PlayStation Plus April Preview: Arkham City, Mercenary Kings and More

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PlayStation Plus April Preview: Arkham City, Mercenary Kings and More

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman! Yes, that is the sound of Batman: Arkham City coming to PlayStation Plus in April for PlayStation 3 owners. Arkham City garnered praise from gamers and critics alike, as evidenced by its cumulative 96/100 score on Metacritic. With the recent announcement of Batman Arkham Knight, this is a great way to catch up on Batman’s adventures.

PlayStation 4 owners can join up with friends and take down an evil corporation in a new 2D action game, Mercenary Kings. As you explore the island CLAW (that’s the evil corporation) has taken over, you’ll discover weapon parts that you can take back to your base and use to fashion together some new spiffy gear.

There are two other PS3 games this month: Stealth Inc. A Clone In the Dark and Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. Stealth Inc. is, as you can probably guess, a game where you should stick to the shadows. The only way to make it out of the lab alive is via some sneaky platforming, so proceed with caution. Castle of Illusion is a proper remake of the Sega Genesis version, not just an HD upgrade. There are new levels to navigate but the goal is the same — save your #1 mouse (that’s Minnie) from the evil witch.

While Vita owners can also enjoy Stealth Inc. (the benefits of Cross-Buy!) this month, they’ll also get Velocity Ultra, an arcade-y space shooter where you’ll teleport around and save other ships, and Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD, a classic tower-defense style game where you’ll need to save baby Tiki-people.

April PlayStation Plus Preview

Mercenary Kings

Mercenary Kings (PS4)

Free for PS Plus members

In this frantic 2D action game, you are part of the Mercenary Kings, the most skilled team of warriors-for-hire on Earth, but when your comrades have fallen and the fearsome forces of CLAW have seized an island-wide top secret Laboratory Base, you must do what it takes to stop them. But you’re not going in unprepared! Your back-up is made of a crew of rogue geniuses and experts of their field! Able to craft & customize guns’n’blades or upgrading body armor, you’ve never been this ready to join the fight.

Batman Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City (PS3)

Free for PS Plus members

No escape from Arkham City…the sprawling super-prison in the heart of Gotham City, home to its most violent thugs and infamous super villains. With the lives of the innocent at stake, only one man can save them and bring justice to the streets of Gotham City…The Batman.

IGN: “Batman: Arkham City is a brilliant game”

Stealth Inc

Stealth Inc. A Clone in the Dark (PS3)

Free for PS Plus members

Stealth Inc is a fast-paced stealth platformer featuring brutal hazards, ruthless enemies, fiendish puzzles and red pixels galore. Jump, sneak, and be chunked through 80 levels. Will you make it out alive? Armed with only your wits and a pair of top of the range Stealthing Goggles, it’s your job to sneak your way through a deadly facility that’s determined to extinguish your fragile little life. With no weapons and no armour, being seen means instant death.

Castle of Illusion

Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (PS3)

Free for PS Plus members

Mickey Mouse returns to star in Castle of Illusion, a fantastical re-imagining of the Sega Genesis classic. With all-new HD graphics and gameplay, Castle of Illusion brings Mickey and his world to life in this magical Disney adventure! When the evil witch Mizrabel kidnaps Minnie, it’s up to Mickey to brave the dangers of the Castle of Illusion to rescue Minnie. Gather your courage and traverse enchanted forests, take on hordes of rebellious toys and navigate mazes of living books. Play as Mickey and save Minnie from Mizrabel’s evil clutches!

Velocity Ultra

Velocity Ultra (PS Vita)

Free for PS Plus members

Featuring a new anime-influenced art style, touch screen to teleport, bombs on right stick, explosive visual effects, a Platinum trophy and PlayStation Trophy Leaderboards, Velocity Ultra improves on the 2012 Game Of The Year and PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards release in every area (except music ‘cos that rocked the first time around).

PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD

Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD (PS Vita)

Free for PS Plus members

Tikiman the Forest Defender is in trouble. Hordes of monsters are sweeping through his realm, hoping to chow down on his offspring – and it’s up to you to defend them. By placing weapon towers at strategic points around the landscape, you can destroy the invaders and save the little ones. Collect treasure along the way to build up your arsenal and pay for new towers – countless waves of monsters are out to get the babies, so you need to be prepared to battle!

If you’ve got feedback on PlayStation Plus make sure you take the poll above as well as leave a comment below. To chat about all things PlayStation, including this update, you can head over to the PlayStation Community Forums. You’ll also find other topics you can contribute your thoughts to, or you can start your own discussion.

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354 Comments

3 Author Replies

  • I already have Batman on the PC and don’t plan to own a PS4 (I’m a handheld gamer and I borrow my brother’s PS3 to play anything on there), but everything else looks awesome. The only thing that would make this month’s offering sweeter would be a nice JRPG for the Vita. Perhaps next month! Oh well. I can just go back to playing Disgaea 3 until you do, but I have about 500-600 hours logged between my six copies of games in the franchise (Hour of Darkness, Afternoon of Darkness, Disgaea DS, Dark Hero Days, Absence of Detention, and Infinite). That’s just a little more than Pokemon, if I include Y and my Nuzlocke runs. I should probably find a new franchise by now. XD

    Thank you for the update!

  • hey kristine,

    Great video and article as always, but, but….I NEED a bigger hard drive, or the ability to “Virtually” save PS3 downloads on the larger PS4 hard drive lol. Ive been waiting to play Arkham city just never picked it up, and considering the disappointment that was Origins, im glad I’ll have a Batman game to hold me over til Arkham Knight. Really excited for Castle of Illusion, it looks soo fun. and Mercenary Kings-gods i love blowing stuff up!! Did i mention i love PS+ !

  • man its a disappoiting month for vita owners, i get it , indie is good but at some point we kinda want some AAA titles,

  • @199 + CraddaPoosta

    Nice point.

  • I’ve never played that Mickey game. I might give it a try.

  • When is Dead Nation coming to the Vita???????

  • Even more of a reason to buy a Vita!!! The games just keep coming. Thank you Sony!!!

  • “Holy ravioli Batman!”

  • Its the one Batman I don’t own, so this is nice. Plus its good to let everyone try one of these great Batman games out. Could help sell both the upcoming Arkham Knight game and PS4s in general.

    I’ll probably talk myself into downloading Castle of Illusion & Stealth Inc. Neither one seems all that interesting, but I might as well try it out. I said the same thing about Thomas Was Alone and I haven’t stopped playing, so…………..

    Not much interest in March’s sales, so hopefully we’ll get some nice deals this month around Easter or something.

  • good ^_*

  • ps4 = super nintendo?

  • Very nice list of games, I’ll admit it.
    But the only one I don’t have AND have an interest in playing is Mercenary Kings. And that’s fine with me. I’ve already got enough to play on my Vita, and I’m having a hard time finding time to play through my already huge backlog on the PS3.
    So, one new PS4 game is just right for me.
    I’ll be keeping an eye out for nice sales throughout the month, of course.

    Thanks, Kristine!

  • This month is great :D Arkham City’s a fantastic game. I have the GOTY on PC, but can’t run it too well, I just got it during the winter sales last year. I’ll definitely download it and play. Same for Castle of Illusion. I really wanted it when it was on sale a few months ago but was out of money, I am glad to see it on Plus too :D

    It feels good to be subbed to Plus.

  • great month!
    thanks Sony psn+!

    Want to play Stealth inc!!!

  • Pretty disappointed with the ps4 games that have been added to the instant game collection. At least give us Knack, for all these indies are getting boring.

  • damn , im in the uk and our updates are never as good as the US , i guess when my account runs out i may just switch to an american account :)

  • Hi Kristine, how are you doing?
    I want to make you a simple and kind of odd question, but anyway, here it goes:
    Do you know if sometime in the near future we will have some sale or discount on Need for Speed Shift 2 Unleashed?
    I became a PS+ member just the month after you removed the game from the IGC :(
    I’m playing GT6, and GT it’s for sure my favourite sim, but I would love to hear some different engine sounds from time to time, they are lacking some key sounds right now and until GT7, I hope, in PS4 we wont get the real simulated type of sound the game deserves and… well, that.
    I would really appreciate if you can answer me.
    A proud Sony user.

