The best PS3 games you can play today

The best games on PS3 saw less attention than the exceptional PS4 and PS5 content to come due to Sony botching the console's 2006 launch, but all hardcore PlayStation fans know the PS3 is home to some of the finest games around.

The best games on the PS3 list is here to guide you through the highest quality experiences available on Sony's 2006 console. The TrueTrophies team has looked through all the PS3 games to find what stuck out as the most definitive titles and selected 15 of them for you, with the aim of providing a rich selection with variety. Here are the 15 greatest PS3 games.

The best games on PS3

The Best Games on PlayStation

A quick note on the TrueTrophies team methodology: it starts with Editor Kes and Staff Writers Lee and Sean putting together lists of their favourite ten games on the PS3. These 30 are then trimmed to 15 games that they felt offered a variety of definitive PS3 experiences. This means you might not see some games that are cross-platform and/or multigenerational (hello, Batman!) — we will have a separate list for those. This best PS3 games list is dominated by the great titles that specifically give you a taste of everything distinctly unique to the PS3 and the generation of gaming it occupies, with little bits and bobs thrown in to round it out. Enjoy!

The Best PS3 Games

The Best Games on PlayStation
Staff Picks

Staff Picks

Uncharted 2 is one of the best PS3 games

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves is the action-adventure game that saved the PlayStation 3. Let's get it right though, as beyond its status as a saviour, Drake's second adventure is superb and in some ways defies description. Uncharted is, and will be for a generation of players, one of the best series in video gaming. You climb, enjoy quippy dialogue, luxuriate in exotic locations, hunt treasures, shoot goons, and fall in love with the pretty graphics and prettier people. Setpieces like the legendary train sequence through Nepal have become staples for AAA video gaming and, no matter how many times you play it, remain thrilling and unique. Uncharted 2's main cast — Nate, Sully, Chloe, and Elena — all feel like living, breathing people, which is exceptionally weird given the carnage and action that explodes around them constantly. Uncharted 2 was something fresh and new for video games, throwing down a marker for design excellence at the time and remaining a marker even today.

Not only is it obscenely compelling fun, but it also maximised the PS3 hardware so hard we're surprised the thing didn't blow up. Then again, Naughty Dog have always been technical wizards as we covered extensively in our Uncharted history. The Uncharted 2 Among Thieves trophies were an easy lot, but sadly can no longer be finished now that the online servers have been switched off (boo!). Even so, Uncharted 2's high quality played a vital role in reviving the PS3 after those rough early days, and the game deserves its spot on this list without even a hint of doubt. Uncharted 2 is arguably the best in the series and marks the true beginning of one of the greatest video game series ever.

The Last of Us is one of the best PS3 games

The Last of Us

The cornerstone of modern AAA video games — especially those made by PlayStation Studios — The Last of Us arrived loudly on the scene to feverish demand and sky-high expectations and stuck the landing thanks to its immaculate game design, pacing, and narrative execution. Released before the PS4 came out in the summer of 2013, it wasn't just the strangely difficult and limited The Last of Us trophies that had people playing. The story Naughty Dog put together made for a haunting, wistful experience that dissected the human condition expertly. The world falls apart after a virus begins to spread, turning people into grotesque fungi monsters. With the world now overrun with gurgling, clicking monstrosities, humanity quickly falls in on itself and ten years later we find rugged survivor Joel and young lass Ellie making their way across a dystopian America. The two characters form the soul of the game — the heart of everything that works and that players love about the PS3 exclusive.

Given that this game has become so ubiquitously known as part of PlayStation heritage, it feels almost silly to describe it, but it delivers on the description and more. The storytelling reaches a level never before seen in video games, and very rarely since. The relationship between characters is so well developed that it is easy to overlook the bravery required to tell some of it — it is sad and beautiful in equal measure. Who knew the action could be so superbly well crafted? It is straight survival horror as you creep through murky locations haunted by the echoes of the past, only using a gun when necessary — wasting ammo and shivs on the infected can be a death wish.

