While Xbox has committed to backwards compatibility spanning four generations, PlayStation has continued their stance that the feature isn’t important. Well, it is! I’m hoping these PlayStation 3 classics that skipped the PS4 entirely show up again on the PS5 for everyone to enjoy. Many of these franchises and developers later produced blockbuster hits, so it’d be great if they could be introduced to a new generation of gamers.
10. Resistance: Fall of Man
Insomniac has a more impressive pedigree than almost any other game studio, creating games such as Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, Sunset Overdrive and Spider-Man for the PS4. But before they became a world-class studio under Sony, Insomniac deviated from the mascot adventure games they were known for to bring us Resistance. Resistance: Fall of Man is a bit of a mindless sci-fi first-person shooter, and although it’s not similar in style it scratches the same itch as DOOM. Shoot, kill, upgrade and repeat. It’s a good time with aggressively 2008 graphics.
9. Max Payne 3
While Rockstar Games is better known as the creators of the Red Dead and Grand Theft Auto series, their action game Max Payne 3 is an over-the-top classic that shouldn’t be lost to time. This third-person shooter is edgy in the best ways and never takes itself too seriously, and serves as a staple of the PS3 era of gaming. If you’re a fan of the Uncharted series, you definitely need to check this one out.
8. Heavenly Sword
Ninja Theory (who would later go on to produce Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and DMC: Devil May Cry) jumped into the limelight with their original fantasy hack ‘n slash game Heavenly Sword. While there are better games in the genre now, the Heavenly Sword IP continues to sit dormant. It’s a fascinating and high-octane world worth revisiting, and then maybe you can join the fans who are wasting away waiting for news on Heavenly Sword 2. Unfortunately, since Sony owns the IP and Xbox now owns Ninja Theory, we’re unlikely to see it ever again.
7. Beyond Good and Evil
Beyond Good and Evil is the definition of a cult classic. Considered by many to be one of the best action-adventure games ever made, this Ubisoft game was actually a commercial failure at launch. Numerous rereleases and then a remaster on PS3 kept the IP alive long enough for Beyond Good and Evil 2 to begin development in 2017. It’d be a great idea to bring back this wonderfully whimsical mix of stealth, action and puzzles to acquaint a new generation of gamers with Jade while getting everyone hyped for BG&E2, which at this point is likely still years away.
6. Killzone 3
Okay, yes. This is the third gruff military men shooter that only knows the colors black, brown and dark green exist. Sure. But this is from the folks that eventually brought you Horizon Zero Dawn. Right? Check it out. Plus the monster designs are great and there’s some intelligent level design going on , more so than a lot of FPS games from that time period.
5. Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV is the highest ranked game of all time on Metacritic. While I don’t think it quite belongs there, GTA IV is definitely something special. With GTA V being one of the best selling games of all time, there are tens of millions of fans of the franchise that have yet to experience the fourth mainline installment. While the mechanics don’t quite hold up, it’s a great story that really redefined what games could do with an open world. Get it on the PS5! If you only know Grand Theft Auto from GTA V, IV is worth revisiting.
4. Red Dead Redemption
And Rockstar Games has made this list for the third time. Incredible. Red Dead Redemption II is also one of the best selling games of all time, so it likely needs no introduction. Join John Marson as he navigates a highly interactive open world, the kind that defines a generation, and take on the American Wild West with style. With the insane popularity of Rockstar’s games, it’s already a crime that these didn’t make it onto the PS4. Hopefully Sony can get them to the PS5 one way or another.
3. Dead Space 2
Dead Space 2 is usually agreed to be the best of the trilogy, and showcases the absolute best in horror from the PS3 generation. What’s more, it actually still looks great in 2020, unlike most of these games. I don’t want to spoil Dead Space 2 too much, but this would be a great one to come back to on the PS5 while we wait for a Dead Space 4 announcement.
2. Metal Gear Solid 4
Metal Gear Solid 4 is sort of the black sheep of the Metal Gear series. It’s nobody’s favorite, but also nobody’s least favorite. Despite this, it received universal critical acclaim and is still referred to as one of the all-time greats. MGS 4 finds an aged and withering Solid Snake in a Terminator-esque look at the future that war will eventually bring us to. Traversing the futuristic wasteland and seeing beloved characters from the past once again will bring a tear to the eye of any Metal Gear fan. With Sony and legendary creator Hideo Kojima’s tight relationship one would hope this could come to the PS5, but Konami currently holds the rights. Here’s hoping MGS IV might make it to the PS5 one day to hype people up for Kojima’s follow-up to Death Stranding.
1. Fallout 3 & New Vegas
If you ask me, these two games offer the very best of the generation. If you’re somehow unfamiliar with the Fallout franchise, Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas are post-apocalyptic first-person shooter open world hardcore RPGs. That is a lot of stuff at once, but you probably get the picture.
Fallout 3 is a wonderful and depressing trip into post apocalyptic America. Go literally anywhere and do literally anything you please. If that’s scary to you, the main quest will take you all over the map. But I encourage you to stick to the road less traveled- that is to say, don’t follow the roads. Fight for good or evil, for the Brotherhood or the Enclave, for justice or chaos. Just make sure to allow yourself to feel that freedom. They keep telling you that war never changes, but more importantly you’ll find that in some terrifying ways America never changes, either.
Fallout New Vegas takes everything that Fallout 3 brought to the series and stretches it over the skeleton of the classic games, creating something much more elegant than it has any right to be. Aside from the numerous technical problems and impossible-to-aim guns, Fallout New Vegas is a flawless masterpiece. The player will continue to be astounded that the developers thought of one thing or another and prepared for it; your choices in both dialogue and action do truly affect and alter the world around you. An endless cast of well-written characters with overwritten backstories will carry the Courier through the wastes in search of the truth and land them in a very specific position to determine how the war plays out.
With the record-breaking sales of Fallout 4 and the comeback of a generation of Fallout 76, many players will be eager to see the other entries in the series. With Xbox’s acquisition of Bethesda Softworks it may not be likely, but if possible these two RPGs deserve to be played by a new generation of gamers.
Which games would you like to see return in backwards compatibility? Do you even need any of these with Knack 3 inevitably on the way? Let us know in the comments below!
