RawShark

Now there's a remake no one asked for.

Nice analysis. It's not the service it was. Obviously at some point there's been a change in tactic. The annoying thing is that they don't have to be giving away the big games each month to improve the service! For example, in lieu of backwards compatibility, PS plus could incorporate PS Now in some way - either by including a game from the service in the monthly freebie or by allowing users unfettered access to a game if they already own the digital license, by PS Plus or by any other way. That's adding value without having to give much away. Or they could revert to having the titles available all year round - titles like Killzone and Infamous would be good contenders as they've been around for a while but are still impressive enough to show what the PS4 is capable of. (If they try do this with Knack Thoughh I'd be furious).

I think the main issue is that Sony aren't in fact scratching their heads trying to work out how to improve the service. They putti their feet up knowin they've already won this race. While that is true, it's a bitter pill to swallow.

@SKC_Diamond oh yeah this'll be right up your alley then. Enjoy!

@SKC_Diamond Yeah I was playing it on CD-Rom back when it was first released. Back when we could barely believe our computers could actually talk! I was there, man! I was there!

The main thing for me is that while they've redrawn the sprites, they haven't added any new frames of animation (and there weren't many in the first place), so it actually makes it look worse when it moves. But it might just be that it's different, and I have a very strong connection to how it used to look.

At any rate, it's an amazing title if you like the old school point & click adventure games. Arguably one of the best.

Ach, that's painful. Guess we won't be getting season 2 then. What a sad day it's been. 😢

If you do pick up Day of the Tentacle, do yourself a favour and play it in the old school, low res mode. It looks so much better than the ugly new art style.

So strange. It reminds me of back when the Saturn was struggling. The Bullfrog game Syndicate Wars had a port developed and ready for release, they just needed to add on the FMV opening...

Then they just cancelled it. No reason given. They had a finished game ready to sell and then just didn't bother. At least this one got released, but it has the same feel of self sabotage about it.

@Shellcore Fair play. Generally I keep renewing every year more because of the games I'd lose rather than the games I have to look forward to. They're evil geniuses.

@thatguyEZ I can get both sides of the argument. I'll admit to being disappointed by the last few months offerings and have voiced my annoyance, but at the same time if the games everyone asks for are still making a lot of money on the store, Sony would be daft to give them away for free. Maybe the model is just unsustainable in the long run.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi no, it isn't. it really isn't.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi Are you still a plus subscriber? If I were you I'd save the money. You never like what comes up.

@sonicmeerkat oh just buy it you cheapskate!

Soma would be a great shout. Doubt it will happen though.

Maybe Street Fighter V down the line though... MS just put the first season of Killer Instinct on Gold, if that turns out to be shrewd, Capcom might do the same. We're talking 12 months from now though.

I honestly can't think of any more Vita games at this point. I have so many in the backlog, I'd be happy if they called it a day at this point.

I love hot wings, although it might give new meaning to the term "Flamelurker." Might have to pay MeatLiquor a visit. PRAISE THE SUN!

I love the sub heading for this. It should be the official tagline for PS Plus.

It's an odd concept. What's in it for them? With a physical game, you trade it in and they re-sell the game at a small discount for a profit. But in this case there's nothing for them to resell. Just a license for access to software which is already available to all. It's madness I tell you!

Good interview! Cheers Rob.

This looks very promising. Refreshing even. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Too soon for me. People would be pissed to invest in a PS VR then have to be another £400 console just to use it properly.

@get2sammyb I guess that's the problem with dubs - they are pretty hit and miss. Oddly, Virtue's Last Reward only had the Japanese dub in the EU, so for the sake of consistency that's probably what I'd opt for (if it's an option this time around). It's a great series - I highly recommend checking out 999 Doors on a DS if you can track it down.

I didn't mean to come across so critical (although reading back my comment it certainly did). But as you say, Vita releases are few and far between these days so it's nice to have a game worth getting excited about.

