15 Essential PS4 Games, From Astronauts to Zombies
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01
With Great Power...
SonyMarvel's Spider-Man
Price$60
Open-world games are a dime a dozen, but if you just need something to scratch that itch, Spider-Man is easily among the best ever. Wrapping its broad, if occasionally dull, open world in all the energy and verve of the best Spider-Man storytelling in any media, Insomniac's latest is an impressive and engaging bit of superheroic fun. Swinging around NYC on precarious threads of webbing has never felt so good, and Spider-Man's relationships—to his city, to Mary Jane Watson, to his nemeses—have never been as compelling as they are here.
Sony
02
Colossal Classic
SonyShadow of the Colossus
Price$30
Shadow of the Colossus is one of the best games ever made, period, and if you've never played it you owe it to yourself to check out this remaster. Set in a barren, beautiful wasteland, SOTC makes drama out of minimalism, combining action-adventure gameplay with a series of breathtaking and harrowing boss encounters. Books have been written about how brilliant this game is, and the remaster renders it all in an enhanced graphical style. Purists may prefer the original, but if you've never played either, there's no good reason not to grab this one.
Sony
03
Couch Co-Op
Asteroid BaseLovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Price$15
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is one of the most frantic, frenetic multiplayer co-op games around. Up to four players (no online play, sadly) work together to pilot and defend a circular spaceship from hordes of baddies. It's your job to explore the galaxy to rescue kidnapped "space-bunnies" and defeat the forces of "anti-love." It's a goofy story that fits with Spacetime's beautiful neon colors, but don't let the look fool you—this is a tough 2-D game. Your teamwork will be tested as you each run between stations to man the engine, shield, four guns, map, and special attack cannon.
Asteroid Base
04
Team Player
BlizzardOverwatch
Price$37
Two and a half years after release, Overwatch is still one of the most popular games to hit PS4. It even has a professional esports league build around it, and for good reason: It's a game that has managed to capture some of the character-based zaniness of something like Super Smash Bros while adding in addictive team-based play. Every character has unique skills and weapons, and every match has a different goal, like capturing a flag or guiding a tank through a map to safety. Blizzard continually adds new characters, maps, and modes, making it as good a time as ever to jump in and be a hero.
Blizzard
05
City Sim
Paradox InteractiveCities: Skylines
Price$35
EA's SimCity franchise has struggled in the last decade or so, and Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive thought the idea was worth another shot. Cities: Skylines plays almost exactly like SimCity, but with a bit more realism. Skylines simulates things like traffic congestion and mass transit lines incredibly well, which is fun to watch, and occasionally maddening as mayor. Even though it's complex, it's a city builder that feels as natural to play on a controller as it does a mouse and keyboard, and that's impressive.
Paradox Interactive
06
Robot Raptors
SonyHorizon Zero Dawn
Price$20
Ever wondered what the world would be like if it was filled with robot animals? In Horizon Zero Dawn you're a hunter and an outcast sneaking and fighting robotic creatures in a vast open world. It's an outstanding third-person adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world, and one of the best single-player PS4 exclusives bar none. Even better, it's not a sequel to anything. It's a creation all its own by developer Guerilla Games, and if you own a PS4 Pro, it does a good job showcasing the upgraded system's graphical prowess.
Sony
07
Spirited Away
SonyEverybody's Gone to the Rapture
Price$20
This is a game without weapon-toggling, shooting, or even running. In it, you walk around a lifelike British Village and try to figure out why all the people are gone. Clues are all around, and you can experience the story at your own pace, in your own way. Rapture isn't for every gamer, but according to our review, if you let it, it "may leave you a little different than when you found it."
Sony
08
Difficult Decisions
Square EnixLife Is Strange
Price$19
Tired of shooting baddies? Life Is Strange is a fresh take on the adventure game genre. You play a young girl in a new school who's trying to uncover a threatening mystery and do the right thing. The decisions you make greatly affect the narrative, as does how you use her secret power. Thanks to the game's multiple award wins and strong sales, a sequel was greenlit and is now coming out in episodes, making it a perfect time to catch up on the story.
Square Enix
09
Super Dad
SonyGod of War
Price$60
This might be the dadliest game ever made. It's a story about Norse legends, grappling with a personal history of violence, and a father trying to raise a son. Admittedly, this game, with its scenes of intense violence, is not for everyone. But M-rating aside, what you'll find in Sony Santa Monica's God of War is a lush action game built with a surprising amount of heart.
Sony
10
Tetris Evolved
Enhance GamesLumines Remastered
Price$15
Lumines got its start on the ill-fated PlayStation Portable, and had a sequel on Vita. Those are two reasons you may not have have played it, and if you haven't, you've missed out. Lumines Remastered, which comes from the developer behind cult classics Rez and Child of Eden, plays like a clever twist on Tetris, demanding that you group like-colored blocks together in time for a line to come and erase them. It's like a classic game with a fresh coat of HD paint, all set to the beat of totally groovy techno music.
Enhance Games
11
Left Behind
SonyThe Last of Us Remastered
Price$20
The Last of Us looks like your typical post-apocalyptic zombie game, and in some ways it is, but it's also deeper than that. It tells the story of a teenage girl who grew up in the ruins of the world, and the man who takes her across the US to safety. It's a game that builds a world better than most and the remastered version also comes with the Left Behind campaign that made waves a few years ago by shifting the game's focus to its female protagonist.
Sony
12
Plagued
SonyBloodborne
Price$20
A bloody weapon, an army of horrendous monsters, and one very bad night. Bloodborne is possibly the best game made in the vein of Dark Souls by From Software, a spiritual successor that takes what worked about the original—ultra-hard combat, ingenuous storytelling, atmosphere oozing out of all corners—and weds it with a deep vein of unspeakable cosmic horror. There's a little Lovecraft in here, and a little Mary Shelley, and a little Bram Stoker. And a lot of genius.
Sony
13
Mansion Mystery
Annapurna InteractiveWhat Remains of Edith Finch
Price$20
What Remains of Edith Finch (WIRED Review) is a bit like Gone Home and is another game where you walk around a creepy home and try to piece together a mystery. It's oddly chilling and more cinematic than some of its peers, offering unconventional flashbacks that act as minigames, letting you interact with the past in peculiar ways. If you haven't played a game like this, it's not a massive investment. You can plow through the story in a few hours, but try to take your time. You won't regret it.
Annapurna Interactive
14
Lost In Space
Hello GamesNo Man's Sky
Price$20
No Man's Sky is astonishing, endlessly vast, and controversial. Because it had limited gameplay at launch, it was easy to kvetch about everything that was left out. But since then, developer Hello Games has worked tirelessly to add depth to that world, letting players build bases and work together with friends. It's far from perfect, but in its updated state, this unique title is definitely worth a look.
Hello Games
15
Dungeon Defeater
Motion TwinDead Cells
Price$29
Roaring wildly out of the gates, Dead Cells is an infinite combustion engine, all energy and power and motion. A roguelike in the vein of Spelunky, it's one of the most accessible and entrancing games in its genre. The premise is simple: wake up in a prison cell as an undead warrior. Get a weapon. Get out. Keep going. Each death is another opportunity to delve deeper into the gnarled web of crypts, sewers, and rooftops that make up the prison colony you're trying to escape, and the path is thick with monstrosities and obstacles. There are a lot of action games that feel and look like Dead Cells. But few play like this.
Motion Twin