Where are you with the backlog? If you are a subscriber to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium, you are probably in very bad shape. We have news for you, good or bad, it’s up to you to decide: from today 18 June, another fifteen games are available for PlayStation Plus Extra and three classics for Premium. Curious to find out what they are? Then all you have to do is read on to decide what to download immediately and what to add to the immense backlog that you probably already have.
The new games for PlayStation Plus Extra
• It Takes Two PS4, PS5
• Sniper Elite 5 PS4, PS5
• Snowrunner PS4, PS5
• World War Z PS4, PS5
• The Ascent PS4, PS5
• Undertale PS4
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated PS4
• Dynasty Warriors 9 PS4
• Samurai Warriors 5 PS4
• Fast & Furious Spy Racers Rise of SH1FT3R PS4, PS5
• Melty Blood Type Lumina PS4
• Dysmantle PS4, PS5
• Electric Circus PS4
• Monster Jam Steel Titans PS4
• My Little Pony Avventura a Maretime Bay PS4, PS5
The winner of the Game of the Year 2021 award will open the selection, It Takes Two, a modern fairy tale directed by Jose Fares that can be played only and exclusively in cooperative by two players.
It Takes Two tells of Cody and May, a couple at loggerheads turned into dolls by a spell of their own daughter, fed up with their repeated bickering. Together with another player you must help them overcome their differences by accompanying them through a world full of unpredictable antics and original gameplay solutions, which will test both your wits and their marital relationship. Don’t let yourself be scared by the obligation of the cooperative, since finding another player is very simple, and thanks to the Buddy Pass included in the package, you can invite your friend for free. Read what our Alessandro Bruni has to say in the review of It Takes Two.
Sniper Elite 5 instead puts you in the role of sharpshooter Karl Fairburne, who has been ordered to infiltrate 1944 France to expose Project Kraken, which threatens to end the war even before the Allies can invade Europe .
The third-person sniping mechanics typical of the long-running Rebellion series express their maximum potential here, also thanks to an even more macabre kill camera, an in-depth weapon customization system and realistic maps that make use of photogrammetry to faithfully reproduce the places of Britain occupied by the Nazi machine. Each location is enriched with multiple infiltration and evacuation locations, as well as varied objectives that give each mission an ever-new flavor. Sniper Elite 5 also features an extensive multiplayer mode, both cooperative (you can play missions with a friend) and competitive (a battle with 16 players). We also have the Sniper Elite 5 review.
Let’s change genre and scenario again (get used to it, this month’s games are all profoundly different from each other) to talk about SnowRunner, a simulation that puts you at the wheel of powerful vehicles on extremely hostile terrain, made extremely realistic by one of the most advance on the square. The mastery of paths made impervious by mud, torrential waters, snow and frozen lakes is essential to be able to complete the dangerous contracts and missions, which can be tackled in a vast interconnected world also in cooperative mode for four players.
The garage built by Saber Interactive includes forty unique vehicles produced by brands such as Ford, Chevrolet and Freightliner, all customizable thanks to the numerous upgrades and accessories, including the snorkel exhaust (essential for crossing deep waters) and snow chains.
Inspired by the film starring Brad Pitt, World War Z is instead a third-person cooperative shooter for up to four players. The goal, needless to say, is to face hordes of bloodthirsty zombies, choosing from six different classes of upgradeable characters, namely Gunslinger, Devastator, Butcher, Doctor, Mechanic and Exterminator.
Both survivors and weapons can be upgraded as the game progresses through the completion of several story-based co-op campaigns. To enrich the playful offer, the PvPvE mode takes care of it, which pits players against each other surrounded by AI-controlled zombies.
From the digital forges of Neon Giant comes The Ascent, a top-down action RPG set in a cyberpunk world. The game puts you in the role of an enslaved factory worker in The Ascent Group arcology, a metropolis run by a large corporation and populated by creatures from all over the galaxy. When one day, for unknown reasons, the company shuts down, the automated security systems go haywire allowing access to criminal organizations, eager to increase their traffic in black market upgrades.
Thus begins your “ascent”, which can be tackled alone or in the company of three other players. The character can be fully customized in appearance and abilities, lending itself to different play styles, while the combat system allows you to aim high or low, switch weapons and gadgets on the fly, and find cover in destructible environments. Alessandro Bruni spoke about it in depth in the review of The Ascent.
