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What are the best games with a dystopian setting on PS4?

9

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Considered

20

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Jul 8, 2022

Last
Updated

8 Games Considered

Best games with a dystopian setting on PS4	Price	Native Resolution	Platforms
-- The Last of Us Remastered	$19.99	1080p60	-
-- Horizon Zero Dawn	$59.99	-	-
-- Fallout 4	$25.95	-	Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
-- Metro: Redux	$29.99	-	-
-- NieR: Automata	$59.99	-	Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

The Last of Us Remastered

Top Pro

Emotional story with characters you can relate to

The Last of Us is story about loss, family, and protecting your loved ones. From beginning to the end it's filled with sad scenes and touching moments, so you're in for a ride. It also deals with the harsh reality of surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. Kindness gets you nowhere and only the cold-hearted can truly survive. Even if you make the right choice, you'll still have regrets, which sticks with you and changes you. In the end everyone's just trying make the best out of a bad situation. That makes you think how far you'd go to survive and how long you'd still be your old self. Having characters you can relate to makes the story a lot more enjoyable. See More

Top Con

Minor graphical issues

You'll occasionally notice texture pop-ins and characters briefly disappearing. It's not really game-breaking, but could potentially ruin your immersion. See More

SharpApep's Experience

a truly realistic depiction of how nature would reclaim the world See More

Specs

Top Pro

Simple but useful crafting system

This game has a very simple crafting system where you collect scraps and combine them to make items. You can also craft weapons such as the Molotov cocktail and the nail bomb. Both weapons can take out most enemies instantly. It's quite refreshing to see such an accessible and useful crafting system. See More

Top Pro

Comes with all of the DLC

The Last of Us was first released on PS3, and a lot of extra content was released later. The Last of Us Remastered comes with all of that content included. This will help you save some money on DLC purchases. See More

Horizon Zero Dawn

Top Pro

Each upgrade and skill feels meaningful

Most games nowadays are plagued by needlessly high level caps, useless skills and meaningless upgrades. In Horizon Zero Dawn Each upgrade and new skill unlock actually helps you become a more efficient hunter. There's Silent Strike, which lets you perform silent takedowns on enemies, both robotic and human. Enemies that would've taken a lot of effort to beat previously, can now be taken out in one hit. However, on its own it's mediocre at best, so you have to get other abilities to make it more effective. One such ability is Low Profile, which makes you less visible when you're crouching. This lets you to sneak up on enemies much easier, allowing you to use Silent Strike more often. There's also the upgrades, which can be either a boost to your damage, rate of fire, an increase to your carrying capacity or a unique technology such as the cloaking field. The damage and rate of fire upgrades are very straightforward, allowing you to defeat machines in a shorter amount of time. The carrying capacity upgrade helps you go on longer hunts without having to make a return trip. The cloaking field makes it a lot safer to travel and a lot easier to get the jump on enemies. See More

Top Con

The game is difficult

Horizon Zero Dawn is incredibly challenging. Even players that are good at the game still have difficulties facing some enemies. See More

Top Pro

Exciting hunting gameplay

The main focus of the game is hunting robotic creatures also known as "machines". They are similar to real animals in both appearance and behavior, so a lot of them move in packs. You have to be careful in how you approach them, because provoking one of them will also provoke the others. You can hide in tall grass and attract them one by one with whistling. This way you can take them out silently with your spear, minimizing the danger. Or you can get into a direct confrontation, which is a lot more intense when there are multiple enemies. You'll have to learn their patterns, so you know when to dodge or attack with your weapon (usually a bow or slingshot). When you finally manage to defeat them, it truly feels like an achievement. See More

Top Pro

Intriguing world

At first glance the world seems simple. Tribes-folk living in beautiful landscapes of snow, sand, and lush green, trying to get by through hunting and gathering. Then you get introduced to the other inhabitants – the machines. It suddenly makes you wonder about their origin, their appearance and their purpose. What lead to their creation and why did civilization regress to pockets of tribal settlements. You'll be interested in exploring the world and finding out for yourself. See More

Fallout 4

Top Pro

Huge world with loads of content

The world of Fallout 4 is massive so there's quite a lot to do. Many areas to explore, tons of quests to complete, and lots of collectibles to find. There's easily enough content to keep you playing for over a hundred hours. See More