The Last of Us is perhaps the PS3's most important title for legacy

In our The Last of Us Part 1 review, we praised the remaster not for improving the design of the original release, but for preserving “The Last of Us’ masterful, diamond cutter-honed game design in pristine condition.” If that still holds in 2022, then of course The Last of Us makes the best PS3 games list. It is thunderously important as the capstone of Sony’s third console. Released mere months before the arrival of the PS4 in 2013, The Last of Us is the PS3’s technical swansong, a showpiece to end Sony’s most turbulent console generation with grace and glamour after a tremendously rocky start. It’s an important video game, important art, and it’s also quite good.

Resistance 2 is one of the best PS3 games

Resistance 2

The PS3 FPS throne was supposed to Killzone’s for the taking. Unfortunately, as Guerrilla Games worked the next four years on Killzone 2 to invent some semblance of the game’s much-talked E3 2005 gameplay demo, another title demoing that same year by Insomniac Games would not hesitate to launch alongside the PS3. From there, it was only a matter of time before the PS3's FPS crown would go to Resistance.

Resistance 2 would also beat Killzone 2 to market, and whatever remaining gameplay innovation or creativity was hacked off the end of Resistance Fall of Man to have it lead the charge for PS3 FPS games found its way into the sequel. Snappy gunplay, Ratchet and Clank-esque weapon concepts, ambitiously large multiplayer games — all wrapped around a memorable singleplayer and co-op campaign that tied a neat bow around Nathan Hale’s war against the Chimera. It's an easy recommendation and a standout PS3 exclusive.

Ratchet & Clank A Crack in Time is one of the best PS3 games

Ratchet & Clank A Rift in Time

Where Future Tools of Destruction gave us an impressive early demo of what the PS3 was technically capable of (much in the same way Rift Apart has for the PS5), A Crack in Time saw a far more established PS3-era Insomniac messing with its established formula so successfully that the creativity of the series has felt comparatively stagnant ever since.

A unique cel-shaded art style and a dramatic ramping up of narrative stakes are just the surface layer additions — A Crack in Time’s hoverboots are the real draw, significantly trimming the downtime in exploration. Space exploration would also be expanded into its own second game, and Clank would finally get puzzles that didn’t drain the life out of the player. With just about every last good idea explored, A Crack in Time felt like the spiritual finale of the Ratchet and Clank series, seemingly calling time as the last of the PlayStation mascot platformers.

LittleBigPlanet 2 is one of the best PS3 games

LittleBigPlanet 2

Creativity abounds in LittleBigPlanet from now-PlayStation Studio Media Molecule, and while the first 2008 entry was a superb first try that absolutely nailed the "Play, Create, Share" moniker, it was Sackboy's second swig at a pint of hardy British stout that fully delivered on the buzz. LittleBigPlanet 2 actually has a decent four-player campaign that plays with those three plains of platforming action perfectly, offering a truckload of silly cosmetic materials to play with and enjoyable creative design flairs to inspire you with. Then you have the actual meat of the level creator mode, narrated by icon Stephen Fry, which was vastly improved and expanded over the original game without becoming overwhelming to mess with.

Add to the mix a community of fantastic creators making such wonders as Shark Run and Bomb Survival for you and your mates to bounce through and the title quickly becomes inseparable from your memories of Sony's third console. While Media Molecule's later work Dreams is superb, we think the lack of LBP is still felt in the PS5 catalogue, particularly with Sackboy's creative charms not quite poking through in the more limited Sackboy A Big Adventure. Here's hoping for a creative adventure that defines the PS5 like LittleBigPlanet 2 defined the PS3.

Journey is one of the best PS3 games

Journey

Taking the long road to win back the gaming public’s hearts after an abysmal start to the console generation, Sony worked tirelessly to build the PS3 as a platform for tastemakers and trailblazers. With the support of soon-to-be PlayStation Studios like Santa Monica Studio and Japan Studio, developers would produce tremendous works like Rain, The Unfinished Swan, Tokyo Jungle, and at the centre of the movement, Thatgamecompany would close out its three-game deal with Sony by creating the acclaimed Journey.

