I often get asked to recommend games to people, especially if they have just got a console and are looking to jump into the best games on offer. As the PS4 generation comes to a close I thought it’d be fun to try and whittle down a Top 10 to recommend.
Quick disclaimer, obviously I haven’t played every game out there and some of the well regarded, bigger releases (Spiderman, for example) may well have made the list if I had played them. It was pretty tough to get the list down to a Top 10 of just the stuff I’d played!
As you’ll see, even the Top 10 isn’t just 10 games… here we go, in no particular order:
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The Last Of Us Remastered
The Last Of Us originally came out at the tail end of the PS3’s life cycle but received a welcome remaster when the new consoles arrived. Even now this is still one of the games I’m first to recommend to new PS4 owners. It tells the story of Joel, a grizzled old survivor, and Ellie, a young girl, as they travel across America in a post-disease world where the majority of the population has been wiped out. A mix of action and stealth, along with a strong story and some excellent voice acting, drive the gameplay while the stylised graphics look fantastic, especially with the HD remaster treatment.
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God Of War
Having already played six God Of War titles on the PS3/PSP I genuinely wasn’t sure I needed another game when they first announced the PS4 title. I was quickly reassured when I saw the footage as this new game is a masterclass in single player storytelling. Whereas the previous games had a fixed camera and were viewed from a distant perspective, the latest game is much more up close and personal. It is set long after the other games and Kratos now resides in Norse mythology as opposed to Greek mythology, which adds a nice spin on things. The story focuses on a journey that Kratos has to make with his son and the many characters they meet along the way. The gameplay can sometimes be frantic and challenging but it’s almost always enjoyable.
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Horizon: Zero Dawn
Guerrilla Games were most well known for the Killzone series of games, first person shooters with a sci-fi leaning. When they announced a new, open world third-person adventure game I was hopeful but had some reservations. Killzone had always been linear so could they deliver on an open world game? Thankfully the answer was yes, in abundance. In Horizon you take control of Aloy, an outcast who is looking to shed some light on her past. She lives in a world where most technology has faded and giant dinosaur-like robots roam the land and need to be avoided. The moment to moment gameplay in Horizon is truly fantastic – the way you need to plan encounters, especially for some of the bigger enemies, is a welcome change from the hack and slash of a lot of other games.
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Grand Theft Auto V / Red Dead Redemption 2
I’ve included two entries under the same section here as this will boil down to your preference of genre. Do you prefer a satirical, current day gangster/heist setup? Or a lawless Wild West affair, with cowboys and Sheriffs? The gameplay isn’t too different whichever option you pick. Both are third person action adventure games with compelling stories told over tens of hours. Red Dead Redemption 2 is actually a prequel, wherein you take control of outlaw Arthur Morgan. You’ll see some familiar faces along the way but you don’t need to have played the previous game to appreciate this title. Grand Theft Auto V on the other hand sees you take control of three different characters as their lives intersect and unravel in various ways. The game features numerous heists, which I found to be great fun.
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Uncharted 4 / Uncharted: Lost Legacy
Another entry with two titles, this time simply down to your previous experience with the series. If you’ve played the previous titles Uncharted 4 is a great game to play through as a final goodbye to the characters we’ve known/loved throughout the series. In Uncharted 4 Nathan Drake is retired but can’t resist the lure of ‘one more job.’ Will it cost him his marriage and every he’s worked so hard for? A globe-trotting adventure awaits! If you haven’t played the other games I’d probably recommend Lost Legacy as it doesn’t rely as much on previous knowledge of the other Uncharted games. Lost Legacy features Chloe and Nadine, both side characters from other Uncharted games. It’s well written and more concise than the mainline Uncharted games. Both titles have similar gameplay, with lots of exploring, climbing and gunplay. Both are graphically superb and would be a great addition to your collection.
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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
I’ve always been a fan of Metal Gear’s over the top gameplay and story. Metal Gear Solid V continues the tradition with a story that I’m still not 100% sure I understand. Once you get past the slightly sluggish and bizarre opening section the game opens up and the fun begins. The gameplay here is some of the best the gaming world has to offer – there is such flexibility that almost anything is possible. The game does an amazing job of letting you escape from situations, as opposed to killing you quickly and giving you a game over screen. The story doesn’t make much sense and the game, in my opinion, makes a serious mis-step in it’s treatment of Quiet, one of the female characters in the game, but overall MGS V has some of the finest gameplay out there.
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Dishonored 2
Another title that gives you a lot of freedom to carry out your objectives is Disnohored 2. The first choice you make is whether to seek revenge as Corvo, the male character from the original game, or Emily Kaldwin, theĀ Empress of Dunwall. Both have different abilities and approaches to the game. Even within these differing disciplines you still have the option of stealthing through levels as opposed to fighting everyone you see. For me, most missions started as stealth and developed into combat when things went wrong š Set in a steam punk-like future and with a very distinct visual art style, Dishonored 2 is a game that you shape around your playthrough and choices you make along the way. The abilities you gain are very inventive and fun to use and it’s different to almost every other game out there.
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Persona 5
Full disclosure I haven’t actually finished Persona 5 at this stage – I’m around 40 hours in though so feel confident enough to strongly recommend it in the meantime. The Persona series of games have been around for some time and the fifth instalment continues the series tradition of turn based combat, where each member of your party and the computer each take it in turns to attack/defend during each round of the battle. Some of the fights are over quickly while others take a bit more strategy. You play as a school kid who can turn into a superhero-type in an alternate reality. So as well as saving the world you’ll also be dealing with the day to day of school! One of the big draws of these games is the graphical style, along with the music, and Persona 5 doesn’t disappoint. With a cast of characters including a talking cat this is definitely a game you’ll love or hate. One word of warning though, as I mentioned at the top of the paragraph – it’s a looooong game. Likely to be over 100 hours to get through, this isn’t one for a quick playthrough.
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Detroit: Become Human / Until Dawn
Both of the entries here feature the ability to create your own story. There are no game over screens on these games – you continue to make choices, both good and bad, until the credits roll. It makes for a fairly seamless gameplay experience but the fact is your version of the story might be wildly different from someone else. Perhaps a character survived that died in someone else’s playthrough? Or maybe because you chose not to intervene in a situation it escalated and had a knock on effect further down the line? The gameplay in these titles is very similar, locked in camera angles and lots of exploring areas looking for clues. There is also the odd chase and action scene thrown in for good measure but these games are all about the story. The reason I’m recommending both is down to your personal taste – Detroit is a sci-fi thriller set around Androids in the near future and Until Dawn is a horror game where a killer is stalking a bunch of kids staying in a remote lodge. Take your pick (or play both!) and enjoy the ride.
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No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky is what I always hoped that games could be when I was growing up. The game is essentially a randomly generated universe that is ready for you to explore. Once you repair your spaceship in the game’s tutorial you can start making your way across the universe and start your adventure. It has a brilliant visual style and the randomly generated planets really can spark a sense of awe. There is a story path to follow but you can ignore that for the most part and just check out the different planets, mining for materials or discovering new creatures. The game is so huge and over the last few years a lot has been added, base building and underwater exploration for example, that I feel it’s easy to recommend as there is something here for everyone!
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So there you go, my top 10(ish) recommendations. It was really difficult to narrow this list down and so I have plenty of Honourable Mentions: Hitman, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate/Odyssey, Life Is Strange, Telltale’s The Walking Dead, Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor, The Order 1886, Transistor, Valiant HeartsĀ and The Sexy Brutale all deserve a shout but ultimately missed out on making the list.
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GregHorrorShow 