PlayStation Plus titles for April 2016

It’s a new month, and a new batch of free games drop for PlayStation Plus subscribers. I’m not going to sugar-coat it, in a month where the competition gives its subscribers The Wolf Among Us, Sunset Overdrive, Saints Row IV, and Dead Space, Sony’s offering looks tired and paltry. There’s a ported Wii U launch title (Zombi), a PS3 game that was overshadowed by Last of Us (I Am Alive), an uninspired looking tower defense game (Savage Moon), and a  hacking puzzle mini-game presented as a full game (A Virus Named Tom). The silly goldfish side scrolling shooter (ShutShimi), and the brand new multiplayer twin stick shooter (Dead Star) may provide a brief glimmer of light in this line up, but most honest gamers would trade Sony’s free games for Microsoft’s this month. Let’s take a deeper look at this month’s PlayStation Plus titles.

Zombi, PS4

London is falling. How long will you survive? Resources are scarce, your enemies are numerous, and you never know when you’ll find more weapons, ammo, first aid, or food. How you allocate the resources determines if you live or die. Once you die, your character joins the horde of undead shambling through London. You’ll come back as an entirely new character and try to survive, again. Your bug-out bag holds all your tools, inventory, first aid kits, maps, and more. Don’t get distracted, as zombies can attack you at any moment. If you die, your bag stays with your old character, who is now a zombie. Will you risk it all to get your bag back, or start scavenging anew?

Dead Star, PS4

Combining the beauty of space combat, the fast-paced nature of arcade classics and the depth of team-based gameplay with loads of awesome loot, Dead Star is a twin-stick shooter built around a deep multiplayer experience. Fight and scavenge your way through online battlefields whilst earning loot and levels to further customize your experience – including the ability to invade other live matches with a massive warship.

I Am Alive, PS3

In this post-apocalyptic tale, there are no supernatural threats, just an everyman who faces a decaying and hazardous world and humanity’s darkest inclinations. Will you hang on to your humanity and help strangers or are you ready to sacrifice others in order to survive?
Explore the destroyed, crumbling city across different atmospheric levels, climbing your way to safety. Survivors will adopt different behaviors and adapt to your actions. Combat is deadly and ammo is scarce. Every effort has its cost. Manage your own vital signs and look for resources to survive.

Will you go out of your way and sacrifice your few precious resources to help those in need?

Savage Moon, PS3

This action-packed tower defense strategy game takes you to distant planets where you must defend mining facilities from relentless Insectocyte monsters. Build towers in strategic locations in order to fend off wave after wave of increasingly tough attackers. Then use funds from kills and mining to build, upgrade, or research new weapons and technologies to strengthen your defenses.

Shutshimi, PS Vita

I reviewed this game for Wii U, and I would assume this port would play the same.  Shutshimi is a randomized shoot ’em up about a muscle-bound fish with memory problems, and it’s a lot of fun in small doses, making it perfect for the Vita.

A Virus Named Tom, PS Vita

Do you really, REALLY like the hacking mini games in bigger games like Deus Ex? Boy howdy, do we have a game for you! A Virus Named Tom is just those hacking mini-games without all the other pesky stuff like story to worry about!

Are you looking forward to any of these titles? Am I being to harsh on PlayStation Plus this month? Please let me know in the comments! As always, you can hear more about my thoughts on these and other games on my weekly podcast, Plug and Play.