The best PS4 games for 2021 – CNET [CNET]

Naughty Dog

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You can head here for our full, detailed look at The Last of Us Part 2, but we’ll give you the Cliff Notes here: This is a brutal, profound video game experience that not only works in terms of its second-to-second combat, but also has plenty to say about the dark nature of revenge and the cyclical nature of impulsive violence. Early contender for 2020 game of the year. See Gamespot’s The Last of Us Part 2 review.

Sucker Punch/Screenshot by Sean Keane/CNET

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Ghost of Tsushima is yet another open world banger from Sucker Punch Productions, one of the most consistent first party studios under Sony’s vast umbrella. 

Set in Japan during the first invasion of the Mongols in 1270, Ghost of Tsushima may borrow heavily from open world tropes seen in other, superior titles — but it’s still a gorgeously made video game. A real visual swansong for the PS5. See Gamespot’s Ghost of Tsushima review.

Devolver Games

Fall Guys is a battle royale game unlike any you’ve ever played before. 60 players start, but after a cut-throat series of insanely fun, but bafflingly unfair, mini-games, there can only be one winner. Think Ninja Warrior crossed with Peppa Pig. 

This game has taken the internet by storm, and while I expect the hype to die down in a month or so, right now Fall Guys is the most exciting game on the planet. It’s also free on PlayStation Plus right now. See Gamespot’s Fall Guys review.

Square Enix

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The Final Fantasy VII Remake is one of those games that turned out better than anyone could have realistically expected. 

It’s beautiful — utterly gorgeous — and its reinvented combat system is a great balance between old and new. See GameSpot’s Final Fantasy VII review.

Activision

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Endless online discourse about its difficulty aside, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is another masterpiece from Dark Souls creator FromSoftware.

Sekiro shares a little of the DNA that made Dark Souls so compelling, but it’s absolutely a brand-new beast, even more distinct from the Souls series than Bloodborne. It requires learning a whole new skillset (mainly parrying) but it’s worth the initial pain. See GameSpot’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice review.

Santa Monica Studio

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It’s a complete reinvention for one of the PlayStation’s most consistent series.

God of War is extremely good. The new combat system takes a while to get used to, but once it clicks, it really clicks. God of War is an absolute showcase for the PlayStation 4 (and especially the PlayStation 4 Pro). Get that thing going on 60 frames per second. You’ll have yourself a good time. See GameSpot’s God of War review.

Marvel

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Spider-Man is probably the best superhero video game since Batman: Arkham Asylum. It’s a little derivative, but there’s no denying it’s a well-made, supremely polished video game. You should probably check it out. See GameSpot’s Spider-Man review.

Rockstar Games

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I mean obviously. 

It’s been a while since Rockstar has released a new video game, but Red Dead Redemption 2 has been worth the wait. This is a video game dripping in detail. Get through the slow start and engross yourself in one of the best video game worlds ever built. See GameSpot’s Red Dead Redemption 2 review.

Ubisoft

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Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a very big game. It takes around five hours for the opening credits to roll and, depending on how fast you go, it might take around 20 hours for the game to properly hit its stride.

But once it gets good, it gets very good. Just prepare yourself for a bit of time investment on this one. See GameSpot’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review.

Respawn Entertainment

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Well this game came out of nowhere.

Apex Legends is the game no-one saw coming. In 2018 Fortnite literally ruled our cultural universe, but now its position atop the battle royale genre is being challenged by Apex Legends and with good reason. Designed by the core team responsible for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and, more recently, the excellent Titanfall series, Apex Legends just feels so good minute to minute. Look for this game to stick around. See GameSpot’s Apex Legends review.

Guerilla Games

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Horizon: Zero Dawn is like Video Games: The Greatest Hits.

It has the sprawling mission structure of The Witcher 3, Metroid Prime-style scanning, Tomb Raider-esque bow and arrows and survival. 

And it has fricken’ robot dinosaurs with fricken’ laser beams. 

It also — somehow — weaves its ludicrous high concept into a story that not only works, but is actually incredibly compelling, affecting and features great writing and layered characters. 

It’s arguably the best game on the PlayStation 4. See GameSpot’s Horizon: Zero Dawn review.

