The PS4 Launch Games, Ranked

As we know, the PS4 came out and sold a lot of consoles. But consoles are only as good as the games you can play on them. So how’s the PS4 doing in that respect?

Ironically, its exclusives aren’t doing as well critically as the multi-platform releases. Here’s a look at how the games are doing.

We took a look at Metacritic to see how games were ranked, and the first thing we noticed is that a fair chunk of the games didn’t even get full reviews. So we stuck just to the ones that actually got full, separate reviews. The results were… still surprising, however. Here they are, from best to worst.

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With a Metacritic score of 87, DICE pretty handily takes the crown of “best-reviewed launch game.” That’s a real surprise since it was stuck at 80 for most other platforms.

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Close behind Battlefield 4 was NBA 2K14, with 85 on Metacritic. It’s interesting particularly because Madden and FIFA got the “Eh, they’re Madden and FIFA” treatment. This was apparently different enough to stand out.

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The PS4 was a good thing for EA critically; Need For Speed: Rivals is at 84, and seems be benefitting from the lack of both Driveclub, pushed back to 2014, and Gran Turismo, which is going to a farewell tour on the PS3 first.

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An odd bullet-hell shooter with a cylindrical playing field, Resogun is definitely a niche title. But a well-designed one, with 82 on Metacritic. Having tried it out, it’s worth playing, although it does take a little getting used to.

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Assassin’s Creed IV is a solid game solid game, but the only difference is the graphics, really. Which is probably why it’s tied with Resogun at 82.

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Call of Duty is taking a beating this yearly go-round, and the PS4 is no exception; it’s at 78 on Metacritic… which is actually the best the game has done, critically.

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Pretty graphics and a fairly open play structure aren’t enough to save this Killzone game from the yellow at 74. But as you might have noticed, it’s the first exclusive to arrive. Yeah, things go downhill from here.

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Namely to 67 for Contrast; mostly critics seemed to feel it was a little too been-there, done that.

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Finally, according to critics, Knack is the bottom of the barrel, at just 58. Most of the hostility was reserved for the fact that the game is hard as nails.

I disagree, except about the challenge; it’s not a bad game, just a bit shallow and more focused on adding pieces to its hero than presenting something more complex than fighting and jumping.

So, that’s how they rank; we’ll be curious to see how the next round of games does.

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