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Sub Watch

Sub Watch December 2022: New games on PS+, XGP, NSO & Co

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High on Life, Judgment, LEGO Star Wars, NfS Unbound – our monthly update on new games being added to PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass and other subscription services.

Monthly update

It’s easy to lose track of new games being added to the countless subscription services. Catch the latest titles in the short video below.

Timecodes:

  • 00:05 PlayStation Plus Essential
  • 00:25 PlayStation Plus Extra
  • 00:55 PlayStation Plus Premium
  • 01:10 Xbox Games with Gold
  • 01:30 Xbox Game Pass / PC Game Pass
  • 02:10 Nintendo Switch Online
  • 02:30 EA Play
  • 02:50 Ubisoft+
  • 02:55 Prime Gaming
  • 03:10 Humble Choice

Editors’ Picks

Check out which games we’ve been playing lately. These games are either part of a subscription services at the time this articles gets published or were made available recently.

The Pedestrian (included in PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium and Xbox/PC Game Pass) (Patrick)

The Pedestrian was released via Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass alongside the game’s launch on January 4th, 2022 and since December 20th, 2022 the game’s available via PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. It’ll leave Xbox/PC Game Pass on New Year’s Eve. This puzzle adventure lets you explore a city – from the subway over downtown to its rooftops – in an all-new way. While the surroundings are displayed in 3D, you’re busy solving puzzles on 2D canvasses. While the puzzle design is remniscent of echochrome or Shift, the game has a lot of original ideas in which the environment is being used. Your female or male protagonist will make use of bridges, springs, circuit boards and your ever-changing connections between the 2D boards. At least gravity acts normally opposed to Shift for the most part. There’s no time pressure and in later stages you can pick the order of the puzzles you’ll have to solve. A big accomplishment by the developer is certainly the fact that the game’s immersion never breaks. The level of difficulty slowly rises during the four to six hours of gameplay and there are more than enough checkpoints. If it weren’t for the last part which breaks with the game design and turns out more annoying than adding to the gameplay we wouldn’t have any complaints.

The game’s story is told by its environment similiar to games like the Witness, but is a means to an end and works well in that regard. Don’t expect a deep emotional narrative. If you like puzzle games, you should definitely give The Pedestrian a chance.

Ridge Racer 2 (included in PlayStation Plus Premium) (Patrick)

PlayStation Plus doesn’t include a whole lot PlayStation Portable games, therefore this month’s addition of Ridge Racer 2 is all the more surprising. The 2006 arcade racer is available via PlayStation Plus Premium for PS5 and PS4. It plays even smoother than on the PSP thanks to having two full analog-sticks available, the game features dozens of race cars and a multitude of tracks as well as fantastic electronic music. Visually Ridger Racer 2 is pretty dated but considering its age the car models still look fine even though they’re a little pixelated upscaled to 4K. The frame rate is as stable as in the original PSP release and so you can drift into the sunset while being able to use the “classics” features Sony added (rewind and savestates, see screenshot below for Abe’s Exoddus).

The lack of any multiplayer is unfortunate. The game’s Wireless Mode can’t be used and there are no local or online modes. You can race the challenging computer drivers in a variety of modes such as 16 Tours, Arcade, Duel and Time Trial modes. Ridge Racer 2 is still an entertaining beginner-friendly arcade racer with a lot of content and a brillant soundtrack to keep you engaged.

Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus (included in PlayStation Plus Premium) (Patrick)

Oddworld Inhabitants aren’t giving the poor Mudokons any break: Just last month Oddworld: Soulstorm came to Nintendo Switch and on December 20th, 2022 the original game was released on PlayStation Plus Premium for PS5 and PS4. While New ‘n’ Tasty! served as remake of the very first game in the franchise Abe’s Odyssey, Soulstorm is the re-imagining of Abe’s Exoddus. Time took its toll on this one as well. Soulstorm’s exterior scenes were in part simply breathtaking, yet the original is much more dark and pixelated. The art design is still fantastic without a doubt and the game’s charme doesn’t end at the hilarious intro sequence. Fortunately the upscaling lead to the text being crystal clear, opposed to the actual game.

Getting into Abe’s Exoddus is not an easy task despite the game’s best effots to teach you every feature from the get-go. It seems like there are just not enough buttons on a controller to fit every move Abe needs to save his kind from their oppressors. After 15 to 30 minutes you should be able to use the most important features and the game rewards you with satisfying sequences in which you save dozens of those loveable green slimy creatures. If you ever wanted to check out the original to the latest Oddworld game Soulstorm which is despite the conflicting thoughts on the addition by franchise creator Lorne Lanning also part of PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium in its Enhanced Edition, you should give Abe’s Exoddus a chance and it’s nice that you can directly compare both games in the same subscription.

We captured the screenshots with PlayStation 5. Xbox and PlayStation provided us with access codes for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PlayStation Plus Premium.