Month 1
OK, so I did it - I paid for a free service. It's not the first time. I'm paying for Lord of the Rings Online at the moment because it announced that it was going free to play in a month or so - and I couldn't wait, so i reactivated my old account.

PlayStation Plus is a bit different than Xbox Live Gold, which is its closest competitor - without Gold on your 360, you can't play multiplayer games online, fullstop. The PlayStation Network has always allowed free multiplayer, and according to Sony, always will.

So why upgrade to PlayStation Plus?

Free games.

For those who haven't heard, PlayStation Plus is a subscription service that costs $20.95 for three months, for $69.95 for 12 months. What you're subscribing to is almost like a book club - except for games. In exchange for your membership fee, Sony gives you a wide selection of content free to download, changing every month. This content will include one full PSN game, two minis, one PS1 classic, 1 Premium DLC, 2-3 half-price Premium DLC, 2 dynamic themes, 2 premium avatars, and 2 'full-game demos' (you download the full game, but it only works for an hour unless you pay to download it). Pretty sweet deal - considering that you get that every month, so you're paying less than $7 for all that swag. The only downside? You unsubscribe from Plus, you lose all the stuff you've downloaded...unless you subscribe again.

To sweeten the pot even further, Sony is giving early adopters who sign up to the 12 month straight away LittleBigPlanet for free. That's a $50 game, meaning that the extra $19.95 you'd spend will give you 12 months worth of free games. If you don't have LittleBigPlanet already, it's a fantastic way to get on board.

Since I already have the blu version of LittleBigPlanet, and i'm low on cash, I went for the $20.95 option. I've downloaded and tested all the free content for this month - so this month, and every month, i'm going to review PlayStation Plus' offerings and give each individual item a rank out of 10, and the month overall a rank out of 10. On occaision I might offer a separate overall score called a 'Hardcore Gamer' score - basically, this will be a more personal opinion based on the value of the pack given what Hardcore Gamers will already own.

So without further adieu, Lee's review of PlayStation Plus, Month 1.

Free game (for 12 month subscribers): LittleBigPlanet

For those who have never played LittleBigPlanet, the basic concept may sound a little strange - it has the base gameplay of a platformer. In the single player game, you (and up to 3 other friends) control a user-customizable Sackboy through the games levels. The overall level design and sackboy-customization oozes charm - the world is made of arts and craft materials, the backdrops crayon drawn on cardboard hanging from strings, all rendered in glorious high-definition. It's the perfect example of how HD can help art design, instead of the futile attempt to make games look more and more 'real'. The game is narrated by Stephen Fry - and that should be enough to convince anyone, really.

The main campaign, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. LittleBigPlanet also contains a full level editor, giving you unprecedented control over the levels you can create, easily publish them to the community - meaning there are thousands and thousands of custom levels available for you to jump in and play at any time. All custom levels are downloaded on the fly, so playing is as simple as navigating to the community 'planet' and choosing a level, just as you would in single player. LittleBigPlanet is quite simply an endless platformer full of charm. A must own for every PS3 owner.

Rating - 9.5/10
Normal cost - $49.95 (retail version)

All content below is available for 3 month and 12 month subscribers.

Free PSN Game: Wipeout HD

Wipeout is a racing game that is about one thing - speed. Your vehicle is a futuristic arrow-shapped hovering race ship - and in Wipeout HD, you will race at speeds of over 1000 km/h around future cities in glorious 1080p res at 60 frames per second. It is simply the fastest racing game you will ever play - and Wipeout HD is the best of a very prestigous series that has been around since Wipeout 1 on the PlayStation 1, released back in 1996.

The actual racing events vary from Speed Laps and Time Trials, to Races and Grand Prix. In Races, you have access to weapons that you activate by flying over pads in the track (like Mario Kart in hover-ships, but with heat-seeking missiles and plasma cannons instead of different colour turtle shells). Unlike Mario Kart however, the game never feels unfair - there is no rubber banding AI, or unfair advantages - if you manage to fly a perfect race, you will win - there won't be a random weapon to take you out.

Flying a perfect race at 1000 km/h is the tricky bit, especially for newcomers. Wipeout HD has a VERY steep learning curve - be prepared to lose for the first hour or so of playing, until you get used to the control and get into the 'zone'. One you do, you'll lose yourself.

Rating - 9/10
Normal Cost - $27.95

Free PS1 Game - Destruction Derby

Destruction Derby was the first game by Psygnosis (the development team that would become SCEE Liverpool), developers of the Wipeout franchise. An interesting choice (given that Wipeout 1 is also available on the PSN), as Destruction Derby has not aged well.

