Today I’ll be counting down my top 5 retro games you can buy in the PlayStation store. They are all my favorites and I had to think hard on what I thought was the best one and looked on their website to research the games. I know I say this a lot but just a friendly reminder that I wasn’t endorsed by anyone to make this post and is just my opinion and my personal favorites of games I’ve played in the past and when they were brand new and just out but now are some old school classics for all ages to enjoy despite some of them being a 18+ so okay they ain’t for all ages but most of them are but if you don’t tell then I won’t anyways enjoy.
5. Oddworld Abe’s Oddysee
I must admit I was addicted to this game when it came all that eh oh follow me business even though I did get stuck on climbing things if I remember as in those days they didn’t tell you what button to press and had to work it out all for yourself which I wasn’t good at obviously. The game was released in 1997 but still had some nice graphics for that time I think that’s what caught my eye to is the graphics of the game. It centres on the titular Ade, a meek Mudokon slave at the RuptureFarms meat processing factory. When he discovers that he and his fellow Mudokons are to be slaughtered, Abe decides to escape and liberate as many enslaved Mudokons as he can. The player assumes the role of Abe as he attempts a perilous quest to emancipate his downtrodden people. The bit I like about the game is you can control any bady with a bit of alien chanting and you lead them to their death took me ages to work out how to do that. It’s a puzzle game so no guns in site but it is quite gross, leading the bady to the working machinery and you hear a crunch and bloodsheds but it’s all quite tame really. It’s more of a stealth game and you can’t get caught ever or you will die and start at the checkpoint but I liked that a lot about it. What I also liked about it is setting prisoners free who mainly scrubs floors in this game again with your alien chanting and every now and then you have a scoreboard in the room which tells you how many employees there are, how many employees casualty and how many rescued which I thought was a nice touch to the game, gotta keep them casualty down just for peace of mind and if you lose all of them you have to start again from the beginning which was the frustrating part. You can buy the game for £1.35 (1.61 Euros) ($1.81) on the PlayStation network or in the PlayStation store as it’s currently on sale or you can buy the PlayStation Plus and get it free on the monthly subscription from as low as £.7.99 a month (9.54 Euros) ($10.69.)
4. The Warriors
Another game I was addicted to when it came out The Warriors on PS2 and released in 2005 and I actually had to buy another PS just to play this game but it was worth it and was around the time the PS2 was very new and had loads of good games I miss those days. I’m a big fan of the movie so I was excited when I saw they had the game out and I reckon they didn’t disappoint as I think it’s as good as the film. Released in 2005 the game takes place in gritty 1970s Newyork City. The story follows a street gang known as the Warriors, who have been accused of a murder they didn’t commit, and must return to their home turf in one night, although the game begins three months prior to the film’s events. The actors from the film itself reprised their roles to perform the voices of their original characters. Upon its release, The Warriors received a positive critical response and I know a lot of friends said how good it was. My favorite bit in the game is pick locking locks and then looting the shops the back alley escapes really made it feel authentic too and the commands you do like watch my back and scatter it all made it feel real. I also enjoyed buying drugs off the pushers that helped you with your health it’s an all-round good game I think. The game was close to the film as it looked the same and had the same characters in who also did the voice overs so they are the same actors and actress in the game. Two other things I liked about this game was the pick locking of detained gang members by the police and you had to tap L1 and L2 one after another in this rhythm as it was all about the rhythm to free them and the other thing I got reminded of whilst watching YouTube game play you can command your crew to do a set amount of things from rounding up the herd to pick locking a store lock and I loved how inventive it was and was there for hours struggling at first with the locks and other things in the game. One thing I didn’t like was the jump to building to building and the jump was stiff and hard to control same with the characters they were stiff and at times hard to control but I still had fun playing them and controlling the characters. Also I love the smash and grab element after you picked locked the store’s lock you can pick up stuff like free health and money which you may need when you meet the dealer to buy more health when you have smashed and grabbed all the local stores and takes time to come back again. The smash and grab element reminds me of another game similar where you smash and grab and cause mayhem that game was called State Of Emergency and another game by Rockstar and another fun game to play I haven’t played for at least for over 20 years now since it came out and I completed it but still worth a play I think. You can buy the game for PlayStation 4 for £11.99 (14.42 Euros) ($16.04) in the PlayStation store or in the PlayStation Network.
3. Canis Canem (Bully)
Yet another addictive game though this one was a slow burner for me but got real into by the end of it so much so I was actually gutted I completed it so quickly. Released in 2006 the game is set within the fictional town of Bullworth, the story follows a student and his efforts to rise through the ranks of the school system. The open-world design lets the player freely roam Bullworth. The game is played from a thrid person perspective and its world is navigated on foot, skateboard, scooter, bicycle or go-kart. Players control teenager James “Jimmy” Hopkins, a student who is involuntarily enrolled at Bullworth Academy. He discovers that the school is filled with bullies, and becomes determined to bring peace, ultimately becoming more respected among the town groups. Jimmy is expected to attend class, which is a main gameplay aspect. In Scholarship Edition, a two-player competitive multiplayer mode lets two players compete for the highest score in different classes. I like it’s open world and you can go all over the place and the fact it’s not just one place to explore but five areas Bullworth Academy, Old Bullworth Vale, Bullworth Town, New Coventry, and the Blue Skies Industrial Area and I also liked the tasks you do they always made it seem quite fun just be sure to be back before curfew for Pete’s sake. It’s another stealth game I also liked the classes you have to do that was quite enjoyable once I got the hang of it then it was easy all you need to is get an A and you didn’t have to attend that class again pretty cool cos you can go to town and explore there. My favourite part of the game though is when it goes into Halloween and you get costumed up and wreak havoc on the school that was super fun to do and don’t forget the shop to spend all your money that was a nice touch to the game too. There was so much to do it’s too much to talk about but all I can is it’s a good game to play I think. You can buy the game for £11.99 (14.42 Euros) ($16.04) in the PlayStation store or PlayStation network or you can subscribe to GTA for £7.99 (9.54 Euros) ($10.69) a month and download it for free but please beware this subscription only works for PS5 not PS4 which is kind of a bummer if you want to subscribe to GTA and you only have a PlayStation 4 now’s your chance to splash out lol or broke like me.
