Sony’s PlayStation Plus lineup for April includes a surprisingly good movie game and a fast and fun arcade racer. No, the April lineup doesn’t exactly matchup with March’s stellar Ratchet & Clank and Bloodborne duo, but both of the headlining titles are worth checking out.
Leading the charge on PS4 is Mad Max, an open-world game based on the post-apocalyptic movie franchise. You play as titular protagonist Max Rockatansky in a journey across a barren wasteland in pursuit of a group of nefarious raiders. Like the movies, Mad Max deals extensively in cars. A good portion of the experience is spent driving around and engaging in vehicular combat.
Mad Max originally launched in 2015, a few months after the critically acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road released in theaters. Although its story probably won’t floor you and the mission structure proves to be somewhat repetitive, in the realm of open-world games, Mad Max is a fairly solid experience. It’s also eons better than most games adapted from movie franchises.
PS4 owners can also pick up TrackMania Turbo, the 2016 arcade racer published by Ubisoft. TrackMania Turbo boasts more than 200 pre-made tracks and gives users the opportunity to build their own tracks to play online with friends.
Last month Sony announced that it would discontinue PlayStation Plus free games for PS3 and PS Vita in March 2019. April’s games seem like a reflection of that impending change. PS3 users are left with In Space We Brawl and Toy Home as their freebies for April. In Space We Brawl is a generic twin-stick shooter, while Toy Home is an obscure, budget racing game that released in 2007.
Meanwhile, Vita owners get 99 Vidas, a beat-’em-up inspired by the likes of Double Dragon and Streets of Rage.
The sixth and final game for the month of April, Q*Bert Rebooted, is available on all three Sony platforms thanks to cross-buy. Sadly, the reboot of the classic arcade title received pretty dreadful reviews when it launched in 2015. At least Q*Bert had a memorable role in Wreck it Ralph, right?
As always, make sure to secure March’s freebies before April’s lineup takes the stage on April 3.