Hugely popular in 1995 when it was released for 'realistic' car damage, Destruction Derby is now an unplayable, blocky mess. No analogue control means steering via the D-pad, which always inevitable oversteers, and the car has no feeling of grip to the track; even the much touted 'collisions' don't feel right.

To be fair, this is a post Burnout world - and Criterion has mastered the art of destroying cars. But this is also a racing game for the system that brought us Gran Turismo, and the difference is night and day. Gran Turismo 1 is still playable, and Gran Turismo 2 is still arguably the best in the series; both PlayStation 1 games. Destruction Derby was released in the first year of the console, but it should not have been re-released for your snazzy HD PS3.

The only people who might possible enjoy this are fans of old who can put on rose-coloured glasses and look past the wrinkles.

Rating - 2/10
Normal cost - $8.45

Free miniS -

Fieldrunners

A tower defence game originally developed and released on the iPhone - and probably still the best tower defence game for the iPhone. The miniS version adds maps and weapons not in the iPhone version - but it is still inferior overall - and most of it is the fault of the miniS concept, not the game itself.

All miniS games are designed to run on the PSP and PS3 - so the PS3 version is simply an upscaled version of the PSP game. 480 x 272 upscaled to 1920 x 1080 looks horrendous, even with the shading they've applied. The controls are also counter-intuitive - no right-analog stick on the PSP means no use for the right analog stick on the PS3, so the controls are a mess of D-pad, left analog stick and L and R button controls. Compared to the simple tap-tap interface of the iPhone, it is a mess - which really hurts the game in the later levels, when you're desperately trying to upgrade your towers all over the map.

Fieldrunners works as a portable game on a touch-screen device; not so well ported to your HDTV. Still, it's worth a look - the game itself is very strategic and fun, if you can get past the controls.

Rating 5/10
Normal cost - $8.45

Age of Zombies

The same problems mentioned above apply to Age of Zombies - horrendous upscaling and shoddy controls. Unlike the control problems Fieldrunners has though, Age of Zombies is almost a bigger let down - because even with the graphics, it could almost be a perfect fun game.

The problem? It's a twin-stick shooter like Geometry Wars - without a second analog stick. Movement is controlled with the left analog stick, but shooting is controlled via the 4 face buttons - meaning you can only fire easily in four directions, up, down, left and right. For a game that features hundreds of zombies coming at you from every direction, it doesn't cut the mustard. The game itself is full of off-beat humour and is almost an enjoyable experience - unfortuantely, controls let this one down.

Rating 6/10
Normal cost - $8.45

Free DLC -

Killzone 2 Steel & Titanium Pack

Two new multiplayer maps for Killzone 2 - that were relased back in April 09. I haven't had a chance to jump on Killzone 2 multiplayer yet, but I have a feeling that PSN FPS multiplayer shooters will be in the same place everyone else is - playing Modern Warfare 2.

Unrated
Normal cost - $9.95 (for two maps? People whinged when Activision charged $15 for 6 maps)

Free Premium Themes -

Sony "The Game is Just the Start" - Pop-art graffiti culture mess, with bouncing elements in the background. It's loud, ugly and distracting - think the SingStar cover art with the horrible dressed people with weird facial expressions, and make it worse.

Rating 1/10
Normal cost - Thankfully this is a PSPlus exclusive, so people couldn't waste money on this if they wanted to.

Sackboy "On the Run" - This is more like it - a delightful LittleBigPlanet themed...theme, with Sackboy running around a mini-Creator-curated Earth. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problem as almost every other dynamic theme i've seen (except for the default) - there is too much activity in the background, and it distracts you from the foreground. Still, if you can multi-task looking at things really well, it's a good theme.

Rating 7/10
Normal cost - $3.45

Free Premium Avatars -
Disclosure: I think it's atrocious that Sony charges for 'premium' avatars, given that every internet message board in history lets you upload your own. You can't even take a picture of your PlayStation Home avatar and use that. Poor form.

Fat Princess - Red Princess BIG and Blue Princess BIG
They're avatars. Square pictures. These ones are of fat cartoon princesses.

Rating wtf/10
Normal cost - another exclusive, thankfully. Usually these things are $0.45 though...EACH. A price of a McDonalds cone for a pictures.

