Top 25 PS3 Games
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19: Burnout Paradise
Why It Was Selected
Colin: The PlayStation brand has a proud legacy with racing games. After all, one of its marquee franchises -- Gran Turismo -- is widely considered to be the best racing series of all time. But Burnout came from outside of Sony's deep first-party bench that wowed gamers upon its release in early 2008. Indeed, Burnout Paradise is perhaps one of the most unique racing games ever made, in that it's set in a non-linear, open-world environment. But what interests many PlayStation 3 gamers the most is how much mileage one can get out of the game. Developer Criterion supported Burnout Paradise with a plethora of DLC, both paid and free, which went above and beyond just fixing bugs and glitches. Gamers could download new cars, modes and more, giving you more bang for your buck than virtually any other game on the platform.
Favorite Memory
Greg: This one's easy – my favorite memory was tooling around in the Ecto-1. OK, it wasn't the official Ghostbusters' car, but months after release, the developers dumped a bunch of new rides into Burnout, and among them were throwbacks to the Ecto-1 and the Delorean from Back to the Future. Burnout is literally the game that keeps on giving with its wealth of DLC, and that's why I'll never forget it. -
18: Borderlands
Why It Was Selected
Greg: Shooters are a dime a dozen, but what makes Borderlands stand apart is its impressive style and insane depth. Sure, it's a first-person shooter by design, but the leveling and combining of weapons makes Borderlands an RPG nut's fantasy. You're picking up loot left and right, questing with friends, and watching your progress meter every second that you can. Add in the cel-shaded look of the game that makes you feel like you're in a slick, gun-filled cartoon, and you know that Gearbox has a winner – a winner we still can't stop playing and demanding new DLC for.
Favorite Memory
Clements: I knew I would love Borderlands the moment that the opening cutscene started and "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" came blasting onto my speakers. But being a loot-collecting RPG at heart, I wasn't expecting Borderlands to have the same visceral combat that a traditional shooter would have. I was very wrong. The first time I squeezed the trigger on a weathered rifle and watched as bullets sprayed my charging target, I realized how powerful the battle system of Borderlands was. When the gun you're using is convincing, you won't stop loving it. -
17: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Why It Was Selected
Colin: The first-person shooter genre is a saturated one, but every so often, a game comes along that seems to define precisely what the best-of-the-best should strive to be. In late 2007, gamers met Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and for the many of the millions upon millions who played it, it was the best first-person shooter they'd ever laid eyes (and hands) on. Developer Infinity Ward has a special knack for intertwining story and compelling, unique gameplay that puts you in the center of the action and makes you feel like you're really there. Indeed, this is the very game that began to cement Infinity Ward as the premier FPS developer on the face of the planet, perhaps unduly and unfairly injuring the reputation of the other developer they shared the franchise with, Treyarch. But collateral damage is all part of the war game, and Modern Warfare seems to have won it pretty easily.
Favorite Memory
Greg: Remember when you die in the game?! Oh… erm, spoilers. Anyway, when that nuke went off, my helicopter spun out of control, and I saw death from a first-person angle, I was blown away. Shooters rarely get me going, but COD4's blockbuster story, cool set pieces and rad gameplay hooked me. Still, it'll always be about those last gasps in nuclear fallout for me. -
16: Valkyria Chronicles
Why It Was Selected
Greg: An awesome art style? A super-deep RPG? An engaging story? A strategy game that kicks all sorts of butt? Yeah, that sums up Valkyria Chronicles. Seriously, Valkyria Chronicles was overlooked by a lot of gamers, and that is such a shame. Using your command points to move scouts and troopers into place is one of the best experiences on the PS3. This game makes you think about where your'e sending your troops, what the best formations are, who the best soldiers are and so much more. There are classes to level up, items to develop, and missions out the wazzou. Do yourself a favor and play this one.
Favorite Memory
Clements: It's difficult to describe my favorite moment in Valkyria Chronicles without giving away the game's heart-aching twist. Let's just say that a game courageous enough to deal with death should be commended, and that's exactly why I appreciate Valkyria Chronicles. The twist not only affects the heroes of the story but it also reminds players about the gravity of war and that no one is immune to its terrible influence. -
15: Super Street Fighter IV
Why It Was Selected
Greg: How do you improve on one of the best fighting games ever made? Add "Super" to the title. OK, well, maybe there's more to it than that, but Super Street Fighter IV was already great, so adding 10 new characters and a bunch of bells and whistles to make Super Street Fighter IV only sweetens the deal. The art is still fantastic, the online is better than ever, and the gameplay is still simple enough to jump in and have a blast with but deep enough to sink months of your life into mastering.