FromSoftware

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FromSoftware doesn’t make bad video games. It makes classics, stone-cold classics, one after another.

But Bloodborne might be the best FromSoftware game yet. 

A brand new universe, a faster paced combat style, ludicrously well-designed environments and beautiful enemy design. Bloodborne is difficult, but it’s intensely rewarding. Crucially, it’s a great entry point into the “Souls” genre. See GameSpot’s Bloodborne review.

CD Projekt Red

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The Witcher 3 is glorious.

A mind-bendingly massive open world that somehow doesn’t sacrifice depth. Visually glorious. It also features surprisingly good writing and a mission structure that makes traditional side-quests feel meaningful.

Prepare to sacrifice much of your life to this behemoth.  See GameSpot’s The Witcher 3 review.

Atlus

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Do you like inter-dimensional, high-school drama anime featuring tremendously good-looking teenagers fighting demonic manifestations from another universe?

Boy, do I have the video game for you.

Spoilers: The game is Persona 5. See GameSpot’s Persona 5 review.

Kojima Productions/Konami

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From a storytelling perspective Metal Gear Solid V is a brutal, unfinished mess.

But that doesn’t even matter.

Because the absolute core of Metal Gear Solid 5 — the sneaking, the moment-to-moment cat-and-mouse game of evading guards — is just so mechanically dense and polished.

Metal Gear Solid is simultaneously the most accessible Metal Gear game ever made and the most complex. I’m still scratching my head as to how they achieved that.

Play this video game. See GameSpot’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain review.

Remedy Entertainment/Sony

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A wild, spectacular (and completely bizarre) video game, Control is one of the most ambitious and interesting big budget games of the year. Fans of the X-Files (and maybe even Twin Peaks) will enjoy this. See GameSpot’s Control review.

Warner Bros./Screenshot by CNET

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Mortal Kombat is still kicking and, some might say, is better than ever. Ignore. Once upon a time Mortal Kombat was a gimmicky ultraviolent competitor to the sublime Street Fighter II. Now it’s a spectacular fighting game in its own right, with its own set of strengths. This is the best Mortal Kombat game to date. See GameSpot’s Mortal Kombat 11 review.

Psyonix/Screenshot by Taylor Martin/CNET

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Rocket League is soccer with cars and it is so good I can’t even believe it exists in this broken, corrupt world.

It’s not quite as popular compared to when it was initially released and everyone was going crazy, but Rocket League still has a massive core community.

And the game is just so instantaneously fun. So you should probably play it. See GameSpot’s Rocket League review.

Naughty Dog

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Uncharted 4 isn’t the strongest entry in the series (that’s still the bar-setting Uncharted 2) but it’s still a benchmark in visual storytelling excellence.

It’s a little bit too long, with way too many shooting sections, but Uncharted 4 does some truly ground-breaking things in terms of video game storytelling.

And it’s one of the most beautiful games ever made. See GameSpot’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End review.

Jonathan Blow

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The Witness is designed to make you feel like a complete idiot.

In a good way.

You know how games like Metroid and Zelda sort of guide your progress by slowly giving you items that act like keys to unlocking brand-new areas?

The Witness is sorta like that, only it upgrades your actual brain. With puzzles.

This game is extremely good. See GameSpot’s The Witness review.

Toby Fox

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Undertale is for people who have played a lot of video games.

I mean that in a good way. It’s got in-jokes, subverts tropes, it’s razor sharp and properly funny. It’s also a really interesting RPG and you should play it. See GameSpot’s Undertale review.

Bethesda

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Punching Nazis: The Video Game.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was one of the best games of 2017. A culturally relevant one as well. See GameSpot’s Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus review.

Giant Sparrow/Screenshot by GameSpot

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A unique, story-focused game that’ll pique the interest of folks that liked Gone Home, Dear Esther or games of that ilk.

Like those games, What Remains of Edith Finch is narratively driven, short but affecting. See GameSpot’s What Remains of Edith Finch review.

Bethesda

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Doom is extremely good. This is established fact. This reboot had no right being as good as it is. It harks back to a different kind of first-person shooter. It’s about getting up close and personal with monster-demons and spilling their innards on blood-stained floors. See GameSpot’s Doom review.