Things I haven't covered but included with PS Plus:
Reduced DLC - Loco Roco Costume Pack and God of War Level Kit for LittleBigPlanet, half price at $2.48 each
Gravity Crash full game upgrade - reduced to $10.36 from $12.95
Fat Princess - Fat Roles Expansion Pack - reduced to $6.76 from $8.45
Full game demos (download the full game, time limited to one hour) - Savage Moon and Shatter (both PSN games. Apparently we're not getting the full-games on our PSN; American PlayStation Plus has inFamous).

Unrated.

Summary

Depending on who you are, this is either the most fanstastic must buy for your PS3 - or it's something you should wait and see on. I'll iterate by the ratings below -

12 month pack ($69.95, 12 months subscription + LittleBigPlanet) - 9/10. A fantastic purchase just for this first month alone - AND free games for the next 12 months.

3 month pack ($20.95, 3 months subscription) - 8/10. Worth it for Wipeout HD, if nothing else.

Now, the tricky bit - the Hardcore gamer rating.

The Hardcore PS3 owner will already have LittleBigPlanet and Wipeout HD - not to mention HD's expansion pack, Wipeout Fury (which isn't included). The sort of person who played Killzone 2 multiplayer will most likely have bought the map pack a long time ago, and LittleBigPlanet fans will already have the half price costume packs. As someone who already has Wipeout HD, i paid $20.95 for Destruction Derby, the two miniS, and a couple of themes. As you can see from my reviews above - they weren't worth the price. If you're in my position and already own LBP and Wipeout, i'd recommend waiting and seeing what next month brings. Hardcore rating - 4/10.

That's it for Month 1 - i'll be back with more reviews of next months PlayStation Plus content.

Month 2
It's the second month of my three month PlayStation Plus experiment - if you were one of the zero people who read my reviews last month, you'll know that I suggested that for casual gamers and new gamers it was a good deal (especially the 12 month LBP pack), while for hardcore gamers it was better to take a wait and see policy - we've waiting, so let's see what month two brings :)

This month and every month, I'll give each game / item a rating out of 10, a mini-review, the original cost (so you know how much you're saving!) and summarise the entire month's package with two scores - a casual out-of-10 assuming the value if you have none of the items, and a 'hardcore'-out-of-10, assuming that you have any popular items on the list.

Without further adieu, the reviews!

Free PSN Game - Zen Pinball

As the name implies, Zen Pinball is a pinball game! More than that though, it's a full-on-pinball simulator, with four unique tables, each with their own theme and quirks. From the deep jungles of the Shaman Table to the retro-punk stylings of the Tesla table, there is certainly no shortage of variety.

The actual game plays perfectly, with the only real hiccup being the view - on a widescreen display, it's difficult to adequately display a long pinball machine. Realising this, the game offers 6 different camera modes, but there isn't really one perfect one - the default view shows the entire table at a low angle, perfect for catching the super-fast ball with the flippers, but obscuring the view of the top of the table. Other views follow the ball, letting you see all the detail of the table, but making it hard to line up shots from the bottom to the top. I found that most of the time I used the zoomed-out view, showing the entire table - however, everything in this view is very very small, which doesn't show off the beautiful HD graphics, or the detail Zen Studios has put into their tables.

These camera issues are minor foibles though - the game itself is fast, old-fashioned fun for five minutes, or a few hours trying to break that high score or unlock trophies.

Rating - 8.5/10

Normal Cost - $12.95

Free PS1 Game - Medievil

Full disclosure - Medievil was one of my favourite games for the PlayStation, a hack-n-slash platformer with RPG elements, fantastic art direction, and lovable characters. You play as the reanimated Sir Daniel Fortesque, a knight who was dishonored at the fall of Gallowmere by dying in the first charge.

Unfortunately the game hasn't aged too well - the controls are stiff, although the art direction is still lovely in a Tim Burton meets Addams Family kind of way, the low-poly character models and clunky animation are painful to play.

Overall if you loved the original, it's as good a time as any to revist Sir Daniel - assuming that you didn't pick up the PSP remake, Medievil Resurrection. For those who aren't wearing rose-coloured glasses, I'd give this one a miss.

Rating - 5/10

Normal Cost - $8.45

Free miniS -

Blast Off

Behind the simple name and cartoony graphics, there is a fiendishly fun puzzler - taking the basic Lunar Lander game of the 80s (where you control thrust and fuel reserves to safely land on the moon) and adding in multiple planets and black holes with gravity, and astronauts to rescue.

This game is a perfect example of what to do with miniS - present a simple game with a simple control scheme that has near endless replayability. The only things you need to worry about are the direction of your flash-gordon-esque rocket (controlled with the left analog stick) and thrust (controlled with X). A fantastic game, either on your PS3 or PSP.

