10 PS4 Exclusives That PC Gamers Can Only Long For
Console exclusives are often the biggest thing to separate one console from another, and the PS4 has some truly great gems out there. We can’t cover them all, but here are ten that really shine.
In the years since its release in 2013, the Playstation 4 has given us a great deal of fantastic games. We’ve been blown away by games like Witcher 3, and Dragon Age: Inquisition … but you could play them on PC or Xbox. Where the PS4 excels is in its exclusive titles.
The PS4 has been graced with a very strong lineup of exclusive titles, and whilst there are too many good ones to cover easily in one article, we’ve chosen ten particular gems to cover here today. So without further ado, follow me and we’ll cover some of the fantastic games that you can’t get anywhere but on PS4.
10. Days Gone (Release Date: TBA)
Days Gone Gameplay
Days Gone is probably one of the most anticipated games currently in development for PS4. It’s an open-world survival game, set in a world that has been ravaged by a deadly virus that turned a solid chunk of the population into mindless monsters. In it you take on the role of Deacon St. John, a drifter, bounty hunter, and zombie killing badass biker.
I know what you’re thinking, “God, not another zombie game!” well, yes it is a zombie game but it certainly seems to be in a class of its own. With freedom to explore the world, and with huge hoards of enemies, it seems like you’ll likely want to avoid confrontations whenever possible.
From what I’ve seen of the gameplay I think it’ll feel more like 2013’s The Last of Us than something like Valve’s Left for Dead series, or Capcom’s Dead Rising series. Days Gone’s page describes it as:
“About survivors and what makes them human: desperation, loss, madness, betrayal, friendship, brotherhood, regret, love – and hope. It’s about how even when confronted with such enormous tragedy they find a reason to live. Hope never dies.”
That definitely makes it sound more focused on story than action, which would be a breath of fresh air that might just reanimate the zombie genre.
He’s a tough, motorcycle-riding zombie slayer, and his name is Daryl … I mean ... Deacon
Starring: Deacon St. John in, Zombies in a Train
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Developer Naughty Dog has been a driving force in Playstation-exclusive gaming for years, from as far back as Crash Bandicoot back in ’96, to The Last of Us in 2013. However there have been few characters as beloved in recent years as Nathan Drake. We first met him searching for El Dorado in 2007’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, and so many of us fell in love with the quirky adventurer.
As with previous installments in the series, you will take control of Nathan Drake, treasure hunter and descendant of the famous explorer, Sir Francis Drake. Armed with two pistols and a healthy dose of sarcasm, there’s no adventure too perilous or treasure too well guarded for Nathan.
Set three years after Drake’s Deception, we return to Nathan’s well-worn shoes for another adventure, this time after the fabled pirate treasure of Captain Henry Avery. Of course what starts off as a seemingly simple treasure hunt takes many chaotic twists and turns as anyone familiar with the series would no doubt expect.
He pondered that, just once he wanted a treasure that wouldn’t nearly get him killed
A day in the glamorous life of Nathan Drake
Horizon Zero Dawn
Perhaps you like post-apocalyptic worlds in games, but are really tired of the same old nuclear wasteland / zombie apocalypse storyline? Well then have I got a game for you.
In Horizon Zero Dawn, you take on the role of Aloy, a young girl of the Nora tribe. The game is set about a thousand years into the future, where some calamity has knocked mankind back to the level of tribal hunter-gatherers.
All that remains of the world before are ruins, and the sentient machines that now dominate the world.
Aloy, who was left with the tribe as a child, embarks on an epic adventure to discover who she is, and uncover some mysteries along the way.
Explore a vast open-world map filled with challenges and dangers in this critically acclaimed adventure from the studio that brought you Killzone. This is without a doubt one of the most visually stunning PS4 exclusives on the market to date.
Hunt a giant robotic long-neck dinosaur with a flying saucer for a face? Yes please!
Someone really needs their workshop privileges revoked for making a robot T-Rex with a laser for a face.
Bloodborne
FromSoftware has delivered many reasons for you to pull out your hair and break things in your immediate vicinity over the years. First there was Demon’s Souls (2009) (one of the only games I have ever completely rage quit and never gone back to, for the record), then there was Dark Souls 1 (2011) and 2 (2014).