Released a year before the PS4’s launch, Journey felt like the apex of Sony’s artistic investments during the PS3 era — a sensory multiplayer experience in which two strangers would travel together online to complete a series of trials designed to be finished in a single, just-long-enough sitting. With beautiful music and stunning visuals, the game created a unique contemplation on the nature of cooperation, all the while peeling back layer after layer of presumed game design necessities in a move that artsy games today really need to stop emulating.

inFAMOUS is one of the best PS3 games

Infamous

A few games on this list are second entries and while Infamous 2 is arguably more refined, Sucker Punch actually managed to nail the superhero story the first time around. Cole MacGrath is a delivery man cycling around ~~New York~~ Empire City when a massive electrical burst explodes out of a parcel he is delivering. The resulting accident leaves him with powers that let him shoot bolts of lightning, hover with electrical pulses, and zippily grind on rails. The story features a simplistic good/bad karma system that ties into a surprisingly fab story that outdoes many of its superhero movie brethren.

This is a game that was arguably improved on by the sequel and never quite commanded the same gravity as titles like Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, or Resistance in reviving the PS3 from the dead, but it is certainly one of those games that helped bulk out a robust catalogue of exclusives in its own unique way. Everything about it is fun and slick, if a bit lacking in depth on occasion. Make up for the lost time by playing through it today and collecting all of those accessible and easygoing Infamous trophies.

Red Dead Redemption is one of the best PS3 games

Red Dead Redemption

It's no real surprise to see Red Dead Redemption here, we think. Rockstar went from the satire of modernity in Grand Theft Auto to a spectacular wild west setting with the wonderful lead of John Marston. With the death of the old ways of doing things in the Southern US states dead and industrialisation setting in, the past catches up with our gunslinger just as he has settled into life on his farmstead. So begins an adventure quite unlike any we'd ever seen at that time, with the scope and narrative quality on a level matched only by Naughty Dog. It's a perfect game, with gameplay and content all galloping into life without any hitches. What can we say? This is gaming heaven and its only rival is its sequel. Not bad going and an absolute must on PS3 given it is stuck there!

Heavy Rain is one of the best PS3 games

Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain is maybe the first interactive movie-style game that really hit the nail on the head. The story of a father who, having lost one son ("JASON!?"), now must save the other ("SEAN!") from the origami killer — all of which lit a fire under gamers searching for innovation in game design after the PS2 era. The butterfly effect narrative is simply stunning, with every action or inaction you make spiralling out into a series of unforeseen consequences. That early experimental PS3 weirdness is on show here, something that would end up defining the console. It may have been bettered since by Detroit Become Human, but Heavy Rain is a seminal PS3 game you shouldn't miss.

Dark Souls is one of the best PS3 games

Dark Souls

Is it possible to name any modern AAA, AA, or capital A video game released in the last five years that doesn’t show the telltale signs of Dark Soulsian influence? FromSoftware’s 2011 rework of its early Sony co-venture Demon’s Souls kindled a bonfire under modern game design, resulting in a world perhaps a little too enamoured with enemy spawning checkpoints and extra-limited health packs.

However, back on the PS3, Dark Souls felt as fresh as its graphics looked underserved next to the competition. Tough but fair combat melded with a distinct and memorable world that sought to revamp the backtrack-heavy design of 90s exploration games like Super Metroid for 2010s audiences. The resulting trauma went down swimmingly, and today we now see a spiritual successor like Elden Ring not only selling gangbusters but also inspiring Dark Souls trauma addicts to seek Elden Ring platinum trophies in record numbers — something we would believe unthinkable in the PS3 days.

Burnout Paradise is one of the best PS3 games

Burnout Paradise

Broom broom. Welcome to Paradise City. Burnout Paradise is one of the best racing games on PlayStation, built off the back of the series' preceding line of elite PS2 racers. In the PS3 era, Burnout went from a straightforward arcade racer to a full arcade-style open world with massive destruction, deeply fun core mechanics, and precious Burnout Paradise trophies. This game's races are violent, hectic, and stuffed with cars getting mangled by oncoming traffic, walls, other racers, and any other manmade obstacle you can think of. And in case you missed anything, you get a lovely crunching replay of the incident in slow-mo. Yes, please.