The only thing that it is lacking is a little polish - if the game was upscaled to HD and given an art-school deconstructive makeover (see: Riff: Everyday Shooter or Geometry Wars), it would be worth a full-on PSN release. As is, a fantastic mini.

Rating - 8/10

Normal cost - $4.95

Alien Zombie Death

Another twin-stick shooter on a platform with one stick - but Alien Zombie Death does better than last month's outing, mainly because it restricts the action on a 2D plane. Each level takes place on series of platforms, with Alien Zombies spawning at either end of the platform - you have to jump up and fall down (using up and down or Triangle and X respectively), shooting left with Square or right with Circle. Because there's no Alien Zombiles ever coming at you from a diagonal, it works.

That doesn't mean that the game is good though - art is cartoony, but not in a good Team Fortress 2 or Borderlands kind of way. And although there are endless levels, the game itself gets a bit repetitive.

Ever since the success of early XBLA game Geometry Wars and early PSN game Super Stardust, there have been countless twin-stick clones - some good (Mutant Storm and Riff), but mostly horrible. I think it's time to let this genre rest for a while.

Rating 6/10

Normal cost - $4.95

Free DLC -

Motorstorm Pacific Rift - Expansion: Adrenaline Pack

According to the description, 3 new tracks, four new vehicles and six new characters. Never played Motorstorm, but if you're like me when it comes to racing games, you usually skip the DLC; so if you do have Pacific Rift, now is as good as time as any to through the blu-ray back in the drive.

Unrated

Normal cost - $9.95

Free Premium Themes -

PlayStation Plus Dynamic Theme

Apart from suffering from a horrific case of uncreativeness name wise, this is the first Dynamic theme i've actually kept as my background for nearly a week now. It's unotrusive - playstation controller symbols firing out of a bright white ball in the bottom right hand corner. It has an obnoxious PlayStation Plus symbol in the lower left hand corner, but apart from that, quite well done.

Rating - 8/10

Normal cost - PSPlus exclusive

Clock Theme

It's a clock. With a black body and a white clock face against a white background. It really doesn't get more minamalist than this - a simple analog clock that reminded me way too much of staring at classroom clocks waiting for an exam to end. For boring people and masochists.

Rating - Exam-flashbacks-help-me/10

Normal Cost - PSPlus exclusive

Things I haven't covered but included this month:

Free Premium Avatars - Heavy Rain Swan and Butterfly. More pictures that are usually $0.45. Shoot me.

Reduced Games - GTI Club+ ($7.98, usually $15.95)

Reduced DLC - Wipeout HD Fury ($12.76, usually $15.95) - crap discount, but grab it if you enjoyed Wipeout HD last month

Warhawk Triple Combo Pack ($9.98, usually $19.95) - can we have Warhawk itself please? I'm going to kick myself if we do, and I don't buy this pack.

Zen Pinball Earth Defense Table ($2.76, usually $3.45) - you should have put this next month, when the four included have started to get old

Full game demos - Infamous! If you've got the spare download, give it a shot - plus it's only $44.95 (although you can get it for cheaper second hand). Also Mushroom Wars, which doesn't involve hallucinogens OR nukes. Boring.

Unrated.

Summary

Quality was more standard this month - unlike last month (one excellent games, and a bunch of sub-par ones), nearly everything this month falls in the 'fairly good' range. As a plus, it's a range of titles that hardcore gamers can enjoy, but probably haven't bought for themselves, making the hardcore score for this month the same.

Rating - 7/10

Good lord, everything I've read only makes me NOT want to get it.

Good lord, everything I've read only makes me NOT want to get it.

Yeah, I'm going to have agree with excerable and Neg on this... it certainly does not seem worth the money.

Plus, losing all your game downloads when you unsubscribe is such bull... that is stuff you've rightfully paid for, so there's no reason to lose that if you end your subscription.

Good lord, everything I've read only makes me NOT want to get it.

Good lord, everything I've read only makes me NOT want to get it.

Was delighted to see Medievil was offered this month. I remember a mate had it back when it was released (think we were 8 or 9 at the time) and played a bit of it.

Just completed the game today and started on Medievil 2. Memories :P

The LittleBigPlanet promo must be exclusive to Australia since our promo here in the states is inFAMOUS. I'm not really big on sandbox games. :/

Have you played inFamous ixnine?

If you haven't, give it a shot - it's actually quite linear for a sandbox game, you never get that feeling of not knowing where to go, or what to do next. Plus, skating along train tracks and power lines using the power of lightning is one of the coolest things ever.