Favorite Memory
Clements: Sometimes victory isn't everything. When I was completely decimated by a superior opponent in Super Street Fighter IV, I realized just how deep the game can be and how much effort must be expended to master the game's mechanics. Although I know I'll never reach tournament-level play, I admire the strategic potential of Super Street Fighter IV. It's no wonder this series has been around for so long. -
14: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Why It Was Selected
Clements: The original Uncharted was an instant PS3 classic. The story of Nathan Drake was deeply engaging, funny, and filled with top-notch character development. Uncharted also had some of the most organic platforming around, along with some phenomenal, action-packed sequences that were as close to a Hollywood action film as you could possibly get. These stunning set pieces were supported by a bevy of impressive details, like the meticulous character animations and astounding voice work. From Nathan's first glimpse of the jungle as he scaled an abandoned submarine to the game's shocking conclusion, Uncharted is a must-play.
Favorite Memory
Greg: This is the game that made me believe that I could be a totally creepy dude. While reviewing Uncharted, I fell in love with Elena. Like, ? in love with her. Drake's woman is just so adorable, believable and bad ass in this game. Watching her and Nathan's relationship blossom from a punch in the face to that almost kiss at the end was a thing of beauty. -
13: Heavy Rain
Why It Was Selected
Clements: This chilling, violent story of love and sacrifice was an ambitious project from the start. In Heavy Rain, there would be no "Game Over" screen -- the fate of the heroes' lives was in your hands and it was up to you to unravel the mystery of the Origami Killer. By playing as four different characters, gamers were treated to a visually striking experience that required nimble fingers and quick reflexes. Heavy Rain demanded that players make difficult choices, which is one of the game's greatest strengths and one of the attributes that makes it a top PS3 title.
Favorite Memory
Greg: How awesome is Heavy Rain? I missed the Super Bowl to play it. That's what's always going to stick with me about this game; I was so excited to have it and so engrossed in the tale and the endings that I couldn't stop playing. Every time I'd start to shut it down, I'd think of another change I could make that might lead to a different ending. The hunt was just so addictive. -
12: Dead Space
Why It Was Selected
Greg: Few games scared us the way that Dead Space did. Isaac Clarke was a simple engineer who showed up to answer a distress call on the USG Ishimura, but what he really found was a ship infested with reanimated corpses and flying stingray aliens. Using the Plasma Cutter and a wealth of other tools-turned-weapons, Isaac went to town on the Necromorphs and earned a spot on our list thanks to the perfectly paced gameplay, creepy zero-G sections, and "oh my ? , what's around the next corner" feeling that permeated the title. Space has never been scarier.
Favorite Memory
Colin: Sometimes, a title sneaks up on me. I was jaded with survival horror games after the mediocrity of Resident Evil 5 smashed me in the face earlier in 2009, so when I got my hands on Dead Space, I feigned excitement. Low expectations are a good thing sometimes, though, because Dead Space absolutely blew me away. The game felt lonely and isolated, and I loved that. -
11: Shatter
Why It Was Selected
Greg: Brick-breaking games are nothing new to our industry, but Shatter – well – broke the mold. Sure, you broke bricks, but the game's ability to push and pull the ball, the title's rad music, and the download's sweet visuals pushed it to legendary status. The worlds rotate, you can cash in tokens, and leaderboards let you know how you're stacking up against your friends at all times. When you talk to IGN editors about the best PlayStation Network games, Shatter comes up, and it's no surprise to anyone who has played it that when you talk about the best PlayStation 3 games, Shatter holds its own.
Favorite Memory
Colin: Shatter is easily the best game on PlayStation Network, period. Brick-breaking games may seem played-out to some, but no game has gone to the lengths Shatter has to turn the genre completely on its head. Its gameplay is addicting and the soundtrack is sublime. When I first got my hands on it, I was addicted. That addiction spawned my ridiculously high score. You know, the one you can't beat. -
11: Shatter
Why It Was Selected
Greg: Brick-breaking games are nothing new to our industry, but Shatter – well – broke the mold. Sure, you broke bricks, but the game's ability to push and pull the ball, the title's rad music, and the download's sweet visuals pushed it to legendary status. The worlds rotate, you can cash in tokens, and leaderboards let you know how you're stacking up against your friends at all times. When you talk to IGN editors about the best PlayStation Network games, Shatter comes up, and it's no surprise to anyone who has played it that when you talk about the best PlayStation 3 games, Shatter holds its own.
Favorite Memory
Colin: Shatter is easily the best game on PlayStation Network, period. Brick-breaking games may seem played-out to some, but no game has gone to the lengths Shatter has to turn the genre completely on its head. Its gameplay is addicting and the soundtrack is sublime. When I first got my hands on it, I was addicted. That addiction spawned my ridiculously high score. You know, the one you can't beat.