PlatinumGames/Square Enix

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Nier: Automata was released in the same calendar year as games like Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey and Horizon: Zero Dawn, but there are people who think Nier: Automata was better than all of those video games.

I disagree, but even coming close to that level of quality is intense. Nier: Automata deserves your attention at the very least. It’s extremely good. See GameSpot’s Nier: Automata review.

Capcom

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Every so often Resident Evil becomes awesome again. There’s a cycle.

Resident Evil 2: awesome. Resident Evil 4: very awesome.

Resident Evil 5 through to 6: not awesome.

Resident Evil 7: extremely awesome.

It’s great to see the granddaddy of video game horror series back to its best. This game is wild. Brace yourself. See GameSpot’s Resident Evil 7 review.

Respawn Entertainment/EA

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Just when you think it’s safe to write the first-person shooter off as a banal genre devoid of innovation, along comes Titanfall 2. Titanfall 2 is like any other shooter except wall running, double jumping, turning into gigantic robots and uh…

Actually it’s not like another shooter at all. That’s why it’s so great. See GameSpot’s Titanfall 2 review.

Blizzard Entertainment

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You already know about Overwatch.

This game is kinda at its best on PC, but the console version also rules. Just a tremendously made online shooter with great character design and well-balanced gameplay. See GameSpot’s Overwatch review.

Activision

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Did you like Destiny? Do you like replaying the same levels over and over, grinding till you can grind no more with your friends? Abandoning the real world in search of ephemeral pleasures?

Boy, do I have a game for you.

Nah, just joking. Destiny 2 is mostly good, and the updates that came along with Destiny 2: Forsaken made it even better. Note that you can get started with the free-to-play version of Destiny 2, too. See GameSpot’s Destiny 2: Forsaken.

FromSoftware

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Dark Souls 3, like all Dark Souls games, is an acquired taste. But once you acquire that taste, everything else is ash in your mouth.

These games are good.

Dark Souls 3 is great because it’s refined and modern and eliminates a lot of the clunk of Dark Souls. It also features some of the best level design in any “Souls” game to date. See GameSpot’s Dark Souls 3 review.

Playdead

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Inside is short, disturbing and stays with you long after you’re done.

It really is one of those unforgettable gaming experiences. To explain more would spoil it. Just know that it is polished, smart, unique, interesting: It’s a well-made “thing” that you should experience. (Note that the retail version, linked below, comes packaged with Limbo, another excellent — albeit short — game.) See GameSpot’s Inside review.

Capcom

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Monster Hunter: World is the new kid on the block.

In a lot of ways it feels like a coming out party for the Monster World series, which has always been huge in Japan, but has only flirted with success in the west.

Now it feels like everyone is talking about Monster Hunter, and with good reason. It takes what we already love about Monster Hunter and makes it more accessible and… bigger. We’ve been used to playing Monster Hunter on underpowered handhelds. Playing it on a big boy console just takes Monster Hunter to the stratosphere. See GameSpot’s Monster Hunter: World review.

Capcom

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Probably the best video game remake ever. Evokes the spirit of the original Resident Evil 2 but doesn’t feel creaky or dated. Works as an nostalgia piece but is also perfectly playable for newcomers. It feels like a brilliant reworking of a type of game no-one really makes any more. See GameSpot’s Resident Evil 2 review.

Kojima Productions

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Yes, this PS4 exclusive is one of the weirdest games in recent memory — as you’d expect from Hideo Kojima, the iconoclast game impresario behind the Metal Gear Solid series. And it was certainly divisive: We found this post-apocalyptic fetch quest to be (mostly) ponderous, while our colleagues at GameSpot gave it high marks. See GameSpot’s Death Stranding review.

Bethesda/id Software

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Doom Eternal rules. It’s very much in the vein of the Doom reboot that launched in 2016, but that’s a good thing. We say it’s the most metal game ever made.

Cool additions include all-new methods of maneuvering throughout the game’s insanely violent universe. Very cool stuff. See GameSpot’s Doom Eternal review.