Memorial Day is coming up, so you’re probably wondering what games you should play on your PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 over the holiday weekend. Lucky for you, a new batch of games were added to the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra game catalog earlier this week, and it brought plenty of games well worth your time. Three in particular stand out to me; download them today and try them out over the next few days.
The first is a Western from Rockstar Games that needs little introduction and is a must-play if you haven’t experienced it yet. The next is an open-world game that kick-started a new series for Ubisoft and turns 10 next week. Finally, a retro PlayStation 1 game that just came to PlayStation Plus Premium offers up a good time if you enjoy sports or racing games.
Red Dead Redemption 2
You’ve likely heard of Red Dead Redemption 2 by now. The latest release from Rockstar Games is an impressive open-world Western that pushes the envelope in terms of realism and production value in games. Although it’s a shame that Rockstar has not released a PS5 update for Red Dead Redemption 2 like it has for Grand Theft Auto V, the game still looks great. On the narrative front, it tells a poignant story about how a found family of outlaws fell apart and how honor and respect started to disappear in the final years of what’s considered the Wild West.
From a gameplay standpoint, Red Dead Redemption 2 has the same sandbox feel of all of Rockstar’s games and lets players role-play as a cowboy offline as Arthur Morgan or with friends in Red Dead Online. This game has already sold tens of millions of copies, so there’s a good chance you’ve already played it. If you haven’t, its addition to the PS Plus game catalog and this extended holiday weekend give you the perfect excuse to finally do so.
The PS4 version of Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for PS Plus Extra subscribers. It’s also available on PC and Xbox One.
Watch Dogs
Watch Dogs definitely falls into all the tropes now associated with Ubisoft’s open-world games, but it was still the start of a charming series about hackers who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty to incite change. The ability to hack a lot of open-world elements and scan the data of the NPCs you came across was very novel in 2014, and although Watch Dogs‘ two sequels greatly expanded upon the formula the first two games established, there’s still a charm in seeing where those ideas got their start.
This game also holds a special place in my heart because it’s set in Chicago; while its interpretation of the city is far from geographically accurate, it does get the mood and feel of the city right. On May 27, Watch Dogs will celebrate its 10th anniversary, which makes it an even more fitting time to go back and revisit the genesis of one of Ubisoft’s hallmark game series.
The PS4 version of Watch Dogs is available to PS Plus Extra subscribers. The game was also released for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U.
2Xtreme
Of the three original PlayStation titles that came to PS Plus Premium with the latest game catalog update, 2Xtreme charmed me the most as it feels pulled straight out of the ’90s. If its title didn’t already indicate that to you, then its charming main menu will as the camera swoops around like you’re doing tricks on a half-pipe with every option picked. Once you actually start up a race, you’ll discover that 2Xtreme is a sports racing game that switches between biking, snowboarding, skateboarding, and rollerblading depending on the race.
Placing first by the end of a race is obviously the main goal, but it’s also fun to perform tricks and attack other racers in order to earn points. It’s certainly very dated by modern standards, but there is a charm to the simplicity of gameplay and visuals, from the quirky main menu to the way the player’s 2D sprite moves through 3D environments. This isn’t an all-time classic from the original PlayStation’s game library, but I still appreciate that games like 2Xtreme are now getting a second life when Sony brings them forward to modern platforms.
PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers can check out 2Xtreme’s re-release on PS4 or PS5.
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