Top Con

Occasional bugs

There are bugs in the game that users will run into. While most are not game breaking, it can detract from the experience. See More

Specs

Genre:Action RPG

Co-Op:Single Player

Top Pro

Addicting building mechanic

One of the more interesting parts of managing your settlement is the house building aspect. There are various preset houses you can put down quickly, but you can make large structures entirely from scratch, starting with the foundation and ending with the roof of a 10 story building. While there are some constraints such as limited building area, you can really let your imagination loose, allowing you to spend countless hours on it. See More

Top Con

Pipboy UI feels unpleasant to use

When you open your Pipboy (a personal computer that manages your quests, inventory, character data, etc) the screen containing the useful information only covers about a fourth of the entire screen. As a result some of the elements are too crammed, requiring a lot of scrolling. This can be really annoying if you're trying to find something in a list of 100 items. See More

Top Pro

Great storyline

The main story has a very personal theme of family and revenge, featuring a main character looking for their lost son in a post-apocalyptic version of Boston. The side-quests also provide a decent backdrop, expanding on some of the plot elements of the main story. There are many twists and mysteries, but the narrative remains coherent throughout the story, creating a very enjoyable experience. See More

Top Con

The dialogue choices are confusing

Most of the dialogue choices will only show a few words that don't actually reflect what your character is gonna say. This creates a disconnect between you and your character, making it seem like you don't control what your character is gonna say at any point. See More

Top Pro

Deep perk/skill system

Fallout 4 has a great selection of perks centered on surviving in the wasteland. You'll gain a point each time you level up, allowing you to select one of the perks. The perks can give you an increase to your sneaking ability, improve your lockpicking skills, or even add unique effects such as causing bullets fired by enemies to ricochet back and killing them. There's easily enough variation to make multiple playthroughs feel fresh and exciting. To make it even better, if you don't like multiple playthroughs, you can just unlock every single perk on a single character, albeit with a much longer playtime. See More

Top Pro

Diverse enemy types keep the gameplay exciting

There a lot of different enemies found in the game such as super mutants, feral ghouls, robots, mutated wildlife, and many others. All of them have their unique behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses. For example, robots often use heavy weaponry such as rocket launchers and lasers, making it really hard to deal with them. Fortunately enough, they're very vulnerable to EMP grenades and can also be hacked. Another example are the feral ghouls that will almost always charge at you. They can surround you really fast, clawing away at your health and affecting you with radiation, but they lack any intelligence. So if you plant mines infront of you and attract them with gunshots, they'll lose their legs in the minefield, leaving them at your mercy. The various enemy types and methods you can fight them with keeps the gameplay fresh for a long time. See More

Top Pro

Companions can help make the game a little easier

There are a bunch of companions to find in the game, starting with Dogmeat, the dog. Each companion has their own skills that can help you. For example, Dogmeat can dig up hidden items and bring them to you. They can also distract the enemy, causing the combat to be a little easier since all the attention won't be on just you. The only real downside is that you can only use one companion at a time, but you can easily swap them out. Using a companion is not mandatory either, so if you prefer the added challenge you can travel without a companion. See More

Top Pro

You can adjust equipment to suit your playstyle

In Fallout 4 you have a lot of options when modifying your equipment, giving you a chance to make equipment that matches your playstyle. You can take an assault rifle and change most of its parts. Each part you can change has an upside and a downside to it. For example, adding a long range scope would make the rifle useless in close quarters, but it would be great for pick off targets from afar. You can also tailor your armors for various situations. You can lower the weight or add pockets to make carrying loot easier. Or you can add additional linings or padding to gain increased protection against various hazards such as radiation. See More

Top Pro

Great selection of mods

You can can find all sorts of mods at the Bethesda website, giving you the freedom to change the parts of the game you don't like. This includes interface adjustments, graphical improvements, additional quests, and many other things. See More

Top Pro

Interesting settlement management

In Fallout 4 you can set up thriving communities in various locations. You'll have to provide the settlers with housing, bedding, water, food, and protection. Over time you'll be able to establish trade routes between the settlements and expand into an empire spanning the entire territory of Fallout 4. This really gives it the feeling like you're trying to rebuild society, which is a welcome change in a post-apocalyptic game. See More

