20 Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Warframe is perhaps the most popular free-to-play, multiplatform game on the planet, and it’s not hard to see why. Combat is fast; missions are frantic, and the presentation is the dictionary definition of unique. Sure, the game can feel a tad grind-heavy at times, but Warframe is one of those games where the grind is neither boring nor annoying; you always want to play that one more mission to collect an elusive material to build a shiny new weapon or Warframe suit.

As already stated, this game is completely free. You literally can’t find a better deal than $0.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Most game companies want to play it safe and produce sequels and remakes. But not Sony. It took a chance on Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn and produced one of the best console-exclusive open world games ever. Not only does the game look drop-dead gorgeous, but it’s also got plenty of giant robot animals and a robust combat/crafting system that lets you hunt them to your heart’s content and use them for spare parts.

The game is a steal for $20 at Best Buy and on the PlayStation Store, complete with all the DLC. Now dust off your tech-bow and slay a napalm-spewing Robosaurus Rex.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

We’ve been following Nathan Drake for, what, over a decade now? Yea, it’s been a decade since Naughty Dog’s answer to Lara Croft first graced a PlayStation console, but all good adventurers must eventually call it quits, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was the best way to do that. The game is filled with some of the best locales, dialogue, and puzzles in the series, and it reminds us of why we fell in love with Drake in the first place. It was sad to see him go, but hey, at least the game also rekindled our love for Crash Bandicoot.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is available for $20 at Best Buy and the PlayStation Store. Sully couldn’t find a better price even if he tried.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

What, did you really think I would gush over Uncharted 4 and not mention the remastered treasure trove of awesome that is The Nathan Drake Collection? Each of the first three Uncharted games has been lovingly given an HD upgrade, and best of all, you can play them back to back (and then play Uncharted 4 after you’re done) for the definitive Uncharted experience. Sure, you aren’t treading uncharted ground anymore, but when it looks as good as it does, who the heck cares?

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is an absolute steal at only $20 at Best Buy and on the PlayStation store. You don’t have to scrounge around for buried treasure to afford this one.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

The king of the RPG returns with a tale of a king in the making and how he saves the world from an evil empire with nothing but a fancy car, a boy band, and some serious magic. The game, while fantastic, was a little rough at launch but has since been updated and improved to live up to the Final Fantasy legacy. And it’s still got some more DLC on the way.

Final Fantasy XV is available for $20 at Best Buy, but the Royal Edition that comes with all the DLC is just $30 on Amazon (and $40 at Best Buy). The world isn’t going to save itself, you know.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Ok, I’m cheating a bit here, but let’s face it: you can’t go wrong with a Yakuza game. Any Yakuza game. They’re all serious-yet-campy stories about a member of the Yakuza who goes around beating delinquents into the pavement, helping random strangers, and doing everything except the kind of stuff the Yakuza does. Yet he’s still a respected member. Whether it be a recreation of the original Yakuza game or a prequel that shows how all the fan-favorite characters became the lovable goofs they are in the rest of the franchise, you can’t go wrong with either Yakuza Kiwami or Yakuza 0.

Buth games are $20 each at Best Buy and the PlayStation Store. No five finger discount required.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Naughty Dog has been on a role ever since it started developing adventure games staring human protagonists, especially when they’re flawed. Horribly, terribly flawed to the point where any other game would place them in the role of the antagonist. And yet, through all the stuff gamers experience in The Last of Us, we reluctantly admit we would do the same horrible stuff Joel does to survive a world overrun with Cordyceps zombies. And again. And again. Since The Last of Us 2 is releasing soon, if you missed out on the first game, now’s your opportunity to play it, and in HD, no less.

Pick up The Last of Us Remastered for only $20 at Best Buy or on the PlayStation Store if you missed out on the original PlayStation 3 version. Or if you didn’t, buy it anyway and experience the apocalypse in full HD.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Fallout. Fallout never changes. It doesn’t matter if the game takes place in Washington D.C., Nevada, or Massachusetts; Fallout will always be a gorgeous RPG that sucks players into its imaginative post-apocalyptic world. Especially Fallout 4. The game is packed with countless hours worth of bandit-shooting, settlement-building, kleptomania-inducing fun. With Fallout 4, you get way more bang for your buck than normal, and I don’t just refer to the mini-thermonuclear detonations created by irradiated Coca-Cola-fueled bombs.

