PS Plus: 5 hidden gems in the new PlayStation Plus Collection
The new Playstation Plus has been out for a bit and for people new to the concept, it can be a little overwhelming. For about $40 extra bucks a year you can get access to several thousand dollars worth of free games essentially turning your Playstation into a Netflix of new and old games. With so many titles it’s easy to get lost and tempting to go for what’s familiar. Because of this, you might miss out on some exceptional hidden gems tucked away deep within the store.
Over the following few pages we’re going to go over some absolute treasures you need to check out that you could easily pass by. And, as always, be sure to comment and let me know if there are any you think also need to be checked out.
Split/Second
Ah, Split/Second, the franchise that got away. I was obsessed with this game when it came out over a decade ago on the PS3 and played the online mode until the number on the side of my car was number 1 (it was rated to your online rankings). I loved this game so much. If you’ve never seen it, check it out.
Split/Second is a racing game by Disney Studios that could 100% be mistaken for a standard racing game but it is so far from it. The game actually takes the form of a bizarre race themed game show complete with the occassional episode singers that make it feel like one of those Fear Factor type shows of the past few years that dramatizes and teases everything about to happen.
See, Split/Second is a racing game, but it also works almost like a cart racer. Except instead of shells and banana peels you fill a three-tiered meter at the bottom of your screen. Doing so will occassionally let you fire off special Hollywood style effects that would make Michael Bay blush.
If you choose to use a single bar of the three, you’ll cause a bus on the side of the road to explode. Cars in the shockwave might slam into a wall. Cars that don’t have time to dodge the bus as it suddenly rolls towards the middle of the street crash hard.
If you choose to use the FULL bar, however, that’s where the real fun begins. In the airport stage it can cause a plane to crash on the runway as you’re driving up it. Any cars ahead of you will get smashed and everyone else, including you, has to dodge the sliding vehicle as it burns up and breaks apart in it’s slide. In another stage, it can cause a massive Space Needle like building to fall over blocking a large part of the track and forcing you to drive down the side of the fallen structure instead.
It’s crazy but it always feels like you’re driving in a high octane racing game. There’s also a really fun mode called Mayhem mode where you have to race by yourself in a single lap under a certain time with the catch being that every special effect is going to blow up as you approach it so it feels like you’re driving through a deleted scene from the film 2012.
If you’ve never seen this absolute screen saver of a disaster film, just skip straight to 2:30 to see what I’m referring to.
But yeah, long story short, if anyone ever asks me of any game on the roster I’d recommend first, this will always be my immediate go to just because it’s ridiculous, over-the-top, racing fun with some of the best blast physics I’ve ever seen.