Round Up: This Free PS Plus Game Is One of the Highest Rated Games of the Year 1

It shouldn't come as an enormous surprise, but Big Walk — from the makers of Untitled Goose Game — is getting huge praise.

This is a multiplayer adventure game in which you and up to 11 buddies are placed within a large open environment and set loose to explore it.

It's set to release tomorrow, 4th August, 2026 on PS5 as well as PC and Switch 2, and if these reviews are anything to go by, it'll be well worth playing.

Big Walk currently has a 93 on Metacritic, putting it among the top-rated games of 2026 so far.

Generally speaking, critics are praising the game's inventive puzzles and unique cooperative gameplay. It seems if you're after a new online co-op title, this should be top of the list.

The good news for PS Plus members is that Big Walk will be available to play at no extra cost when it arrives, and you'll have about a month to claim it.

Let's take a look at some of these reviews:

Eurogamer - 5/5

The Untitled Goose Game team returns with a funny, exciting, and deeply rewarding multiplayer adventure that combines knockabout fun with some surprisingly big ideas.

GameSpot - 9/10

Big Walk takes fundamental and timeless video game concepts–obstacles and incentives for clearing them–and, through an intensely focused co-op experience, shapes them into something singularly rewarding, supremely mysterious, and totally unforgettable.

Nintendo Life - 8/10

Big Walk is a game that is nothing short of outstanding in its design, a co-op adventure that feels like you’re 12 years old again and venturing across those fields with your buddies. Its strict reliance on communication and clever puzzle design makes it one of the most rewarding games I think I’ve ever played, but its technical shortcomings on the Switch 2 version do take the shine off a touch. Thankfully, it’s not enough to break what is one of the most unique and intriguing games released this decade, if you’re willing to learn to communicate.

The Verge - Unscored

Many of the elements that made Goose Game great are present in Big Walk. There’s a lot of walking, a lot of talking, and a lot of shenanigans. While playing Big Walk, however, I also kept thinking of a very different game. The sense of discovery and joy are much like what made The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild so special, whether that was finding a kooky way to solve a puzzle, stumbling upon an extremely useful item, or climbing to the highest peak and taking in the view. But unlike Breath of the Wild, Big Walk let me share the world, and those moments of discovery, with my best friend.

Polygon - Unscored

There are a lot of multiplayer games that feel like a fun idea that I just so happen to be able to play with friends. Big Walk is different; it’s explicitly about playing with friends. Everything we experienced in these three days was designed to test our bonds more than our brains. It’s a retreat full of trust falls and communication exercises. I’m sad to leave it all behind — I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to experience it the same way now that I know the puzzle solutions. But I’m leaving this island with a handful of warm memories, floating inside my head like scattered diary pages. I will always cherish this adventure I got to take with my friends. And I now know to never leave the house without a laser pointer.

Will you be taking a Big Walk on PS5? Tell us in the comments section below.