4. Jak II - Renegade
This is another fun game to play if you are into platform games and quite a tricky game at times trying to collect battery life and not be consumed by the army full of enemies sometimes I ask myself how am I meant to get through this but never the less I get through it and still a fun game for all ages and sexes. The game was released in 2003 and on PlayStation 2 so quite a old school game now as it’s over 20 years old and it being on the PS2 when we are now on the PS5 and counting and I still ain’t got my PS5 update I’m waiting for Grand Theft Auto is out and also there are a couple of more games I’m interesting in playing before I consider buying the update and I’m broke as a joke so at this time I’m unsure how I’m going to afford it but I’ll deal with that when the time comes around. Even though it is a platform game I feel it’s a crossover shooting game as the main features are the guns he has and also the use of Daxter his right hand man in the game if it’s the same game as it could of been the first one but I’m unsure as it’s been a while since I played the game I mean way back when it was first released in 2003 so I hardly remember the game except it was hard at times but a overall fun game to play but boy was it stressful in some parts. The game follows fresh-faced, cheerful young hero we once knew is no more… Jak has changed. After years of pseudo-scientific testing at the hands of Baron Praxis, Jak has developed a burning rage and a hunger for revenge. With wisecracking pal Daxter in tow, the pair sets off on their darkest mission yet – and with the untamed power of Dark Eco coursing through his veins, Jak is a renegade to be reckoned with. Even though it’s a hard game it’s action packed and full of surprises and fun stuff in the game that kept me playing for hours on end and I even pulled all nighters when I was proper into the game and wanted to keep playing no matter how tired I got even though sometimes I would fall asleep with the joystick in my hand or be woken up by a loud bang of the joystick being dropped on my coffee table which surrounds my seating area. The most fun thing you can do is travel and ride in the hover ships and drive to your next location it’s pretty much open world but like most PS2 games they did have what I call dead spots where you couldn’t go and had that invisible force field stopping you from moving any closer to the non playable area which reminds me of some of the glitches it had but a quick restart always fixed that but pretty annoying if you are half way or nearly through a mission the angry lol. You buy it for £11.99 (14.32 Euros) ($16.04) or you can go for the PlayStation Plus Premium for £14.99 a month (17.90 Euros) ($20.55) and get it as a free package deal and like all subscriptions you must pay per month to keep the games active.
5. Manhunt
Now this game took me ages to get into now it’s at number one of my top 5 how about that. I like the atmosphere of the game and it’s very well done I think though the graphics wouldn’t look too good with more up to date games. Manhunt is a stealth-based urban horror styled game played from a third-person perspective The game consists of twenty levels, called “scenes”, as well as four unlockable bonus scenes. Players survive the Scenes by dispatching enemy gang members, occasionally with firearms, but primarily by stealthily execting them. At the end of each scene, players are graded based on their performance, and awarded one to five stars. Unlockable content becomes available only when the player achieves three or more stars on a certain number of levels. On normal difficulty (called “Fetish”), players can earn only four stars; one is awarded for completing the scene under a certain amount of time, and one to three stars are awarded based on the brutality of the executions carried out during the scene. On hard difficulty (called “Hardcore”), players are graded out of five stars; one for speed, one to three for brutality and one for simply completing the scene. To gain the maximum number of stars, a set number of brutal executions must be carried out over the course of each scene; face-to-face fighting does not award stars. In order to carry out executions, players must approach a hunter from behind, undetected. To facilitate this, each scene is full of “dark spots” (shadows where the player can hide). Enemies cannot see into the shadows (unless they see the player actually entering the area). A standard technique in the game is to hide in the shadows and tap a wall to attract the attention of a nearby hunter. When the hunter has examined the area and is moving away, players can emerge from the shadows behind them, and execute them. The game has three levels of execution, with each level progressively more violent and graphic than the last: “hasty” executions are quick and not very bloody, “violent” are considerably gorier, and “gruesome” are over-the-top blood-soaked murders. Players are entirely in control of which level they use; once players have locked onto an enemy, the lock-on reticule changes colour over time to indicate the three levels: white, yellow and red. I like the way you use the cameras to hunt down enemies I didn’t like holding down the buttons to execute as again that took me quite a bit of time to figure out how to do the deed. I like my horror games so this is why it’s at number one and I like it cos it’s creepy looking and like a snuff movie and set in dark and dingy atmospheres that’s how I always picture them. This game caused a lot of controversy when it was first released and some countries banned it altogether also a lot of talk of the state of the video game and a attempt push back for such games but as you can tell it’s still available and bloodier games came to the market years after Manhunt. The main argument against the push back was with games like Doom and arcade shoot em ups and also army games had killing in and it was a different type of killing game so there was basically a bit of argy bargy and restrictions were made like permanent bans in certain countries or a 18+ rating but it still didn’t stop the younger generation from playing it what I saw in the fields of what the younger kids were playing and obsessed with but it was revolutionary. You can buy the game for £11.99 (14.42 Euros) ($16.04) in the PlayStation store or in the PlayStation network.