The PlayStation 4 might be one of the best console system ever created – it is one of the most popular in video games history. Many genre-defining titles have been released on PlayStation 4 to date, and there will definitely be more in the future. However, the age of the PlayStation 4 is coming to an end – with the next console war on the horizon.
However, before those titles, there were a huge number of games to sit through when it comes to the PlayStation’s exclusive library. There are many great games and quite a few bad ones, as nothing is exempt from mediocrity. So, in order to save you from burning out because of a bad game – below is our list for the top five best and worst exclusive titles on the PlayStation 4.
Top 5 must-own game on the PlayStation 4:
HORIZON ZERO DAWN
Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the foremost unique first-party titles ever released on the PlayStation 4. It mixes and incorporates aspects like hunting with an open world style gameplay plus intriguing story. It is really surprising to just jump into a brand new game world and find it filled to the brim with careful world-building, challenging enemies and questions that are hard to answer. Horizon Zero Dawn is all that, and more – the game’s success has carved out its own spot within the already crowded Action RPG genre.
In Horizon Zero Dawn you play as Alloy, a hunter who excels in archery and sneak. In spite of her primitive garments, she is living in a world overrun with hostile machines. The beasts took over the world a long time ago, and now everything before that are just a distant memory.
Combined with amazingly fluid combat and a story that touches on important themes, Guerrilla Games has definitely come back to the top because of Horizon Zero Dawn’s release on the PS4.
BLOODBORNE
FromSoftware is a developer who’s famous for making the Dark Souls series, one of the most challenging video games series ever released. Bloodborne is their exclusive Lovecraftian-horror themed version of Dark Souls for the PS4. While there are a lot of similarities between the two, Bloodborne’s combat system has been reinvented to be completely different. Almost opposite to Dark Souls’ preferred combat style, Bloodborne players have to constantly stay on their feet, dodge and attack at the same time. It is more rewarding to play aggressively in Bloodborne.
The level designs, art direction, and sound engineering have really created a unique atmosphere for the game, as it is even darker and spookier than Dark Souls. A lot of the characters resemble something that came out of Silent Hills.
UNCHARTED 4
Michael Bay would love everything in Uncharted. The plot of this game is about the last journey of Nathan Drake - a journey to discover his long lost brother. With Uncharted 3 wrapping up everything in the original trilogy in a satisfying way, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End delivers everything you could ask from an Uncharted finale.
You can find everything you ever liked in Uncharted here. The core games stay the same: a platformer combined with aspects of a third-person shooter. Drake would be scaling up ruins and hopping from ledge to ledge, stopping sometimes to shoot bad guys. However, you can be sure that whatever it is, from escaping a doomed clocktower to outrunning a deadly tank, there won’t be a dull moment. Uncharted 4 is a great game, a deserved conclusion for this unforgettable franchise.
According to majority votes, this is pretty much the best game in the franchise and if nothing changed, one of the best game in this generation.
SPIDER-MAN
It is very likely that games in the future would talk about Spider-Man like the way they do with the Classics. The first Spider-Man game that is actually playable, and in this game, players get to play as their favorite superhero, swinging in a modern design of New York. Combine that with one of the best stories in gaming history from the last decade – Spider-Man is nothing short of legendary.
The development team surely has placed a lot of dedication to making this game. All the small details matter. From the huge number of outfits from the comics that players can pick to the large number of side missions which includes lesser-known characters, there are a lot of things that would make this game special.
GOD OF WAR
There is pretty much no further criticism to be made about God of War 4, the latest entry of the famous God of War series.
Moving on from the familiar hack and slash style of previous games in the series, God of War 4 focuses more on a much older Kratos and his son Atreus, who is training under him to become a warrior. The touching story of father and son is nothing one would expect from this franchise, which has always been famous for its gore and senseless violence. Plot aside, this is a very well made game. The combat is fast, intuitive, and satisfying, with just enough of the style from previous entries so that long-time fans would not get overwhelmed.
THE ORDER 1886
The Order 1886 was definitely a really popular announcement when its trailer was dropped at E3 2014. The events of the game happen in an alternative version of London in the past, with a lot of inspiration borrowed from the Victorian era’s style. Sony did a lot of things to hype the game to the high heaven, describing fights against vampire and werewolves. Because of that, for a few moments, The Order 1886 really feels like the next big thing.
However, the reality is cruel. The game turned out to be a bad version of Gears of War and Mass Effect. With the gameplay reusing the cover-shooter gist that’s already done to death in the last generation, the story must be really good for the game to not flop. But no, to make matters worse, the campaign was just around 4 hours long, with no real progression.
KILLZONE SHADOW FALL
Killzone Shadowfall is very unlucky – it is one of the very first big titles on the PlayStation 4. And as expected, the game “fall” flat on its face. Outside of being a demo for the new console’s power and what it can do, there wasn’t much to be expected from Killzone. And to make the situation worse, a lot of gimmicks based on the Touchpad of the DualShock 4 were forced in – with most players turning those off after the first hours of playing.
The final drop that pushes the game over the edge is that Killzone is just not “entertaining” enough. The fails of this game were so bad that despite being one of Sony’s best title, we haven’t seen a word about it since.
KNACK
A run off the mill action platformer, Knack, after a quick check, shouldn’t be bad enough to be put on this list. However, its crime is just “not being what the fans wanted”. A lot of people were desperately waiting for legends from the distant pasts like Jak and Daxter to get remastered.
The game is not unplayable, it is just forgettable. It runs fine with a polished control system fused to a unique concept, but there is nothing stand out. We even got a sequel a few years later, with just some improvements in a few parts.
THE LAST GUARDIAN
Amongst every game has ever been released on PlayStation, Last Guardian is one of the worst. Being Team Ico’s follow up to the legendary Shadow of The Colossus, The Last Guardian was expected to be released on the PlayStation 3 in 2011. However, it was stuck in development hell for six years after that, almost getting scrapped altogether – and it definitely shows.
Nothing works and even the simplest function has some bugs incorporated into it. The fact that your dog Trico can't navigate anything properly coupled with a lot of badly designed set-pieces would cause the game to glitch out at any possible moment. The worst thing about this game is that there are a lot of remnants remained of what could be a good game underneath all the bugs and glitches.
The last guardian is a smudge on Team Ico’s previously perfect resume.
BASEMENT CRAWL
Basement Crawl was a replacement for Bomberman, developed for the PlayStation 4. The idea behind it was nice, but there were some major mistakes. Basement Crawl’s crime is that the game does not add anything to the formula – it just takes the exact concept and makes it less fun.
The atmosphere is less thrilling due to the lack of soundtracks when dropping bombs. Combine that with the weird art style, it is nigh impossible to make out where your character is on the screen. Basement Crawl’s failure is a shame – since some of its designs are very interesting.