  • lol.. gotta love how they NEVER give us GOTY editions so that we still have to buy DLC for games instead of getting them truly for free. I’d rather play arkham city on PC anyways.

  • nananananan Batman!

  • @104 laksoo00 I agree with you there. PSP games are great but the psp emulator on ps vita is a complete JOKE! It’s so blurry that makes it almost completely unplayable.

    PSP game should not be included again on Instant Game Collection for vita users until they fix the blurry issue.

  • AGAIN PS4 users PLEASE SHUT UP! It’s so annoying that you keep on begging AAA title on ps plus! PS4 is just a months old and you expect AAA for free?

  • nice update one last thing? Kristine how do the games get pick to go to IGC just wondering?

  • Be glad ps4 early users that sony already giving you cool ps4 exclusive indie games right after they release the console.

  • speak for youselves I didnt buy my ps4 just to play indies

  • And I find having a PS4 PS3 and a VITA was a must as a plus member. This month every game is something I have not played yet. Wonderful. Thanks Playstation Plus

  • I wonder what 14 for 14 games I bought will come next month.

  • @221well yeah I didnt buy for a paperweight

  • wow 1 retail game, its not even the goty which has been the standard for over a year now. the rest are recycled sales indie fluff.

    1 retail game worthy of igc. lemme guess, batman is also the featured game of the month?

    considering only full fledged titles are allowed a plat. did it even have any competition?

    this is psn recent track record. untested updates bricking vita/ps3. laughable sales. maybe 1-2 games a month worth their weight in game content. maybe 1 sale on a series, maybe, and the rest a bunch of substitute teachers.

    this feels like a indie shovelware push. just about every indie game here has been on sale to a varying degree.

    ps+ rewards the hold-outs and punishes the lone purchaser. nothing like having something you bought lose all of its value.

    its doesnt need to be a homerun every week but come on. 5/6 are indie? really?

  • i didnt PAY to become a ps+ member only to have SONY sitting on its laurels and offering 5/6 of the month with indie fluff.

    ps+: the bait n switch isnt all we offer, recycled sales and once a month we may give you a retail game.

    since its a paid service youd think more paying members wouldnt be so agreeable.

    fyi: these games arent free*. we bought into a service.

    quantity ≠ quality

    hell, a retail psp title is more worthy of being in the igc then any indie title.

  • Mercenary Kings: YET ANOTHER game that should have been released on PS3.

    Batman: Arkham City : Not my cup of tea, but great choice anyways.

    Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse: Played the original so I might overlook this one for sure. Still, interesting choice… I guess.

    Stealth Inc. A Clone in the Dark : another lame indie game…

    And again for Vita: games nobody cares about.

  • *Reposting*
    I want classic games (PS1/PS2) for IGC. Instead of Vita games nobody cares or overrated games of the “present”

    Ideas for IGC:
    Arcana Heart 3
    Prince of Persia
    Devil May Cry
    Catherine (I don’t really want it, but I know is a great puzzle games that a lot of people will enjoy)
    Legasista (Interested me, looked ‘different’)
    Warp
    Hitman Collection
    For PS2: God Hand, Siren series and that kinda games, Personas and SMT, Gitaroo Man ?,and… I don’t really know which other games there are…
    For PS1: I don’t know… Silent Hill, MGS, for example.

  • And I agree with everything shibbydibbybibby said.

  • Free games, yet people still complain…

  • @StingrayX
    “Free games”?! You are PAYING for the service. And guess what, that service is sucking, it need improvement, that’s what opinions are for, to improve something.
    It’s when conformist people like you that can accept everything because of your blindness that something starts to decay, with too much conformism there is no prosperity.
    Open your eyes, the discouns never even match STEAM sales, and the games that you will LOSE if you don’t keep PAYING fot the SERVICE aren’t GOOD ENOUGH.

