41. inFamous 2 – Riley
“A Beast is coming. A monster only I can defeat, provided that I am strong and ready to face him.”
InFamous is Sucker Punch’s fantastic series of superpowered stories, and the PS3 era stands out as its peak. Cole MacGrath was an ordinary guy until a bomb went off and gifted him the power to wield electricity. Well, in the sequel, his powers are expanded on heavily, giving him unique traversal options, powerful attacks and shocking combos. It features a Fable-esque morality system: your actions will alter your abilities and your appearance.
If you heal injured people, make righteous decisions and are less destructive in your pursuit of heroism, you’ll be granted powerful and direct abilities and a cleaner appearance. But if you are destructive, kill the wounded and blow up everything in sight, you’ll get more destructive abilities and a darker, more menacing appearance. While the morality system doesn’t affect the story as much as I’d like, I’m glad it’s there. It sets the games apart from other superhero games and adds an extra wrinkle to how you face combat scenarios.
So, if you want to climb, glide and shock enemies to death, Infamous is one of the better superhero games out there and well worth your time.
42. PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale – Riley
It’s like Smash Bros, but worse in every way
One of the rare fan dream projects of “what if PlayStation made their own Smash Bros” actually existed on the PS3. And it is pretty OK at best. This entry is more for you to experience rather than lovingly cradle like your newfound hidden gem. It’s a 2D side-scrolling brawler, with items, special attacks and character crossovers galore. The characters included range from PlayStation staples like Nathan Drake, Kratos and Ratchet & Clank, to baffling choices like Big Daddy, the reboot Dante from DmC and Big Daddy.
While not most players’ choice of a dream roster, each character is fairly unique and quite fun to mess around with. If you want something weird and a relic of its time, it’s definitely worth looking into. Just don’t expect Smash Bros level of quality control or character diversity.
43. Machinarium – Kane
A robotic world with more life than most.
In an era when adventure games were in decline, Machinarium was one of the last games keeping the genre alive at the time.
The game takes place in a metal world inhabited by nothing but robotic life. A small robot overhears a dastardly plot and gets thrown into the middle of nowhere to keep him quiet. Thus starts one little bot’s journey to save the day.
As you might expect from an adventure game, the gameplay focuses heavily on exploration and puzzles. Whether it’s disguising yourself as a policebot with a traffic cone and light bulb or making some stonerbot a joint from random trash, the puzzles here in particular will require you to think creatively to make your way forward.
It’s not a very long game, with one longplay video I found, clocking in at just over an hour, but I can assure you, every moment you spend in this quiet little mechanical world will be worth it.
44. Dead Space 2 – Kane
The one with the eye scene
I put the first game on our 360 list on the merits of it having a slightly moodier and oppressive atmosphere, but that doesn’t mean the sequel isn’t as good or even better overall. Much stayed the same between titles; you’re still making your way through a dark and dank space-based environment, trying to survive the horrific necromorphs while trying to make sense of what’s happening and escape.
What has changed is that Isaac has grown himself a voice box! The previously silent protagonist now chats up a storm with the few other survivors you come across. The upside of this is that Isaac is actually able to emote and express how horrifying everything that’s happening is. The downside is that it’s a little lighter on atmosphere since we’ve lost a lot of those quieter moments to extra dialogue.
Overall, though, if you enjoyed the first game, the second will serve you well, so it’s well worth trying out.
45. Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd – Blaze
Her voice echoes on!
A direct sequel to Project DIVA F, and offering much more! Tap along to the beat in 40 songs to choose from, sung by Hatsune Miku and friends. These range from hits like “kokoro” by Toraboruta sung by Kagamine Rin, and “Luka Luka Night Fever” by the late samfree sung by Megurine Luka, and the list goes on. Whether you’re a new player or a veteran coming back, F 2nd keeps the core gameplay of hitting and holding the melody icons in time and adding new gimmicks for the star targets.
Now you have linked stars and double stars to add to the mix, to give a more authentic feel when playing along to the instrumental parts of the songs. All songs in this game have a technical zone that, only if you clear it, will boost your score. They may also change the MV in the background, with some even incorporating the note icons in the videos. The best example of this is in the song ” The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku” by cosMo@bousou-P.
More content than Hachune can shake a leek at
F 2nd has a lot of charm and personality, while there are plenty of modules and accessories to choose from to get the perfect look for the music video, you can also customise the UI bar during gameplay. This comes in the form of themes from songs and characters alike, some even drawn by DIVA series artists. This was a feature I would have loved for them to bring back for the current DIVA games.
