Best Action Games

Why it's here: The best all-round action game on PlayStation and the obvious place to start. Ragnarök closes Kratos and Atreus's Norse saga with the series' signature weighty, satisfying combat — the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos both return with deep upgrade trees — wrapped around one of gaming's best-told stories. Rated 4.78 from over 196,000 players, it runs on both PS4 and PS5, is ESRB Mature 17+, and is included with PlayStation Plus Extra, so many of you can play it at no extra cost. The honest caveat: some find the mid-game pacing and the sheer volume of side content uneven — but nothing else here matches its blend of spectacle, combat and heart.

Why it's here: The best superhero action game, and the most kinetic traversal in the genre — web-swinging across a bigger New York has never felt this fluid. You switch between Peter and Miles, each with their own powers, as Peter's symbiote abilities push the combat into aggressive new territory. Rated 4.74 from over 235,000 players, it's a PS5 exclusive, ESRB Teen, and included with PlayStation Plus Extra. The fair criticism is that it's shorter and lighter on content than some fans hoped after the first game — but moment to moment, nothing on this list is as purely fun to move and fight in.

Why it's here: The best soulslike on PlayStation and a genuine FromSoftware masterpiece, still a PlayStation exclusive a decade on. Bloodborne trades the studio's usual shield-and-caution for fast, aggressive combat that rewards attacking — its Rally system heals you for striking back — set in a gothic, cosmic-horror Yharnam that's still unmatched for atmosphere. Rated 4.74 from over 285,000 players, ESRB Mature, on PS4 (and via backward compatibility on PS5), with online co-op for the toughest bosses and included with PlayStation Plus Extra. The real caveat: it never got a PS5 remaster, so it's locked to 30fps — and like all FromSoft games, it's punishing. Worth every death.

Why it's here: The best open-world action game here, and the most-played game on this list — over 313,000 PlayStation ratings. You play a samurai defending Tsushima from Mongol invasion, choosing between honourable stand-up duels and the dishonourable "Ghost" path of stealth and fear; the swordplay is tense and lethal, with a one-button stance system that keeps fights readable. Rated 4.6, on PS4 and PS5, ESRB Mature 17+, with a separate online Legends co-op mode. The caveat is that the open world leans on familiar map-marker activities — but the wind-guided navigation and painterly art make it the most beautiful world here to simply ride through.

Why it's here: Start here if you want the Norse saga from the beginning: the 2018 reboot that turned Kratos from a rage machine into a father, and swapped fixed-camera combos for an over-the-shoulder Leviathan Axe you throw and recall mid-fight. Critics scored it 94 on Metacritic. The recurring complaint in Steam reviews is that enemy variety runs thin in the back half, with boss fights that start to feel like reruns. Rated 4.74 from over 310,000 players, the second most-rated game on this list, ESRB Mature, on PS4 and included with PlayStation Plus Extra. The natural prologue to Ragnarök, this list's top pick.

Why it's here: The highest-rated game on this entire list — 4.89 from nearly 130,000 players — and the benchmark for cinematic action-adventure. This ground-up PS5 remake of Joel and Ellie's journey across a post-pandemic America pairs tense, scavenging-driven stealth-combat with the storytelling that defined a generation of PlayStation games. It's a PS5 exclusive, ESRB Mature 17+, and included with PlayStation Plus Extra. The honest caveat: it's a full-price remake of a game many of you already own on PS4, so the upgrade is about presentation, not new content — but as a first-time experience on PS5, nothing here lands harder.

Why it's here: The best action-RPG of its generation and FromSoftware's most accessible epic — the soulslike combat you'd expect, set loose in a vast, open Lands Between you explore at your own pace. If a boss walls you, you can ride off and return stronger, which softens the studio's notorious difficulty without dulling it. Rated 4.71 from over 174,000 players, on PS4 and PS5, ESRB Mature 17+, with online co-op for summoning help. It's not on PlayStation Plus, and the caveat is real: it's enormous, demanding, and the PS performance can stutter in spots — but no action game here offers more to discover.

Why it's here: The best pure combat on this list — FromSoftware's most precise, rhythmic system, built entirely around posture and deflection rather than dodging. Sekiro turns swordfighting into a lethal duel of timing, and landing a deathblow after a perfect run of parries is one of action gaming's great highs. Rated 4.66 from over 64,000 players, on PS4, ESRB Mature, published by Activision. The caveat: it's the hardest game here, with no difficulty options and no co-op or summons to lean on — it's you against the boss until you master it. If that challenge appeals, nothing else feels this sharp.

Why it's here: Shift Up's debut earns its place on combat alone: you parry and dodge to enemy tells, chain graceful combos, then survive boss fights that test pattern reading over button mashing. The recurring complaint in Steam reviews is that the story never matches the fights, so come for the swordplay, not the plot. Rated 4.81 from over 92,000 players, one of four picks here rated 4.8 or higher, ESRB Mature 17+, on PS5 with a game trial on PlayStation Plus Premium. If how a fight feels matters more to you than what it says, an easy pick.

