Free PS4 Games For January Includes ‘Grim Fandango’ and ‘Hardware: Rivals’
Sony just revealed the free PlayStation Plus games coming to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PS Vita for January, 2015. The upcoming month’s free titles are a callback to the past, with titles like Grim Fandango Remastered, Dragon Age: Origins, and Hardware: Rivals leading the charge.
The classic LucasArts adventure title, Grim Fandango, has been remastered by Double Fine Productions for the PS4 and PS Vita and was released to both platforms earlier in 2015. PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to try out the tale of Manny Calavera’s travails as a travel agent in the Land of the Dead.
Grim Fandango Remastered does include some notable improvements. The game still runs at a 4:3 aspect ratio instead of 16:9, but does come with higher-resolution textures, higher resolution characters, and a real-time lighting model. A point and click control scheme was also added to the game to match the traditional adventure game style, instead of the “tank controls” that were used originally.
For those that don’t know, “tank controls” are similar to the original Resident Evil controls, where pushing forward on the thumbstick always moves the character in the direction it is facing, even if that direction is off to the side or looking back at you. There is an option and even a trophy for playing the game with the “tank controls.”
The other free PS Plus title for the PlayStation 4 in January is also a bit of a throwback. Hardware: Rivals a multiplayer vehicle combat game that is successor to Hardware: Online Arena for the PS2. The Sony-developed and published game is set to be released for the PS4 on January 5, 2016, and features tanks and Fast Attack Vehicles blasting each other around different maps in different modes.
PlayStation 3 owners have one of the best role-playing titles in the past decade to look forward to. Dragon Age: Origins will be free in January. This is a chance for fans of Dragon Age: Inquisition to take a look back at how the series got started, if they haven’t played Origins already.
Medal of Honor: Warfighter will be joining Dragon Age as the other free PS Plus game on the PlayStation 3 in January. This first-person shooter was one of Electronic Arts many attempts at taking on the Call of Duty franchise, and ultimately came up short. The game was hammered by reviewers and sits at a disappointing Metacritic score of 55 out 100.
Finally, PS Vita owners can look forward to the puzzle platformer Nihilumbra along with the turn-based strategy game from the History Channel, Legends of War: Patton. It appears Sony is having to reach deep into the PS Vita bag for games to put in the PS Plus lineup at this point.
The December free PS Plus games will rotate out on Tuesday, January 5, 2016 when the PlayStation Store updates. The new January games listed above will then become available to download for free.
PlayStation Plus is the subscription service required to play most online games on the PlayStation 4. It costs $50 a year, but occasionally goes on sale for $45 or less.
What do you think of the January, 2016, lineup of free games for the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita via PlayStation Plus? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via PlayStation]