An absolute milestone on the indie development scene, Undertale is a pixellated adventure with a retro flavor in which every interaction and every monster is unique and unrepeatable. In a hilarious and heartwarming underworld, you can ask a skeleton on a date, dance with a robot, cook with a fish woman… or kill any character. You decide it, accepting the consequences.
Don’t let the rough and old-school look fool you, Fox’s work is incredibly beautiful and enthralling, as well as the clear demonstration that retro charm and innovation can coexist peacefully. Watch out though, it’s only in English.
Already launched on PlayStation Plus some time ago in the form of a monthly game, Spongebob Squarepants: Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydrated is the remake – or rather, the “rehydrated” version – of the homonymous action platform released in 2003 on PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube , Game Boy Advance and PC.
As SpongeBob, Patrick and Sandy, you must save Bikini Bottom from the evil Plankton by eliminating his ruthless robots and showing him that crime pays even less than Mr. Krab. In addition to the inevitable graphic restyling, compared to the original edition it also offers a new online and offline multiplayer mode for two participants, a remastered soundtrack and some additional content excluded from the first version (such as the battle against the boss Robo Squidward).
Fans of Japanese action games deserve two musou, namely Dynasty Warriors 9 and Samurai Warriors 5, both invariably signed by Omega Force.
Dynasty Warriors 9 allows you to use the Musou Action system to fight with blades against hundreds of enemies simultaneously in a single, vast open world map. Without disdaining stealth elements, it tells a story inspired by the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” (from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the fall of the Shu at the hands of the Wei) by intertwining the destinies of multiple playable characters. The same can also be used in Freemode, in which to have fun without thinking about the story. Samurai Warriors 5 uses a graphic style inspired by Japanese ink paintings to offer two distinct gameplay components: In the main Musou mode, you can experience the stories of military commanders Nobunaga Oda and Mitsuhide Akechi in the Sengoku period, while in the Citadel mode you must protect your base from enemies while collecting resources to upgrade various structures.
Lots of stuff, right? It’s not over yet! There’s also Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Rise of SH1FT3R, a racing game inspired by the well-known film franchise in which you have to vanquish a criminal organization with revving and spy gadgets; Melty Blood: Type Lumina, a two-dimensional fighting game inspired by TYPE-MOON’s quirky visual novel Tsukihime; Dysmantle, an isometric apocalypse simulator set in a vast open world full of puzzles and resources; Circus Electrique, which asks you to manage a circus with a steampunk imprint seasoned with elements of a tactical role-playing game. Monster Jam Steel Titans, off-road racing game with vans, steep courses, stadium shows and heart-pounding stunts; and finally My Little Pony: Adventure in Maretime Bay, an adventure for the little ones set in the world of the animated series.
The new classics for PlayStation Plus Premium
• Twisted Metal | PS4, PS5
• Twisted Metal 2 | PS4, PS5
• Gravity Crash Portable | PS4, PS5
In view of the debut of the Twisted Metal television series, set for July 27 in the USA on Peacock TV, Sony has well thought of offering Premium subscribers a history lesson with the first two chapters of the series, Twisted Metal and Twisted Metal 2, launched on the PS1 in 1995 and 1996 respectively.
Both characterized by the precious contribution of David Jaffe, who would later create God of War a few years later, they are vehicular combat games a la Destruction Derby which emphasize the use of weapons such as machine guns, mines, oil slicks, heat and many more. In a future Los Angeles (the setting is in 2005, ten years ahead of the series’ debut), some of the craziest fighters on the planet are invited to a competition to the last sheet by a mysterious man named Calypso. Both games feature a two-player split-screen mode, with Twister Metal 2 upping the ante by increasing the number of controllable vehicles and embellishing the battlefields with special weapons, hidden areas, mystery cards, secret passageways and teleportation points.
Gravity Crash Portable closes the selection, a multidirectional space shooter that saw the light on PSP in 2010. A heartfelt homage to the arcade games of the 80s, it offers multiple levels set in thirty hostile worlds with space-time ducts, laser beams and multiple explosions . All new games for PlayStation Plus Premium are polished and enhanced with support for up-rendering, rewinding, quick saves and custom video filters, plus they’ve all gained trophy support: there are 31 for Twisted Metal, 30 for Twisted Metal 2 and 36 for Gravity Crash Portable, including platinums.