I should try the demo of this -
shatter is cool, but better than heavy rain? hell no.
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10: ? of War III
Why It Was Selected
Colin: During the PlayStation 2's waning years, Sony stumbled upon a veritable gaming goldmine. The original ? of War blew gamers away back in 2005 with its crisp gameplay, dynamic setting and beautiful graphics. And while its sequel was delivered to the PlayStation 2 in 2007 -- the year after the PlayStation 3 was already released -- gamers had to wait three more years to finally get a swing at ? of War in HD. ? of War III wouldn't be unfamiliar in any respect to veterans of the first two games. The frenzied button-mashing gameplay was back, as was the franchise's lonely and angry anti-hero, Kratos. But while ? of War III didn't revolutionize the series in terms of how it's played, its gorgeous aesthetics certainly did. Even unchanged, ? of War III's attention to fine gameplay cements the franchise as one of Sony's most important.
Favorite Memory
Greg: ? of War games had never done it for me. I didn't like Kratos as a character, I thought the "puzzles" were lame, and I just didn't care about the story the title was telling. Most of that changed with ? of War III. Getting an early copy of that game completely derailed my mother's California visit. I just sat on the couch with my jaw opened and watched Kratos scale Cronos, slay gods, and take his (yeah, right) final bow in glorious HD. -
9: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Why It Was Selected
Clements: Hideo Kojima will always be known for his work on the Metal Gear series, and for good reason. The Metal Gear Solid games were exceptional efforts that blended stealth gameplay with a gripping story. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was a fitting "end" to the Solid Snake saga, as it was not only a technical powerhouse but it also celebrated the many elements that make Metal Gear so memorable. Action, intrigue, amazing boss battles and more -- Guns of the Patriots had it all. And the amount of collectibles and customization included in MGS4 were the figurative cherries on top.
Favorite Memory
Greg: Act 4 – that's what I'm always going to remember about Metal Gear Solid 4. After staying up until 2 a.m. the night before playing the game, I came home and jumped into MGS4 expecting to get a few hours in before passing out. My eyes snapped open when Act 4 began with Snake finding out he was headed to Shadow Moses, the setting of my favorite game of all-time, Metal Gear Solid. I didn't put the controller down until 3 a.m., and it was worth it. -
8: Grand Theft Auto IV
Why It Was Selected
Greg: Most people expect greatness from a Grand Theft Auto game, but GTA IV excelled in ways no one expected. The story of Niko Bellic, an immigrant transplanted to Liberty City, was one of heartache, revenge and a man just trying to make it. Toss in an open world that was more alive than most with its comedy clubs, bars, strip clubs and so on; toss in a complex relationship network; toss in dozens of missions; and toss in a choice at the end of the game that made most of think twice about what we should do, and you had a game that set the bar very, very high for every game to come.
Favorite Memory
Hil: When Packie and Niko decide to rob a bank, you just know it's all going to go wrong. And it does in glorious fashion. This mission is amazing. You're absolutely overwhelmed here, running from the cops, trying to keep your friends alive, hoping to come out of it with at least some cash to show for all the bloodshed. It's an intense chase and easily the best GTA IV has to offer. I went back to that save a few times, just to relive that mission. -
7: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Why It Was Selected
Greg: Superhero videogames don't have a great track record, so not everyone was expecting big things from Batman: Arkham Asylum. However, when the Caped Crusader hit PS3s across the globe, he showed a comic book game blueprint that every hero title would be compared to from here on out. Arkham Asylum delivered an adult, real vision of Batman that incorporated the decades of Dark Knight stories. It had villains, gadgets, stealth gameplay and fighting mechanics that were the panels of the comics come to life. There were challenges, Easter eggs, and a story that was all sorts of awesome.
Favorite Memory
Colin: I'm not a superhero fan by any stretch of the imagination. I loved Sunsoft Batman on the NES and some of the early movies as well, but I just don't know much Batman or his universe. That's why when I was so utterly and completely blown away by Arkham Asylum, I knew the game had to be something special. I chased and chased the Platinum Trophy in the game fruitlessly, unfortunately. Stupid challenges. -
6: Killzone 2
Why It Was Selected
Colin: Killzone 2 kind of snuck up on a lot of people. The original title was a moderate success on PlayStation 2 when it was released in 2004, but in the realm of first-person shooters, there were simply bigger kids on the block to compete with. When Killzone 2 was released on the PlayStation 3 over four years later, however, things had suddenly changed. Killzone 2 wasn't only a top-notch first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3. It was one of the industry's best first-person shooters, period. It's true that Killzone 2 is also considered one of the PlayStation 3's prettiest games, but that's beside the point when considering what matters most -- its gameplay. Killzone 2's controls are smooth and responsive, its shooting mechanics fluid, and its story, setting and characters compelling. No wonder its sequel, Killzone 3, is one of PlayStation 3's most-anticipated upcoming titles.