Diva rooms make a comeback from DIVA F with more themes, decorations and games to play with your favourite Vocaloids. Also, along with studio mode to watch live versions of songs with choreography from the 2013 ‘Magical Mirai’ event. One of my favourite things about this game is that it also features a mini quest list for each song, and when you complete them, you will get room items, accessories and for some songs a themed UI for that song. Also, if you are a fan of Kagerou Daze then Project F 2nd is the only Diva game on which the song “Kagerou Daze” by Jin is featured.
46. Lollipop Chainsaw – Blaze
“Zombies suck! xoxoxoxo” – Juliet
What’s worse than going to school on your birthday? How about a zombie apocalypse happening on the same day? Join Juliet Starling, a happy-go-lucky cheerleader and chainsaw-wielding zombie killer, as she embarks on a journey to save the earth from the zombie outbreak. She must use all her wits and skills to defeat the 5 ‘Dark Purveyors’, a group of music-based zombies brought forth by an evil goth to send the world into chaos, all whilst her boyfriend’s head is attached to her hip!
It’s a lotta fun mowing down hordes of zombies with a chainsaw, as you mix up melee moves, dodging and high attacks with your chainsaw to gain medals. Medals make prizes, use them to buy cute outfits and killer combo moves to make zombie slaying much more fun. As you progress, you’ll gain more weapon styles, like long-range chainsaw blast, and a chainsaw dash to add to the zombie splattering. Oh, and don’t forget her boyfriend’s head, Nick! He can be made useful by attaching him to a decapitated zombie to help out, or making zombies groggy for easier kills. He’s very helpful!
So if you’re looking for some cute, chaotic zombie-killing fun, grab a lollipop and aim for that high score!
47. Skylanders: Swap Force – Blaze
“Swappable. Unstoppable.”
Teleport back to Skylands and embark on another fun and ‘Kaotic’ adventure! When the volcano erupts at Cloudbreak Islands, a brave set of heroes was caught up mid-battle, blasted apart and became the newly introduced SWAP Force. Your job as portal master is to help these heroes use their newfound abilities and return to Cloudbreak Island. But Skylands isn’t safe as Kaos lurks, and Mother has come to help.
SWAP force figures can, as the name implies, be swapped with each other to make all new character and elemental combos. The SWAP force has a variety of ways to travel, such as climbing, digging and flying, to solve puzzles and access new areas of the levels. Also, all your other Skylanders figures work in this game and are the first game in the series that features the ‘jump’ mechanic. Skylanders is definitely more of a laid-back 3D platformer, but there’s something about its fun gameplay, colourful worlds and diverse characters that keep me coming back. Collecting the NFC figures is fun, and some are quite pretty, especially the light core ones.
Having such a diverse range with it’s story driven game play, fun mini games, elemental combat style and easy drop-in and out co-op system, it’s fun to play with anyone. It has 4 difficulty levels and quick respawning, perfect for a younger audience.
48. Brutal Legend – Riley
“A good roadie knows his whole job is to make someone else look good, keep someone else safe, help someone else do what they were put here to do.”
What do you get if you take Tenacious D and mix it with a fantasy setting and tower defence gameplay? A weird as hell fantasy adventure with rock and metal-inspired enemies and an incredible soundtrack. Exploring the world, completing quests and finding collectables whilst driving around in over-the-top vehicles is a satisfying gameplay loop on its own, but the boss battles take centre stage.
You and your foe erect stages, and must build up offences and defences to both defend from attacks and unleash havoc onto their concert. This creates carefully planned and meticulous combat that turns a mindless romp into a strategic battle of minds, usually accompanied by stellar songs like Mr Crowley. This game isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoy real-time strategy and Jack Black’s sense of humour, then this is a fun time. Plus, it might have one of the best title screens I’ve ever seen, seriously, check it out.
49. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax – Dave
In Japan, this is called Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold, which is both cooler and has a considerate colon in the middle.
P4AU is the sequel to Arc System Work’s Persona 4 Arena, one of many Persona 4 spin-offs. It was a 2D fighting game featuring characters from both Persona 4 and Persona 3, and gameplay that was both intuitive and complex. Every character made use of their titular “persona”, which meant every character more or less came with a second character built in. Despite the added complexity, it was accessible due to optional auto-combos and lavish tutorial modes, both of which return in P4AU.
