Top 5 Best PS4 Games of Q4 2017

Assassin’s Creed: Origins

Best PS4 Games of Q4 2017

Assassin’s Creed has always been a series of ups and downs. Each year always brought with it a new installment and with each installment a coin flip as to whether or not it was good. With the series on the decline in the last few years, Assassin’s Creed needed a game to step up and help show to gamers that there was still life in this franchise yet. And it was Assassin’s Creed: Origins that chose to break that annualized mold and helped to show what Ubisoft can do with a bit of extra time to polish their game and throw in some nice additions for the fans.

By taking the series back to its roots and establishing how the infamous war between Assassins and Templars began, Ubisoft not only managed to create a good gateway for possible new fans, but answers to a number of questions longtime fans have had for years. There’s a lot of familiar territory in Assassin’s Creed: Origins to veteran fans, but a lot of new as well. The game had an entire additional year of development and the polish really shines in the finished product.

The gameplay has been refined and revamped in a number of small but significant ways that feels like it’ll be the new standard for the series going forward. Factor in a good protagonist in Bayek and a good story and Ubisoft helped to bring PS4 owners a great RPG experience.

Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Best PS4 Games of Q4 2017

Middle Earth: Shadow of War is everything a sequel needs to be. It takes everything about the game that came before it and builds on it, in the process offering gamers yet another fun romp through Tolkien’s iconic fantasy land. It’s a game where everything has been ramped up, leaning a bit more away from the intimacy of Shadow of Mordor and more into the full-on epic battles and warfare that defines the Lord of the Rings world.

The Nemesis System from Shadow of Mordor makes a return and is even more robust than it was before, ensuring that players will have plenty of different unique and memorable encounters. Players also have the chance to build up their own armies of quirky orcs and use them against the forces of Sauron in Talion’s journey. While some might find its microtransactions a bit undermining, particularly in a year where the discussion on the matter is so intense, Shadow of War nonetheless remains a fun adventure game that lets players go back into Tolkien’s world one last time.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Best PS4 Games of Q4 2017

Speaking of sequels that improved upon everything the original had to offer, we have South Park: The Fractured But Whole. While The Stick of Truth was widely loved by critics and fans alike, the general consensus was that it was ultimately a basic game that was a bit too easy and short. By comparison, Fractured is like a breath of fresh air with its revamped combat system, decidedly bigger and more complicated world, and a whole slew of party members and classes to experiment with.

On top of all of that, this is still a South Park game and revels in its crude but witty humor that fans of the series have come to know and love. There isn’t a moment that goes by without a joke or a jab at the world, characters, or even video games themselves. It’s crude. It’s rude. It’s South Park and it was a great game in a year filled with great games.

The Evil Within 2

Best PS4 Games of Q4 2017

The Evil Within 2 was one of those surprisingly good games that slipped under the radar for many amidst the constant release of heavy hitter games in Q4, but it nonetheless remains one of the best to come out in 2017. Players are once again thrust into the shoes of Sebastian Castellanos as he goes on a journey into the world of Union to save his daughter. What follows is the sort of cerebral horror fans of the previous Evil Within can expect and more.

While the game never treads particularly new ground in horror, it offers a series of large maps with multiple ways to accomplish objectives and an engaging story that gets the scares in where it counts. The added focus on combat may be a turnoff for some, but Evil Within 2 ultimately makes it all work and delivers a properly chilling horror experience to help close out the year.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Best PS4 Games of Q4 2017

Q4 of 2017 really did end up being the era of great sequels to great games and capping things off is Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Set after the events of the shockingly good Wolfenstein: The New Order, players are once again treated to Bethesda’s demented alternate, Nazi-ridden depiction of the world. While the story it tells is grim and at times even hopeless, there is a certain catharsis to playing The New Colossus. Killing Nazis in video games has been a staple for almost as long as there have been video games, but Wolfenstein II makes a good case for how fun it can be even now.

Combat is intense and fluid with real effort going into enemy design and encounters; and the game manages to give a shocking amount of personality to the usually faceless Nazis. The world of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a dark one with an equally dark story, but in darkness there is much violent fun to be had and the game stands as one of 2017’s best.