate history city, where they must survive the dark and icy conditions left behind by a global volcanic winter. Making shocking decisions to keep the city safe and continue to expand is the name of the game here, as players have to decide whether the end justifies the means in a post-apocalyptic world. It scored an 84 when it was released on PC, while its PlayStation 4 version scored an 87.
Finally, Surviving Mars is also a city builder, this time watching players build a futuristic settlement on the surface of Mars. Of course, it won’t be that easy, as players will have to balance growing resources and send rockets to earth to collect food. Along the way, they will also have to deal with events known as mysteries, which cause their settlements to fight disease, wars, and even extraterrestrial contact. Outside of PlayStation Now, PS4 and PS5 players can also get their monthly PlayStation Plus titles, including Greedfall, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and, on PlayStation 5, Maneater.
