Forget Uncharted. And Killzone. And Resistance. We promised we’d update our continuously evolving list of the best PS3 games whenever new and worthy contenders entered the field. So, with such a strong start to 2012, it was time to do away with last year’s classics and focus only on what’s greatest right now.
Here are the current PS3 games we recommend above all others. Check back often, as we’ll continue to update the list – and the order of the list – with new releases.
Forget all the talk about how revolutionary the game is, how it elevates storytelling, how it packs one of the heftiest emotional punches in interactive entertainment. And put aside the horrible voice-acting along with the farfetched twists and preposterous turns. Heavy Rain makes the cut for one great reason: it’s fun. Sure, the gameplay can be reductively described as a series of quick-time events, but that doesn’t account for how cleverly these QTEs challenge your fingers and thumbs.
At one point, our hero has to make his way through a series of electrified fences, forcing you to engage in a game of twister with the DualShock, placing one finger then another in awkward contortions to mimic the on-screen action. At another point, our hero is forced to barrel down a highway in the wrong direction, offering up a series of lightning fast tests that squeezes the adrenal gland. Moments like this, along with the more thoughtful puzzles and challenges, elevate Heavy Rain into the upper echelon of PS3-exclusive experiences.
The third game in a series can be tough. Even if it's not to be the last entry in the series God of War: Ascension, it has to weave together story threads in a satisfying way, and raise the stakes all around. God of War III did all that and more. With its Titan levels, it introduced a massive sense of scale, giving Kratos's quest for revenge an apocalyptic heft. It also let us tear a god's head off, then use it as a lantern. How's that for upping the ante?
God of War III really earns its place on this list with its amazing graphics. As a PS3 exclusive, it showed what a developer could do by taking advantage of the powerful hardware inside a PS3. It also introduced awesome new weapons, like the Nemesis whip, and integrated them into the game's perfectly paced moments of puzzle solving. Right down to the final conflict with Zeus himself, God of War III is a hack and slash experience that's not to be missed.
Sucker Punch's Infamous was an excellent exercise in the superhero game that allowed the dev house to break out of the mold of being "the House of Sly Cooper." Infamous 2 breaks the game out of the (undeserved) dismissive comparisons to Crackdown with an exemplary mix of great open-world gameplay and a wonderfully vibrant environment with New Marais.
The sleepy Southern metropolis not only allows Cole McGrath a variety of new abilities, new riffs on the good/evil alignments, and a well-written story that hits the right notes of emotional beats as Cole builds up his powers to take on The Beast. So much of the game is told in the small details that drive the narrative forward, from the linear progression of New Marais' levels (and the color/visual changes that accompany) to the enemy types Cole encounters.
It's an outstanding PS3 game that's well worth playing.
Assassin's Creed 2 launched the series to the success that it is today. Not only did it improve on the gameplay of the first title with improved combat mechanics, add more Assassin gadgets like the wrist pistol, and include fun side-jobs like building up the Auditore estate, it launched the epic trilogy of one of the most popular video game characters this generation, Ezio Auditore de Firenze.
For those who haven't played the Assassin's Creed games, this is where to start. While later games in the series may have improved on many of the gameplay mechanics or added enjoyable elements like recruiting and training Assassin's, AC2 still has the strongest narrative of the series. Watching Ezio change from a cocky teenager to master Assassin shouldn't be missed, and playing through AC2 will surely make you a diehard for the rest of the series.
Read the Assassin's Creed 2 review
If Batman: Arkham Asylum took the world by surprise, then Batman: Arkham City took it by storm. Moving the action from the world's most famous home for the criminally insane to a dingy, crime-infested corner of Gotham City gave us the chance to truly behave like the bat. Hearing the cries of the victimized, we swooped down from the rooftops, dishing out cruel justice with our fists and utility belt full of wonderful toys. Akrham Asylum broke ground with gameplay that actually felt like authentic Batman behavior, but with an open world to patrol, we felt as if we were the Dark Knight.
It was an awesome expansion of the gameplay from Asylum, and the story as well. Batman just wouldn't be Batman without his enemies, and centering the plot around the Joker was a perfect move. So was introducing even more memorable faces from his long list of enemies. From a frightening face-off with Solomon Grundy to a mind-bending encounter with the Mad Hatter, then one of the most creative boss fights we've ever seen with Mr. Freeze, Batman: Arkham City didn't disappoint in the villain department. In fact, it didn't disappoint anywhere. We think it's the best superhero game to date.
Read the Batman: Arkham City review
Take away your negativity toward its lengthy cutscenes and its overarching attempts to explain away the narrative loose ends that Metal Gear Solid 2 left affray.Once you look at it in terms of raw gameplay, it's impossible to argue that Metal Gear Solid 4 isn't a marvel of the PlayStation 3 and a testament to the lofty ambitions of Kojima Productions.