Why it's here: The best hack-and-slash here, and the genre's high-water mark for stylish combat. Devil May Cry 5 hands you three characters — four in this Special Edition — with wildly different playstyles, and a scoring system that grades your combos S-to-D in real time, turning every fight into a performance. Rated 4.77 from over 44,000 players, this Special Edition is on PS5, ESRB Mature 17+, adding Vergil and the Bloody Palace gauntlet, with co-op support. The caveat: the over-the-top story is gloriously silly rather than deep, and levels are linear corridors between battles — but for pure combat expression and replayability, it's untouchable.

Why it's here: The best action-horror game on PlayStation — a ground-up remake of the title that reinvented third-person action. As Leon Kennedy you fight through a rural-Spain nightmare with tense, over-the-shoulder gunplay, a new parry, and constant resource pressure that keeps every encounter on a knife-edge between action and survival-horror. Rated 4.74 from over 144,000 players, on PS4 and PS5, ESRB Mature. The caveat: Capcom bolted on optional microtransactions for upgrade tickets, and a few beats diverge from the 2005 original — but as a remake it's near-flawless, and it carries the action-horror torch for this list.

Why it's here: The best story on this list, and the most unusual game on it — a 4.82-rated cult classic that fuses slick PlatinumGames action with one of gaming's most affecting narratives about androids, war and what it means to be alive. The combat shifts on the fly between hack-and-slash, twin-stick shooting and bullet-hell, and an exceptional soundtrack carries it all. Rated 4.82 from over 47,000 players, on PS4, ESRB Mature. The caveat: the story only fully reveals itself across multiple playthroughs, and the opening hours can feel slight — but stay with it and few games here will move you more.

Why it's here: One of PlayStation's defining new IPs, freshly remastered for PS5. You play Aloy hunting towering robot dinosaurs across a gorgeous post-apocalypse, and the combat is its standout — tactical and ranged, all about stripping armour and exploiting each machine's weak points with the right arrow. Rated 4.75 from over 210,000 players, on PS5, ESRB Teen, and included with PlayStation Plus Extra. The honest caveat: the human side quests and dialogue can feel formulaic next to the machine hunts — but the world-building and that core combat loop make it one of the most satisfying open-world action games here.

Why it's here: Aloy's sequel is the pick for tactical ranged combat inside a huge open world: every machine is a puzzle of armour plates and elemental weak points, and the Forbidden West adds underwater exploration and far better side quests than Zero Dawn managed. Critics put it at 89 on Metacritic. The recurring complaint in PlayStation Store reviews is that the crafting and upgrade menus pile up. Rated 4.63 from over 63,000 players, ESRB Teen, on PS4 and PS5 with a free PS5 upgrade from the PS4 version. Play Zero Dawn first, then come here for the bigger, better-fighting sequel.

Why it's here: The game that made Spider-Man feel right — and the foundation the sequel builds on. This remastered original nails the fantasy: fluid web-swinging traversal, snappy combat that flows between gadgets and acrobatics, and a heartfelt Peter Parker story. Rated 4.69 from over 283,000 players, on PS5, ESRB Teen, and included with PlayStation Plus Extra. The caveat: the open world leans on repetitive collect-and-clear activities between story beats — but the swinging and the story are strong enough that it remains a must-play, and the natural starting point before Spider-Man 2.

Why it's here: The best action game for all ages, and the flashiest showcase of what the PS5 can do. Rift Apart blends frantic, weapon-driven third-person combat — an inventive arsenal that turns enemies into topiary or pulls them into black holes — with near-instant dimension-hopping the SSD makes seamless. Rated 4.74 from over 43,000 players, a PS5 exclusive, ESRB Everyone 10+, and included with PlayStation Plus Extra. The caveat: the story is light and the campaign runs on the shorter side — but as a dazzling, family-friendly action-platformer that hammers home the PS5's tech, nothing else here fits the bill.

Why it's here: The best roguelike action game on PlayStation, and the most addictive game on this list — its 4.84 rating trails only The Last of Us here. You fight your way out of Hell in fast, top-down hack-and-slash runs, and Supergiant's genius is weaving the story into the deaths: every failed escape advances the writing and your relationships back home. Rated 4.84 from over 18,000 players, on PS4 and PS5, ESRB Teen, and not currently on PlayStation Plus. The caveat: it's built on repetition, so if run-based roguelikes aren't your thing the loop may wear — but for everyone else it's "one more run" for a hundred hours.

Why it's here: The best platformer here and a reigning Game of the Year — proof that great action doesn't have to mean blood or brutal difficulty. Astro Bot is a joyous 3D platformer that turns the DualSense into a co-star, every haptic buzz and trigger pull tuned to the action, with a parade of PlayStation cameos to find. Rated 4.79 from over 70,000 players, a PS5 exclusive, ESRB Everyone 10+. The caveat: it's fairly short and not very challenging — but it's the most purely delightful game on this list, and the best showcase of the PS5 controller you can buy.