It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The PlayStation January Sale is now live with some absolute bargains on top titles both old and new. We’ve taken a deeper dive to bring your our own PlayStation January sale favourite picks:
Tom’s Favourite Picks
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
If you’re like me, the latest Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game was always be on your Christmas list every year in the early 2000s. This meant I had high expectations for this remake collection, but I was thrilled with what Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 delivered.
These games have been rebuilt from the ground up but perfectly recapture the kickflipping fun of the originals. Even the soundtracks are mostly intact; speeding through the School level while Goldfinger’s ‘Superman’ plays feels like taking a dip in a lovely, warm bath of nostalgia.
Developers Nerversoft took an interesting approach with these remakes: they play the way you remember them playing, not the way they actually played. That means that key moves like the revert, which didn’t appear until Pro Skater 3, have been included here. It’s a bit of revisionist history but it makes Pro Skater 1 +2 a compelling package that’s precisely as smooth and fluid as you’d want a modern skating game to be.
With a whopping 50% off, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 can be yours for only £19.99/$19.99 in the Playstation January sale.
Red Dead Redemption 2
It’s easy to imagine that anyone who wants to play Red Dead Redemption 2 already has. With every Christmas comes a raft of new consoles under TVs, though, and this is as good a game as any to start your collection with. You’ll find few games that offer more bang for your buck at £21.99/$23.99, with dozens upon dozens of hours of gameplay waiting for you.
Read Dead Redemption 2 is a vast experience, a true epic. Playing as the gruff Arthur Morgan, you’ll embark on an odyssey across the Old West, where a new adventure lies around every corner and there’s always a cowpoke who needs filling with lead. Along the way you’ll ride horses, engage into saloon brawls, hunt wild game, and empty six-shooters, all in a quest for a better life.
The game’s opening few hours are a little rough; at the risk of sounding like a friend recommending a new TV show to you (“It gets good after the first five seasons!”), push through the sometimes frustrating prologue as quickly as possible. Red Dead Redemption 2 will soon reward you for your patience, treating you to one of the most immersive open worlds you can find on a PlayStation console.
Batman: Arkham Collection
Marvel’s Spider-Man is a justifiably beloved game, but it’s hard to overstate how much of its structure it owes to the Batman: Arkham trilogy. These games set a new standard for superhero games when they were released, with engaging rhythmic combat and tense stealth sequences that really make you feel like you’re Batman. And who wouldn’t want to be Batman?
For my money, Arkham Asylum is still my favourite game in the series. While it might lack the scope and freedom of sequels Arkham City and Arkham Knight, Asylum’s moody atmosphere and tight plot can’t be beat. All three are well worth your time, though, and this collection is a steal at £14.99.
Joe’s Favourite Picks
Control: Ultimate Edition
Long-time PS Plus subscribers may have already bagged this wonderful game for free back in February, but for anyone who missed out, I can’t recommend Control enough. With a similar dose of strangeness as their 2010 cult hit, Alan Wake, Remedy Entertainment deliver a thoroughly engrossing story with a unique voice and stellar gameplay.
Playing as the enigmatic Jesse Faden, you’ll explore the shifting corridors of the Federal Bureau of Control in search of your missing brother, Dylan. Making your way through the labyrinthine building, you’ll soon realise that the Bureau has been overcome by supernatural forces which you must defeat in order to regain control.
Armed with a raft of powers and a shape-shifting gun, combat is gleefully chaotic and unlike anything I’ve experienced before. The Maze fight sequence is easily one of the most bizarre few minutes you’ll have sat in front of your TV, but it’s also absolutely thrilling and left me picking my jaw up off the floor.
At only £9.89/$11.99 in the PlayStation January sale, this is an absolute steal – even more so considering it includes both The Foundation and AWE expansion.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Taking the crown for best independent game of the year at the Game Awards 2021, it’s great to see Kena: Bridge of Spirits in the PlayStation January sale. Thanks to the stunning visuals, it really does feel like you’re playing a Pixar movie full of gorgeous vistas and magical, doe-eyed creatures that’ll melt your heart.
In Kena: Bridge of Spirits, you take control of spirit guide, Kena, in her search for the fabled mountain shrine. Along the way, you’ll grow a tiny team of spirit companions called The Rot that allow you to manipulate the world around you in order to solve environmental puzzles. It’s not all cutesy creatures though; some spirits have become corrupt and unable to move on to the afterlife. The only way to help them pass on is to fight and defeat them. Combat is fast-paced and surprisingly challenging but you’ll have a lot of fun blasting enemies with your minions.
While it might not have the most fleshed out story, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a delightful game that’ll keep you thoroughly entertained. You can pick it up in the PlayStation January sale for £24.74/$29.99 or only £23.09/$27.99 for PS Plus subscribers.
Metro Exodus
Okay, I’ll hold my hands up – I picked up Metro Exodus on a bit of a whim earlier this year, having not played any of the previous instalments in the series. The game does a good job of catching you up with the story so far, so you’ll be able to jump straight in with a decent understanding of what’s going on.
Playing as the mysterious Artyom, you’ll lead a gang of survivors across post-apocalyptic Russia in search of sanctuary amongst the chaos. First off, I was majorly impressed with how good Metro Exodus looks. If you’re lucky enough to own a PS5, you can upgrade to the Enhanced Edition for free which adds ray-tracing at a beautifully smooth 4K 60fps. DualSense implementation is great too; from the satisfying blast of a shotgun to the pump of your rechargeable flash light, you’ll feel fully immersed as you roam the ravaged wastelands.
At a mere £6.24/$7.49 in the PlayStation January sale, this is not to be missed. If you’re interested in playing the other games in the series, you can also pick up the Metro Saga Bundle for £14.99/$17.99 which includes Metro 2033 Redux, Metro: Last Light Redux and Metro Exodus Gold Edition.