“IT’D BE EASY TO CREATE A LIST TWICE AS LONG. WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?”
PlayStation has been kicking around since 1994, when the original grey box of joy launched. At the time there was nothing like it. The 3D polygon gaming it delivered was revolutionary in a way that no generational leap has managed to match.
That was 28 years ago. The years since have been packed with brilliant games, so assembling a list of the 100 best is a tall order. It’d be easy to create a list twice as long, or maybe even ten times longer. Where do you even begin? You could try to look at things objectively, to quantify how well games have aged, the impact they had, or how good the visual design is. But games are basically collaborative works of art. Everyone’s response to one game or another is going to be unavoidably subjective. Thankfully, Team PLAY is rife with opinions, so we made sure each of us had a say.
We limited entries to one game per series, otherwise a quarter of the list would be every God Of War, Metal Gear Solid, and Naughty Dog hit. The exception, we decided, would be for games representing meaningful shifts in a series’ makeup – the difference between Assassin’s Creed’s RPG entries and its earlier iterations, say, rather than Uncharted adding a grappling hook to swing from PS3 to PS4. We put together a longlist, did a roundtable to make that a shortlist, voted on the top entries, then roundtabled our way through ordering the rest.
It hasn’t been easy. Debates raged over whether to pick Uncharted 2 or Uncharted 4, and whether you can really call all of FromSoftware’s individual soulsbornes different series. [You can – ed.] For older games, how do you balance the impact they had on release versus how well they’ve aged? Should a true great be as good to play now as it was when it was groundbreaking? And how long does it take for a recent release to settle in the mind as a classic? Deathloop might be one of the most impressive PS5 games we’ve played, but at only a few months old how can it compare to the likes of Dishonored 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3?
Doubtless, there will be picks here that make sense to you, and omissions you’ll be shocked by. But that’s fine. Everyone’s different, and this is a list that represents how Team PLAY is feeling right now. If you disagree, you know how to get in touch – play@ futurenet.com
Until then, get ready to update your ‘to play’ list…
100 HOTLINE MIAMI
These violent delights
FORMAT PS4, PS3, PSV / RELEASED 2013 / PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL / DEV DENNATON GAMES
Talk about coming in hot. Featuring fast, unrelenting action, one wrong move here means death. Thankfully, this top-down action game doesn’t leave you waiting around after each demise. When you restart each stage you’re always woefully outnumbered, but this time you have the advantage of perspective and experience over your enemies, increasing your chance of success. Every iterative run is a wild, bloody rush – but the whole time the question of what ends this violence serves hangs over you. The narrative only gets twistier from there, and to say too much more would be a massive spoiler. If this somehow passed you by before, the 2014 PS4 rerelease is worth picking up.
99 SUIKODEN II
Bros opposed
FORMAT PS1 / RELEASED 2000 PUB KONAMI / DEV KONAMI
A tale of friendship torn apart by war, this JRPG is remembered for its affecting story. It sets its sights on an ambitious exploration of the central conflict, unspooling through a huge cast of 108 recruitable characters (with lots of entirely missable side-stories between them for good measure). Combat takes three forms: six-person turn-based fights; huge strategy-based battles; and one-on-one duels that leave a lasting emotional impact. There’s plenty to sink your teeth into – though it’s no slouch visually either. It wasn’t a great success when it launched; now it’s seen as a classic.
98 VANQUISH
Sliding in with style
FORMAT PS4, PS3 / RELEASED 2010 PUB SEGA / DEV PLATINUMGAMES
This third-person shooter boasts style by the bucketload. Clad in the Augmented Reaction suit, you can dive stylishly around destructible cover and slow down time as you take aim at your foes. Shots come at you from every angle, forcing you to keep on the move. Fortunately your suit enables you to pull off more than a few traversal tricks, and it’s truly a shame that rocket-powered butt-sliding didn’t become a genre trope in the wake of this
