Of the PS4 console exclusive games to be released this year, Red Dead Redemption 2 is probably the most awaited. Perhaps even more so than upcoming titles such as the latest title in the God of War franchise and Insomniac Games’ Spiderman game. However, as excited as most people are for the long-awaited follow-up to 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, information on the game has been scarce. In fact, the only thing we’re sure of right now is that it won’t come until late 2018, which is still a long way off.
Having said that, we took the time to compile a list of PS4 console exclusive games to help tide us over for the meantime. Not every one of these games is similar to Red Dead Redemption, the gameplay won’t even be the same. But, they all share enough similarities to serve as an excellent distraction until the game finally hits the store shelves in October.
Horizon Zero Dawn
https://youtu.be/RRQDqurZJNk
Like it or not, hunting has become a crucial part of the open-world gameplay experience, and Red Dead Redemption was one of the games to first popularize the mechanic. The game boasted animals who behaved like the real thing that actually felt like living beings that you had to kill instead of just objects for you to shoot.
In Guerilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn, hunting isn’t part of the game — it’s arguably what the game is all about. Playing as the hunter/archer Aloy, you explore all sorts of landscapes, from deserts to snowy mountains and encounter a diverse mix of wildlife and machines, often a combination of both. The machines, for one, behave just like how their animal likeness would. They’ll graze, roam in herds, and they’ll even hunt you if you’re not too careful. Basically, they feel like a natural part of Horizon Zero Dawn’s world, which is what makes hunting — and the subsequent crafting — in the game so exciting as you try to figure out how to take each one of the animal machines down using only what’s available to you.
The Last of Us
Redemption, family and the end of a bygone era. These are three things about Red Dead Redemption’s narrative that stood out the most. As a result, the game had one of the most memorable characters in video game history, something that The last of Us, and its central characters, Joel and Ellie, can fully relate to.
The Last of Us tells the story of Joel and Ellie. Two of the most unlikely people to journey together, the game’s protagonists have to journey Westward through a post-apocalytpic United States. As they go along, they encounter various people, who all have their own stories that you’ll be so eager to know more about. The game tugs at your very emotions; it forces you to think about how frail we are as human beings, about love, and about loss. The gameplay too is masterfully crafted to fully convey the struggle of surviving and the consequences of your actions.
The Last of Us is one of the best games, not just of this generation, but of all time. It’s one of those console exclusive games that help make the actual consoles themselves sell.
Put simply, The Last of Us is a game that you absolutely have to play.
Yakuza 0
If Red Dead Redemption was the gateway to the wild west, then consider Yakuzo 0 as your ticket to late-80s Japan, back when the Yakuza pretty much had their hands in everything. Playing either as Kazuma Kiryu and his associate Goro Majima, the game will treat you to some top-notch third-person brawling and a bevvy of side activities whenever you get tired of enforcing your will and climbing up the ranks.
There’s a long list of things that you can do in-game, including, but not limited to: fishing, blowing, and running your own hostess club.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Featuring a healthy mix of explosive action and quiet scenes featuring human drama, Nathan Drake’s swan song is the perfect way to end the longstanding series. Though the game’s beloved protagonist remained as lovable, it was nice to see him go from solely focusing on hunting treasure and surviving encounters with armed goods to interacting with Elena, Sully and Sam, whose mocapped performances made the entire experience far more rewarding than it probably should’ve been.
If you’ve followed the series from the start, then there’s no reason for you not to play through Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. But, even if you didn’t, the game is good enough to make you want to backtrack and go back to trying out its predecessors.
The Last Guardian
One of the most awaited console exclusive games of this generation, The Last Guardian, which was first announced back in 2009, is either a game that you’ll love or hate. There’s really no in between. But, regardless of how you feel about it, there’s little doubt that the developers paid their dues, giving the game utmost care and attention to become a proper follow-up to their highly successful games like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.
Perhaps it was mistake to program Trico’s AI (the game’s giant creature) to require training and have players learn to control it. Most simply didn’t have the patience to deal with it, nor were they particularly interested. Some probably didn’t even know that they had to work on training Trico. However, if you took the time to truly understand the game, it will truly feel like it’s just the two of you against the world, which is where The Last Guardian shines like few other games ever could.
Honourable Mentions
So we sort of ran out of PS4 console exclusive games to recommend, but worry not. We have two others to recommend that, though not exactly PS4 exclusives, are good enough to take up a huge chunk of your time as you wait for Red Dead Redemption 2.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Had Konami decided not to port it to the PC, The Phantom Pain would’ve easily been one of the best console exclusive games of this generation if not all time. It was a true masterpiece and despite the backlash the game received for ending on a cliff hanger, remains the creme of the crop of the tactical stealth genre. Sure, the Cold War-themed espionage game doesn’t exactly sound like an alternative to RDR2 at first glance, but look beyond their difference in genre, and you’ll see that both of these games are pretty similar.
For example, both games have horses! Not only that, but both are mechanically the same — third-person shooters set in a massive open world that’s chock full of set pieces and a memorable cast of characters that help complete the game experience. Narrative-wise, MGSV:TPP and RDR are not all too different either; loss and redemption are both essential themes to the game, while Snake and John are both men who find themselves trying to adapt to a strange new world that once felt so familiar.
Red Dead Redemption
Why not? Red Dead Redemption remains one of the best console exclusive games of all time. So, while you’re waiting for its sequel (or should it be prequel?), you can always play through the original again, as well as Undead Nightmare, the game’s standalone expansion.
Which other PS4 console exclusive games do you think deserve to be on the list? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
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