The 10 best PlayStation Now games to stream on PC
Here's our pick of the PS bunch
There have been oodles of PlayStation games arriving on PC lately, from big exclusives like God Of War and Horizon Zero Dawn to indie classics such as Journey and The Unfinished Swan. There are still plenty more that haven't made the journey over, though, which is where PlayStation Now comes in, Sony's clouding gaming service that lets you stream dozens of PS2, PS3 and PS4 games straight to PC for a monthly fee of £9/month or £50/year. To help you on your streaming adventures, we've rounded up the ten best PlayStation Now games to play first.
We should point out that Sony will be changing how PlayStation Now works soon. Starting from June 2022, PlayStation Now will merge with PlayStation Plus to form a new, three-tiered mega service. Only the top, most expensive one applies to us PC folk: PlayStation Plus Premium. For a fee of £13.49/month or £100/year, you'll get access to over 700 PS4, PS3, PS2, PS1, and PSP games to stream to your PC. It's not yet clear whether how these games will differ to the existing PlayStation Now library, but we'll update this list with more info as soon as we have it.
The good news is that if you're an existing PS Now subscriber, Sony say they'll migrate you over to PlayStation Plus Premium at no extra cost. This is only "at launch", however, so there's no telling how long this deal will last just yet. Still, if all that hasn't put you off and you're ready to sign up, then read on for our top PlayStation Now picks to play on PC.
The best PlayStation Now games to stream on PC
The prospect of a bazillion PlayStation games might be a bit overwhelming at first, but luckily we've been playing console games since the dawn of drives, just in case of such an eventuality. We'll be updating this list once Sony's new PlayStation Plus Premium service arrives, but for now, here are the 10 best PlayStation Now games that should be your first port of call.
- Bloodborne
- Uncharted 2
- Shadow Of The Colossus
- Asura's Wrath
- Loco Roco Remastered
- Ico
- Siren: Blood Curse
- The Last Of Us
- Ratchet And Clank: A Crack In Time
- God Of War 2
Bloodborne
We've got Bloodborne PSX on PC, but not the original. And boy is the original an absolute stunner. Not in the sparkly, magical sort of way. More in the oppressive, bloody, nightmarish sense. The game is a masterclass in Gothic horror and perhaps FromSoftware's most streamlined Souls game to date.
Bloodborne is fast and visceral, with a clever, intertwining map filled with secrets. What separates it from Dark Souls - and Elden Ring to some extent – is its demand. You must be aggressive and bathe yourself in blood; being passive won't work against an Eldritch god who's fallen from grace. And as you learn not to flinch, the descent into the nightmare only gets deeper and deeper. Definitely not an easy game, but if you've recently got the Elden Ring itch, then you'd be silly not to consider Bloodborne.
Uncharted 2
You should probably start from the very beginning with Uncharted, if only to enjoy the dramatic ramp-up in quality and spectacle, but Uncharted 2 is a masterpiece. It's an action-comedy that rarely misses a beat, leaping and clambering from wartorn streets to peaceful mountain retreats. Yes, Nathan Drake is a little too pleased with himself and, yes, the bullet sponge enemies in later areas are a drag, but Naughty Dog do this kind of action blockbuster better than just about anyone.
Shadow Of The Colossus
Are you ready to murder some giants? YEAH. Let's go do it! Climb up on the back of that bull-faced monstrosity and stab him in the noggin. Awesome! That showed him who's boss. Now go and shank that big horsey-looking fella in his vulnerable bits. Phwoar! Look at him fall. That's another large but ultimately harmless animal destroyed forever. Get in! Next let's go and wake up this beautiful guy with a gargantuan stone crutch for an arm and climb up his chest hair. Aw yeah! We sure stabbed him right in his innocent forehead. Ha ha. Why am I crying. Ha ha. This is so weird. Why am I crying, guys?