Top Pro

Addictive to collect loot

You can pick up most of the stuff you see laying around in Fallout 4. Every item, including weapons and armors, can be broken down into reusable crafting materials. This makes it hard to stop yourself from going around and collecting everything in sight because everything has a purpose. You can also find unique versions of equipment on the corpses of legendary enemies. Each of these items has an additional effect such as speed boost or extra damage. This may cause you to constantly pick fights you'll probably lose, but it's worth it once you get your hands on that extremely good piece of equipment. See More

Top Pro

Solid gunplay with an interesting twist

The gunplay plays so well it almost feels like a pure FPS. You can shoot from the hip, aim down the sights/scope, or even just run and gun. However, what makes Fallout 4 stand out is VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System). When you activate VATS, the time slows down to a crawl, allowing you to mark body parts of enemies. When you execute it your character will automatically shoot the marked body parts. This is very useful for getting out of tight spots, allowing you to instantly clear groups of enemies or kill a really tough enemy charging at you. It also has the benefit of making you feel like an expert gunman, even if your aim isn't that great. See More

Metro: Redux

Top Pro

Immersive exploration

Even though the levels are linear, the exploration aspect is done very well. You'll spend a lot of time walking through the old metro tunnels, which are filled with radiation hazards, bandits, and mutants. Sometimes you'll even have companions with you, making the trip easier with lighthearted banter. The dangerous encounters might leave you low on resources, so to survive you have to be a scavenger. Exploring even the narrowest spaces such as air vents will yield you air filters, med kits, ammunition, and other useful items. It's quite exciting to find a hidden stash of valuable goodies when you're the least expecting it. Additionally, at the end of each tunnel there is a station, which is a settlement of survivors. These stations have their own unique culture and interesting sights, giving you a moment of respite. See More

Top Con

Bleak depressing world

The setting of the game may not appeal to everyone as it is a very dark and cruel world that one will be spending a large amount of time in to complete both games. This may wear down the player. See More

JuanCema's Experience

The games were absolutely fantastic. I find dystopian settings in games interesting and fun to explore. I completed Metro: 2033 in about 10 hours, and Metro: Last Light in about 20 (I don't know why it took me so long, maybe because of the bossfights and plethora levels which I decided to sneak on). I love the characters, Pavel in Last Light is awesome, and I love the relationship between Artyom and Anna. See More

Top Pro

Intense underground combat

The combat in Metro mostly comes down to shooting mutants, bandits or other survivors. Mutants will simply rush you and try to overwhelm you with their claws and teeth. Human enemies like the bandits will use tactics and try to surround you. All of this is made a lot more intense thanks to the low lighting and narrow passages. If you don't plan your movements carefully, you just might get backed into a corner. You can also use the lighting to your advantage and hide in the shadows. While most locations populated by bandits have very bright lights, you can turn off their light sources. This allows you to backstab them from the dark without raising an alarm. The same tactics won't work on mutants because they can see in the dark. See More

Top Pro

Plays at 60fps at 1080p

The game holds at a steady 60fps while being played in 1080p. This makes for a more visually appealing game thanks to the solid framerate in full HD. See More

Top Pro

Contains two Metro games

Metro Redux is the re-release of both Metro 2033 Redux and Metro Last Light. Both have improved gunplay, stealth mechanics and textures over their original counterparts. See More

NieR: Automata

Top Pro

A unique take on storytelling leads to a very entertaining experience

NieR: Automata's outlook on storytelling is great: in order to get the full experience, you've got to do multiple playthroughs of the game. You unlock more chapters of the story as you complete the previous chapters more times: completing the first chapter twice will unlock the second chapter, then when you complete that you will unlock the third. When you begin, you play as an android known as YoRHA. However, subsequent playthroughs will allow you to choose different characters. This lets you experience the story from a different perspective. It's really interesting and certainly serves to make the game more fun overall. See More

Top Con

Buggy

Some players have been complaining about the game crashing, freezing, save files missing, etc. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