Fallout 4 is currently $20 at Best Buy. But, if you can’t find the game at your local store, you can always buy it for $30 on the PlayStation Store or for less than $20 on Amazon.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Yes, yes, we are well aware of the whole crossplay debacle. If you play Fortnite on your PlayStation 4, you can’t play it alongside (or against) gamers on the PC, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch. But, if you own a PlayStation 4, you still should play Fortnite. The game is constantly updated with new and quirky content; it stands out from the rest of the battle royale crowd thanks to its unique crafting system, and it’s got a sense of humor you don’t see very often in video games.

Since Fortnite is free-to-play, nothing is stopping you from trying it. And who knows? With a bit of practice, you might soon get good enough to win that coveted chicken dinner…er, I mean, victory royale. All aboard the battle bus and watch out for sky cracks.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

What better way to get through a summer drought than with a game that has literally hundreds of hours worth of content? The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a landmark in open world RPG design. Not only does the game feature an in-depth story and countless side quests that might actually be some of the best in RPG history, its world feels alive, vibrant, and ready to chew you up and spit you out if you ever dare wander off the beaten path. Or let Geralt’s horse Roach find her way up onto a house’s roof. Again.

Best Buy’s asking price of $20 is more than a fair. You don’t even have to Jedi mind trick the cashier with an Axii sign.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Some gamers play RPGs for rich narratives and memorable characters. Others play RPGs to experience an engrossing world where they control every minute detail about their character. And some just play RPGs to appease their inner materialist and acquire loot. The Borderlands franchise is custom made for the third group. A unique RPG/FPS hybrid, Borderlands games features so many guns mathematicians had to invent a whole new number just to count how many guns the games hold (no not really). And The Handsome Collection brings together in one handsome package the two Borderlands games (and their DLC) with the most guns — Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

For only $15, you can pick up Borderlands: The Handsome Collection at Best Buy and start your in-game looting spreee. Good luck ever finding the time to stop.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Arkane Studios’ Prey isn’t so much a remake of the original 2006 Prey by Human Head Studios as it is a complete reinvention. This Bioshock/System Shock-inspired romp through a space station overrun with shapeshifting aliens will leave you paranoid, and rightfully so. You may be free to explore and upgrade your character however you see fit, but the aliens are likewise free to screw with your head. If you aren’t scared of coffee mugs and staplers by the time you’re finished playing Prey, you’re aren’t playing the game right.

While you can pick up Prey at Best Buy for $20, Amazon has the best offer at $18. But if you prefer everything digital, you can always buy the game for $30 on the PlayStation Store. At least with a digital copy you won’t have to worry if your Prey CD is a Mimic in disguise.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Ah, the Grand Theft Auto series. Home of unrealistic expectations of what happens when you outrun the cops, the unrealistic expectation of ever outrunning the cops, and the animosity of every politician who ever wanted to champion the “violent video games cause violent behavior” claim. While I never personally got into the GTA franchise, I will not deny its appeal, especially the appeal of GTAV. Not many games can pull off juggling three protagonists — one of whom is either perpetually drunk, stoned, insane, or all three — but Grand Theft Auto V pulls it off in style. The game might be a crime simulator, but it’s a crime simulator that writes the criminals so well you can’t help but root for them. Because they’re the protagonists.

If you want to buy Grand Theft Auto V (I wouldn’t recommend emulating the characters in the game and actually stealing a copy), you can’t find a better deal than on the PlayStation Store. The game is less than $20. Plus each copy comes with free access to Grand Theft Auto Online, so you’re getting two games for a third of the price of one.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

The DOOM legacy is a difficult one to live up to. The first two entries are some of the earliest FPS games in existence, and the third one, while great, is a more slower, atmospheric game in the vein of survival horror rather than action gunplay. Everyone expected the fourth game to be a disaster when it was announced as a reboot, especially after the game had been in development hell for about as long as Duke Nukem Forever. But be it through sheer talent and hard work or an actual literal deal with the Devil, DOOM surpassed the originals with some of the tightest and fastest FPS gameplay ever created. After waiting for too long, gamers were given another chance to rip and tear through the armies of Hell, and they did so with gusto. And the BFG 9000.