Favorite Memory
Clements: One of the most memorable moments I had in Killzone 2 was the ship turret section, where Sev mans one of the guns on the New Sun during the Helghast's attack on the ISA fleet. Although I died numerous times in this sequence, I remember being blown away by the scope of this section and the realism of the fight going on outside of Sev's turret. Seeing the sun-drenched clouds filled with gunfire was an astounding spectacle. -
5: Infamous
Why It Was Selected
Colin: Sandbox games have gone from a welcome and unique novelty in gaming to a genre that is risking overexposure. The likes of seminal titles like Grand Theft Auto III and The Getaway inevitably lead to subpar imitations like Prototype and The Godfather. But when Infamous was released on PlayStation 3 in the spring of 2009, it quickly became clear that this was unlike any sandbox game anyone had ever played. Infamous puts gamers in the role of Cole, a bike messenger-turned-superhero. The game's sharp attention to fluid gameplay made it a breeze to play, while your ability to make real and lasting choices as you progressed through the story gave you reason to come back for seconds.
Favorite Memory
Greg: Blast shards. Those effing blast shards. When I started playing Infamous, I fell in love and knew that I would have to Platinum the game. However, even I didn't know the obsession would take me so far that I'd end up printing off digital photos of Empire City and going building by building crossing out searched spaces with a red marker. Being blurry-eyed and sleep-deprived while finding the final shard on a broken dock is among my happiest moments in life. -
4: LittleBigPlanet
Why It Was Selected
Clements: Media Molecule's brilliant platformer LittleBigPlanet captured the hearts of PS3 fans everywhere. The game embodied the creative potential of the PlayStation family and also introduced the world to one of gaming's greatest (and cutest) mascots: Sackboy. The lovable, burlap sack character was beyond charming, but the real magic of LittleBigPlanet came from the unrivaled level design and art style that made each stage an absolute joy to play. All this alone would be more than enough reason to play LittleBigPlanet, but the game also started the "Play, Create, Share" formula that gave gamers the power to design their own levels and share them with the world. LittleBigPlanet showed PlayStation fans that anything is possible.
Favorite Memory
Greg: I thought that I was going to be over the moon for LBP when it first came out, but after getting it on launch day, I found that I put a few hours into it and got caught up in other games. When our holiday vacation rolled around, I found myself with a stack of games to play, but I only put one in my PS3 – and it was LittleBigPlanet. For a week, I created a level, polished off the story, and Platinumed the game. -
3: Red Dead Redemption
Why It Was Selected
Greg: The western is one of America's most beloved film genres, and Rockstar Games nailed that dusty-trail vibe when it brought Red Dead Redemption to the PlayStation 3. Players took on the role of John Marston, a reformed gang member who was pulled on one last mission to bring in his former brothers. Marston would need to lasso, skin animals, and be pretty damn good with a pistol to survive the game, but the real story was how vibrant this world was. You could ride into the distance and see strangers in need of help, watch the sun set, or even leave people tied up on the railroad tracks. Red Dead was a classic western in videogame form.
Favorite Memory
Colin: I get excited about a lot of Rockstar games, and when I got my hands on Red Dead Redemption, I was blown-away yet again by how superb some of Rockstar's products are. I loved the simple act of riding horses and interacting with random people, but as is usually the case with Rockstar sandbox games, what blew me away the most was the game's size and scope, and how well everything fit together. Another masterpiece. -
2: Fallout 3
Why It Was Selected
Greg: It's a simple concept that could be told in a number of genres – you're father has set off on a mission, and you have to find him – but Bethesda decided that a massive role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic landscape was the place to set Fallout 3. We're happy that the developers did. The title won IGN's Game of the Year Award in 2008, and after playing for a bit, it should be easy to see why. There are dozens of side quests, a customization system that ensures no main character is exactly the same, and so much content that we're still playing it today.
Favorite Memory
Colin: I've played a lot of games. A lot of them. That's why it's strange for me to be able to pinpoint a single game that I spent more time on than any other title. Fallout 3 is definitely that game. Working on the IGN Guide for the core game and its five DLC packs proved to be an adventure in technical writing for me, and a welcome one at that. How many hours, you ask? I'd say at minimum 300 hours, but that's no doubt a conservative guess. -
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Damn @ 16 exclusives.
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Wow, I was going to say that MGS 4 deserved number one, but all of them really are great games regardless of number.
Good list. -
MGS4 was #1 on this list last year. How the ? did it drop so much.
guess it just depends on who's making the list -
KZ isnt on this list at all (or did I miss it) ?
IGN rated it a 9.4 and I see games on this list that got lower ratings.
