Epic battles ahead
Stretch your imagination and unleash your adventurous spirit,
1. PORTAL KNIGHTS
ONE of the most unique games ever created, Portal Knights, is a sandbox role-playing game where your adventures are limited to your imagination. Set in the world of Elysia, players move around on procedurally generated islands shaped by rebuilding broken portals, each with its strengths and weaknesses.
Playable to four players co-operatively, they explore the vast world of Elysia, craft epic weapons, power up characters and conquer enemies in real time. With a num- ber of RPG character classes to choose from and master, players experience a wide variety of combat experience. Just be careful when night falls as the enemies seem to become even deadlier.
Fun fact: Portal Knights is a sandbox game with role-playing game elements. This makes it akin to Minecraft, where players are free to explore and experience the game as they see fit. The islands are randomly generated upon repairing the broken portals, so everyone will have their own unique experience of the game.
2. ROCKETBIRDS 2 EVOLUTION
A RARE entry into a genre that was common in the old days, Rocketbirds 2 Evolution isa side-scrolling shooter game featuring a variety of birds. Step into the feet of Hardboiled Chicken, the undeniably plucky super-chicken secret agent, and venture into the game’s full Story Mode campaign filled with twists and turns on every corner.
With the return of evil ruler Putzki, Hardboiled must hunt down and eliminate him once and for all using jetpacks, new guns, disguises and skills only fit for the James Bond of super-chicken agents. Along the way, Hardboiled realises the Trans-dimensional Space Owls are behind it all and needs to re-assess who his enemies truly are.
Fun fact: Rocketbirds 2 Evolution was initially teased when the PS Vita version of Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken was released, as there was an extra called Rocketbirds Two on the Extras menu. It featured concept art of various types of Trans-dimensional Space Owls and vehicles. While it wasn’t officially announced, the team started work on it as soon as it received the PS4 development kits.
3. THUMPER
DESCRIBED as “Rhythm Violence” by its developers, Thumper is a rhythm-based game encompassed by music that can also be played in virtual reality. The aim of the game is to guide a beetle-like creature along a single or dual track through a series of horrific worlds.
The player must press a button to hit lit “notes” on the track in time with the background music, while also bracing against obstacles and defeating enemies.
Each level is broken up into segments, in which the player is given a score and a rating after each segment showing how well he did.
The beetle can sustain one hit (a missed turn or crashing into an obstacle), and at certain places it can regain its shield if it is lost. However, taking a second hit without its wing-shield in place will destroy it, and the level starts over at the last checkpoint.
Fun fact: Thumper was developed by a two-man team that calls itself Drool. It consists of programmer Marc Fury and Brian Gibson, the man who composed the music and created the artwork. Gibson is best known as the bassist for American rock band Lightning Bolt.
4. THE BRIDGE
THE first of two indie game entries in the lineup, The Bridge is a puzzle game where everything you see is not what it seems to be. The game opens with the nameless protagonist sleeping under an apple tree. After an apple hits him in the head and wakes him up, he is guided to his house that has three doors, behind which lie further doors and levels.
The game consists of various levels; the goal is to get the main character to the exit door. The player can rotate the world using the directional arrows, changing the gravitational direction of individual objects which can then be interacted with differently. Each level has its fair share of challenges and will reward players with pieces of the story which will then shape the game’s overall narrative.
Fun fact: The puzzles in The Bridge are inspired by the art of M. C. Escher. Just like his artworks, each level unfolds in grayscale with hand-drawn illustrations. Another nod to M.C. Escher in the game is the nameless protagonist, which greatly resembles the artist.
5. MASTER REBOOT
A PSYCHOLOGICAL mystery game by Wales Interactive, the game focuses on a girl named Madison who is in the midst of investigating the Soul Cloud, a program that allows people to visit the deceased and relive that person’s memory. After death, their family can choose the memories to upload to the program.
Once they’ve decided, an island is made, and the memories are placed in buildings which a loved one can enter. Madison is on her way to find Kali, but is involved in a train crash, leaving her to walk to Astrid’s memory island. She travels to all the memories, slowly discovering who Kali is and what happened to Soul Cloud.
Fun fact: The developer for Master Reboot created games with the goal of entertaining everyone with its original creations. Given its experience in publishing Welsh e-Books, Master Reboot was designed with an emphasis on narrative so gamers can enjoy a good story.
These are all the free games lineup for PS Plus members this month. This collection of games will entertain the more casual audience but there’s plenty of content to enjoy. Even if you have played any of these games before, a number have updates and additional content to enjoy, so sit back, relax and game on.