All hail the PS4. Sony’s console has become the clear victor of the console wars this generation. The games are good, the online service works, and it’s got huge support from both Sony and third party developers. If you want to get up to date on where gaming is today, the PS4 is the console to buy. Sorry, Microsoft and Nintendo. It is what it is.
But the PS4 is a grandpa now. It’s 2020. That makes the 2013 console seven years old. In console years, that’s like 89. This generation of gaming is coming to a close. With the PS5 and the Xbox Series X dropping at the end of the year, we’re about to traverse into new frontiers.
It’s not over yet, though. Despite the shadows of bigger and more powerful machinery looming larger every day, 2020 is still looking like a very big year for video games. And Sony is poised to end this console generation on a high note. Not only are we getting a remake of one of PlayStation’s all-time-greatest titles, Final Fantasy VII, but we’re also getting a sequel to The Last of Us. Plus, Marvel’s Avengers. Damn. This could be the best final year of a console ever. We’ll have to see if Sony can stick the landing. With that, here are all the most-anticipated PS4 games due out in 2020.
Nioh 2
Release Date: March 13, 2020
It seems like everything is a "Souls" title nowadays, but Nioh does it right, with crushing difficulty and intense combat that will have you screaming and pulling your hair out. Don't get us wrong: Nioh is not just another "Souls" game. It expands on the mechanics and abilities to make it a whole new experience for fans of the Souls series. The sequel is, well, actually a prequel, but still promises that punishing difficulty. —C.S.
DOOM Eternal
Release Date: March 20, 2020
Doom. Is. Back. Baby!! Coming in hot off the slam dunk 2016 reboot, Doom Eternal looks like the exact sort of hellish decapitation simulator that the doctor ordered for these supremely annoying times we live in. It’s coming to all the consoles (even the Nintendo Switch!), but on the PS4 Pro, this game should play like a dream (or nightmare). —D.N.
Resident Evil 3
Release Date: April 3, 2020
They’re remaking all the Resident Evil games. And we are not complaining! Capcom’s remakes give us the best of both worlds: classic zombie-killing gameplay with current-gen graphics. These games kick so much ass. Before, the whole remake and reboot thing was a pain. Make a new game! But these days, especially when great new franchises in gaming are getting harder and harder to find, we bow down before a good remake. Remake everything! Do Ghosts 'n Goblins next! —D.N.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Release Date: April 10, 2020
Ah, the holiest of holy games. A game above all other games. The bible of video games. Final Fantasy VII. How we missed you. You, with your aggressively '90s steampunk bullshit. You, with your completely incomprehensible story line. Your funny 3D birds. Your impossibly unwieldy sword. There have been a lot of games released since FF7 in 1997. But after all this time, you’re still our number one. Our only one. Come back. And don’t suck. —D.N.
Predator: Hunting Grounds
Release Date: April 24, 2020
Okay, this is a game where you hunt Predators. Or, the Predators hunt you. It’s a simple setup, a tale as old as time. Both the Alien and the Predator franchises have been around for over 40 years. But all in all, there’s really only been maybe one or two games that do them any justice. This one looks like the kind of “tear out your heart and skin you alive” video game we’ve been missing. —D.N.
Marvel's Iron Man VR
Release Date: May 15, 2020
It’s about damn time we got a great VR game for the PS4. The PSVR is hands-down the
best console VR system on the market—it’s really the only one worth talking about. But we rarely get any huge, unmissable games for the peripheral.
Iron Man VR could be the one. It plays great, it’s got that Marvel sheen, and it’s a PSVR exclusive. It might just make the whole VR thing worth some serious consideration.
—D.N. The Last of Us Part II
Release Date: May 29, 2020
Naughty Dog is forever the PlayStation golden boy. From Crash to Uncharted, and now with The Last of Us, it is responsible for some of the most successful exclusives yet. Rest-assured The Last of Us still has one of the most interesting narratives, especially in the greatly overdone “zombie epidemic” sub-genre. With the return of Joel, that stunning town Ellie finds herself in, and the absolutely gorgeous gameplay, The Last of Us Part II is going to be one of the most memorable video game plots of the year. —C.S.
