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PSN Store Update: OlliOlli, PS Plus gets Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Headlining this week's PSN update is OlliOlli, the tricksy skateboarding sim from Roll7. The Vita game is the one new release proper - flip to our four-star review for the lowdown. Staying on wheels, Grid 2 gets a DLC-stuffed Reloaded edition that bundles in two circuits and 25 cars. If you'd prefer something more on foot, PSOne slice-em-up Lucifer Ring is waiting in the wings; its arrival on PSN is the first time it's been released outside of Japan. Outside of releases, Joystiq Top 10 of 2013 entry Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is free now to Plus subscribers. The puzzle-platformer is joined in the Instant Game Collection by Worms: Battle Island on Vita. There are also demos of Lightning Returns and Toukiden: The Age of Demons to check out. For the full list of this week's content, hop on over to the PlayStation Blog.
Take Grid 2 for a joyride on PS Plus this week
Codemasters' Grid 2 will be the free game available to PS Plus subscribers this week. The sequel launched back in May, some five years after the original, for the PS3, PC and Xbox 360. Feel free to give our review a read if you're looking for more information. In addition to the usual free game, PS Plus subscribers can check out a bunch of different deals after PSN updates tomorrow. Remember Me will be under $20, Terraria will be down to $3.75 and Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will be under $10. As for the rest of the deals, they can be seen over on the PlayStation Blog.
GRID 2, Guacamelee heading to PS Plus in Europe this month
Sony announced December's PlayStation Plus lineup for Europe, revealing that Codemasters' racing game GRID 2 and Drinkbox Studios' luchador-themed platformer Guacamelee will be free for subscribers to download starting later this month. PlayStation Plus members will also get free access to the PlayStation Vita version of Sega's kart racer Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, along with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PSP. PlayStation 4 early adopters who subscribe to PlayStation Plus can download free copies of Housemarque's Defender-like Resogun and Compulsion Games' light-and-shadow platformer Contrast starting on November 29. December's PlayStation 3, Vita, and PSP program inductees will be available in Europe on November 27.
Grid 2 enters the demolition derby with free DLC pack
While most of Grid 2 tasks players with preventing collisions, developer Codemasters has issued some free DLC unlocking a demolition derby mode. The DLC is free to download on Xbox 360 and PC right now, and will be available next week on PS3. The free DLC takes players to Detroit, adding a new stadium and Jupiter Eagle Ray Mk 5 car to wreck around in. The stadium has two track configurations and can be played in single-player, through split-screen or with up to eleven other racers online.
Grid 2 on pole in this week's UK charts, Fuse debuts 37th
Grid 2 crosses the line as the third different UK no. 1 in three weeks. That's despite a 29 percent drop in launch sales compared to Race Driver: Grid, which debuted in second place back in 2008 - albeit behind a Grand Theft Auto IV cruising to its fifth week on top. Perhaps the bigger story, however, is Fuse only just making the UK Top 40. The Xbox 360 and PS3 shooter crackled in at 37th in its first week. Considering the dearth of new releases this month, it's a disastrous showing for Insomniac Games and EA. Again, best exemplifying the quiet season is FIFA 13, still holding up in second place. Also proving to have strong sticking power is Dead Island: Riptide, which makes it six weeks in the UK top four. Tomb Raider may be about to drop out of the top ten in its 13th week, but much like Lara Croft it's clinging on for dear life.
Super Joystiq Podcast 052 Live: Fuse, Grid 2, CastleStorm, Animal Crossing 3DS XL giveaway
Gather 'round, children, and hear the tale of newly released games on the latest live episode of the Super Joystiq Podcast. This week, Richard, Dave and Jordan talk about Fuse, Grid 2 and CastleStorm. Also, just because we like you, we're giving away a snazzy Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS XL! The show goes live at 3:30 ET. Be here!
