On Wednesday, PlayStation announced the last batch of free games to PlayStation Plus subscribers for December, bringing to 74 the number of titles it offered in 2017. Were they any good? What would they cost otherwise? In short, what do the numbers say about the value of this PlayStation Plus benefit?

We’ll try to answer that question this year as we have the past two years. To that, however, we’ve added a few more questions: How old is the game? Did Sony publish it? What publisher did PlayStation Plus use the most? Did these appear earlier on Xbox Live Games With Gold?

These questions may shed light on where these free games programs are headed, particularly as the previous console generation ages.

What about Xbox Live Games With Gold?

Getting Started

In all, there were 74 games in PlayStation Plus’ free games offerings for 2017 (two were PlayStation VR bonuses, and counted among the averages and totals here), with an average Metacritic score of 71.3 and a combined retail price (currently) of $1287.25. The Metacritic average is nearly three full points worse than 2016 (74.1) and the total dollar value is more than $130 better ($1,150.79).

January

Day of The Tentacle Remastered (PS4)

This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)

Blazerush (PS3)

The Swindle (PS3)

Titan Souls (PS4, PS3, PS Vita)

Azkend 2: The World Beneath (PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 74.3

Average age: 1.6 years

Total value: $92.94

Skinny: Not a strong start. Day of the Tentacle is a beloved franchise, but that’s a remaster of a point-and-click adventure which is not the most broadly appealing category. Granted, my tastes are in sports and big mainstream titles, but I’ve never heard of the rest of these.

February

LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS4)

Not a Hero (PS4)

Starwhal (PS3)

Anna — Extended Edition (PS3)

Ninja Senki DX (PS4, PS Vita)

TorqueL (PS4, PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 71.7

Average age: 2.2 years

Total value: $69.94

Skinny: LittleBigPlanet 3 saves the day with its name recognition but, again, close to no firepower and a Metacritic score dragged down by throwaway Vita titles.

March

Disc Jam (PS4)

Tearaway Unfolded (PS4)

Under Night: In-Birth (PS3)

Earth Defense Force 2025 (PS3)

Lumo (PS4, PS Vita)

Severed (PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 77

Average age: 1.5 years

Total value: $159.94

Skinny: Earth Defense Force 2025 is just not puttin’ its damn self on sale, OK. The PS3 game is $49.99 in the PlayStation Store, distorting the monetary value of this month. Severed, from the folks behind Guacamelee! is a very good PlayStation Vita-only title.

April

Drawn To Death (PS4)

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (PS4)

Invizimals: the Lost Kingdom (PS3)

Alien Rage – Extended Edition (PS3)

10 Second Ninja X (PS4, PS Vita)

Curses ‘n Chaos (PS4, PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 63.3

Average age: 1.8 years

Total value: $84.94

Skinny: We didn’t care for Drawn to Death — and it’s the lowest-rated PlayStation 4 game of the 24 offered — but it was a first-party original game that debuted to subscribers in this month. So, not a great or even a good game, but it shows effort and that SIE is trying to treat this program seriously. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, which was offered on Xbox Live Games With Gold in February, is a neat, fun shooter.

May

Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

Abzu (PS4)

Blood Knights (PS3)

Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants (PS3)

Laser Disco Defenders (PS4, PS Vita)

Type:Rider (PS4, PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 71

Average age: 2.8 years

Total value: $72.94

Skinny: Kalypso games are kind of an acquired taste, but I’ve acquired that taste so I was kind of pissed that I didn’t know they’d done a pirate simulator and missed that one. Tales from the Borderlands, later appearing on Xbox Live Games With Gold, does all of the critical lifting for another weak month.

June

Killing Floor 2 (PS4)

Life is Strange (PS4)

Abyss Odyssey (PS3)

WRC 5: World Rally Championship (PS3)

Neon Chrome (PS4, PS Vita)

Spy Chameleon (PS4, PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 71

Average age: 1.7 years

Total value: $134.94

Skinny: More mediocrity surrounding a critical winner from a niche category. That dollar value is an illusion thanks to two $40 titles (Killing Floor 2 and WRC 5).