Marvel's Avengers
Release Date: September 4, 2020
The Avengers are everywhere. On movies, on TV, in comic books, on billboards, at theme parks, on Slurpee containers—you can’t set foot in this modern world without seeing at least one Avenger per day. But Marvel’s super friends have been oddly absent from the video game world, unless you want to count some of their recent cameos in Fortnite. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics are primed to fix that this year. We’re not convinced Marvel's Avengers is going to come out on the PS4, though. It has already faced some delays, and with the late release window, it wouldn’t be surprising if the game premiered on the PS5 as a launch title. But we’re ready. I want to Hulk out. —D.N.
Cyperpunk 2077
Release Date: September 17, 2020
Have you heard the news? It’s very, very important. If you’re reading this, you might want to sit down. Okay. Sure you’re ready? Listen: You know Keanu Reeves? He’s in this game. Keanu Reeves is in this game. He is!
Cyberpunk 2077 has
been delayed until September and it looks like a very wild vision for an open-world action title that may or may not be too ambitious to pull off—but Keanu, he’s in this game! KEANU!!
—D.N.PRE-ORDER amazon.com Gods & Monsters
Release Date: Fall 2020
Gods & Monsters is a game made by Ubisoft that may or may not just be The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. We have no way of knowing if it really is Breath of the Wild. But we also do not have confirmation that it isn’t one of the best Zelda games of all time. The art style, the gameplay, the promotional campaign—it all just looks like Breath of the Wild to us. Which isn’t a bad thing. But it might be a little weird. We’ll find out in the fall for sure. —D.N.
Dying Light 2
Release Date: 2020
While it may be another zombie game,
Dying Light was one of the best survival horror titles to come out of the last gen. The sequel, which takes place 15 years after the original, promises intense parkour scaling, smooth gameplay, and some phenomenal RPG combat. This title also has a multiplayer component, though not much is know about that yet. No specific release date has been given. However, Techland announced that
Dying Light 2 will also be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
—C.S.PRE-ORDER amazon.com Fall Guys
Release Date: 2020
Fall Guys is a remarkably stylish, free-running, platforming battle royale that was announced with a goofy trailer set to "Shake, Senora" and features colorful landscapes and characters. This looks like the battle royale title that platforming fans have been waiting for. From what we can gather, you take the "being a dick" aspect of the new Super Mario Bros. series, then add 96 other people. As of now, Fall Guys is a PS4 exclusive that promises to be bonkers. —C.S.
Rust
Release Date: 2020
Rust, the massive online survival title that's well-known to gamers everywhere, is finally coming to PS4. The game’s kept up an incredible popularity with PC players since its release in 2013 in early beta, and it just saw a full release back in 2018. The game mixes battle royales with a certain Minecraft-y survival mechanic, meaning it’s a lot slower and more strategic then titles like Fortnite. —C.S.
Spelunky 2
Release Date: 2020
I love this game. You and up to three other friends take control of some spelunkers, digging through caves with cartoon enemies. It's ridiculously fast-paced, platforming action. It’s one of those titles where your "team" can just as easily become your nemeses, because there's just as much benefit on a personal level to screwing your friends as there is to helping them. Spelunky 2 was one of the best surprise announcements of last year, and we can't wait to get our hands on the title. —C.S.
Watch Dogs Legion
Release Date: 2020
This is one of those staggering games that's either going to be amazing or an absolute mess. We got some hands-on time at E3 last year, and it put on a really good show for a small section of the map. Legion’s largest selling point is the fact that every NPC in the world has their own backstory and reacts differently to players' choices. Some NPCs may be moved to become enemies or join your cause, or any number of different outcomes. The demo worked great, with a lot of Mr. Robot-esque vibes and some intense hacking and combat action. It’s ambitious to be sure, but Ubisoft's been doing much better lately, so there’s hope yet. —C.S.