PSN Tuesday: The Last of Us pre-orders, Imaginstruments on Vita
This week's PlayStation Store update enables pre-orders for Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, bundled with a PSN theme, the soundtrack and some avatars. The PS3 exclusive is slated to launch on PSN and in stores on June 14, 2013, and should be playable as soon as it's downloaded halfway. Grid 2 and Fuse are also available through PSN today, launching alongside their retail counterparts. Rockstar's The Warriors is also on the menu, making its PS2 Classics debut for $10. Meanwhile, PlayStation Plus subscribers can download a free copy of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend on PS Vita, as well as a free PS Vita music app, Imaginstruments.
Grid 2 review: DNF
You're behind the wheel of a V12 monster, brimming with power and torque, throwing out a noise that would make Thor stand up and unironically slow-clap in admiration. You are waiting for the starting line's light to turn green, and your only mission in life is to pilot that tremendous craft beyond the limits of your own courage and, God willing, across the finish line. Now you're surrounded on all sides by 11 completely homicidal maniacs who want nothing more than to reach their respective vehicle's top speed and crash directly into you and/or anyone else around them. Despite your ability to partially rewind time, you are powerless to stop them and you will die. This is the madness that is Grid 2.%Gallery-185349%
GRID 2 BAC Mono Edition is £125,000
You might be thinking that some countries use commas instead of decimal points, but the headline above does indeed say one hundred and twenty-five thousand British Pounds ($188,700). You might also think that's awfully expensive for the special edition of a racing game (any game, really), but allow us to put things in perspective. The GRID 2 BAC Mono Edition isn't so much a special edition of a game as it is a luxury sports car that happens to come with a game. Specifically, the BAC Mono Edition comes with the Mono, essentially a street legal formula racing car. Also included is a racing suit and helmet, a copy of GRID 2 and a PlayStation 3 on which to play it. According to BAC's website, a Mono with no frills has a base price of £96,495 ($145,919), and that's before throwing in VAT. Only one copy of the BAC Mono Edition is being manufactured, making it something a collector's item. You can place your pre-order exclusively with GAME. Oh, and shipping is free. Not to be left out, Best Buy is hosting a special edition of GRID 2 in North America. It includes the IndyCar DLC pack and retails for $59.99. GRID 2 comes out next week.%Gallery-189346%
Grid 2 gameplay trailer drifts through Japan
This gameplay video for Grid 2 shows a racer drifting around turns on a downhill course in Okutama, Tokyo in Japan. Grid 2 is coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on May 28.
PSN Tuesday: Metro: Last Light, Dust 514, Jacob Jones
It's quite the week for content on Sony platforms, with several major releases making their debut on the PlayStation Network today. Metro: Last Light, the 4A Games' sequel salvaged by Deep Silver, launches today. If you haven't had a chance to read our review yet, be sure to give that a gander. It's joined by CCP's EVE Online offshoot (get it?) Dust 514, available free to all PSN users. Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery eases its way onto PS Vita today as a $3 download, while Rockstar makes good on its promised Manhunt for $10. PlayStation Plus subscribers' freebie this week is Knytt Underground, which is flanked by discounts on both Metro: Last Light and a special pre-order price on Grid 2. For the full list of what's in this week's content dump, hit up the PS Blog through the source link below.
PS Plus weekly: Knytt Underground free, Metro: Last Light on sale
This week, PlayStation Plus members in North America can snag a free copy of Knytt Underground, along with a sizable discount for Metro: Last Light. Knytt Underground, normally priced at $15, is an exploration-based 2D platformer in which players solve environmental puzzles by swapping between their default humanoid form and a bouncy "ball" shape that can access hard-to-reach areas. Knytt Underground is available as a Cross-Buy title, and is playable on both the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita. 4A Games' first-person shooter Metro: Last Light, due for release tomorrow, is available to PlayStation Plus members for $48, or $12 off of its retail price. Codemasters' motorsports title GRID 2 also gets a discount ahead of its launch later this month, and PlayStation Plus members can pre-order it this week for $54. Other free titles coming to PlayStation Plus this month include Pinball Arcade, Germinator, and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend.
Grid 2's 'Live Routes' alter tracks and turns
This latest trailer from Grid 2 shows off the game's "Live Routes" system, which pitches different forks in the road every time you play it.