Asura's Wrath
If you're after a spectacularly entertaining time, then Asura's Wrath is worth a try. It's held back by lengthy cutscenes and average brawling, but it's an action game that's anime to the bone... no, the marrow. You control Asura, a deity and someone who's very angry with his godly colleagues. Over the course of eight hours, you'll express this anger with your fists and swords that'll cut through planets and explosions that'll rock galaxies. It’s totally, utterly, completely bonkers. Give it a whirl - you won't stop smiling.
Loco Roco Remastered
LocoRoco Remastered is a platformer where you tilt the world left or right to tilt blobs around colourful stages. The goal is to gobble up pink fruits dotted around these levels and anything else that looks like it'll fit in your bouncy belly. What's neat is your ability to split yourself into tiny blobs to fit through gaps or tight spots, before joining yourself back together on the other side. It's a gentle game with a breezy soundtrack, delightful puzzles, and a happy atmosphere. Not only is it relentlessly cheery, but it'll also get your brain whirring too.
Ico
Sometimes overshadowed by its developer's Colossal follow-up, Ico is, for my money, director Fumito Ueda's greatest achievement. It's the story of two prisoners trying to escape from a castle, chased by shadows and darkness. The storytelling is minimalist, using gestures and movements to communicate more than most games manage with words, and while it's much more sedate, it felt like the natural heir to Another World. Melancholy and beautiful in a way that is - if not ageless - not dependent on cutting edge tech, Ico is also packed with smart puzzles that will challenge but rarely frustrate.
Siren: Blood Curse
Good horror games are so few and far between that for the fan of frights, they can be a system seller. Silent Hill 2 sold me a PlayStation 2, Resident Evil 4 sold me a GameCube and Silent Hills would have sold me just about anything that it existed on. And then there's Forbidden Siren. It's one of the scariest games I've ever played and the definitive version is Siren: Blood Curse, originally released episodically on PlayStation 3. Yes, it's the main reason I bought one.
It's brilliant. Weird, genuinely alarming in a way that might leave you sleepless and shaken, and driven by a vision-switching mechanic that lets you see through the eyes of the creatures that are trying to murder you. If you're wondering if that means you can see yourself die through the eyes of your killer, then wonder no more: you absolutely can.
The Last Of Us
If you haven't played this, then as far as I'm concerned it's worth the price of 1 month subscription alone. Never mind that you'll also have its Left Behind add-on available. This is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the cordyceps fungus - a bastard mushroom that drives insects crazy - has somehow mutated and is able to infect humans. The world has fallen apart and Joel - that's you - has to escort a teenage girl across infected wilderness and ruins. It's a little Uncharted, a little DayZ and a lot of drama. Not only does it have a ludicrously strong opening, it also has some of the best story-telling chops I've seen in videogames from the last decade, and is one of the handful of games that has managed to execute it's climactic scenes perfectly. It has its own flaws. There' sections of enemies that begin to feel like more of a nuisance than a horrific threat. And your adventure is as linear and controlled as an airport novel. But it all comes together in the end.
Ratchet And Clank: A Crack In Time
The first Ratchet And Clank game to let the robot loose and it's a cracking time. Aside from shooting your way through a gorgeous galaxy with Ratchet's bonkers weapons, you've also got the slower paced fun of Clank's time-manipulation puzzles. As you'd expect, the platforming is intense but forgiving, with planet-hopping being particularly rewarding thanks to quick, powerful upgrades. The rate at which you can bulk out and beef up Ratchet's arsenal makes it hard to peel yourself away from the adventure. I mean, you can turn enemies into monkeys or make them dance to giant disco balls. It makes a nice change from all these serious shooters nowadays, you know?
God Of War 2
If you liked the most recent God of War, chances are you'll like them all, to varying degrees. PlayStation Now is packed with them, including the handheld spin-offs as well as the main trilogy. Two is the best of the bunch, upping the scale of the environments and enemies without getting wrapped up in its own daft mythology and gore fetish to the extent of the third. The series doesn't have the crafty combination of tight controls and skillful execution as Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but its solid, chunky combat is satisfying, if a little mindless. It's a silly series, part way between mythology and heavy metal, but there are enough scenes and setpieces that pack a punch to make the odyssey worthwhile.