I traded my copy in when my PS3 blew up and i didn't think i'd be getting another one, and I kinda regret it. I'll definitely be getting inFamous 2.

I played the demo, and although demo's are not always a great representation of how awesome a game really is, I just don't really know how to finish this sentence. lol.

Good lord, everything I've read only makes me NOT want to get it.

That, plus it makes me kinda glad that PSN Malaysia doesn't offer PSPlus (yeah, they split PSN Asia into individual country PSNs).

I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER pay for this shit, fuck PSN Plus.

Why are you trying to act like you pay for anything?

PlayStation Plus is a bit different than Xbox Live Gold, which is its closest competitor - without Gold on your 360, you can't play multiplayer games online, fullstop. The PlayStation Network has always allowed free multiplayer, and according to Sony, always will.

Some early Xbox 360 games did allow limited online gaming capability and Final Fantasy XI Online could be played over Xbox Live Silver. With Xbox Live Silver, you still have access to view everything available for download via Xbox Live Gold. XLS was a teaser of what was on offer.


Free games.

For those who haven't heard, PlayStation Plus is a subscription service that costs $20.95 for three months, for $69.95 for 12 months. What you're subscribing to is almost like a book club - except for games. In exchange for your membership fee, Sony gives you a wide selection of content free to download, changing every month. This content will include one full PSN game, two minis, one PS1 classic, 1 Premium DLC, 2-3 half-price Premium DLC, 2 dynamic themes, 2 premium avatars, and 2 'full-game demos' (you download the full game, but it only works for an hour unless you pay to download it). Pretty sweet deal - considering that you get that every month, so you're paying less than $7 for all that swag. The only downside? You unsubscribe from Plus, you lose all the stuff you've downloaded...unless you subscribe again.

While PlayStation Plus may be cheaper than Xbox Live Gold, you have access to all game add-ons, Games on demand, Music, Movies to rent etc. Also one thing which, imo, proves XBL Gold is better: You can let your subscription slide, and you will still have access to all the stuff you've downloaded.

Am I the only one that sees DH as the Xbox version of Mark?

So?

Just something I noticed.

Carry on.

I'd like to add, since each region's PSPlus is different, that only makes it gay to the power of how many regions there are...

@execrable gumwrapper Assuming that region has PSNPlus at all. Most lesser South East Asian countries outside of Singapore doesn't. Heck, most lesser South East Asian countries outside of Singapore don't even have PS Home. Sony so far has given the excuse that reason PS Home is not launched in Malaysia because of some reason they refused to disclose to me in the reply e-mail.

Well, I know Australia and NA are different in their offers. I assume Asia is different as well.

Month 3
This is it - the final month of my three-month PlayStation Plus subscription. This month, like every month preceding, i'll review the parts that make up the PSPlus package from the perspective of the casual and hardcore gamer - plus, as an added bonus, i'll review the total value of the last three months at the end of the article. Will I renew PSPlus for another three months, a year, or not at all? Read on to find out...



Free PSN Game - Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse



Wow. That was the only thing going through my head when I saw this month's free title - it's a doozy. For starters, it's a relatively new release, and secondly...it's just a fantastic game. For those who didn't grow up gaming in the 90s, Sam & Max is an adventure game in the vein of Monkey Island - you solve puzzles to advance a wacky, humourous story. The original Sam & Max adventure, Sam & Max: Hit the Road, is often considered by many to be the pinnacle of the LucasArts 90's adventures.



Telltale Games, the developers of Sam & Max, have been revitalizing the adventure genre, long considered dead, by re-imagining the genre in a 3D episodic format - players buy a 'season', which consists of a mini-adventure game released every month for five months. These adventures are usually 3-4 hours in length. The Devil's Playhouse is the third five-episode 'season' of Sam & Max, and is also the first available on the PlayStation Network. Don't worry about not having played the first two seasons (I haven't yet), as each season is a stand alone story.



Speaking of story, Sam & Max are 'Freelance Police' - basically, a cross between private eyes and vigilantes. Sam is an anthropomorphic dog in the vein of Sam Spade - a classic noir private eye. Max is, to use the game's description, a 'hyperkinetic psycho rabbit-thing'. Together, they hunt down and catch bad guys - usually with hilarious (and destructive) results. The writing is fantastic, and the out-there humour pioneered in the original 90s game is continued here to great result.



I can't praise this game enough. If you love offbeat humour, puzzle solving, or any game that involves you defeating an evil gorilla from outer space called Emperor Skunk-Ape (skoonk-a-pay), The Devil's Playhouse is for you.



