The best PS4 games for 2023

Naughty Dog is one of the most talented game studios on the planet, and the developer certainly showed that with the Uncharted series. Following treasure-hunting adventurer Nathan Drake in all but 2017’s Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, the series riffs on the Indiana Jones format, but with an added dose of sarcasm and adrenaline that truly makes it feel like you’re playing a movie. Over the course of the four main games — the first three are bundled in The Nathan Drake Collection — Drake and partner Sully travel across the globe in search of riches, and they always seem to run into trouble along the way. That leads to plenty of shootouts and skin-of-your-teeth escape sequences, which often offer spectacle rarely seen elsewhere in video games. If you want to try out online play instead, Uncharted 4’s competitive multiplayer is surprisingly engaging, even managing to pack in some of the campaign’s humor.

Swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper through a living, breathing New York metropolis is just one of the things that Marvel’s Spiderman does incredibly well. Though the main story is only an estimated 20 hours long, there’s plenty for players to see and do beyond just that. From unlocking really cool Spidey suits and gadgets to taking out your camera and capturing some of the city’s best landmarks, it’s really hard not to feel like the real Spider-Man when playing this game. Critics have even gone on to say that Marvel’s Spider-Man is the best superhero video game of its time (surpassing that of Batman: Arkham Asylum), and we hope that this means we’ll get more games in other superhero universes just like it.

Though many of us loved the original Destiny, it had a cryptic and confusing story and a surprisingly empty world. These issues were rectified in Destiny 2, a game so content-rich and satisfying that we’ve found ourselves playing for three or four hours at a time without much thought. The buttery-smooth combat of the first game returns, but it’s coupled with a cinematic story spanning four different worlds, a number of extra Adventures to complete, six cooperative Strikes, and a competitive multiplayer component as satisfying as Titanfall 2 or Battlefield 1. Destiny 2: Forsaken added plenty of worthwhile additions to keep Guardians glued to their controllers. From the excellent Baron boss fights to the new Triumphs and Collections systems to great new environments like Gambit, Forsaken brings the already great Destiny 2 formula to new heights. You can gain access to the entire Destiny 2 experience by buying Destiny 2: Forsaken – Legendary Edition. It comes with the base game, the first two expansions, and the Forsaken makeover. The most recent expansion, Beyond Light came out in November 2020 and is beloved by the community thanks to some new features, improvements like faster load times, and lots to do. Even better is that Bungie is planning a new expansion called The Witch Queen for release sometime in 2021, so there’s plenty to look forward to.