From its intense attention to small details — how many games had in-game podcasts in 2008? -- to a series of intense set pieces designed with a degree of fan service in mind. It's intense, well-paced, and continues so many of the great ideas that Metal Gear Solid 3 let loose in the latter years of the PS2.
Solid Snake's foray into mortality and a final showdown with Liquid Ocelot still stands as one of the finest games to grace the console.
Read the Metal Gear Solid 4 review>
The first Portal was a humble little package that took the world by storm with its incredibly inventive approach to first person puzzling and wickedly funny script. The sequel had some gigantic shoes to fill and after Valve took its usual deliberate time with crafting the follow-up, we got a game that improved on the original in basically every way. The laughs were bigger, the characters were incredibly well-realized, and the ingenious puzzles were even better designed.
Each set of levels added some new wrinkle, be it bouncy blue paint or energy bridges. But even if it lacked the creative levels and concepts, its worth playing to not only see GLADoS again, but to also make new friends like Cave Johnson and Wheatley. From the strange opening to the legitimately touching ending, Portal 2 made us feel so many things, but chief among those was elated to see what could be done in games.
Most of the best western films in cinema history deal with the end of the Old West, painting it as a fragile world about to be stamped out by progress. Red Dead does the same for gaming as well, telling the tale of John Marston, one of the last cowboys alive America moves towards the future. But before he can lay down his revolvers, he first has to lay some old ghosts to rest.
RDR took Rockstar's skills at crafting unforgettable stories and sprawling, crime-ridden worlds and turned back the clock to a simpler but no less violent time. John's adventure made us feel like we were the stars of our own western, righting wrongs, playing poker, and shooting people in the face on the open range. By the emotional climax we weren't ready to say goodbye to the West, but we can't think of a better farewell.
Read the Red Dead Redemption review
BioShock is significantly more than the sum of its parts. At its core, it’s a middling shooter, with average controls and only slightly impressive visuals. Plasmids (which were essentially small-scale superpowers) were neat and all, but they were far from groundbreaking. When everything was mixed together, though – the brilliant plot, the amazing score, and the wonderful world – the true majesty of BioShock shined brighter than almost any game ever made.
Every moment of the game is memorable, and each character leaves a lasting impression on the player. More importantly, the narrative is one of the bravest in the medium, daring to challenge pre-conceived notions of video game storytelling and laughing in the face of what it is to be a game. Though the ending is spotty and there are some repetitive bits, BioShock remains one of the greatest games ever made, and a must play – especially if you’re interested in the surprisingly good sequel.
Since pixel first popped onto screen, games have strived to achieve cinematic experiences. Each generation inched further – an interactive cutscene here, a motion-captured segment there – but it wasn’t until Uncharted 2: Among Thieves that, finally, the two met. Naughty Dog’s adventure title was, first and foremost, a video game (and a good one at that, with a stellar story, wonderful controls, and beautiful visuals) but it was also a movie. It became both, and then it ruined movies forever.
It ruined movies by proving that they weren’t enough anymore. They weren’t needed. Technology had outpaced it. Everything Nathan Drake did, from the moment he fell out of a teetering locomotive in a snow-covered Nepal to the moment he arrived back at that same spot ten hours later, was interactive, giving players the ability to do what they could never, ever do in a movie: have control. And with control we felt more invested in the world. We were a part of the story, and after Uncharted 2, there was no going back.
That’s our list… for now. Watch for this space to evolve as newer and hopefully even better titles come out in the months to come. Until then, tell us your favorite PS3 games of the year so far. Did we miss something obvious? (Journey’s on PSN, which we’re saving for a separate list.)
Did we get the order exactly right, or totally wrong? (Of course we got it right, but feel free to disagree.) What’s YOUR list?
MrHo11ywood360 - January 11, 2012 2:42 p.m.
BladedFalcon - January 11, 2012 3:39 p.m.
theStig - January 11, 2012 5:09 p.m.
JakandDax3 - January 11, 2012 8:24 p.m.
ItBurnsWhenIWii - January 11, 2012 8:45 p.m.
ItBurnsWhenIWii - January 11, 2012 8:46 p.m.
ItBurnsWhenIWii - January 11, 2012 9:01 p.m.
BladedFalcon - January 12, 2012 12:14 a.m.
Cyberninja - January 12, 2012 8:09 p.m.
oddprophet - January 16, 2012 9:06 a.m.
MetroidPrimeRib - March 30, 2012 1:22 p.m.
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theStig - January 11, 2012 2:40 p.m.