{"id":28601,"date":"2017-05-14T14:21:50","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T21:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=28601"},"modified":"2017-05-14T14:21:50","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T21:21:50","slug":"sony-dives-deep-arcade-titles-may-ps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/bens-bytes\/sony-dives-deep-arcade-titles-may-ps\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony Dives Deep Into Assorted Titles With Mixed Responses for May’s PS+ Freebies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sony went all\u00a0over the map with the free games they\u2019re offering to PlayStation Plus subscribers in May.\u00a0 Critic scores range from intensely positive to rather\u00a0poor. Game genres range from fantasy hack-\u2018n-slash action to interactive graphic adventures and relaxation diversions. And the titles on offer range from big, recognizable names\u00a0to obscure productions\u00a0that can be a struggle to even get much concrete information about. It\u2019s a true medley, and the positive and negatives that come with that. Let\u2019s explore this month’s PS+ games.<\/p>\nClick Here to Grab\u00a0a 1-Year PlayStation Plus Subscription\u00a0at Amazon<\/a><\/span>\n

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\"ps+

Gearbox<\/p><\/div>\n

PS4<\/h3>\n

Tales From the Borderlands<\/h4>\n

It took Telltale a couple of swing-and-a-miss efforts to land of the right sort of franchise for their interactive adventure style of game. Once they discovered that the right way to approach this was with stories containing a wide universe that can properly exist outside the primary plot, notably with The Walking Dead<\/em>, they\u2019ve hit the ground running and skillfully taken on many other franchises in the same fashion.\u00a0 Tales From the Borderlands<\/em> marks another evolution in their approach, in that Telltale have set this series in the expanded universe of another game universe, that of Gearbox\u2019s \u201cspace western\u201d sandbox landscape from the Borderlands<\/em> series. Telltale may not have been able to carry over\u00a0the loot gathering and exploration that primarily draws people to the series, but they do capture the underlying humor and strong character moments studded throughout, telegraphed in the developer\u2019s signature choose-your-adventure model.<\/p>\n

Abzu<\/h4>\n

Some people find stress release in a variety of ways through the videogame medium: wandering the landscape of a fantasy environment, hugging the curves of a racetrack, or landing headshots in a warzone. Certain games, however, are specifically engineered for a laid-back and hassle-free experience that immerses the player in deliberately relaxing elements, from effortless controls to idyllic environments. Joining the ranks of thatgamingcompany\u2019s entire catalogue and the Wii\u2019s Endless Ocean<\/em> is Abzu<\/em>, which places the player in control of a deep-sea diver who\u2019s tasked \u2013 by themselves \u2013 to revitalize the ocean\u2019s life energy by interacting with other-worldly pyramids submerged in the water. Wordless storytelling, linear pathways peppered with limited exploration options, and very little urgency ensures that Abzu won\u2019t be for everyone, but it\u2019ll be right up the alley for those who view lackadaisical meandering and stunning underwater expanses as the tools for rapturous leisure.<\/p>\n

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\"ps+

Deck13<\/p><\/div>\n

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PS3<\/h3>\n

Blood Knights<\/h4>\n

Many players of the original Diablo<\/em>\u00a0have stories of frustration centered on that game\u2019s blood knights, the late-game version of the knight enemies who possess drastically spiked difficult levels due to their resilience and lethality. Perhaps it\u2019s that reputation that Deck 13 wanted to recall with the title\u00a0Blood Knights<\/em>, which amounts to their own take on the Diablo<\/em> model through the game\u2019s isometric camera angles, loot gathering, and hack-\u2018n-slash dungeon crawling.\u00a0 Most critics of the game, however, have cited the exact opposite as an issue, where its forgiving difficulty level isn\u2019t helped by certain uninspired artistic choices,\u00a0humdrum controls, and action-RPG superficiality. \u00a0Those desperate for a Diablo or\u00a0Dark Alliance<\/em>\u00a0\/ Norrath<\/em> type of experience might find some brief entertainment value hidden somewhere in the shady corners of Blood Knights<\/em>, but probably not a lasting campaign.<\/p>\n

Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants<\/h4>\n

After development team Ascaron shuttered their doors, publisher Kalypso hoped to capture some of the same rise-and-repeat success of their Tropico<\/em> series by rejuvenating the Port Royale run of business simulator games, passing the torch to the developers at Gaming Minds for Port Royale 3<\/em>. \u00a0\u00a0Trailers may give it the appearance of an action game set during the era of pirates and merchants, but the nuts-\u2018n-bolts of the mechanics hinge entirely on strategic trading decisions made across the Caribbean during the 1700s, in which the player can build relationships, broker deals, or create conflicts. A dated and cumbersome graphical interface, slushy pacing, and a treasure trove of bugs and glitches apparently keep Port Royale 3<\/em> from launching very far from port, though.<\/p>\n

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\"ps+

Out of Bounds<\/p><\/div>\n

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PS Vita<\/h3>\n

Laser Disco Defenders<\/h4>\n

Remember the scene in Star Wars<\/em> where Han Solo fires a laser shot in a garbage room that\u2019s \u201cmagnetically sealed\u201d, which resulted in the energy blast bouncing off wall after wall and forcing the gang to dodge it? Imagine an entire game built around that concept, only with slower-moving energy blasts and much larger spaces for them to bounce around in, and picture Harrison Ford wearing bell bottoms and an afro.\u00a0 That\u2019s essentially the concept behind Laser Disc Defenders<\/em>, in which a foursome of spiffily-dressed heroes \u2013 bathed in neon colors throughout \u2013 jetpack their way through levels and avoid their own ricocheting laser blasts as they attempt to destroy hostile robotic obstacles in randomly generated environments. Laser Disco Defenders<\/em> isn\u2019t unlike Geometry Wars<\/em> in vividness and reflex demands, and comes equipped with character customization and funky music that heightens the mood.<\/p>\n

Type:Rider<\/h4>\n

At its core, Type:Rider<\/em> is a fairly standard platform puzzle game, operating in shadow silhouettes similar to the design aesthetic in Limbo<\/em> or Outland<\/em>. It\u2019s the context of the level design, however, that gives this side-scroller from Bulkypix its distinctive traits. Levels are created out of books, background illustrations, and, most notably, out of large typography letters from different eras and places.\u00a0 The player controls two dots \u2013 a colon \u2013 and traverses the environments inspired by the periods, triggering switches and predicting physics responses in order to get both dots from left to right. The player is rewarded with textual information about the fonts themselves, making this both a challenge of a videogame experience and, hopefully, also an educational one for the player. The game was originally developed for mobile devices, then ported over to the Vita.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sony went all\u00a0over the map with the free games they\u2019re offering to PlayStation Plus subscribers in May.\u00a0 Critic scores range from intensely positive to rather\u00a0poor. Game genres range from fantasy hack-\u2018n-slash action to interactive graphic adventures and relaxation diversions. And the titles on offer range from big, recognizable names\u00a0to obscure productions\u00a0that can be a struggle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":28602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1303,1302,401,25],"class_list":["post-28601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bens-bytes","tag-ps-vita","tag-ps3","tag-ps4","tag-video-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28605,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28601\/revisions\/28605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}