Rating: 9.5/10

Normal cost: $39.95 (officially making this the best free PSN game deal ever)



Free PS1 game - Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee



I felt a bit of trepidation going into this game - Abe's Oddysee was my first ever PlayStation game, the disc that I brought home with my grey box all those years ago. Given how disappointing the last two PS1 games have been (see my previous reviews), I was worried that like those other older classics, Abe wouldn't have aged gracefully.



Luckily, I was wrong. Thanks mostly to the original art direction (the majority of the game is pre-rendered, with sprite animation), the game still looks decent, even on a 42" screen - and the game behind the graphics is just as fun, heart-warming, and controller-throwing brutal as i remember.



Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee is a 2D puzzle platformer where you play as Abe, a mudokon (a green alien thing) on a mission to rescue the rest of his race, who are slaves working in a giant meat-factory. With sales of their normal product dropping, the evil alien overlords have a new product to market - Mudokon Pops! Abe, accidentally seeing this while mopping up outside a board meeting, sets off to free the rest of his race from a gristle-y end. (I apologise for that pun, i really do.)



You do this by navigating the meat factory, avoiding the assault-rifle wielding Slig guards, and leading your fellow mudokons to safety using an early version of the command system seen in later games such as Ghost Recon. You walk up to a mudokon, say "Hello" (L1 + triangle), "Follow me" (L1 + square) and "wait" (L1 + cross), leading them to the nearest exit portal. In your way are deadly traps, deadlier enemies, and the games control system.



In fact, the controls are pretty much the only aspect of this game which frustrate me - but that was the case back on the original PlayStation, so that isn't an age thing. In fact, the difficult controls almost feel like a game feature - if you're running, for example, it takes a while for you to stop, so you have to time your running/jumping etc perfectly. It uses the same 'space' based movement system as the classic Prince of Persia - a pain in the butt at first, but gives you fine control once you learn exactly how many 'spaces' you can jump.



Playing through Abe's Oddysee again is just as fun and memorable as my first time - and i'm glad i don't have to put on rose-coloured glasses.



Rating: 8.5/10

Normal Price: $8.45



Free miniS -



Vector TD

As the name implies, Vector TD is a tower defence game with vector graphics - think Geometry Wars. If you've been living under a rock (or don't own an iPhone, of which there are a MILLION td games available on the app store), tower defense is a type of real-time strategy that involves wave after wave of enemies travelling along a predetermined path, around which you can build towers that attack to prevent them from reaching the end. Vector has all the Tower stables - direct damage, splash damage, slowing tower, and uber-damage - and keeps it to those 4, with a slight variation available.



Don't let my tone fool you, Vector TD is an enjoyable game - as a plus, the vector based graphics scale very nicely, and the controls are very streamlined, making it enjoyable even on the PS3. It's just the fact that Tower Defence games have flooded the market, and there is nothing new or exciting in this one to make it stand out from the crowd.



Rating 7/10

Normal price: $4.95



Echoes

To fully explain how fantastic this game is, I'll give you an example - every other mini game i've reviewed in the past i've played for half an hour, max - enough to get a feel for the gameplay, and to spot any benefits/flaws in it. With Echoes, I finished the arcade mode in a single session, and was halfway through one of the bonus modes - playing for 3 hours straight. Usually the only games that see that kind of playtime are triple-A titles or MMOs. Echoes is that addictive.



The game itself is simple - you play as a circle (a girl wearing a wide-brimmed hat top-down, not that it matters), navigating different shaped mazes to collect crystals while avoiding enemies. Sounds boring, right? The thing is - the enemies that spawn whenever you pick up a crystal are you - rather, echoes of you. They move back and forth along a path that you yourself have used while moving along the maze. Suddenly, there's an element of strategy in the path you take to the crystal - every step you take, every narrow passage you use, could be blocked by an enemy just because you moved there.



And it is that extra layer of strategy (along with the games art style - mazes are made of 'paintings' of things from every day objects like a block of swiss cheese, to the map of Australia and a canadian flag) that makes Echoes so enthralling. It's like Pac-man but with an extra layer of thought involved - and that makes it intriguing. The basic arcade mode is a simple race to the finish - you have to collect a set amount of gems in the quickest time possible. You have a certain amount of 'lives' with which to finish a level. There are also bonus modes - Jackpot is a mode where there are no lives, but there is a 1 minute time limit, and the idea is to score the highest by collecting gems and not getting hit - each sequential gem is worth double the amount of points until you get hit, when it resets back to one. There are also two more game modes i haven't explored yet, as I needed to write this review (and it's 3 am here already).



