LAST MONTH ON PS PLUS

May? More like matey, no? Ahem. This is my terrible way of pointing out that last month’s free Instant Game Collection was distinctly pirate-flavoured, whether it was a space-swashbuckling adventure game, a simulation title, or a shooter with enough loot to lure Davy Jones from his locker.

One of Telltale’s finest headlined this month’s PS Plus selection: TALES

FROM THE BORDERLANDS (PS4). Borderlands lovers and newbies alike were undoubtedly thrilled to snag the five-episode series for free – it’s an adventure anyone can enjoy. The celshaded story of a hunt for a legendary treasure on the planet of Pandora is a masterfully written thrill-ride. It didn’t half get us in the mood for lootin’, though, something Housemarque’s twinstick shooter ALIENATION (PS4) was only too happy to deliver. Pumping space lasers into aliens is the stuff of supersoldier dreams.

The inclusion of PORT ROYALE 3:

PIRATES AND MERCHANTS continued the theme of nautical naughtiness on PS3. It let us play as a 17th-century Spanish tycoon choosing between the two lifestyles available to human beings – which are, as we all know, adventurer or trader. Neither dazzled our doubloons (the sim visually shonky and slow of pace), but it was a damn sight better than BLOOD KNIGHTS, an uninspired vampire hack-and-slash best described as “Diablo’s useless little brother”.

PS Vita was there to pick up the PS3 pieces with a couple of handheld curios capable of PS4 Cross-Play. Twin-stick shooter LASER DISCO DEFENDERS’ bouncing death beams in tiny spaces made for a colourful ’70s-flavoured challenge, while TYPE:RIDER’s tight typographical platforming taught us about the history of fonts, too. You know what the real treasure is? Knowledge.