The Sony cloud gaming subscription service has been around since its release in 2014. It has been a direct competitor to the notorious Xbox Game Pass ever since. The service allows its members to stream PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 games on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. Most recently, in April 2021, Sony announced that 1080p streaming would start being supported. Now focusing on the matter at hand, check out the list of 5 amazing survival games on PS Now.
1. This War of Mine
Starting off with a bang, we’ve got the strategy survival video game developed by 11 bit studios and released in November 2014, This War of Mine.
In a war-devastated fictional city called Pogoren, a group of survivors has to take shelter in a damaged house, while gathering materials and every bit of food possible. The player has to control all the characters that belong to this survivor group, making sure that their characters’ health, hunger, and mood are on acceptable levels until the eventual declaration of ceasefire is issued.
During the day, the player’s characters have to stay inside to escape the hostile snipers that roam the streets. During this indoor time, the player can craft different tools, cook food for the survivors or even upgrade the shelter. During the night, the player is given the option to go outside and search the area for valuable materials and resources, while possibly encountering other survivors.
Later on, in January 2016, an expansion pack named This War of Mine: The Little Ones was released for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
2. Prey
If you’re an FPS fan, I’ve got something for you too.
Developed by Arkane Studios, creators of the Dishonored series, Prey is an FPS survival game released worldwide in May 2017 for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Taking place in an alternate timeline where humankind focused its efforts on an accelerated space race, the game follows Morgan Yu, a researcher that is exploring the Talos I space station. During this expedition, Yu encounters a hostile alien force, the Typhon, that possesses physical and psychic powers.Â
Prey allows the player to explore the station in an open-world setting, with several areas only accessible with the correct equipment or ability. With stealth elements incorporated in the game, the player must collect weapons and resources spread across the Talos I station in order to defeat the Typhon.
One interesting fact about the game is that the hostile aliens are able to shapeshift into everyday objects, like a table or a box, making the player look over their shoulder at all times. To counter these powers, the player has access to a device called psychoscope, that allows Morgan Yu to acquire these alien abilities.
3. Stranded Deep
Released in January 2015 for PC and on April 2020 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Stranded Deep was developed and published by Australian studio Beam Team Games.
Stranded Deep puts you in the position of a plane crash survivor fighting for his life in the deep sea while facing life-threatening scenarios in reefs, trenches, and deserted islands.Â
The game features a procedurally generated world, with dynamic weather, a day-night cycle, and detailed biomes. In order to survive, players need to monitor their health, hunger, thirst, and sleep, while at the same time interacting with many different life forms, some more threatening than others.
After the crash, players are put on an inflatable lifeboat, which contains some useful objects and resources, like a compass and a couple of food rations. The same lifeboat can also be utilized to travel between islands and other important locations. In the transportation field, players can also create a gyrocopter when the correct materials are gathered.
Stranded Deep can be played alone in a single-player environment or alongside a friend in local co-op.
4. The Long Dark
From Hinterland Studio, The Long Dark is a first-person survival game released in August 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One and on September 2020 on Nintendo Switch.
Set in the freezing Canadian wilderness, the game takes place in an open-world environment after a crash-landed pilot struggles to survive after a geomagnetic storm. The Long Dark has three game modes: an episodic Story mode, a Survival mode, and a Challenge mode.
The main goal of the game is for the player to survive as long as possible with limited resources and tools that can be scavenged throughout the map. Using weapons such as axes, knives, and bows, as well as a bunch of other items, the player has to hunt wildlife to get access to food.
Simulating a full day/night cycle, the game makes players think strategically for the best moments to perform certain much-needed actions, like hunting and resource-gathering, while at the same time having to monitor their health, hunger, body temperature, etc.
5. The Last of Us
It would be a crime If I didn’t include this masterpiece on the list.
Naughty Dog’s first entry to this classic series needs no introduction, and if you never heard of it, I’m truly jealous of you. Released in June 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and on July/August 2014 for the PlayStation 4, The Last of Us is an action-adventure survival game, with a great narrative serving as its core.
The game is set in the post-apocalyptical United States, where a fungal plague is terrorizing the world and turning everyone into zombies. The players follow the story and journey of survivors, Joel and Ellie, as they join their efforts in order to find a possible cure for this worldwide pandemic.
The Last of Us also features online multiplayer game modes, like Supply Raid and Survivors, which can take up to eight players at a time. Both game modes are team deathmatches with a couple of tweaks.
Just like with the Xbox Game Pass, there are great games to try and give a look at in the PlayStation Now subscription service.
Have you played any of these games? Are you a subscriber of PS Now? Let me know in the comments down below!
