10 Most Essential PS4 Exclusives - Ranked

May 4, 2017 May 4th, 2017

1. Horizon Zero Dawn

Did Horizon set the world on fire? Perhaps not as much as Sony and developer Guerrilla Games would've liked, but that doesn't mean it isn't still the shiniest jewel in the PlayStation crown.

Put it this way: When was the last time you played a game with story beats and genre tropes you didn't see coming a mile off? Or the last time you wandered through an open world and actually saw something original? Horizon's blend of tribal mentalities and sci-fi, new-age robotics is one for the history books, setting up a narrative where protagonist Aloy must poke and prod at the mysterious underground 'Metal World', before discovering both where the game is set, and how the Earth ended up in such a fashion.

To that end, Guerrilla have crafted a story with real brains; one that has a ton of twists and turns in its second half, but where each subsequent revelation only reinforces how meticulously designed each part of the world itself is. That alone is a remarkable achievement, and playing Zero Dawn's blend of accessible, eye-popping third-person combat only accentuates how easy it is to get lost in.

From felling robo-T-Rexs with wire traps and leaping spear attacks, to unravelling the genuinely mind-bending narrative that - save for one tiny tease - has the confidence not to sequel-bait, Horizon Zero Dawn is the ultimate package; a perfect blend of gameplay and story that actually supersedes some imposing competition to become the absolute best PlayStation game of the generation so far.