The PlayStation 3 didn’t exactly get off to a great start, but the system’s library steadily grew to include a host of phenomenal multiplatform games and exclusives that would not only define the PS3, but would cement Sony’s brand as a home for blockbuster exclusives.
With the PS3’s 15th anniversary upon us, we re-examined the PS3’s library to cull together a list of its best games. In doing so, we kept a couple of factors in mind. First of all – how great was the game when it was actually released, and perhaps just as importantly, how defining was it to the PS3’s life? That doesn’t mean we entirely discounted multiplatform games – as you’ll see from the list there were many great ones we had to include. We also took into account how these games hold up now, though that wasn’t quite as essential to our formula.
With that in mind, there were a LOT of games that just missed the cut, but that our decision-making team loved. Trust me, it hurts someone on the selection panel just as much as it probably hurts you to not see games like Resistance, Ni no Kuni, Catherine, and more on the list. But with that all in mind, here are our picks for the top 10 PS3 games of all time.
10. Ultra Street Fighter 4
Fighting games were in a rough place prior to 2009, but Street Fighter 4 brought the series back to the roots of its popularity, including the more popular cast from Street Fighter 2. Its highly stylized art style proved odd but ultimately appealing, and its online play was serviceable enough that the genre no longer felt like a total nonstarter. It was the genre's bedrock game through the release of Ultra Street Fighter 4, which most consider to be Street Fighter 4's apex due to its large roster and strong balance. Its influence has since waned, but it is inarguably one of the most important games in the genre's history, and still one of the PS3's best games.
9. Ratchet & Clank : A Crack in Time
Since 2002, Insomniac Games' Ratchet & Clank series has been a strong, lasting staple of PlayStation’s franchises. Though it debuted on the PS2, the series saw six new entries during the PS3 era, and for our bolts, A Crack in Time is the best Ratchet & Clank game released on PS3. While the formula for the series roughly remained the same, A Crack in Time brings with it a moving story and some great gameplay additions that make for one of the franchise’s best outings.
The ability to experiment with new parts to customize your weapons and the addition of Hoverboots add a lot more mechanical depth to the combat and exploration. Add on top of that a moving story that really digs into why the titular duo is so enduring – and has endured for so long – and A Crack in Time delivers one of the best action games on the PS3.
8. Batman: Arkham City
Batman blew the doors off what the Arkham franchise could be, extending out beyond the confines of its prior though still fantastic first entry, Arkham Asylum, for a larger, engrossing sequel. Arkham City not only takes a “more is better” approach, but finds genuinely surprising and delightful ways to pull in various characters from the Batman mythos into one incredible adventure.
Retaining the core combat, exploration, and stellar voice cast of Asylum, City finds inventive new ways to throw harrowing challenges in Batman’s path, with a host of incredible villain side-mission storylines, a more varied overworld, and a deeper, moving story as Kevin Conroy’s Batman and Mark Hamill’s Joker pick up their showdown from the first game. In nearly every way, Arkham City cemented Rocksteady’s take on the dark knight.
7. LittleBigPlanet 2
LittleBigPlanet 2 improves immensely on the formula of Media Molecule’s platformer and creation franchise, adding more level design options and the ability to essentially create a game within a game. While it does have a story mode with over 50 levels, the robust and refined customization notches it above the original LittleBigPlanet for us, and demonstrated the imaginative possibilities Media Molecule has continued to explore in Dreams.
6. Portal 2
Portal 2 is the perfect example of what a sequel can be. It took the original’s framework and blew it out into a true classic. The writing is funnier, the campaign longer and more layered in its puzzles and storytelling. Throw in one of the greatest standalone co-op campaigns ever made, and you have an all-time great filled with unforgettable moments, from the GLaDOS potato sequence to the final moon shot. It's been over a decade since we got this incredible sequel, but it's hard to imagine exactly how a third entry would top this modern classic. Still: we'd love to see Valve try.