July

Until Dawn (PS4)

Game of Thrones (PS4)

Tokyo Jungle (PS3)

Darkstalkers Resurrection (PS3)

Element4l (PS Vita)

Don’t Die, Mr. Robot (PS4, PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 73.3

Average age: 3 years

Total value: $83.94

Skinny: Game of Thrones’ review scores are not what people usually expect out of a Telltale Story but damn if this did not get me hooked and finally draw me into the series at large. So, that was a good decision, HBO, and thanks for green-lighting a sequel, Telltale. But again, where is an open-world game? Where is a AAA first-person shooter? Where’s a racing game?

August

Just Cause 3 (PS4)

Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry (PS4)

Super Motherload (PS3)

Snakeball (PS3)

Downwell (PS4, PS Vita)

Level 22 (PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 71.2

Average age: 3.7 years

Total value: $111.94

Skinny: Just Cause 3 at last delivers a huge, open-world, big mouthful of gameplay even if review scores for it were indifferent. Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry is kind of nice — it’s was a DLC expansion for Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag but is there some reason we couldn’t get one of the full titles? (None have ever been on PlayStation Plus).

September

inFamous: Second Son (PS4)

Strike Vector Ex (PS4)

Truck Racer (PS3)

Handball 16 (PS3)

We Are Doomed (PS4, PS Vita)

Hatoful Boyfriend (PS4, PS Vita)

Rigs Mechanized Combat League (PlayStation VR)

Average Metacritic score: 73.2

Average age: 2 years

Total value: $114.93

Skinny: And finally, we get a big first-party Sony game in inFamous: Second Son. But still, only one Uncharted (the third), no Last of Us, and only one console God of War (Ascension) — the kind of stuff that distinguishes PlayStation — have been offered in the eight-year history of PlayStation Plus and its free games. Sony has got to share its finery at some point or there’s going to be nothing to give out but the Truck Racers (huh?) and Handball 16s (who?) — neither of which have a review score — of the industry.

October

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (PS4)

Amnesia Collection (The Dark Descent and A Machine for Pigs) (PS4)

Monster Jam Battlegrounds (PS3)

Hustle Kings (PS3)

Hue (PS4, PS Vita)

Sky Force Anniversary (PS4, PS3, PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 71

Average age: 2.3 years

Total value: $94.94

Skinny: Good buddy Konami lends Metal Gear Solid to make it three straight months with a marquee game, but they literally have nothing left to give as their only remaining video game is the Pro Evolution Soccer series, and third-party sports are rare on these services. I could have sworn Hustle Kings had been offered before, but I was wrong. It’s still a great billiards simulator, highly recommended.

November

Worms Battlegrounds (PS4)

Bound (PS4)

R-Type Dimensions (PS3)

Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic (PS3)

Dungeon Punks (PS4, PS Vita)

Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse (Episodes 1 & 2) (PS Vita)

Until Dawn: A Rush of Blood (PlayStation VR)

Average Metacritic score: 71.1

Average age: 2.7 years

Total value: $133.92

Skinny: Pass.

December

Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition (PS4)

Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends (PS4)

Syberia Collection (PS3)

Xblaze Lost: Memories (PS3)

Forma.8 (PS4, PS Vita)

Wanted Corp. (PS Vita)

Average Metacritic score: 67

Average age: 2.3 years

Total value: $131.94

Skinny: This month is just a straight-up fail. Kung Fu Panda is back like it’s 2008 or something, and while Darksiders 2 was one of the last decent games made by THQ (which lurrrrrved those licensed movie adaptions), the Deathinitive Edition is just its 2012 remains stuck under a heat lamp by new ownership.

