PS Plus Premium's best new PSP game is perfect because it's B-Tier

PS Plus Premium has been struggling to justify its price with a limited catalog, but one B-Tier PSP game is exactly the kind of game it needs.

Collecting those Pursuit Force trophies is the only thing I can think about. Released as part of PS Plus Extra and Premium's new games for May 2023, I am surprised to say that Pursuit Force is the best kind of PSP game for PS Plus Premium because it is such a B-Tier touchstone.

Pursuit Force has hit PS Plus Premium and it is perfect for the service

Pursuit Force is exactly what PS Plus needs

For the first time in a while, I'm pretty pumped about PS Plus Premium. Why? Pursuit Force. Yes, that's right: that PSP game released in 2005 by now-defunct first-party Bigbig Studios. Sure, I've been excited about other stuff. PS1's double JRPG billing of Wild Arms and Legend of Dragoon are great additions and, now you can play the whole Syphon Filter series for a real nostalgia kick. For whatever reason, though, it's the B-Tier action film carnage in a (frankly) B-Tier game of Pursuit Force that has caught my eye.

That's because it is S-Tier nostalgia, as I have seen many TrueTrophies locals comment every time Pursuit Force is mentioned, with its car-bashing action and scrappy heart-on-sleeve energy which forces it into the realm of the endearing. This is an action game that features a super special policeman jumping from car to car to shoot drug smugglers and gang members with reckless abandon. It plays out in linear levels with those lovely arcade trimmings like big flashing signage and bullet radials. There is a Max Justice meter, for Christ's sake — Pursuit Force knows exactly what it is.

By no means is it a bad game, either. I think it is one of the most identifiable PSP games out there and feels cool to play, even if the controls are stiff and the difficulty utterly brutal at times (it serves as a good rewind function reminder). It is bright and has a personality oozing from it — I don't think you could ask for much more. It might struggle to make it onto the best PS Plus games list where the elite goes, but it is a wonderful cult classic.

That is why it is perfect for PS Plus Premium — the addition of Pursuit Force feels like a celebration of the games that made up the fabric of the PSP. It's a game that you don't expect anything from in terms of gameplay, but it brings you glee just seeing it present and correct. While we can't have games like this all the time on PS Plus Premium and I would still hesitate to recommend that tier to anybody as a value proposition at this moment in time — games like Pursuit Force will become an essential part of its catalog in the future alongside the bonafide classics like Patapon, Killzone Liberation and Blade Dancer Lineage of Light.

Pursuit Force trophies revealed for PS5 and PS4 with a platinum

Pursuit Force trophies were revealed for PS5 and PS4 in May 2023 with a platinum

So, that is why I think PS Plus Premium needs games like Pursuit Force. Did you also love this game on PSP? Do you think it is an important game? Let us know what you think of PS Plus Premium in the comments below!

Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about exclusives like The Last of Us and Horizon, PS Plus news, and his favourite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and God of War — before an evening swim.