PlayStation Plus Is Letting Users Play Brand New PS5 Release for Free

Some PlayStation Plus subscribers on PS4 and PS5 can now play a brand new release for free. What is the catch? Well, there are a few, unfortunately. For one, this offer is limited to PS Plus Premium. Subscribers of PS Plus Essential or PS Plus Extra do not have access to this offer. The second catch is this is a trial, and it is unclear how long the trial is. Typically, these trials are for one or two hours of the game, aka not the entire game.

As for the game, it is a "psychedelic metroidvania" released last week from developer Hadoque and publisher Kepler Interactive called Ultros. And apparently it is pretty good. On Metacritic, it has scores ranging from 78 to 81, with said scores varying depending on the platform. Meanwhile, over on Steam, the game has attracted 128 user reviews so far. 82 percent of these reviews are positive, giving the game a "very positive" rating on Steam, the second highest rating you can earn on Steam.

"You wake up stranded, after seemingly crashing your ship on The Sarcophagus – a giant, space-drifting, cosmic uterus holding an ancient demonic being known as ULTROS," reads an official story synopsis of the game. "Trapped in the eternal loop of a black hole, you will have to explore The Sarcophagus and meet its inhabitants to understand the part you play. Are you the gruesome breaker of this cycle, or can you become a link from destruction to rebirth?"

If you decide to check out Ultros, you will need to set aside roughly eight to ten hours just to mainline the game. The game's main content, plus the side content, you will need more like 16 hours with the game. So, obviously a one or two-hour trial of the game is not going to be enough to experience a majority of the game, let alone beat it, but it will give you a good idea if you want to splash $24.99 for the full game. 

"Ultros is a deceptively deep and mechanical Metroidvania driven by its eye-watering psychedelic vibes," reads one of the aforementioned Steam user reviews.  The loop mechanic is well executed in terms of the story, yet I can't help but sigh a bit each time it's enacted. While I wanted more complex combat and intentional varieties of color, I was quite satisfied with my journey."