The plot is nonsense (it would have you believe no one in the investigation team noticed another eccentric misfit during the events of Persona 4, despite Inaba being an insular, superstitious community where they hammer down nails that stick out like they’re playing whack-a-mole). However, it’s all in the service of… fan service. The character selection is robust, and most fighters come in two flavours (the normal ones and the shadow variety that has the moveset from the previous game). DLC includes a wide selection of music that was available at the time, as well as character colours and glasses.
The fights in the single-player visual novel mode are pitifully easy, but you can find real challenges in the Golden Arena mode and, if you can find someone in the big year of 2026, online. The original game’s story mode is in P4AU, too, so the sequel is definitely the one to pick between them. Unfortunately, ArcSys seems to have its hands full with Guilty Gear and Marvel money, so I wouldn’t expect a P5U anytime soon.
50. Saints Row: The Third – Riley
“That’s just fine, ’cause in the real world, you’re just a bitch with a keyboard.”
Saints Row has always been GTA’s weird, over the top younger brother, and this is peaked here at the third entry. While the story and villains aren’t as engaging as the second entry, the gameplay and mission options here ooze spectacle. The main story is ridiculous, hilarious and incredibly memorable. From riding through cyberspace on a Tron inspired bike, to shooting enemies as a toilet, you’ll be dumbfounded at every turn. The side missions are incredibly fun too, blowing stuff up, committing insurance fraud and Mr Genki’s cavalcade of chaos is sure to amuse for hours.
The character creator is at its best here, and only taken a step further in the sequel, but what we have here is more than sufficient. The accompanying soundtrack, while slightly inferior to 2 and 4, features memorable songs and a whole host of classics to discover. I personally fell in love with Feeder’s “Renegades” thanks to this entry. So, if you somehow skipped this one, give it another shot, it’s a great time and an experience you won’t soon forget.
Thanks for reading our list! If you think we’ve missed any key titles, we may have mentioned them on our Xbox 360 list. We wanted to keep these two totally different, so be sure to check it out for further third-party offerings. They may run worse here, but they’re still a great option. Are there any games you would recommend on the PS3? Don’t forget, you can also play every PS1 game on our list on a PS3 console, too, so that’s even more bang for your buck! Let us know in the comments! Join our Discord server to be a part of the community and level up!
Video game completionist and 3D platformer connoisseur, Riley is a fan of the whimsical frenzy of bright and colourful characters that blessed us in the late 90's. Their favourite game's are Spyro, Persona 5 and Super Mario Sunshine.
He/Him
A flamboyant ultra nerd, Dave participates in the Underlevelled Tournament both for the thrill of the fight, and to avenge the orphans lost in the climax of the previous tournament.
Born: London
Height: ???
Weight: ???
Nen Type: Manipulator
Classes: Editor, Dancer,
Hobbies: street dance, collecting manga volumes, reading, editing
Likes: short-to-medium walks on the beach, pointing out how things can and will be misconstrued as racism, fighting games, RPGs, anime, Hades, alternative hip hop, conscious hip hop, overly long bios, ice-cream
Dislikes: insincere media, his own uncanny resemblance to Richard Ayoade, mayonnaise
Just a dude that plays games and rambles on our twitch channel. Ill write stuff on here once in a blue moon.
Sean Hollyman is an avid fan of action figures, videogames and sometimes other things too. When he's not labourously trying to earn platinum trophies for games that he otherwise probably wouldn't care about, Sean can often be found taking photos of his Transformers in embarrassing situations.
Favorite Food: Roast Dinner
Least Favorite Food: ANYTHING with mayonnaise in it
The token northerner of the team, my articles may or may not be written by my cats. I'm a jack of all trades master of none while having a backlog so large I might as well try to climb Everest instead of completing it.
Had 100% completion in The Binding of Isaac Rebirth until EDMUND decided to release a new DLC. Play Nubby's Number Factory.
Your local sleepy tea drinker. I love rhythm games, Kirby, and toy box horrors. Some of my favourite games are Final Fantasy XV, Project DIVA and Cult Of The Lamb.
I'm occasionaly woken from my slumber to write about games I like so you'll see me pop up from time to time. So walk tall my fellow gamers.
You'll see me everywhere here. Mostly I stream and fix things when they break. You might find me writing an odd article or two too. Hope you enjoy the site!
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