@NomNom Actually the art style in the previous game was the one aspect I had the most gripes with. It went from weirdly basic and emotionless CG characters with stock animations to still images of the the same models, and then to hand drawn images at the drop of the hat. It's clearly done with a low budget and I should think this game (with the problems it had getting funding) will probably have a similar cheapish feel.

But I don't think fans of the game really care - the story and concepts for the last two games were fantastic. It's amazing how much tension can be built with so little.

"which looks a bit like if Saw had babies with a bad anime film"

Not a fan of the series then Sammy? Or have you even played the preceding titles before?

Not to trample on your opinion or anything, but considering at one point not long ago it was looking like this series was going to go unfinished, I for one am very happy it's getting some closure.

I can't be the only fan looking forward to this, so maybe this is one time where a more neutral editorial stance should have been used. Just a thought.

@blakey78 Two of the glowing ball types. The d-pad one you refer to was just a more comfortable alternative to using the left side of a regular Dual Shock. It had no motion control in and of itself.

I think only the most hardened players were tempted to pick it up straight away. Everyone else is waiting for the gameplay updates and the bugs to be ironed out. Perhaps they could learn from Mortal Kombat, as a more fully formed launch seemed to be received considerably better for them.

I have to admit the thing that stop me voting for this over anything else was the incredibly unappealing art direction with regard to the character models. Call me superficial, but if I'm going to be spending hours staring at a character on a screen, I don't want to have some leering deathmasked figures burned into my brain and invading my dreams.

@Crunchewy @crescendo2020 Cheers guys. The game sounds a bit too hardcore for me. But good to have a more educated and (lets call a spade a spade here) less balls-out insane opinion on it.

Have to admit I'm clicking the download button with a resigned sigh this time around as the titles get beamed directly into my backlog, most likely never to be seen again.

I think it was only ever a knee-jerk reaction to micro-consoles picking up popularity in Japan. When that didn't take, they repurposed the excess stock to PS4 users in the west and marketed it as a way to use remote play and slightly bolster their range of games. Unsurprisingly this also didn't take as it's an incredibly niche market and most in that target market don't want to play sub native laggy versions of games, especially on something less versatile than a Chromecast.

It didn't have proper support because Sony's heart was never in it. Still, if one turns up at a local CEX for a tenner I might pick one up for posterity, if nothing else.

So trying to steer things back on topic here, has anyone else played the game? Have to say I quite like the look of the trailer and I enjoyed both Wizord and Mercenary Kings. As much as I would like to take the more reasonable points of this review as gospel, I feel there's a clear need for a second opinion. Anyone?

Have to say, I never thought I'd come across this when I clicked to read the review. It's certainly been... Something. Wonder what the game is like?

@jameswallace well I tried.

It's a shame you can't trade a fraction of your wordiness and waffle for an ounce of self-awareness. It would make you a better writer.

@jameswallace isn't that what Grawlog just said? That they're not mutually exclusive?

Ok, take some advice from an old timer here. Please let this one go. Go grab a beer. Hang out with friends. Play some games. Because hanging out on here attempting to defend your work isn't going to help you right now. It's just coming across as defensive. I think we can all agree the site should be all about the games. Reviews don't need big explanations afterwards clarifying the point you were trying to convey. Or critiques of the critiques of your critique.

It's the weekend. Have fun. Clear your head and come back next week ready to take on the world. I look forward to reading whatever comes up next.

@jameswallace ...but constructive criticism can help the stew taste better next time around, amirite? 😉

To be fair to the writer, for the most part the review itself is fair enough. But most people skip straight to the conclusion and miss all the decent points being made in it. But there's no denying that the conclusion is, at best, spectacularly misjudged, and if we're being frank it's just poor writing.

But I get it - sometimes you try different things to make work stand out. In this case it failed horribly but at least you tried. I hope the criticism on display here doesn't discourage the reviewer from taking this on and learning from it.

It's not a total loss, but this is a pretty dire month. Yes The Last Guy and Stardust were well received - but 8-9 years ago! Almost a decade old and both were quite cheap and cheerful even back then. They've officially hit the bottom of the Vita barrel too.