While DOOM isn’t the longest of games, $20 is a relatively low price for such a hellishly good game. Gamers have their choice of picking up the game at this devilishly low price at Best Buy and at the PlayStation Store.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

All good things must come to an end, even a game about the end of a world. Dark Souls taught us the true meaning of pain with its brutal (yet still fair) difficulty. Dark Souls 2…was ok, I guess. But Dark Souls III is the culmination of everything developer FromSoftware learned while making the franchise. The difficulty has been turned up to eleven; the setting is the bleakest it’s ever been, and the combat has been refined to a razor’s edge. Dark Souls III truly makes you earn every victory.

Normally you would expect the vanilla version of the game to be on sale and the special edition with all the DLC to still be full price. Not true with Dark Souls III. The Fire Fades Edition comes with the Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City DLC packs. And for just $20 at Best Buy or an Amazon. Now has never been a better time to git gud.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Well, that’s twice I’ve mentioned a game on this list, said it was amazing, and then followed it up with a similar game made by the same developers. But, what can I say: good games are worth talking about, and Bloodborne is a good game. It might seem like another Dark Souls game with a gothic horror setting rather than a medieval gothic one, but when you delve deep into its lore and combat systems, you realize there’s more to Bloodborne than you thought. You still need to git gud if you want to stand a chance, though.

While the PlayStation Store’s $20 price tag is a bargain for Bloodborne, Amazon goes even cheaper with a mere $15. Parting with money to buy this game is honestly the easiest thing about it.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

The Resident Evil franchise has been shuffling along like a zombie for quite some time. Ever since Resident Evil 6, gamers had lost interest and faith in the once-venerable series, but it just refused to die. But Resident Evil 7 not only breathed new life into franchise (ironic given subject material), it reinvigorated the entire survival horror genre and reminded gamers they can be scared even when they have a way of fighting back. Whether the first-person perspective was always part of the design or an intentional jab at Konami and its mistreatment of P.T. and cancellation of Silent Hills, Resident Evil is back on top.

While not as inexpensive as other titles on this list, Resident Evil 7 is still worth Best Buy’s and the PlayStation Store’s asking price of $30. Go tell Aunt Rhody; I’m sure she’ll want to hear the good news.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

Until Dawn is possibly the weirdest hybrid you’ve ever seen. It plays like a Telltale adventure game, but its tone is distinctly survival horror. But unlike most Telltale games, Until Dawn gets the choice mechanics right. Every action has a consequence that impacts the story and each character’s chances of survival. Given the myriad of ways characters can die, Until Dawn will keep you coming back for more until you find something you will never find in a horror movie: a scenario where everyone makes it out alive.

Much like the game, you have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to where you buy Until Dawn. Unlike the game, however, it doesn’t matter if you chose to purchase it from Best Buy, Amazon, or the PlayStation Store, because they all sell the game for $20. Now isn’t that ironic?

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

MMORPGs on a console are a hard sell. Most aren’t really designed for a controller and are best played with a mouse and keyboard, but The Elder Scrolls Online is different. It plays is just as smoothly on the PlayStation 4 as it does on the PC, not surprising since it plays mostly like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, — another game that is as good on PC as it is on consoles. Except The Elder Scrolls Online comes with way more content and the ability to play alongside friends without the need for mods.

At only $20 on the PlayStation Store, Elder Scrolls Online seems like a steal. And indeed it is for all the content it provides, but it comes with one huge caveat: you need a PlayStation Plus subscription to play the game. And you only get access to the base game and the Morrowind expansion pack. If you want to explore the Summerset Isles, you’re going to need the Summerset expansion pack. And if you want to delve into the Clockwork City, join the Dark Brotherhood, or traverse Orsinium, you need an ESO Plus membership. But it’s all worth it in the end.

Cheap PS4 Games to Get You Through the Summer Drought

The most obvious choice for a gamer on a budget. PlayStation Now lets you stream a wide variety of PlayStation 3 and 4 games to your console, and so long as you have a subscription, you can continue playing. You don’t need to worry about the games taking up space either, since everything is saved on a cloud server. Of course, if you ever lose Internet connection you will be completely out of luck, but when’s the last time the PlayStation servers went down?

While PlayStation Now is a subscription service, $20 a month is a steal for access to an ever-growing library of over 650 games. It’s only a shame there are more games than there are hours in the day.