Even if you don't pick up PSN Plus, get Echoes. It's the best $1.95 you'll spend all week.



Rating: 9/10

Normal price: $1.95



Free DLC - UFC Undisputed 2010 TUF Pack



Apparently Ultimate Fighting is popular. This is an expansion to a game about it. I think I missed the memo.



Unrated

Normal price not listed



Free Premium Themes -



PlayStation Move Dynamic Theme



More advert-theming, this time with models pretending to play the PS Move. I don't need ads as my background, kthxbye.



Rating - It's-not-free-if-its-an-ad/10

PS Plus exlusive. Lucky us.



inFamous 2 'Concept Art' Theme



This is more like it - the sort of theme i'd usually buy if I really like the game, and i want my PS menu to reflect the mood. This particular theme is concept art from the upcoming inFamous 2, a game i'll thorouhgly enjoy if it's as good as its predecessor. I think i'll save this theme until i'm playing the game.



Rating - 8/10

PS Plus exclusive



Fish Tank Dynamic Theme



AWESOME. OK, so it reminds me of those screensavers that were all the rage 10 years ago (when the computer goes to sleep, it's a FISH TANK!) but for some reason it's just great. Having all kinds of fish swimming around behind your XMB isn't noisy or distracting, it's soothing, and prevents burn in. The best PS dynamic theme i've seen.



Rating - 9/10

PS Plus exclusive, suckers



Other stuff from this month:

Full game demos (and half-price games) - Inferno Pool ($4.95) and Warhawk ($14.98)...Warhawk? Didn't I say that I'd kick myself if I didn't buy the half-price DLC last month? DAMN YOU SONY.

Discounted DLC - ICO and Shadow of the Colossus costume kit for LBP ($4.98, half-price). Would be an instant buy, but with LBP2 just around the corner, I don't think i'll be dressing up my LBP1 sackboys and girls before then.

Discounted games - PS1 Metal Gear Solid, half-price to $7.98- around the same price as most NORMAL PS1 games, except the ones they price gouge (ie, the ones you actually want). That said, the best way to play through the original game is the excellent GameCube title Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, so even though I love MGS, giving tihs one a pass. That, and I've still got the original PS1 game somewhere.

PixelJunk Shooter ($10.36, from $12.95). Wow, $2 off. Thanks...?

Free avatars - Blue Goalie and Music Pet DJ from EyePet. Because...look, Sony. Make all your avatar pics free, or let us use our Home avatar, kinda like Microsoft. Because NO-ONE is going to pay 45 cents for a picture. Sorry.



Unrated



Summary 1 - This Month



So for September, we have an awesome PSN game, an awesome PS1 game, an awesome mini, and an awesome theme.



Rating: AWESOME/10



That goes for the hardcore and casual alike, because the choices are ones that hardcore may not necessarily go for - I know that even though I love adventures, for some reason I never considered buying Sam & Max (I figured i'd wait for a Steam sale later on, the way I picked up Tales of Monkey Island). And I now have a fish tank in my loungeroom.



Summary 2 - The Last Three Months



So the first three months of PS Plus have seen ups and downs, awesome and horrible - but overall, value for money is way up. Three top quality PSN titles (Wipeout, Zen Pinball and Sam & Max), one great PS1 game, and a handful of decent time wasters - not to mention revitalizing old titles with DLC and sprucing up your XMB. For $20.95, it has been excellent value. Unlike my Xbox Live Gold, which sometimes goes month after month without providing me with any benefit, I've had something new and exciting to play with for the low price of just under $7 a month - which is about what you'd usually spend on a movie rental. PlayStation Plus has more than proved its value to me, and i'm going to happily renew my subscription for the next year - which means you've got another twelve of these articles to look forward to, at least!



If you've been on the fence, I highly suggest taking the plunge, and this is the best month to do so - Sam & Max for $20.95 is worth it alone.



Until next month, keep your hyperkinetic rabbit-things in your pants.

Your benefits differ from US, EU and JP...

REVIEW THEM ALL!!

everyone should just move to Aus imo

everyone should just move to Aus imo

I'll be taking the next flight out. See ya soon, buddy!

Why are you trying to act like you pay for anything?

Ok, I STILL wouldn't pay for it.

I was actually curious if they were wiping the multiplayer once they brought out the PS+ (due to the 360 turning EXTREMELY gay these last few months, I've been looking into PS3 stuff and only heard of this today. Or yesterday) but glad that wasn't the case. And according to the OP's review of this new membership, I will NOT be getting it. I know I will be offered different things but just that kinda stuff in general doesn't "tickle my fancy". Especially if you pay for the service and get that stuff for it to be void as soon as you discontinue. Shouldn't that technically be illegal?

