Is there ever a better time to work our way through a list of the best PS4 adventure games than when we are stuck in our homes, mostly limited to the constricting environments of our bedrooms?
Most of the time, the escapism found in adventure games feels like a savior, so it feels important now.
We may not be able to go outside for more than an hour, but the entries on this list should be more than enough to whisk us away for days on end.
This is our list of the best PS4 adventure games to tide you over as we weather the current storm outside, from wars with Norse gods and goddesses to perilous journeys through scorching sands searching for ancient riches.
1. Fallout 4
Now might not seem like the perfect time to revisit a post-apocalyptic environment that has been reduced to ghost cities from what seemed to be once-great cities, but hey, what better way is there to adapt to the outside world’s desertion?
At times, Fallout 4 might be gloomy, what with all the nuclear destruction, but it ultimately presents us with lands that are rich in detail to explore and inhabited by unforgettable characters—robot detectives! Radio Lovers Ghoulified!, and plan for the opportunity to build your community on it.
Just try not to focus too much on what is going on in the world as you walk through the scorched ruins of a civilization destroyed by an unseen enemy (in the form of radiation).
2. Batman: Arkham City
The Batman: Arkham series is considered one of the finest examples of superhero games.
It managed to integrate an assortment of famous characters from Batman’s past into a modern approach to the story of Bruce Wayne, where there was no excessive effort to offer a new origin story to the Caped Crusader.
Batman: Arkham City strongly emphasized hand-to-hand action and a few bat weapons.
There are several classic Batman villains to battle, all while living up to the name of Gotham’s greatest detective faithfully and hiding in the shadows of an intimidating super-prison.
Arkham City remastered in 2016 for the PS4 and Xbox One, features beautifully realistic graphics and some of the finest voice acting.
3. Far Cry 4
The Far Cry series has always excelled in making quirky, profoundly unhinged villains, and this fourth franchise is no exception.
Far Cry 4 may have the greatest antagonist these games have ever seen: I mean, how could anyone forget about Pagan Min?
You will come across Min repeatedly in your quest to free the fictional Himalayan country of Kyrat while you team up with rebel forces and ride elephants to your heart’s content.
You will be hard-pressed to find another villain in your other adventures as enjoyable as Min.
4. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
Assassin’s Creed: Origins takes us back to Ancient Egypt and helps us to explore a world before the Brotherhood.
The player storms through deserts and forgotten cities as Bayek, a Medjay and eventual founder of the Secret Order of the Assassins, whether on horseback or camelback and in the company of key political figures of the period.
Origins make for a refreshing journey to the AC world, where the assassins’ lore is stripped down to and benefited from its barebones.
5. The Wolf Among Us
In a secret city in New York in the 1980s, this 2014 cult success from Telltale took classic fairytale characters, reimagined them, and then incorporated them all into a murder investigation led by the player.
As the transformed Big Bad Wolf, like the kind of gruff detective you might see in early 2000s TV shows, you get to lead the hunt for the murderer.
You are charged with unraveling the mystery of the killings that are taking place in Fabletown in episodic installments, and soon enough, the entire fabric of this mysterious society begins to fall apart.
6. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Producing video games based on highly popular movie series and book adaptations may be risky.
Too many iconic films have been turned into horrible games (does anyone recall Quantum of Solace’s Activision version? No? Me neither) and ended up feeling meaningless.
Fortunately, in the case of Middle-Earth: Mordor’s Shadow, the creators did a great job doing justice to the world of Tolkien by introducing us to non-canon characters and expanding this incredibly detailed universe even further.
It is popular for its ‘Nemesis’ mechanism in which Uruks and Orcs recall and learn from experiences with the game’s protagonist, making it harder to beat.
Shadow of Mordor features hours of gameplay and more deep dives into the intricate mythology of the Middle-Earth of Tolkien than you can shake a stick (or the staff of Gandalf) at.
The Shadow of Mordor is a must-play for those with even the slightest affection for The Lord of the Rings.
7. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Has The Rise of Skywalker fulfilled all your quenches associated with Star Wars? If not, you should leap straight into a galaxy far, far away once more and live out your greatest galaxy dreams right here as a Jedi.
The Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order plot starts with players paired with a Jedi padawan hiding for years after the notorious Order 66 was executed. His training was cut short, and he soon finds himself trying to restore the old Order.
You will team up with a friendly little droid in true Star Wars style and meet more than a few familiar faces as you explore an ever-expanding galaxy.
If you currently want to get away as fast as lockdown begins to get a hold of you, Fallen Order is the ideal getaway (or spaceship, I suppose).
8. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus
Perhaps there is nothing more rewarding than taking down hordes of Nazis over and over again while still fusing a souped-up super-suit with your body.
Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus may be the first game to feature an entire sequence in which you meet with Adolf Hitler on Venus, playing BJ Blazkowicz again in this umpteenth entry in the legendary series.
Wolfenstein puts you right in the beast’s belly (i.e., a Nazi-occupied America) and lets you unleash hell on those standing in the way of liberation.
