THIS MONTH ON PS PLUS

Christmas is just around the corner, and you know what that means – tons of sweets, cheesy movies, post-lunch walks in the cold winter air and maybe even a bit of Scrabble with the family. Thanks to November’s PS Plus lineup, we got all this ahead of time for free… and also plenty of festive rally-driving action. Merry BMXmas to us.

Silent Nights are traditional around this time of year, but in The Chinese Room’s PS4 walking sim EVERYBODY’S GONE

TO THE RAPTURE, the quintessential British town of Yaughton is quiet – too quiet… Fortunately, you’re on the case, wandering about the fictional homestead to an affecting soundtrack as you piece together the mystery. But if the eerie silence got to you, there was at least THE DEADLY TOWER

OF MONSTERS (PS4) to scale, which swapped romantic strings for the hilarious drawl of an apathetic director’s commentary. While the top-down actionRPG’s gameplay was serviceable, it was the game’s conceit that shone: brawling freaks is a giggle when the cult sci-fi tropes and clichés keep coming.

But the most terrifying, sharpimplement-wielding villains of all? Dentists. Thank goodness for the catharsis of Double Fine’s COSTUME

QUEST 2 (PS3). We fought the hygieneobsessed brutes tooth (ha!) and nail for candy, sporting Halloween outfits that granted magical abilities. It wasn’t as solid as PS3 rally racer DIRT 3: with a huge variety of tracks, cars, modes and handling that still holds up, it won the “Golden Oldies” category this month.

What of PS Vita? PUMPED BMX+ tried to keep the momentum going on multiple consoles, but the Trials-pretender left us deflated. At least superb spell-’emup battler LETTER QUEST: GRIMM’S JOURNEY REMASTERED reminded us good grammar ain’t dead. Ironically.