What came next though, was a drastic step to the side in terms of overall theme and aesthetic. So turn in your plate steel for some tastefully tailored silk, and your steel helm for a crisp Top Hat; we’re going to Yharnam.
Bloodborne trades in the dark fantasy settings of its predecessors for a dark Victorian setting instead, leaning very heavily on its Lovecraftian story of old gods and madness-inducing secret knowledge.
In Bloodborne you take on the role of a person that has been kidnapped and infused with a special kind of powerful blood that is the source of all power in the city of Yharnam where you will spend the majority of your time. With no way out of the nightmare, you forge forward taking on the role of a “Hunter”, a tradition of the city for people to hunt the monsters that stalk her streets at night. However this night is not like previous hunts, Yharnam is falling apart and all of her citizens are turning into mindless monsters. It’s up to you to kill your way to freedom, or forever be trapped in the endless night that the city is now trapped in.
Those familiar with Souls games will definitely feel at home in Bloodborne, as it is very similar in gameplay style, although it’s lack of the ability to block forces players to a very offensive posture in every fight, but there are multiple elements to the game that help make that a more viable option than it would otherwise be.
It’s unforgiving, and it’s tough, but I would say this is easily one of the best games currently out on PS4. I just beat it a few days ago, and I’m slowly making my way through the especially unforgiving New Game + now.
“I say old chap, I’m terribly sorry but I’m going to have to kill you.”
♫Fighting evil my moonlight, winning blood by … moonlight …♫
The Last of Us
Do you like deep, well-written characters? Do you like emotionally compelling narratives? Do you like challenging gameplay and brilliantly implemented horror? If you answered yes to any of these you need to pick up The Last of Us.
Take on the role of Joel, a tough as nails smuggler living in a military-run settlement in a crumbling city. The world as we know it has ended, being killed by a viral outbreak that wiped out most of the planet.
As an interesting a chilling departure from your typical zombie story, this is a spore that you can breathe in and it grows in your brain and hijacks your nervous system. You can still catch it from a bite as per usual, but that just keeps you on your toes.
Joel is hired to smuggle a young girl, Ellie, across the country. Getting across an infected infested America is about has arduous as it sounds, and of course you have your typical variations of violent survivors that just want to take everything you have as well.
When this came out, I’m pretty sure none of us were able to avoid hearing about it constantly. Everyone was talking about it, and with very good reason. Its graphics are beautiful, its characters are brilliantly written, and the gameplay is well crafted. You will get attached to the characters, and you will probably go on a killing spree in the final part of the story because of it (You’ll know the part).
With a remastered version on the PS4, and a sequel on the way; now is a great time to pick this modern classic up.
Just another sunny day in the Boston Quarantine Zone.
You can’t spell “fungi” with “fun”.
The Last of Us 2 (Release Date: TBA)
When it was announced at Playstation Experience 2016, the internet went instantly insane. There are few games that have generated as much hype as this sequel to the 2013 masterpiece. Unfortunately, besides all the speculation and excitement; we know very little about it at this point.
The lack of details, and timing of the trailer would tend to lead us to believe that it won’t be dropping for at least another year, but long before then we should hopefully be seeing some gameplay and getting some more details about what’s been happening between the games.
We know that you will playing Ellie more in this game, unlike the more Joel-focused first game. We can reasonably assume that it will retain much of the gameplay style from the first game, though environments will certainly be bigger and encounters will probably be on a larger scale to take advantage of the PS4’s stronger CPU and larger memory.
The Last of Us 2 is set five years after the first game, with Ellie now 19.
When speaking of the game, Neil Druckmann, the writer and director on the game said that whilst the first game was about love, the sequel was going to focus on hate as a concept. So I suppose we can expect a much darker story this time around.
Given how much silence was your friend in TLoU, I’m wondering when she found time to practice guitar.
Is it just me, or does she seem really tall?
God of War (Release Date: TBA)
Ah, Kratos, another beloved Playstation icon. Kratos has been with us since his debut in God of War 1 back in 2005 on PS2, and has had seven games across several Sony platforms. He’s one of the few long lasting Playstation icons that isn’t aimed at kids, and boy is he not aimed at kids.