It's got a hauntingly beautiful environment

NieR: Automata is set in an apocalyptic time where Earth has been overrun by robots, and the artists really nailed what that would feel like. Abandoned and overgrown cities litter the landscape along with old refineries, graveyards, and eerie forests. When you add the beautiful soundtrack to the experience, it fills you with a bittersweet mix of loneliness and hope. See More

Top Con

Random lag spikes

When walking into an abandoned city, or during cutscenes, you'll randomly experience lag from time to time. See More

Top Pro

Fast-paced and action packed combat

The combat in NieR: Automata is incredible. It has a very hack-and-slash feel to it, with an emphasis on agility and acrobatics. You will have to switch from using small, quick jabs with your weapon, to devastatingly strong attacks. You also have to utilize ranged attacks, as well as the companion that follows you around if you want to have any hope of surviving every encounter. It can be very difficult to win battles sometimes, but it also feels equally rewarding when you finally achieve victory. See More

Top Pro

An incredible amount of gameplay

You can easily spend 60 plus hours exploring the world NieR: Automata, and still have much more to do. See More

The Surge

Top Pro

Enjoyable loot system

In most games items tend to have drop chances, so you're often stuck killing an enemy over and over until you get the item you're looking for. The Surge changes this up by allowing you to slash off pieces of equipment from enemy bodies when finishing them off. For example, when you're fighting a cyborg with really cool looking armor, you can slice off its arm with a finishing move. You can loot the arm afterwards, allowing you to craft the arm piece of that armor set. This means you can get the full set after fighting that type of cyborg several times rather than spending hours fighting them and getting nothing. As a result, you have a loot system that rewards effort without relying on your luck, which feels like a really nice change of pace. See More

Top Con

Might feel a bit too punishing

Even when you have good equipment, the regular enemies can still kill you in a couple of hits if you're not careful. Some enemies are very aggressive and fast, so a momentary lapse in focus can cause you to restart an area from the beginning. This is further amplified during boss fights where most hits taken will outright kill you, which can feel frustrating and unfair, especially when you've no idea what a boss does. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Top Pro

Engaging combat system

The Surge's combat primarily consists of you fighting robots or cybernetically enhanced humans in close quarters. You have to read enemy patters, dodge when needed, and strike when there's an opening. What makes the combat stand out, however, is the ability to target specific body parts of enemies, allowing you to deal more damage on unarmored body parts or even cripple them. This adds more strategy to combat since you're not just swinging in the general direction of an enemy, but also constantly looking for their weak spots. See More

Top Con

Exploration can feel disorientating since there's no map

While a lot of games without maps and/or waypoints play fine, The Surge may feel too disorientating at times. This is mostly due to its over-reliance on maze-like environments that tend to look exactly the same, so even though you've entered a room for the first time, it may feel like you've already been there. This is also made worse by the fact that enemies respawn after a while, so you can't use their absence or presence for guidance either. If you don't like to perfectly memorize level layouts, the Surge might be annoying to play. See More

Top Pro

Good selection of weapons

The Surge has many types of futuristic weapons - from a vibration powered chainsaw, to a large axe with an energy blade, to even a giant robot's arm re-purposed as a weapon. The most important differences between weapons, however, are in speed, reach, and available combos. For example, you can pick a very slow weapon with a wide reach that has devastating combos, but carries the risk of getting interrupted by enemies faster than you. Or you can choose a very fast weapon to easily outmaneuver enemies but you always have to stay close because the weapon has a poor reach. As a result, each weapon has differences in tempo and playstyle, allowing you to choose one that fits you the best. See More

Top Con

The story isn't that good

The story starts out intriguing, but it doesn't do much with the initial setup afterwards. The main character's motivations don't seem very believable, the side characters aren't that interesting, and even the conclusion isn't satisfying. In the end, the story in The Surge is just a vague excuse for you to slaughter robots and cyborgs. See More

Observer

Top Pro

Intriguing cyberpunk world

The deserted, rain-slicked streets of the gritty city at night, filled with unsettling displays of government advertisements fits right in with the themes and media that inspired Observer's cyberpunk world. A dystopian future where augmented humans were killed off by a mysterious disease is a fascinating, if familiar concept for cyberpunk enthusiasts. It's interesting to explore this technologically-advanced world where the government has collapsed and a mega-corporation has taken over, making you wonder how you might survive in this type of setting. See More

