Two huge sci-fi role-playing games — the remade Mass Effect Legendary Edition and 2021’s post-apocalyptic BioMutant — are on tap in December for all PlayStation Plus subscribers. They’re joined by the Dec. 6 launch of Divine Knockout, a multiplayer fighting game that arrives to Windows PC (via Steam) the same day.
Divine Knockout bills itself as a third-person, 3D Smash-like, where the goal is knocking your opponents off the stage. The roster of fighters is drawn from familiar mythos, including Hercules, King Arthur, Amaterasu, and Thor. The core mode of play is a 3-vs-3 battle, where the rules and goals can change each round. But Divine Knockout also features 2-vs-2 and 1-on-1 fights that are strictly combat and KO-focused.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition practically needs no introduction. The 2021 anthology is a remastered compilation of the first three games in the sci-fi RPG series, and updates BioWare’s epic for modern hardware. It even includes a photo mode, for players who find themselves struck by the sweeping alien landscapes of the game’s new visuals. Mass Effect Legendary Edition is also in the EA Play library, for those who subscribe (or have access through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate).
BioMutant is the ambitious debut work of Swedish developer Experiment 101. The “open-world, post-apocalyptic kung fu fable” launched in May 2021, and tells the story of a scruffy, anthropomorphic, rodent-like animal who tilts the balance of a tribal war on a planet ruined by human colonization. BioMutant drew middling review scores but did gather a strong audience with its eclectic design.
All three games are available to PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers (and Extra and Premium tier subscribers, too) beginning Dec. 6. PlayStation Plus subscribers can still pick up November’s Essential-level games — Nioh 2, Lego Harry Potter Collection, and Heavenly Bodies — until then.
Playstation Plus Essential, formerly known as PlayStation Plus, is sold as a monthly, three-month, and annual subscription, for $9.99, $24.99, and $59.99, respectively. The subscription is necessary for online play on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.