PlayStation Plus games for October fit the Halloween theme

It's very nearly October, and that means we're about to see a refresh of the free games offered through PlayStation Plus. Sony saved this month's reveal for the very last minute – while it usually reveals new PlayStation Plus games a few days before the end of the month, it's only now revealing October's games on the day before the new month begins. In any case, one of the free PS Plus games for October definitely fits the Halloween theme, and fans of vampires in particular will want to check it out.

2018's Vampyr is the first of October's PlayStation Plus games. Made by Life is Strange developer Dontnod Entertainment, Vampyr puts you in the shoes of a doctor-turned-vampire who has to balance his thirst for blood with his Hippocratic Oath. The game is set in London during the Spanish flu pandemic, so it appears the game's gothic inspiration isn't the only thing that make it a topical choice for October.

Though Vampyr launched to mixed reviews, it did receive praise for its characterization and the fact that player choice influences the narrative – something we would expect from Dontnod's games at this point. If nothing else, it's the perfect game to download and play on Halloween, so fans of vampires and the occult should definitely give this one a look.

The second game on tap for October is Need for Speed: Payback. While it doesn't fit the Halloween theme nearly as well as Vampyr does, it'll definitely be more appealing for those who are looking for some action. Payback is one of the more recent Need for Speed games made by Ghost Games (now known as EA Gothenburg) and, like Vampyr, it received average reviews at release.

So, on the whole, it's a fairly quiet month for PlayStation Plus. These games are going free on the service beginning on October 6th, which means that PlayStation Plus subscribers have until October 5th to claim PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Street Fighter V, which are September's free games.