A look at Grid 2's multiplayer and social aspects
It's not enough to just race anymore, apparently. Grid 2 lets you follow your favorite racers, upload runs to YouTube and issue challenges to rivals. Should we expect to receive a bottle of champagne when we win?%Gallery-185349%
GRID 2 shows off elimination racing in Europe
We always known being in last place at any time in a race was a bad thing, but in Grid 2's European circuit, it's extra bad due to their preferred Elimination-style racing: every few minutes, the car in last place is immediately kicked from the race.
Grid 2 is to racing what UFC is to fighting
Grid 2 imagines a world where one driver, across all disciplines, is crowned the king of the road. As the player, you're off on a trek across the globe, competing in the disciplines permeating North America, Europe and Asia – recruiting drivers into the World Series of Racing along the way.The WSR is the dream of Patrick Callaghan, the organizer of the WSR and mouthpiece throughout Grid 2. While you're racing to improve your own status and become a top driver, you're serving double duty to prove that the WSR is the place for the elite drivers to compete at the very top level.So, essentially Grid 2 is the Ultimate Fighting Championship of racing games.%Gallery-178677%
Grid 2 slides into North America May 28, May 31 elsewhere
Codemasters' Grid 2 crosses the retail finish line on May 28 in North America, and on May 31 outside of those shores. The British developer, which endured layoffs earlier this month, also outlined the racer's various pre-order bonuses for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC today. GameStop pre-orders come with the McLaren Racing Pack and GTR Racing Pack. The former includes the McLaren MP4-12C GT3, and two extra routes to navigate the Brands Hatch circuit with, while the latter offers the Nissan GT-R SpecV and five routes for Yas Marina. Both packs grant access to exclusive online events.Best Buy pre-orders get the IndyCar pack, which bundles in the Dallara IndyCar, two more routes for the Indianapolis Motor SpeedWay Oval circuit, and again access to a special online event. Meanwhile, Amazon gets the Head Start pack, which includes the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 GT, discounts for car upgrades, and a RaceNet bonus. %Gallery-177736%
Codemasters hires achievement bloggers to design achievements for Grid 2
Dan Webb is the editor-in-chief of both Xbox 360 Achievements and PS3 Trophies, two sites that have covered metarewards on the two major consoles for a few years now. But he's never actually helped write an achievement list, and so Codemasters is finally giving him that chance with Grid 2. Webb and the rest of his writers will not only create the achievements for the upcoming racing game, but will have a series of posts, videos, and other content showing off what actually goes into the process of giving away all of those gamerpoints."Codemasters have put their faith in us to work with them on creating the ultimate list," says Webb in the press release, "and we're looking forward to repaying that trust to design Achievements and Trophies with unique objectives that will put a smile on players' faces with each and every unlock." We're interested to see just what Webb and the developers create. Even if things don't work out, odds are they won't make the worst achievement list ever, right?
Grid 2 drives forward years later after tech upgrade
By the time Grid 2 wheels into stores it will have been nearly five years since the Race Driver series welcomed a new installment. Codemasters spoke previously about waiting for technology to meet the Southam studio's ambitions, but we wanted to know the specific ways in which the lengthy pitstop benefits the racer."The thing for us is that sometimes you get a car that's been modeled to such beautiful, beautiful detail," Grid 2 Associate Producer Iain Smith told Joystiq, "that when you see it in the environment it just jars. It looks like it's from a showroom. It's not lit the same way as the environment, it just feels like this glossy thing in the middle of something that's actually quite tangible and real. We try to make sure those two things blend in a much more realistic way."
Codemasters not ruling out Wii U ports
A Wii U version of Grid 2 isn't being ruled out, Codemasters tells us. The British studio announced the racing sequel for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC last month, but not Wii U. However, Grid 2 Associate Producer Iain Smith told Joystiq "there's every opportunity at some point down the line" for the racer to come to Wii U."It's not being ruled out certainly," Smith said, "And certainly [that applies] across all Codemasters titles. Some platforms are more appropriate for certain types of games, but we just have to make decisions as and when they're appropriate. We can't say too much more at the moment."
