Perhaps one of the most famous games in existence by reputation and iconography alone, Minecraft released in 2011 and became immensely popular. Critics praised Zero Dawn for its story, visuals, combat and the stand-out performance of voice actress Ashly Burch, who went on to provide the voice of Mel in The Last of Us: Part II and Danika Hart in Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

In the open world environment, Aloy can discover new locations and complete side quests alongside the game’s main storyline. Zero Dawn had the most successful Playstation 4 launch since Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, even surpassing the likes of No Man’s Sky. It also made a considerable mark on the gaming community for being one of the only prominent open world games to feature a female protagonist. In February 2022, a sequel titled Horizon Forbidden West was released on PS4 and PS5, but generally, Zero Dawn is more highly favored. Guerrilla Games began production on Horizon Zero Dawn shortly after completing their first-person shooter, Killzone 3. It follows Aloy, a young hunter seeking to uncover the secrets of her past, all while navigating a post-apocalyptic world overrun with hostile machines. Kick-starting the Horizon series, Horizon Zero Dawn released in 2017.

Best free open world games on ps4