Skip to main content

PS Plus expands its lineup in July with Crash Bandicoot 4 and more

After a week or so of rumors and leaks, Sony has finally announced July’s PlayStation Plus lineup, and it includes high-profile titles Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan alongside a brand new cooperative shooter called Arcadeggedon.

Crash Bandicoot 4 is no doubt the month’s biggest and most recognizable game, bringing challenging platforming to subscribers who haven’t had a chance to dive into the 2020 revival of the beloved franchise. Despite retaining the series’ trademark difficulty and precision requirements, this newest release comes packed with plenty of improvements to the established formula and a handful of appreciated options that allow players to reduce the punishment for failure.

Recommended Videos

2019’s survival horror adventure Man of Medan was the first title released in Supermassive’s The Dark Pictures Anthology series, and like the developer’s newest game The Quarry, it focuses on a multi-character narrative with branching paths and multiple endings based on player choice. It received decent reception upon release and should keep horror fans busy while waiting on this year’s other big hitters like The Callisto Protocol and Capcom’s recently-announced Resident Evil 8 DLC.

Lastly, Arcadeggedon is a new four-player cooperative shooter with PVE and PVP elements that takes place entirely within an arcade game. Originally announced last year, the title is making its debut via PS Plus. Historically, releasing as a free game on the service has helped many otherwise under-the-radar multiplayer games to draw more attention than they might have otherwise, so it’s possible Arcadeggedon could be quite a hit with subscribers.

All three games will become available beginning Tuesday, July 5. Until then, you can still get your hands on June’s PS Plus titles, including Sony’s first-party mega-hit God of War.

Billy Givens
Billy Givens is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. He started as a…
PS5 restock update: Where you can buy a PS5 right now
PS5 and DualSense art.

When the PlayStation 5 first launched back in November 2020, it was nearly impossible to get your hands on the highly anticipated console. Despite demand being through the roof, chip shortages heavily cut production -- and due to sustained consumer interest, it was a problem that plagued the PS5 for years after launch.

Thankfully, we're happy to report that those issues have largely been resolved, making it pretty easy to grab a PS5 these days. The launch of the PS5 Pro has ignited another buying frenzy, and with Black Friday coming up, Sony has even cut the price of the base PS5.

Read more
The PS5 Pro holds the key to the PS6’s success
The hero of Shadow of the Colossus stands in a temple.

When the PlayStation 5 Pro was revealed, the big buzzword to come out of the presentation was PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). This was PlayStation's "secret sauce" intended to sell the $700 upgrade to new customers and existing PS5 owners alike. Similar to AI upscaling seen in technology like DLSS, PSSR allows games rendered at a lower resolution to be upscaled using AI to appear more detailed. For the PS5 Pro, this means removing the need to choose between a performance mode that prioritizes frame rate and a resolution mode that sacrifices frame rate for a clearer picture.

PSSR is the first time any kind of AI upscaling has been used on consoles ... and will be key in PlayStation's success for its true next-generation console.
Sidestepping the graphical arms race
With rare exceptions, new game consoles have mainly sold themselves based on providing a graphical leap above its predecessor. This was clear as day going from 8- to 16-bit systems, and perhaps at its peak going from 16-bit to 3D, but has since hit a level of diminishing returns. PS5 games are undeniably better looking than PS4 games of the same scale, but the differences are in the margins.

Read more
Quiz: Can you tell the difference between these PS5 and PS5 Pro screenshots?
A PS5 Pro that's floating in front of a gray background. It's turned to the side.

Ever since the PlayStation 5 Pro was first revealed, I've seen a common refrain from some skeptics: "I don't see a difference!"

I was in the same boat when Mark Cerny introduced the console in a YouTube video back in September. A compressed YouTube stream just isn't the best way to communicate a console that both increases resolution and frame rate. I only started to see just how different the PS5 Pro looks compared to the base model once I could see them side by side in my own home. It took me some time -- and a lot of eye straining -- to spot some of the finer details outside of its more obvious AI-upscaling benefits, but I was able to see them eventually. The PS5 Pro does improve image quality, but is the bump enough to justify a $700 purchase?

Read more