The PS5’s awesomely powerful innards are already putting in the legwork with next-gen games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Godfall, and more, but they’re also being put to work on older games.
A handful of PS4 exclusives have received sizable updates to give them a second life on PS5, and in some cases it’s akin to a remaster – something we’d have been paying full price for just a few years ago. But now? Completely free!
Not every PS4 exclusive has been given the next-gen treatment, mind you, and the updates for some have been more subtle than others. We’ve given the cream of the crop a go and decided that the games listed here are the ones you absolutely must try on PS5.
God of War
Personally, I never really got into God of War on PS4. It didn’t feel right to me. Kratos is supposed to be this crazy little ragdoll you throw around a screen, not a sad day with the player hanging over his shoulder, constantly asking “you ok mate?”
But, given that the game has received an update for PS5, I’ve given it another go and I’m gobsmacked. It looks amazing and it runs beautifully in 60fps mode. Even in 30fps mode, God of War runs brilliantly and looks amazing. Crisper visuals, higher resolutions, and more stable performance are all key features here. Maybe I made the right decision to skip it on PS4? This is certainly the best way to experience Kratos’ reinvention, and if you skipped it too, now is the time to play. But I do recommend 60fps mode, just because it really was impossible on PS4 and even the PS4 Pro.
Days Gone
Funnily enough, as we enter Lockdown number 2 in Germany (the place I live) I’m playing Days Gone again. It was my game of choice during Lockdown 1 back in March, but things are much different this time around.
For one, I’ve put on weight! Secondly, so has Days Gone – around 25GB of weight. Unlike my weight which has slowed me down, Days Gones extra gigs have sped it up. The open-world zombie game loads much faster and runs a lot better. Around 30frame better, in fact. Days Gone was a good game on PS4 Pro, but starting a New Game+ on PS5 is like booting up a new game. The resolution is higher, meaning a clearer look at this depressingly beautiful world, and the frame rate is a mostly solid 60. Combat is that much more responsive now and I don’t feel like I’m wrestling with the input delay to pull off headshots. This is my lockdown game, and, in a few years, once the aliens invade and we’re all locked away in underground bunkers, I hope to be playing it again in VR. Always good to plan ahead, you know?
Killzone Shadowfall
Yeah, I’m talking about Killzone Shadowfall, a game that released alongside the PS4 all those years ago. It was an interesting game back in the day because it was one of the first games on PS4 to offer players the choice between a 30fps cap, or an unlocked frame-rate which could go up to 60, but like my car with the court-ordered limiters installed, it rarely hit that number.
Now, on PS5 though? Yeah, you can play at 60 all day long, and this might be what gets me to actually finish the game. In some ways, Killzone Shadowfall feels like a more fitting game for PS5 than it ever did for PS4. It’s still graphically impressive if you don’t look at anybody’s face, and the quick launch into the game from the barebones main menu was a unique feature to Killzone, not really seen in any other game since. Definitely worth a look if you’ve got the hard drive space to spare.
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered
Alright, this is technically a new game that you’ll have to pay for, but whatever. It’s my list and the rules aren’t set in stone. And, it’s a damn good game made all the better on PS5. Sure, you can still play your PS4 copy on PS5 and get the benefits of faster loading and the remastered character model for the main man himself, but to really experience Peter Parker’s best game to-date, you need to play the PS5 remaster. 60 frames a second? Check. 4K? Check. 60fps and ray tracing? Double-check! To be fair, it’s quite cheap, too, as part of the Miles Morales deal, so if you’ve got $20 burning a hole in your lockdown Christmas sweatpants, there are worse ways to spend it.
Blood and Truth
This one will require you to have a PSVR headset, so if you don’t have one, you’re S.O.L, I’m afraid. But for everyone else? Why the hell haven’t you got Blood & Truth installed already? It was hands-down the best PSVR exclusive on PS4, and it’s even better on PS5. You get the usual stuff like faster loading times blah blah blah, but you’re also getting improved graphics and much smoother gameplay. Honestly, it feels like a game that was made for next-gen VR, and while it’s not quite up there with the most graphically impressive PCVR games, it’s definitely a standout in terms of gameplay. Yes, it’s still hindered by the PSVR light-tracking system, but it’s not as bad as people (including myself – I have a Quest, what do you expect?) make it out to be. If you’ve got this in your digital or physical library, get it on your hard drive. Now. Or I’ll come ’round ya house and burn ya toes.
Obviously, this list is not exhaustive and there are probably a few others that could sit alongside them, but word limits and time budgets mean we’re limiting this to five. Got more that everyone should know about? Hit us up on Twitter and maybe it’ll make the next listicle.
