Even those tired of battle royales in general have found something to love in Apex Legends, and its outlook for the future is looking very bright indeed. Its longevity has come into question a few times, but with constant updates on the way and that “one more match” appeal, it has definitely lasted the distance, especially with it now being in its fourth season and still bringing in plenty of invested players.Ī squad-based battle royale that has plenty in common with the likes of Overwatch, Apex Legends has a tonne of little innovations (pinging, respawning) that make it feel completely fresh despite the genre being a little overexposed. It’s been a roaring success, going on to reach 25 million players in just under a week and being the talk of Twitch. The game that finally woke Epic from their inertia, Apex Legends has created plenty of competition for Fortnite and co. Those who enjoy Warframe may get a kick out of Spacelords. It’s a novel idea with some tight shooting backed by a pretty distinctive (if questionably ugly) art style. The unique hook of Spacelords is that you play as either the good or bad guys in a story-based campaign in 4v1 multiplayer, but you can turn to the dark side if you so wish. While you would be hard pressed to suggest that the fresh lick of paint and a new business model has been a revelation, it’s at least made the experience far more approachable. If you don’t recognise this game, it’s probably because it used to be called Raiders of the Broken Planet: a paid game that really flattered to deceive when it launched and never mustered a huge playerbase. It’s a little rough around the edges and not exactly gorgeous to look at sure, but with a generous monetisation model and plenty of maps to constantly explode in, Hawken is a game that will tide you over for a short while during the release schedule’s quieter spots.
While its PC version may have been shut down, Hawken still enjoys some popularity as a PS4 free-to-play game. It’s also a lot more tactical than meets the eye, meaning that you will have to have a plan of attack before you take the fight to other mini-Metal Gears online. While Hawken doesn’t have the fluidity of something like Titanfall 2, it’s still a good time in its own right. While the step-down in quality is pretty obvious, Paladins still has tight shooting and an emphasis on teamwork that’s worth checking out, if only to figure out which Overwatch characters they were inspired by with their roster.īig bastard mechs fighting each other: a simple idea not executed often enough in video games. Sharing more than a few strands of DNA with Overwatch, Paladins is affectionately dubbed the “peasant” version of the hero shooter. It’s not hard to see why that’s the case, either. I searched the depths of my brain and tried to find a door to lock the Overwatch comparisons behind, but it’s impossible: Paladins is always going to be unofficially married to Blizzard’s monolith in one way or another. Can’t complain with that.”ĭeveloper: Hi-Rez Studios, Evil Mojo Games “Though it’s not without fault, and will likely do little to take away from Fortnite’s ever-growing popularity, H1Z1 on PS4 is a worthy addition to the crowded genre.
It’s stuffed with cosmetic microtransactions, but you can quite easily overlook them as a lot can be unlocked through natural play. It’s rather easy to pick up and play, but crazy difficult to be “good” at. That’s a lot of people that want to kill other people.Ĭoming across like the midway point between PUBG and Fortnite, H1Z1 on PS4 is a tinkered version of the old PC favourite with changes introduced to suit the game better to console. The game that popularised battle royale as we know it wasn’t expected to land on PS4 in such a solid state, but it did, minus the obligatory server outages with 1.5 million players trying to connect to the game within the space of 24 hours. READ NEXT: How Many People Play Fortnite? If you’re yet to see what all the fuss is about, you may as well dive in - and then dive out when you realise all teenagers in the world are better at it than you will ever be.
In fact, depending on the skin you choose, you may end up sticking out like a sore thumb on the battlefield. While its premium skins are certainly on the premium side, none of the microtransactions in the game will affect gameplay in a noticeable way. And it’s completely free, unless you desperately need to dress up as a dinosaur to unleash your inner Jurassic Park.
The Best Free PS4 Shooter Games Fortnite: Battle Royale FortniteĪ game so maddeningly addictive that it’s probably on the state of Hawaii’s watchlist, Fortnite is arguably the biggest thing in gaming right now.