  • This is another month where I have the majority of the games for the month. I need to stop buying games apparently because it’s making my Plus membership rather useless! I just bought Dishonored and will probably see it on here next month just watch lol. My new rule for myself on buying new games is never buy something that hasn’t been on the IGC list, only the ones I’ve missed since joining.

    I was actually excited about Sly Cooper being on the list from what other blogs said might be on Aprils List. Would have been one game I could actually play! Lol, I guess I’m gonna be adding Mickey Mouse to my collection next to my Dead Space and Batman kind of games instead. Or just finally buy the Vita…

    Games on my wishlist; Any Castlevania, Crysis, Walking Dead, or even Final Fantasy game. Another month with games like Uncharted or Bioshock would be epic after the sad months for me recently lol. I bought games 1 and 2 for both Uncharted and Bioshock games after getting them on the list. So give me Crysis 3 and I will definitely to buy 1 and 2.

  • Wow, the “Mercenary Kings” being free this month? Now I want a PS4 to play this game. I heard a lot a people waiting for this game and now it’s going to a PS+ freebie.

    @StingrayX Because those people are losers and don’t care about their real lives.

  • @ 227 amwujm

    First of all sony did not force you to buy PS4.

    Second: that paper weight game was made to be given for free so have some RESPECT to developers and sony for spending money to feed this game for you.

    3rd: If you don’t like sony’s ps plus on your ps4 then sell your ps4 and transfer to XBOX or Nintendo, then let’s see if they even bother to give you free game in which in fact THEY DON’T!

    Lastly: HAVE SOME RESPECT TO AAA Company/Developers of PS4 game! It cost million of dollars just to develop a AAA and you want it to become free? KID do us a favor and sell your ps4 to others who are willing to pay for AAA titles.

  • FYI: some indie games also cost million $ to develop. Try visiting kickstarter to get a clue.

  • Amazing! I was looking after Arkham City (tried to buy it from a friend, but no use…), and now it’s coming for free!!! Thanks PS+!!! The best 50 bucks investiment ever!!!

  • @amwujm If you don’t want your so called “paperweight,” let me have it for free. hazelcabug is right, it cost millions of dollars to make an AAA title such as voice acting, programming, patches, etc. Life doesn’t work that way and people work for money. Not only you are asking for free things, but you are disrespecting employees who work for a living. Sounds like the greedy person is you, dipstick.

  • Another great month to be a PS Plus member. Thanks Sony! And just curious, did you actually count out all those “na na na’s?”

  • Good choice you guys! Great games for ps+ for April. Keep up with the good work with these great games.

  • Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang

  • Well, then, Arkham City to complement my disc copy (and dingy-fied case…) of Asylum GOTY (really, why’d you use the save-file incompatible vanilla version for the PS Store?). Are there any save files issues I might would want to be aware of for this title?

    Kinda glad I didn’t get in soon enough when “Stealth Inc.” launched on PSN, though I’m bit a bit on Castle of Illusion (‘s coo’, since I had some notable memories from getting it when I did).

    Don’t have a Vita, so kinda wishin’ I’d bit on the PS3 version of Velocity Ultra. Guess I could fire up the minis version I got through Plus way yonder, eh?

    I’m sure my friend’ll give Mercenary Kings a spin, since the Scott Pilgrim game’s a spot spot for him, what with the same lead artist dude guy.

  • (And just counted those “na”s. Nerd-check passed!)

  • Is it Batman: Arkham City original version ?

    T – T

    Not GOTY version.

    T – T

  • Batman: Arkham City?! Castle of Illusion?! Velocity Ultra?! Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD?! I hope this is not an April’s Fools Joke!

  • @MarkakaJin And if it isn’t, what are you going to do about it? Nothing, all you can do whine like a little baby like the rest of these losers who can’t learn to appreciate every month.

  • Excited for the ps4 one!

  • Early users of ps3 and ps vita doesn’t even have free game service before when both system were release. Be glad PS4 users that even it’s just recently release, sony still right away give out free ps4 games. SO SHUT UP AND STOP COMPLAINING about the free ps4 game this month.

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