The game also lets you roam immaculately designed road patterns while exploring wide spaces filled with ramps and smashable objects. Burnout Paradise offers a simple but addictive trophy collection that helps entice you into finding shortcuts and doing a quintuple barrel roll off of the side of a tall car park. When you are doing so to a soundtrack of straight-up bangers, how could it not go on this list?

Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch is one of the best PS3 games

Ni No Kuni The Wrath of the White Witch

Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch was an absolute smash hit amongst JRPG fans, and honestly defined the genre for PS3 players everywhere. While the Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch trophies might be somewhat of a grind to work through, but that sensation of besting it and unlocking the platinum trophy ‘Wizardry Whiz’ is a feeling of pure accomplishment. Thanks to the Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Remastered trophies on PS4, you can snatch that platinum trophy up twice — if you’re a masochist who hates free time.

Make no bones about it though, this is the PS3's JRPG crown jewel forged by a collaboration between Studio Ghibli and Level 5. Explore a vibrant world in Ni No Kuni with a cast of eccentric and lively characters, some of which will even venture around the world with you as you try and save your mother. Befriend and capture the many magical creatures roaming the lands and utilise them in real-time Pokémon battles to squish your foes — sometimes literally — as you level up and gear up to face down Shadar, the big bad boss. Plus, you know, talking lamp Drippy is a Welshman and Editor Kes needs to shout out his fellow countryman.

Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol is one of the most underrated games of all time. If we ever see this title come to PS Plus; trust us when we say it will be at the top of our underrated PS Plus games list. The Alpha Protocol trophies will test your stealthy spy skills if you plan on sleuthing your way to the platinum trophy ‘Platinum’ — so inventive.

Alpha Protocol throws you into the role of Michael Thorton, a secret agent who must unravel a series of events that threaten his very life and the world. Throughout the game, you make choices that can have serious impacts on the world around you as well as levelling up Michael to be more suited towards skills that you feel benefit your playstyle best. If you have ever watched the TV series Alias, then you can get a good grasp of the kind of world you’ll be stepping into if you ever decide to pick up this fantastic game — and let's be clear, you should absolutely pick up this game.

Fallout New Vegas is one of the best PS3 games

Fallout New Vegas

It was a tough choice between Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. Both were incredibly influential for Bethesda, gamers, and the western RPG genre on the PS3 alike. Ultimately we decided to go with New Vegas due to it always popping up as the more popular in the Fallout franchise as well as the fact PlayStation fans can only play it on PS3. The Fallout New Vegas trophies are a fun challenge to pass the time with as you aim for the platinum trophy ‘Platinum Trophy’ — another stellar naming of a platinum trophy there.

Fallout New Vegas provides you with that RPG shooter element that you have now grown accustomed to with the franchise, yet somehow it manages to outdo nearly every entry thanks in large to the charm it sprinkles throughout the game's world. The story, locations, characters, and world-building are all wonderfully tied together, making New Vegas an experience you can't help but be engrossed by.

Bayonetta is one of the best PS3 games

Bayonetta

Bayonetta is one hell of an addictive, over-the-top, zany game and so are the Bayonetta trophies. We are still attempting to snatch up the platinum trophy ‘Acquire All Trophies’ and we won’t stop until we do — be that through the Bayonetta PS3 trophies or the PS4 ones, or heck; why not both? Bayonetta as a character is so charming, ferocious, and badass that you will fall in love with her as soon as she comes flying across your screen annihilating her foes with her magical witch hair — this sentence makes more sense if you play the game.

While PlayStation fans may never see this absolute queen gracing their consoles again, that shouldn’t stop you from checking out the first entry in the series — and arguably the finest in the franchise — as you would be sorely missing out on one of the best action games out there. With the most insane and stylish combos that you can even fathom, Bayonetta fires on all cylinders and hits the bullseye with every shot it takes. It’s a wild, breathtaking experience that one must journey through to really soak in everything it has to offer — go on, go journey.

That is it for our best PS3 games list! If you want more content like this, check out the best PS Plus games or a genre pick, like the best fps games on PlayStation. Like or dislike our picks? Get in the comments to let us know!

PlayStation 3

Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about exclusives like The Last of Us and God of War, PS Plus news, and his favourite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and explosive racers — before an evening swim.