For those of you who don’t know, in the God of War games you play a Spartan warrior who through several massive scale kill-fests finds himself elevated from servant to the Greek gods, to one of the Greek gods, and finally to the guy that kills most of the Greek gods.
In the games you hack and slash your way through people, mythical monsters and even the gods themselves, each time with a specific mission in mind.
However in this soft-core reboot of the series, there will be at least a few changes that we know of. First and foremost among these changes is the setting. Where in all previous games you killed your way through an ancient Greek backdrop, in the new game you will be somewhere in Scandinavia. Norse mythology has already been confirmed for the game, so it’s reasonable to assume that Kratos will probably be making enemies of this younger pantheon of gods in classic fashion.
Other changes to the formula include Kratos having a son, (as a result having some emotional depth beyond shouting at some things and breaking others) and what appears to be a gameplay style that is more like an RPG than a traditional hack and slash game.
Also he has a beard now, so you know he means business.
This child is going to have a very odd religious education
The Order: 1886
This game, is probably one of the more interesting new IPs on PS4, in my opinion. Especially if you like alternate history games, which I do.
You are Galahad, a member of a secret society of knights sworn to defend mankind from half-animal monsters called “half-breeds”. The 1886, and you find yourself at the center of a plot that threatens to engulf London.
This game is aesthetically amazing, even with it being a little older in terms of PS4 games at this point, having been released in 2015. The concept is fascinating, the monsters are chilling, and the technology that the Order uses manages to be futuristic for the time whilst still feeling at least bordering on believability.
The game has been criticized for having too much walking and talking, but if you love aesthetics and story this one is definitely worth a look; especially with how cheaply you can usually pick it up these days.
I mean, just look at that cityscape. That’s better looking that some things in development now!
Maybe they’re just angry because “half-breed” just isn’t a flattering name.
Until Dawn
Have you ever watched a horror film and shouted at the characters when they were doing something stupid? Have you ever turned at that moment to a friend and said something akin to, “You know, if we were in this movie we’d survive because we aren’t stupid,”? Well you’re in luck because now’s your chance to test that statement.
Until Dawn is essentially an interactive horror movie. In it you take control of seven friends, who have gone to their friend Josh’s family’s mountain retreat in western Canada. It has been a year since they have been there last, when both of Josh’s sisters died tragically.
They all receive the invitation from Josh and go, spending the anniversary there in the hopes of getting through it together and perhaps getting some closure. However not all is as it seems.
This game is filled to the brim with twists and turns, and every plot reveal gives way to another mystery. Every character can die or be saved, and most of your actions with each character have consequences big and small.
If you like horror games, games where you’re choices impact the story, or even just interactive cinematic games like Heavy Rain or Beyond: Two Souls, then you should definitely give this one a try.
Will you keep everyone alive until dawn?
All spirits are currently busy, but if you’d like to leave a message after the “arrrrgh” …
Creepy children’s toys? Creepy dolls? The Washington’s house has all the bases covered.
Spider-Man (Release Date: TBA)
There have been so many Spider-Man games over the years, it gets hard to keep track. The sad thing is that as much as Spidey is a great character (and one of my favourite superheroes) most of the games have been … well, let’s not beat around the bush, most of them have been a heaping pile of suck.
This one though … I mean I know we only have the one trailer, but it really looks like this one might be a defining game for the character.
We don’t have almost any information yet, not knowing why he has the unique suit he does or even what the story is going to be about … but we do at least know that most of the trailer was apparently in-game footage so hopefully you will actually be able to zip around the city as nimbly as we see in the trailer.
There’s been no confirmed release date as of yet either, but it sounds like they might be hoping for a 2017 holiday release, so with any luck we’ll be hearing more about this title in the next few months.
I’d really like to see a game that does Spidey justice, and this one looks like it just might.
I just want to know why he has Venom’s logo on his chest.
The real question is, “Will we see Spidey again first on PS4, or in Spider-Man: Homecoming this July 2017?”
Of course these are just ten picks, there are a lot more. There’s so much being announced and released for PS4 every day that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with it all. Don’t be intimidated though, all that means is you have nearly an inexhaustible list of games to try. It might not be fun for your wallet, but it’s definitely fun for you.
If you liked this article, you might want to give these ones a look:
The Xbox One and PS4 Exclusives that Need To Be on PC
