PlayStation 3
Top 20 classic PS3 games — find similar titles!
Last updated: April 15, 2026
The Best PS3 Games
The PS3 started badly — expensive, hard to develop for, a year behind — and finished as the console with the strongest run of first-party releases Sony had ever had. Most of what the PS4 is remembered for was worked out here first.
This is the list split into the exclusives, the role-playing games, and the ones that never got a remaster. A good number of these are playable on newer hardware; where they are not, it is said.
The PS3 exclusives
The run that defined Sony's studios.
The Last of Us (2013)
- PS3
- PS4
- PS5
- PC
A stealth-survival game with the best performances of its generation, released at the very end of the console's life and still the best argument for it.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)
- PS3
- PS4
- PS5
- PC
The set-piece adventure game at its best — a train sequence people still reference, and pacing that never lets a shootout outstay its welcome.
Demon's Souls (2009)
- PS3
Where the whole genre started, with the online messaging system that made a solitary game feel populated. The PS5 remake is the easier way in.
Metal Gear Solid 4 (2008)
- PS3
The one that ties every thread off, with cutscenes long enough to be a talking point. Still PS3-only, which makes it the hardest of these to play now.
God of War III (2010)
- PS3
- PS4
The end of the original arc, and the loudest the series ever got. The opening on the back of a titan is still one of the best scale set pieces there is.
Journey (2012)
- PS3
- PS4
- PC
- Mobile
Two hours, no words, and an anonymous stranger who might stay with you the whole way. Still the clearest case for games as a short form.
LittleBigPlanet (2008)
- PS3
- PSP
A platformer that was really a level editor, with a physics feel nothing else has. Its servers have gone, which takes most of the game with them.
Infamous (2009)
- PS3
Open-world superpowers where climbing is as good as the fighting, and the karma system actually changes the moveset rather than just the ending.
Gran Turismo 5 (2010)
- PS3
A thousand cars, a punishing licence structure, and menus that took longer to load than a race. The driving underneath is superb.
Killzone 2 (2009)
- PS3
A shooter with weight — the aiming has real inertia, which divided people and is the entire character of the game.
PS3 RPGs and oddities
The console was strong on Japanese RPGs and stranger one-offs.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (2011)
- PS3
- PS4
- Switch
- PC
An RPG animated by Studio Ghibli, with a creature-collecting battle system underneath. The most beautiful game on the console.
Dark Souls (2011)
- PS3
- Xbox 360
- PC
- Modern remaster
The interconnected world is the achievement — a single map that folds back on itself, with shortcuts that reframe everything you walked past.
Valkyria Chronicles (2008)
- PS3
- PS4
- Switch
- PC
Turn-based tactics where each unit's turn is a real-time run under enemy fire. Nothing before or since has combined the two this well.
Catherine (2011)
- PS3
- Xbox 360
- PS4
- Switch
- PC
Block-pushing puzzles at night, a relationship drama by day, and a difficulty spike people still warn each other about.
Yakuza 0 (2015)
- PS3
- PS4
- Xbox
- PC
The best entry point to the series: 1980s Tokyo and Osaka, brawling in the street, and a real estate minigame that will eat your week.
PS3 games that never got a remaster
Good games still stuck on the hardware they launched on.
Flower (2009)
- PS3
- PS4
- PC
- Mobile
A game about wind, with no fail state and one button. Made as an argument that a game could be about a feeling.
Heavy Rain (2010)
- PS3
- PS4
- PC
A branching thriller where a failed button prompt does not end the game — it changes it. Characters can die and the story continues.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013)
- PS3
- Xbox 360
- PC
Platinum's cutting mechanic, where you aim the blade yourself in free slice. Short, absurd, and mechanically excellent.
Skate 3 (2010)
- PS3
- Xbox 360
The flick-it control scheme at its most refined, and a park editor that kept the game alive for a decade after release.
Max Payne 3 (2012)
- PS3
- Xbox 360
- PC
Bullet time with real physics behind it — Max lands where the animation says, including into walls. The shooting is the best Rockstar has made.
Resistance: Fall of Man (2006)
- PS3
A launch shooter with an inventive arsenal — the wall-shooting Auger is still a better idea than most guns released since.
Keep exploring
Frequently asked questions
The Last of Us
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Uncharted 2
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Red Dead Redemption
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Dark Souls
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Metal Gear Solid 4
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Demon's Souls
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Journey
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LittleBigPlanet
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Infamous
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God of War III
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Heavy Rain
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Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch
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Valkyria Chronicles
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Catherine
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Yakuza 0
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Gran Turismo 5
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Resistance Fall of Man
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Ratchet and Clank Future
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Killzone 2
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Flower
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Tekken Tag Tournament 2
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Max Payne 3
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Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
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Skate 3
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Deadpool
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Top 10 Must-Play PS3 Games
Every PlayStation 3 library has its essentials — the games that defined the system and that every fan should play at least once. These 10 titles are our hand-picked starting lineup for the PS3, ranked by cultural impact and replay value. Click any game to see modern alternatives across every platform.
PS3 Hidden Gems
Beyond the iconic blockbusters, the PlayStation 3 library is full of underrated experiences that flew under the mainstream radar. These 10 hidden gems are the PS3 games we'd hand a friend who's already played the obvious classics and wants something fresh. Each links to a similar-games page for modern alternatives.
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Top PS3 gear on Amazon
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