Not only is The New Colossus a pile of ridiculous fun, but it also includes many inspired moments and characters of equal hilarity and even tenderness.
9. Red Dead Redemption
Make sure you are ready to dust off the cowboy hat and take on the part of John Marston, a world-weary, hardened by a life mostly lived as an outlaw.
This game has no tricks; it’s just a straightforward cowboy game. John has to retrace his time spent traveling across the West, tasked with tracking down the members of his former gang.
As it turns out, there are few things more fun than getting on your horse and setting out into the great open country.
Red Dead Redemption is a massive, far-reaching adventure, much like its sequel, that sees you trying to make it through to the other side of a dying age as America turns into a ‘civilized’ society.
This society leaves no place for people like Marston and co, no matter how hard they try to fit into a new world.
10. Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the final piece in the puzzle: Lara Croft’s early years of raiding tombs.
This game is a satisfying and intriguing end to Lara’s tale of birth. Lara’s character has remained a staple in adventure gaming since 1996, and the reboot that started in 2013 only cemented her role as a behemoth of action and resolving the historical mystery.
Naturally, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is dominated by tales of secret cities, strong supernatural powers, and artifacts.
Set mostly in the Americas and packed with fantastically detailed local legends, it serves as an adventure journey for the ages.
11. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
You are never short of heroic journeys to embark on as you move into the brotherhood of Assassins, from the original exploits of Altair during the Crusades in the first episode of the series right up to the ancient Greek shenanigans of the Misthios in 2018’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.
This entry, set in Victorian London, must be a personal favorite primarily because of its imaginative and refreshing use of twin characters Jacob and Evie Frye.
As they maneuver their way through organized crime on the backstreets of London, they both get to take on different assignments unique to their personalities and story arcs, and both come with very fetching outfits, luckily, not matching.
It is worth playing Syndicate to fight through Beefeaters and the Tower of London.
12. Life is Strange
This journey through an exceptional period in the life of a teenage girl is filled with moments similar to those in The Walking Dead, where the decisions you make are bound to have an unchangeable effect on the future.
Life is Strange sees the protagonist, Max, rewind time, creating and losing friendships to solve the mystery engulfing her home, set in a small town. This site serves as a tentative and delicate exploration of identity.
Life is Strange is the ideal adventure for those seeking poignancy in their gaming. Expert storytelling and emotional intelligence are on display at all times.
13. Uncharted Collection
Is it even possible to discuss the best PS4 adventure games without referencing the name of Nathan Drake at least once?
You get to step into the character of the old journeyman’s boots of Nathan in Naughty Dog’s definitive series – treasure hunter extraordinary and all-around charming Indiana Jones.
Nathan journeys across the globe with fellow ragtag characters through four episodes in search of truth, artifacts, and glories.
Uncharted is endless in the joys it offers for those wondering if X marks the place with all the spare time they have at home now.
It is packed with puzzles, shoot-outs, and plenty of stealth for those who prefer creeping through rotting ruins.
14. Marvel’s Spider-Man
When it resurfaced on the platform in 2018, this PS4 exclusive was a success.
Marvel’s Spider-Man was the perfect reminder that among the greatest and most important heroes of all time, there will still be just a kid from Queens in a modern world who can often feel oversaturated with fresh and ‘improved’ superheroes.
With savvy game mechanics that make you feel like you are swinging around the New York skyline from one iconic landmark to another.
Spidey’s iteration of Insomniac Games offers the most recognizable version of Peter Parker yet – as a shattered graduate only trying to pay his rent (and save the city he loves from supervillains).
Marvel’s Spider-Man is a wonderful plunge into NYC’s beloved web-slinger’s non-stop universe, packed with hours of story, funny and moving side-missions, and painful attention to detail.
15. Red Dead Redemption 2
You will strap on outlaw Arthur Morgan’s stirrups in one of the most ambitious and expansive games in recent memory and spend hour after hour traveling in the company of your trusty horse and a few old friends through the last days of the Western frontier.
In this prequel to the much-loved Red Dead Redemption, oddly called Red Dead Redemption 2, you play alongside a younger version of the original, iconic Red Dead protagonist, John Marston, as part of the legendary Dutch van der Linde gang.
The gang can ride freely through a great American landscape. As the age of the Wild West approaches its demise, you are faced with either choosing the path of the nobleman or spending your days becoming as awful an outlaw.
16. God of War
Everyone who owned a console in 2005 will certainly remember Kratos’s trials and tribulations. He was the notorious Spartan god and harbinger of destruction in the ancient world.
Even if you did not play the original God of War series, the remake made for the PS4 in 2018 is brilliant and time-consuming enough to distract someone from all that is happening around them.
You assume the role of Kratos in a touching story about a father and son on what initially seems to be an unassuming journey to disperse the ashes of his late wife (and the mother of his son).
This soon becomes entangled in the whispers of the World Serpent, Odin’s wrath, and the tales of other mythical figures.
God of War is as exciting as it is tear-jerking. It is both an enthralling adventure and a tender study of the sacrifices we make for families.
