Outlast (Red Barrel)
When Outlast was released for PS4 in February this year, it became the epitome for a well-rounded and thrilling horror game.
The events take place in a psychiatric hospital where the patients were used for illegal experiments. You play with Miles Upshur, an investigative journalist who found out about the isolated Mount Massive Asylum, crawling with homicidal psychiatric patients let loose.
Miles can’t engage in any kind of combat, except occasionally pushing the opponents out of his way. He carries two items: a camcorder and a notebook and uses jumping over obstacles, crawling and sliding through narrow gaps and hiding under beds as means for survival.
Mount Massive Asylum is a pretty terrifying sight by itself. Inside, the walls are splattered with blood, there are dead, mutilated bodies of former patients and some killed SWAT officers here and there. All of that while dark figures are running past you, jumping on you from a ceiling, checking if you’re hiding under the bed and even though you know it’s a video game, you just can’t shake the feeling that there’s something preying on you.
The patients, wee later learn, are called Variants. You will encounter a pair of human flesh-eating twins, a sadist named Chris Walker, Martin Archimbaud, a shady cult leader who thinks of himself as some kind of a priest and something called the Walrider.
Later on, the player learns more about the history of the hospital and the events that occurred there, as well as the original project that is the actual cause of the Asylum’s state in the present day.
Outlast combines religious, scientific and natural elements to create a morbid ambient that can literally freeze your bloodstream. Horror game fans can’t allow themselves to miss a title such as Outlast.
The Last of Us: Remastered (Naughty Dog)
One of last year’s best games has been remastered for PS4 consoles, making the experience even better. The Last of Us is an action/adventure game and, in my opinion, the best game featuring zombies since Half-Life 2.
From a third-person perspective, the player gets to incorporate gunfights, melee combat and a very specific cover system to survive outdoors after the outbreak of a dangerous fungus that turns the population of the United States into mindless, decomposing cannibals.
Much of the game’s wide acclaim is due to its emotional depth. Namely, the beginning of the game describes the life of Joel and his twelve-year-old Sarah, right before the infection breaks out. After a glimpse at the bittersweet father-daughter relationship, Sarah dies in her father’s arms as they’re trying to escape their infected city.
20 years after Sarah’s death, Joel lives in a quarantine zone in Boston that’s under heavy police protection. He and Tess work as smugglers, which is how they took upon the task of smuggling a little girl – Ellie – to the rebel group called the Fireflies, as she is believed to be immune to the infection.
The Last of Us received a lot of praise for its storyline, sound design, graphics, character depth and voice acting and inclusion of LGBT themes.
Destiny (Bungie)
Even though it’s still a fresh release, Destiny holds the title of the fastest-selling and most played PS4 game ever. This is an online, first-person shooter, role-playing game that’s set 700 years into the future.
This game tells the story of the Golden Age, a period of peace, exploration and scientific and technological improvement, when the humans had their colonies all over the Solar System. To fast-forward things a little, the Collapse (dissolution of the colonies because of reasons unknown) happened and now the humans are almost extinct.
As the alien enemy forces threaten to destroy the last city on Earth, the player takes on the role of a Guardian, whose task is to wake the celestial body with strange powers called the Traveler and protect humanity from total extinction.
The player can choose one out of three types of Guardians: Human, Awoken and Exo. Humans were designed after the army, being relatable and simple. The Awoken race looks a lot like a mythological creature, most likely vampires, elves or angels, described as alluring and exotic, while an Exo Guardians are cruel, unfaltering and strong.
A class can also be chosen for the player’s character: Hunters, Warlocks or Titans. The Warlock class is capable of crafting weapons using the power of the Traveler, while the Hunters have a reputation for being too dangerous. The Titans, however, distinguish themselves for their preference for melee weapons and their specialization in armor.
Jump on the Destiny bandwagon to pick a race and class for your character and see how the game threads so many different elements from a number of genres.