WHAT’S NEW PLUS-SY CAT?
Digging into the random acts of gaming a lengthy PS Plus subscription offers
There’s something about summer that leaves many of us with a hankering for horror. What better way to cool off than with Supermassive’s Until Dawn? With House Of Ashes on the horizon (find out more on p38), there’s never been a better time to revisit Blackwood Mountain. Subscribers could first collect this choice-driven chiller back in July 2017 but at present PS5 players can pick it up as part of the console-exclusive Plus collection.
Smart lighting design still sells Until Dawn’s bid for photorealism more often than not. It’s something I miss from Man Of Medan’s sunny scenes, even though it’s clear to see the lessons learned between games. There are other aspects
I’m sad to see left in the past – principally the Don’t Move lightbar gimmick. Emily’s escapade in the mines remains memorable because of how it gets your palms sweating right when you need a firm grip on your DualShock 4. Combined with the implied voyeurism of many of Until Dawn’s choice camera angles, there’s a layer of tension here you could not only cut with a butter knife but spread on toast too. The schlocky, irreverent tone just completes the meal, and is perhaps why
The Dark Pictures leaves me feeling so famished even after multi-hour fright fests – there’s a playfulness to Until Dawn’s scares that so often feels absent from the series that succeeded it.
Last month’s selection of PS Plus titles certainly didn’t leave subscribers hungry, though. Making its PS5 debut via PS Plus was tasty co-op espionage adventure Operation:
Tango. For seconds on
PS4 was another exclusive, in the shape of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s remaster of Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown. And rounding the month out was the excellent Star Wars: Squadrons, which can be played either on PS4 or in PS VR. We dread to think what passes as an in-flight meal on a X-Wing.