Top Con

Gameplay is limited to mostly walking around

As a "walking simulator," Observer is appealing to players who enjoy taking their time to explore and take in the environment, but it may not have enough gameplay for those looking for a more involved experience. Hacking into minds, analyzing crime scenes and moving from place to place makes up the bulk of the game. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Cyberpunk Psychological Horror

Top Pro

In-depth environmental storytelling

As you search around apartment buildings and office spaces with augmented vision, you'll come across emails, video sequences, and notes that flesh out the story. You can take your time to find out about now-extinct religions from the past, learn about the lives of the many people who died from the digital plague, and interact with each piece of evidence lying around at crime scenes. Scanning items, computers and blood stains to solve these crimes can lead you down a rabbit hole of discovering more about the world through environmental storytelling. See More

Top Con

Some frustrating, out-of-place chase sequences

Some segments of Observer force you to stealthily avoid a menacing enemy lumbering through a dark workspace or a dilapidated set of hallways, but they don't quite fit with the game's overall freedom of discovery and exploration. If you're discovered, it's game over. These parts ruin the pace and flow that you're used to from the gameplay. See More

Top Pro

Hacking into peoples' memories is an engaging way to investigate crimes

While solving cases, you can hack into a subject's memories through their augmentations, creating a new reality as you physically explore their thoughts. You'll then proceed through the scenes of their memories, listening to conversations that reveal more about the story and the world. The psychedelic visuals as you progress through these memories are unique and mind-bending, making these sequences even more exciting. These sections of Observer go above and beyond the other, more standard investigation mechanics in the game, making each crime mystery unique and exciting. See More

Top Pro

Terrifying, mind-bending story presentation

Observer's detective story sounds simple, with you tracking down protagonist Daniel Lazarski's missing son, but the way the game presents this narrative is what counts. As you follow leads on his son's whereabouts, you'll analyze crime scenes mostly by searching through horrifying, psychedelic memories from the neural implants of dying or dead victims. These are unstable displays of augmented reality, with broken visuals filled with psychedelic colors, eerie hallucinations, and rattling jump scares. They manage to distort your own consciousness in the game, making you question the reality around you. Through these terrifying experiences, the game poses philosophical questions on the true nature of reality, such as what point technology can take over and shape what we believe is real. See More

Neurovoider

Top Pro

Great co-op

You can play the game's main campaign with up to 3 other players locally. This considerably amplifies the mayhem, resulting in really entertaining shootouts and boss battles. With Neurovoider being a roguelike, the permadeath mechanic still applies, which can lead to both tragic and funny moments. See More

Top Con

Fairly difficult

Neurovoider is a super fast and hectic game, so anyone not used to playing games at a very high tempo can get instantly overwhelmed even on the easiest difficulty. While practice helps to lessen this, players looking for slower-paced games probably won't have as much fun with this title. See More

Specs

Genre:Roguelike, Shooter, Role-Playing

Co-Op:4 Player Local

Top Pro

Great replayability thanks to extensive procedural generation

Almost everything in Neurovoider is procedurally generated. This includes levels, enemies, weapons, and even loot - the combinations are almost endless, to the point you probably won't encounter the same level layouts, enemies, and even loot twice. As a result, Neurovoider can stay fresh and exciting for a longer time than a lot of other similar games. See More

Top Pro

Humorous setting

Neurovoider's setting is both dark and humorous - a dystopian Earth overrun by robots that spend all their time partying, so you, the last organic being alive on the planet, decide to crash that party with bullets and rockets. While this is a minor aspect of the game itself, the absurdity of the situation can add some unexpected humor to the intense shootouts. See More

Top Pro

Exhilarating shooter gameplay

Neurovoider is a game where you enact a robot genocide with ludicrous amounts of bullets, rockets, lasers, and explosions. The mayhem almost never slows down, and as you enter new sections of a level, you're greeted with new hordes of misshaped party robots with fairly challenging boss battles occasionally thrown into the mix. On top of that, there's the roguelike permadeath mechanic, considerably adding to the intensity of each encounter, since every battle truly is a fight for survival. See More

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