PlayStation Plus Deluxe Review

How you will feel about the launch of the new PlayStation Plus service will largely depend on how much you already game on PlayStation.

Launched at the end of June, a little behind the rest of the world, PlayStation Plus' top tier Deluxe offers a large amount of choice from PS4, PS2 and PSOne games, as well as access to timed game trials of PS5 titles.

While the cost is double what you'd have been paying for a normal PS Plus subscription, the range of access you are able to get to for the money seems reasonable enough. As well as 3 new games a month, the access to the suite of content from PlayStation's back catalogues proves to be the killer deal breaker for many.

The only real downer for the New Zealand region is a lack of access to the Premium tier, which allows for PS3 games and game streaming - hopefully that will change soon.

But it's also a quality issue as well which may prove somewhat divisive for serious gamers. While access to titles to download like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Horizon Zero Dawn is obviously welcome, many gamers will already have played these titles, leaving PS Plus Deluxe at times feeling like the kind of service that should really have launched with the PlayStation 5 console to deliver a killer proposition.

That may sound churlish, and in truth, not everyone is as lucky to have played the top tier titles already, so they prove to be a welcome tonic to those looking to wile away the hours, and a welcome introduction to some first and third-party titles.

The future of the subscription is perhaps where the PS Plus may need to bolster up some belief.

While it's already known that Stray (aka the cat robots game) will be rotated into the subscription in its release in July, it's not clear yet what other future elements the subscriptions will hold. Granted, PlayStation has smartly and cleverly made sure that all of its own first party releases will be in their own library for use, where as the XBox Game Pass has access to third party launch titles. 

But for a starter pack, it's not fair to dismiss the PlayStation offering as lesser. It's really a deep dive into the gaming archives and produces the chance to play titles again like Abe's Oddysee and Worms. It's great to see the likes of Ape Escape 1 and 2 also included, but in truth, playing some of the Ape Escape games with their warning that the games may not play as well on a PS5, it's a bit disparaging. It's further annoying that the games glitch repeatedly thanks to their port across and emulation capacity, making flashing screens and graphics failures all too common throughout.

Yet, it's also great to play titles like Jak II again, with Naughty Dog's series desperately leaving you wishing the studio would remake these titles from the ground up again for the next gen consoles. Again, if you're willing to forego some quality, then the PS2 classics on PS5 prove to be worthy, but glitchy.

One can't help but wish that the classic games had more depth, and perhaps it's an issue solely for NZ, where PS Streaming services don't exist, facilitating a need not to allow this on the service.

Game trials are few and far in between currently, but expect that to grow, with access to other upcoming titles bound to figure.

It's not hard to be entertained by the range of titles on offer, and there is a definite feeling of being let loose in a gaming candy store with many to download all at once. 

If you're a prolific gamer though, it may be a case of buyer beware currently for the higher priced tiers - there's definitely likely to be something there you'll want to play, but in truth, you'll feel yourself hankering for something more, something to satiate the AAA itch - how PlayStation handles that as time goes on, and as XBox's Game Pass ups the ante remains to be seen.

But in truth, it's unfair to compare the strategies of the two main players so directly - both benefit the gamers at the end of the day, and with new titles like Stray being launched for the top tier, and with recent titles premiering on the PSPlus service, it's to be hoped it grows and becomes stronger - before gamers become cynical and unsure what those in charge are really doing.

A code to access the top tier of PlayStation Plus Deluxe was provided for the purposes of this review.