Why? They state pretty plainly that you only get them as long as you subscribe, and the price is pretty cheap - less than $7/month in Aus if you go by three months, even cheaper if you go 12. That's less than you would pay for a cup of coffee in some places, and you don't hear people complaining that they don't get free coffee every day because they bought a cup once.

If you look at it for what it is, a limited commodity, it makes sense. Of course, if you're not into downloadable games, then it's not for you - but it's certainly not a waste of money, no matter the take.

By the way, what about the 360 has upset you in the past few months? I wasn't aware consoles could change dramatically enough to make anyone decide to choose another console over them.

Then again, i've always been console neutral.

The games they release are stupid now. Nothing is new about any new games anymore. Give it about 2 months and then a multiplayer game becomes hackers galore. Microsoft upping the price. Everything about the xbox is becoming stupid now. Only game worth playing now is Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. At least with the PS3 I have free multiplayer, MGS4, and a shitload of PSOne titles that I'll be happy with.

As for the illegal part, your reference for coffee doesn't really seem at all plausible because you buy the coffee; not the cup. Unless it just depends on the way a person thinks such as a glass being either half full or half empty? But I don't like the fact of buying something and just because you decide to not do...something, you can no longer use what you paid for. Seems to me like they stole your money! Reminds me when I sent in my 360 a few years ago and couldn't play my DLC or arcade games (offline) I bought due to them wiping my system for some stupid reason. Then it took about a month for my gamertag to get the go-ahead to where I can redownload the games but this time, redownload the licenses for those games and DLC as well. I was pretty pissed at that whole thing

Game hacks and price hikes are realities on any console - now the PS3 has been jailbroken, it's only a matter of time before hacks start on there, too. With free MP, you get what you pay for - lack of centralised infrastructure and smaller player base on major MP games mean that games take longer to load, and are more prone to lag and host drops.

Exclusives are a good reason to get a console, but the idea of switching just seems pretty dumb - I'm happy having both (all three, if you count my mainly-disused Wii, which will probably see even less use when third-party Wii exclusives start porting to PS Move/Kinect)

Game hacks and price hikes are realities on any console - now the PS3 has been jailbroken, it's only a matter of time before hacks start on there, too. With free MP, you get what you pay for - lack of centralised infrastructure and smaller player base on major MP games mean that games take longer to load, and are more prone to lag and host drops.

Exclusives are a good reason to get a console, but the idea of switching just seems pretty dumb - I'm happy having both (all three, if you count my mainly-disused Wii, which will probably see even less use when third-party Wii exclusives start porting to PS Move/Kinect)

I understand that which is why I'm "switching". I think it's bullshit to pay for stuff like that when you already get that kind of community on something that's free. Hacks on the PS3 have actually been around for a little while according to my friends that have had a PS3 since launch or at least quite a while. And as I've told my friends who are also looking into the PS3 for similar reasons as I am, I'll be completely happy playing some PSOne games. Sure they may have shitty graphics and to some it takes away from enjoying the game, but I was never one to care about the graphics of a game as long as I find it fun. But not only that, I can take those games on my PSP as well for when I want to play it more but won't be at home to do so (assuming transferring saves from the console to hand-held is possible).

---------- Post added at 05:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:32 PM ----------


Game hacks and price hikes are realities on any console - now the PS3 has been jailbroken, it's only a matter of time before hacks start on there, too. With free MP, you get what you pay for - lack of centralised infrastructure and smaller player base on major MP games mean that games take longer to load, and are more prone to lag and host drops.

Exclusives are a good reason to get a console, but the idea of switching just seems pretty dumb - I'm happy having both (all three, if you count my mainly-disused Wii, which will probably see even less use when third-party Wii exclusives start porting to PS Move/Kinect)

I understand that which is why I'm "switching". I think it's bullshit to pay for stuff like that when you already get that kind of community on something that's free. Hacks on the PS3 have actually been around for a little while according to my friends that have had a PS3 since launch or at least quite a while. And as I've told my friends who are also looking into the PS3 for similar reasons as I am, I'll be completely happy playing some PSOne games. Sure they may have shitty graphics and to some it takes away from enjoying the game, but I was never one to care about the graphics of a game as long as I find it fun. But not only that, I can take those games on my PSP as well for when I want to play it more but won't be at home to do so (assuming transferring saves from the console to hand-held is possible).