PS Plus Instant Game Collection vs Xbox Live Games With Gold for October 2017

The PlayStation Plus free titles and Xbox Live Games with Gold have been announced for October 2017. It’s time to pit the collections against each other to see which console comes out on top with October’s offerings. Welcome to PS Plus vs Games with Gold!

Let’s take a look at the contestants. First up, the PS Plus Instant Game Collection.

• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4)
• Amnesia: Collection (PS4)
• Hustle Kings (PS3)
• Monster Jam Battlegrounds (PS3)
• Hue (PS4, Vita)
• Sky Force Anniversary (PS4, Vita)

Next, here are the Xbox Games with Gold that you can grab on Microsoft’s platform next month.

• Gone Home: Console Edition (Xbox One)
• The Turing Test (Xbox One)
• Rayman 3 HD (Xbox 360, Xbox One w/ backwards compatibility)
• Medal of Honor: Airborne (Xbox 360, Xbox One w/ backwards compatibility)

PS Plus Free Games October 2017

First of all, six on four isn’t really a fair fight, so we’ll count the PS3 offerings out of the IGC, since they aren’t cross compatible and won’t matter to players with a PS4 only. Now we’ve got a four vs four battle. Obviously PS Plus gets a massive edge thanks to Metal Gear Solid V this month. PlayStation gamers have been demanding triple-A titles and Sony really delivered with this one. Our review puts it as one of the best games the year it came out, falling only to the likes of The Witcher 3, an equally massive world and adventure. MGSV was also the best reviewed new game of 2015.

Amnesia: Collection may not be the first game on everyone’s mind, but horror fans really ought to try this one out. The original Amnesia pioneered much of the genre that we know today, and the collection has three remastered adventures together. Hue is a delightful little puzzle game, and Sky Force Anniversary is an entertaining shoot-’em-up, but neither is really a strong contender if Microsoft is backing their free games collection with good titles.

Xbox Live Games with Gold October 2017

Games with Gold has a much weaker lineup this month, in my opinion. Gone Home is a great game, but is relatively brief, and not really enough of a heavy hitter to be a headliner. It also already hit the PS Plus free games more than a year ago. The Turing Test was originally an Xbox One console exclusive, but landed on the PS4 earlier this year. Reviews are favorable, and if you enjoy puzzle games, especially those that present deep moral quandaries, this game is for you.

Rayman 3 HD is a good game, but doesn’t live up to the standards of the newer Rayman games like Origins and Legends (can Ubisoft please just make another Rayman game?). Medal of Honor: Airborne got an okay reception when it released, but being that the game is now seven years old, and gamers having their pick between Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: WWII, I can’t imagine many people itching to play this older shooter.

Which Lineup is Better?

I’m sure that someone somewhere out there is going to tell me I’m wrong, but I’d have to say that the PS Plus free games this month are ones for Xbox owners to be jealous of, if for nothing else than the fact that we’re getting Metal Gear Solid V for free. Gone Home may have been an indie darling, but it doesn’t sell the lineup for the month. If anything, The Turing Test is really the highlight for Games with Gold, but as a lesser known game, it also fails to be the headliner to make PS4 owners jealous of their Xbox One counterparts. Amnesia: Collection is a strong bonus to anyone with PS Plus that loves a good horror game and wants to see where some of the roots of the genre festered, but it’s really thanks to Metal Gear Solid V that PS Plus takes home the Platinum Trophy for best free games in the month of October.

Wondering how November’s lineups will fare next to one another? Come back next month when we pit the newly announced lineups against one another in PS Plus vs Games with Gold. Do you agree with our verdict? Which lineup do you think is better?