At this point it's worth putting it out there that the PS3 and Vita titles no longer add any value to the package. I'd rather they just cut them out so they can focus on better PS4 games, If they're cross buy, all the better. But at this point focus on the one console that isn't basically dead.

Some sour grapes on display here. More people wanted to play Broforce. Get over it.

Great review. Nice one Stephen!

It's the time of the month where I double take and say to myself "Didn't we already have (insert game here) at some point before?"

People are going to be disappointed, but by now they should have realised the Plus program is only going to give away indie titles for PS4, and will probably do so for a while yet. It's all about setting expectations.

Still better than Knack.

I think when the second expansion hits I might go back, but after a DLC sale, maybe. I spent so much of last year on it it deserves a break. MGSV and Middle Earth are still in their wrappers for gawd's sake!

Noooo! My poor moneys!

I'm confused. How can a game make too much money?

The problem I had with The Witcher 3 soundtrack was that it looped in an irritating way. It would stop and start as you fiddled around in the menus really strangely and it took you out of the immersion more often than not. If I were to play through it again I'd consider turning the background music off altogether.

I'd put in a vote for WWE2K16 purely for Tyler Breeze's theme music. It's so bad, but so catchy!

Hmmmmm. Really don't approve of the bargain bin PSP titles. If you're going to give away PSP games, why not do the good ones? If it were Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker or something I could get with that, but eeesh.

It's not a great month for me. I'd prefer it if similar titles were spread out more. This is the third month we've had a graphic adventure. Warfighter was also universally derided when it was released, and if you want Dragon Age and don't have a PS Plus sub, it will cost you £4 at the moment.

But hey, at least I can buy with impunity in the sale. But I can not longer recommend brand new buyers subscribe unless they are heavy multiplayer gamers on the PS4.

One thing I would like to see return though, is a heads up when a title goes on a sale and then turns up in the PS Plus IGC a couple weeks later. The forum team used to do this, but I'm pretty sure Grim Fandango and some other titles were recently discounted so seeing it on the IGC this month will upset anyone who picked it up.

I guess there's no obligation for them to do this, but it's good customer service for loyal subscribers,

PS3 and vita games have t been announced yet.

The good news is that Grim Fandango is a classic adventure game - the LAST classic adventure game in fact. It's basically the final real Lucasarts game, so good that more people will get to play it.

But at this point in the game I think it's safe to assume Plus is not and probably never will be the service it was two or three years ago. There was obviously a change in strategy to one providing smaller scale games. Or perhaps the strategy all along was to get subscribers on the PS3 with the big games, and wind down the budget for the PS4 and rely on people not cancelling their subs due to either losing online play or the back catalogue of titles they'd amassed.

Jan is a big month on Xbox live with one of the big launch titles in the freebies. You'd think that they'd follow suit for the sake of competition, but that's not how Sony roll.

My dream freebies would be Wolfenstein or Dark Souls 2. I've pretty much bought everything else I wanted by now. But if they were to release an early Ps4 game, Infamous would be the best choice in terms of actual quality.

@get2sammyb I'm not sure about that. The songs are all original and Parappa appeared on PlayStation All Stars along with clips of the soundtrack...

I'm wondering if it isn't because of latency issues caused by the emulation. On a game like Parappa it would make the game basically unplayable.

I still can't believe Parappa was never released as a PSOne Classic last generation. Surely it would have been easy money?

Tempted by Bastion. Been wanting to get it for a while and the Vita version might just be the reason to do it. Although I'm like 100% it's going to end up on Plus.

The PS2 games are crazy expensive. Not to mention that Microsoft's attitude to backwards compatibility (which is in itself not true backwards compatibility but a form of emulation that's free for anyone who's previously purchased the game) is way more consumer friendly. Paying £12 for a game you may well have bought and played over a decade ago is just ridiculous.

I'm still hopeful that Sony will one day see the light and enable free streaming of previously purchased PS3 content via PS Now. It's a slim hope.

Good feature! Very thorough.

cough

Called Freedom Wars though. Called it.