Wrapping it up

There is no way to polish this turd. PlayStation Plus started trending into the unknown last year as it scrounged together indies to support the PS Vita — which Sony itself is no longer making games for. While it’s nice to be exposed to new or overlooked things, that has to be supported with broad value in the rest of the offerings, and there is very little here.

Further, the PS Vita isn’t the real problem this year. It’s the PlayStation 3, with an abysmal 66.1 Metacritic average that speaks to a PlayStation Plus program near the end of its rope with that console. I’m not sure that backward compatibility from the PS3 to PS4 would help much, given Sony’s choice not to re-host games on PlayStation Plus that have gone on the service before.

I suppose that’s admirable in that PlayStation Plus is constantly churning up stuff we haven’t yet gotten for free. But either PlayStation 3 owners get another bite at the apple on some good games from a few years back, or Sony needs to start thinking about some kind of limited access to PlayStation Now instead of this stuff.

By the Numbers

Average score: 71.3

Average price: $17.40

Average age: 2.3 years

Highest average Metacritic month: January (74.3)

Highest dollar value month: March ($159.94)

Month with newest games on average: March (1.5 years)

Lowest average Metacritic month: April (63.3)

Lowest dollar value month: February ($69.94)

Month with oldest games on average: August (3.6 years)

Published by Sony: 13 titles (Bound, Drawn to Death, Hustle Kings, Infamous: Second Son, Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom, LittleBigPlanet 3, Rag Doll Kung Fu, Fists of Plastic, Rigs Mechanized Combat League, Snakeball, Tearaway Unfolded, Tokyo Jungle, Until Dawn, and Until Dawn: A Rush of Blood)

Publisher with the most titles: Again, Sony. The next highest publisher was Devolver Digital with four (Titan Souls, Hatoful Boyfriend, Downwell and Not a Hero).

Appeared on Xbox Live Games With Gold earlier: Worms Battlegrounds (2014); Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (February 2017). Darksiders 2 (not the “Deathinitive Edition) was on Games With Gold in 2014.

Total Value: $1,287.25

Platform Averages

PlayStation 3: 66.1 Metacritic average, 3.5 years old, $17.76 per title.

PlayStation 4 (PS Vita cross-buy excluded): 75.4 Metacritic average, 1.7 years old, $21.87 per title.

PlayStation Vita: 72.4 Metacritic average, 1.6 years old, $11.51 per title.

Apples-to-apples with Xbox Live Games With Gold (PS3 and PS4 only): 70.5 Metacritic average, 2.7 years old, $20.20 per title.

Highest rated PlayStation 3 game: R-Type Dimensions (82)

Highest rated PlayStation 4 game: Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (93)

Highest rated PlayStation Vita game: Severed (87)

Highest price PlayStation 3 game: Earth Defense Force 2025 ($49.99)

Highest price PlayStation 4 game: Just Cause 3 ($59.99)

Highest price PlayStation Vita game: Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse Episodes 1 & 2 ($33.98, two episodes at full price).

Lowest rated PlayStation 3 game: Monster Jam Battlegrounds (20). Three had no rating on Metacritic or GameRankings and were not included in the overall averages.

Lowest rated PlayStation 4 game: Drawn to Death (56)

Lowest rated PlayStation Vita game: Wanted Corp. (59)

Lowest price PlayStation 3 game: Monster Jam Battlegrounds ($9.99)

Lowest price PlayStation 4 game (PS Vita cross-play excluded): Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends ($9.99)

Lowest price PlayStation Vita game: Don’t Die, Mr. Robot ($3.99)

Metacritic ranges

90 and up: 1

80 to 89: 14

70 to 79: 36

60 to 69: 16

59 and below: 7

Three games had no rating, either on Metacritic or GameRankings: Syberia Collection, Handball 16 and Truck Racer.

Price ranges

$40 and up: 2

$30 to $39.99: 4

$25 to $29.99: 5

$20 to $24.99: 1

$15 to $19.99: 12

$10 to $14.99: 21

$5 to $9.99: 28

$4.99 and under: 1