5. Grand Theft Auto V
Rockstar Games sets a new bar when it comes to open-world games with each new release, and GTA V is no exception. With a massive, beautiful open world littered with things to do, GTA V’s three-protagonist storyline lets you explore every facet of that world and engage in some incredible missions, while also never preventing you from roaming around, crashing cars, and hunting for Bigfoot through Los Santos. And that doesn’t even begin to recount the extremely robust Online mode, which continues to receive frequent updates and deliver on the type of deep sandbox experience Rockstar continues to set the high standards for.
4. Dark Souls
Dark Souls was not the first Soulsborne game to come to PS3 (that honor belongs to 2009's Demon Souls), FromSoftware's next Soulsborne became a runaway hit that helped spawn a successful franchise and more widespread success. Yes, it retains the brutal difficulty of Demon’s Souls, but its impeccable level design, allowing players to venture to and die in many varied spots throughout the kingdom of Lordran, is a marvel to look back on and explore to this day.
Add to that the fundamentals of the Dark Souls combat and progression systems that would become bedrocks of the trilogy, and a stellar lineup of boss fights that are still some of the most memorable in the series, and Dark Souls wasn’t just a great blueprint for what would follow – it was an unforgettable adventure in its own right.
3. Red Dead Redemption
A few years prior to GTA V’s incredible debut, Rockstar Games went back in time to produce one of its finest adventures ever, Red Dead Redemption. The western setting offered a nice change of pace from the more modern GTA trappings, as players adopted the life of a virtual gunslinger traversing across parts of North America on horseback without losing any of the tension or thrills of the developer’s more present-day settings. In fact, Red Dead delivers one of Rockstar’s best stories ever, in large part thanks to the man at the center of it all, John Marston. It’s no wonder the anticipation for Red Dead’s sequel reached the heights it did – the gripping story, beautiful world design, and mechanical depth all came together to create a singular, fantastic journey through the Wild West.
2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
The pinnacle of Naughty Dog's Uncharted PS3 trilogy, Uncharted 2 set the benchmark that the studio, and much of the industry's blockbuster action adventures, would strive for. Uncharted 2 is perhaps best remembered for its handful of unforgettable moments – that opening as Nathan Drake escapes a teetering train, a blowout shoot 'em up in the midst of a collapsing tower, and a dazzling moving train sequence that still ranks among the genre’s best. But Uncharted 2 also cemented the series' beloved characters, even if Nate kills a lot of people.
His relationships with Elena and Sully are more fully explored, and Chloe Frazer, one of the franchise's best characters, is introduced. The marriage of action and character moments, including the introduction of series-highlight Chloe Frazer, cemented Naughty Dog's knack for cinematic storytelling on a level that only the developer itself would eclipse during the PS3's life.
1. The Last of Us
Naughty Dog began the PS3 generation with Uncharted, and ended it with The Last of Us, the pinnacle of the studio’s storytelling ambitions of that generation. There was certainly no shortage of zombie fiction at the time of its release, but Naughty Dog grounded The Last of Us’ viral outbreak in a dark, brutal, and stirring world that felt so realized in large part thanks to its two main characters. The Last of Us doesn’t work if players don’t connect with Joel and Ellie, but fortunately, the heartwrenching script and incredible performances by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson give these characters so much depth as they learn to survive, care for, and ultimately learn some hard truths about each other and the world around them.
Facing off against Clickers and Bloaters can be just as terrifying as the emotionally difficult choices these characters must make, and The Last of Us has no shortage of tense, unforgettable moments that deliver that terror in spades. But Naughty Dog’s masterpiece, for all its monsters and decaying civilization, is just as much about finding the goodness and beauty out in the world, even when it’s most difficult to do so.
And those are our picks for the top 10 PS3 games of all time! There were, of course, a lot of other great games we loved, so be sure to check out the full top 25 PS3 games list on IGN. For even more PlayStation goodness, be sure to check out our weekly show Podcast Beyond! For all the latest PS5, PS4, and PSVR news and antics. And for everything else, you’re already in the right place, IGN.