What to get, and what to skip
As we draw closer to PS4 launch day, November 15, we will be bringing you reviews and previews from the launch window and beyond. This is where we’ll collect all of our coverage, updating it daily as embargoes lift and more titles are released.
Think of this PS4 launch title guide as your one-stop destination for our coverage. If we’re missing any titles you’d like to hear about, please let us know!
Launch Day
Killzone: Shadowfall
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: 9.0 (review here)
I like Killzone: Shadow Fall for its change of direction from previous series games, as well as its change of pace over other first-person shooters. Guerrilla has tried a few new things this time around, and should be commended as such. I welcome the almost sandbox-ish level approach, and the stealth segments did a nice job of breaking up the standard shooting action. It’s really nice when gameplay concepts win out over big set pieces and cinematic events.
Oh, and it’s beautiful. A stunner. Killzone: Shadow Fall is the game that will make you happy to own a PS4. This needs to be on your PS4 launch game list.
Knack
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: 7.0 (review here)
Knack is still a fun romp, and definitely worth a play. It’s easy to pick up, a joy to look at, and and some of the boss battles are pretty great. My recommendation is that you take it in smaller doses, or try out the drop-in/drop-out cooperative play, which will definitely help when the going gets tough.
It’s not the next blockbuster platformer you’d want out of a launch title, but you need a break from shooters or want something with some personality, Knack is worth a look.
Resogun
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $14.99 (free with PS+)
Score: 9.5 (review here)
Resogun is a satisfying arcade-style game with a next-gen look and feel — the ideal system launch game. It’s an eye-searing blur of a loop that you’ll be happy to jump into again and again. Don’t miss it.
Flower
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $9.99, but free to owners of the PS3 version
Score: Coming soon (our original review can be found here) [8.0]
An already beautiful game now looks even better. Flower has been ported from PS3 to PS4, now running at 1080p at 60 frames per second. Visually, the improvement is so massive that it’s almost unbelievable. Fields look more lush with the increased detail, and the motion is so fluid that it feels like a brand new game. While the improvements are purely visual, anyone that enjoyed the original should definitely try it again. The best news is that it’s free for owners of the PS3 title. If you’re buying it for the first time on PS4, you’ll be able to download it on PS3 or Vita, too.
Sound Shapes
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $9.99
Score: (our original review can be found here) [7.0]
Like Flower, Sound Shapes gets a PS4 update. It’s essentially the same game, but now you have another platform to play it on.
Assasssin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: (our original review can be found here) [8.5]
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: (our original review can be found here) [5.0]
DC Universe Online
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: Free-to-play
Score: [N/A]
FIFA 14
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: [N/A]
Battlefield 4
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: (our original review can be found here) [8.0]
Like Call of Duty on the PS4 and Xbox One, Battlefield 4 benefits significantly on a next-gen system, giving it feature parity with the PC. Now you can experience Battlefield the way it was meant to be played, with full 64 player matches and enhanced visuals.
The PS4 version is slightly sharper than the Xbox One release, so if friends aren’t an issue, I’d go with the former — Chris
Just Dance 2014
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP:
Score: [N/A]
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: (our original review can be found here) [8.5]
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: (our original review can be found here) [8.5]
Madden 25
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: (our original review can be found here) [7.5]
NBA 2K 14
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: [N/A]
Need for Speed: Rivals
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: 8.0 [review here]
Skylanders: Swap Force
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $59.99
Score: (our original review can be found here) [8.5]
Blacklight Retribution
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: Free-to-play
Score: (our original review can be found here) [9.0]
Contrast
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $14.99 (free with PS+)
Score: 6.5 [review here]
Super Motherload
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $14.99
Score: 8.0 [review here]
Trine 2: The Complete Story
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: $14.99
Score: [N/A]
Warframe
Release Date: November 15, 2013
MSRP: Free-to-play
Score: [N/A]
Launch Window
Doki Doki Universe
Release Date: December 2013
MSRP: TBA
Doki Doki Universe is adorable, but I’m still not quite sure what it is even after spending a few hours with it. I mean, I like whatever it is, but I still don’t understand it. I have a feeling that figuring out just what it is may take awhile.
In this game you play as a robot named OT3. This poor robot has been standing on a little planet for 11,432 days, waiting for his family to come back. On that 11,432nd day, he learns from a new alien friend that they’re probably never coming back. And to make matters worse, this friend tells him that his model is being discontinued, and that he’s to be scrapped.
But QT3 has a chance to stick around by showing that he’s capable of humanity. To do this, he travels on the back of his choice of interstellar steed (I picked a flying beaver) to different planets to meet beings and become friends with them. In my short time with the game I’ve fed a friendly zombie chicken, danced, learned how to make earthquakes, collected dust bunnies, and more. You are supposed to meet with a therapist to see how you’re doing on your humanity quest. Mine farted when I gave him a castle.
Yeah. I don’t know what’s going on. But I like it.
Awesomenauts: Assemble
Release Date: TBA 2013
MSRP: $14.99
Score: [N/A]
Impressions coming at the launch of the game.
Beyond launch
Child of Light
Release Date: TBA 2014
MSRP: TBA
In our first hands-on preview, we played the PS4 version of Child of Light, which was impossibly pretty. Ubisoft’s JRPG-inspired storybook fairy tale uses hand-drawn art, dialogue written in verse, and a battle system that takes from RPG classic Grandia 2. It’s powered by the same engine they used for Rayman Legends, so theres’s some serious potential here.
So far, it’s looking like Child of Light could be the PS4’s first true role-playing game. We can’t wait.
inFamous: Second Son
Release Date: TBA 2014
MSRP: TBA
We’re super bummed that Sucker Punch’s inFamous: Second Son didn’t make launch. But we played the latest build this week and it looks to be shaping up.
Blasting faces with fire coming straight from Delsin’s hand was…well, a blast. But I liked running around to explore his home town of Seattle more, mostly because getting around is so much fun. Using super powers to fly is great, but turning into smoke to instantly teleport thorough grates is much more fun. But, neither are anywhere near as satisfying as Delsin’s neon powers, which lets him run in any direction — up walls or even in the air. It’s like having some kind of god mode on. It almost feels wrong.
Oh, and Second Son looks amazing. Explosions look like something you’d see in a movie, and the special effects tied to Delsin’s powers pop right off the screen. But some of the subtle visual stuff also makes an impact. Seeing signs and other lights reflected in the puddles of the streets of rainy Seattle really goes a long way toward making the game’s setting seem real.
The demo was just a small taste of Delsin’s destructive powers. I want more. Let’s hope the wait isn’t going to be too much longer.
War Thunder
Release Date: TBA 2014
MSRP: TBA
WarThunder has five million people signed up for its PC beta, so this free-to-play title is already off to a good start before it lands on the PS4. We saw the latest build running on PS4, played with a DualShock 4 controller. Their control system takes flying and makes it easy, with movement and aiming tied together in analog stick moves, giving players what are essentially first-person shooter controls in the sky. But, if flight sims are your thing, the PS4 version will support flight sticks as well as mouse/keyboard control, permitting full, unassisted control.
Flight sims have been niche titles, but WarThunder looks really easy to get into. Anyone can jump in and blow stuff up in more than 300 available planes. Soon they’ll add tanks to the mix, and ships later.
The PS4 version will be fully cross-compatible with the PC version.
