Quarterly Report: The 25 Best PlayStation 3 Games

Comments: ↓ 9 user comments
by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor
Publish Date: April 1, 2013

Our "Quarterly Reports" provide a handy list of the 25 best games for each platform, both for the current year so far and for all time. There's a separate report for each platform, and they will be updated again during the first week in July.

Best-reviewed PS3 games of 2013 (as of April 1st)

	Game		Publisher	Metascore
1		BioShock Infinite	2K Games	95
1		The highest-scoring BioShock game to date (on the PS3, at least), Infinite's suspended-in-mid-air, early 20th century metropolis has captivated critics like no other game this year.
2	MLB 13: The Show		SCEA	87
3	Tomb Raider		Square Enix	87
4	Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch		Namco Bandai	85
5	DmC: Devil May Cry		Capcom	85
6	Darkstalkers Resurrection		Capcom	81
7	God of War: Ascension		SCEA	80
8	Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance		Konami	80
9	Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3		Namco Bandai	77
10	Crysis 3		EA Games	77
11	Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14		EA Sports	76
12	Dead Space 3		Electronic Arts	76
13	Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time		SCEA	75
14	The Cave		Sega	72
15	Capcom Arcade Cabinet		Capcom	72
16	Hitman HD Trilogy		Square Enix	72
17	Anarchy Reigns		Sega	71
18	Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk		Tecmo Koei	71
19	Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires		Tecmo Koei	65
20	WRC 3: FIA World Rally Championship		Namco Bandai	65
21	Urban Trial Freestyle		Tate Multimedia	64
22	Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel		Electronic Arts	62
23	PlayStation Move Fitness		SCEA	61
24	MUD - FIM Motocross World Championship		Namco Bandai	56
25	Fuel Overdose		I-FRIQIYA	52
... and the worst-reviewed:
28	Aliens: Colonial Marines		Sega	42

Includes games released between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013 with at least seven reviews in our database. Note that games are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding. The Metascore is a weighted average of critic reviews on a scale of 0 (bad) to 100 (good). All scores are from April 1, 2013.

Best-reviewed PS3 games of all time

Games released during the last three months (if any) are marked with a symbol.

	Game	Publisher	Metascore
1	Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)	Rockstar Games	98
2	Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)	SCEA	96
3	Batman: Arkham City (2011)	Warner Bros. Interactive	96
4	LittleBigPlanet (2008)	SCEA	95
5	Red Dead Redemption (2010)	Rockstar Games	95
6	BioShock Infinite (2013)	2K Games	95
7	Portal 2 (2011)	Valve Software	95
8	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)	Activision	94
9	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)	Activision	94
10	BioShock (2008)	2K Games	94
11	Mass Effect 2 (2011)	Electronic Arts	94
12	Street Fighter IV (2009)	Capcom	94
13	Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)	Konami	94
14	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2007)	Bethesda Softworks	93
15	Braid (2009)	Number None Inc.	93
16	Mass Effect 3 (2012)	Electronic Arts	93
17	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)	Bethesda Softworks	92
18	God of War III (2010)	SCEA	92
19	Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011)	SCEA	92
20	Super Street Fighter IV (2010)	Capcom	92
21	Rock Band (2007)	MTV Games/Electronic Arts	92
22	Journey (2012)	SCEA	92
23	The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection (2011)	SCEA	92
24	Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (2010)	Namco Bandai	91
25	Rock Band 2 (2008)	MTV Games	91

Games with fewer than 7 reviews are not eligible for inclusion.

For a complete list of all PS3 high (and low) scores, visit Metacritic's PlayStation 3 section.

We're sorry, but comments are closed for this article.

Comments (9)

First to Last
Latest

Zeek
- Apr 18, 2011 12:31PM
There's never going to be unbiased lists. I mean, look at the target audience when it comes to PS3 and Xbox 360 owners. Pretty much every game that has realistic violence is going to get points just for that. I mean, if I designed and published the "perfect" falling piece puzzle game (think Tetris and Puyo Puyo games), even if it deserved at least a 95/100, it wouldn't break the top 10 list because it doesn't involve shooting someone.

I get the idea of lists, but really they're only meaningful if you seperate them by genre. If you stick just M-rated shooters in a column, then you can figure out which ones are the best. Same with less violent adventure games or RPG's. And, of course, the no-longer-existant puzzle types.
Bernardo
- Apr 17, 2011 3:22PM
@ BlackArmorTails

I'm not saying user reviews in general aren't reliable. Metacritic user scores aren't though. This place is awfully prone to troll attacks. How else would you explain why LittleBigPlanet, Mordern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age 2 are rated so low here but are in the 7-8-9s in pretty much in every other site out there? (and yes I'm talking user scores)

And the MW2 multiplayer issues only had to do with the PC version anyway, why are they reflected in the PS3 version's user score? Just further proof these numbers need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
BlackArmorTails
- Apr 17, 2011 2:07PM
@Bernardo, User reviews are more legitimate than critic reviews. Proven fact, given that there are legitimate complaints for MW2 regarding the broken multiplayer. There are times where critics admit to grading scores not out of opinion, but on what people will like.
Bernardo
- Apr 17, 2011 11:16AM
Dragon Age 2 is as much a 3.9 as LittleBigPlanet is a 6.5, MW2 is a 5.7 or Hyperdimension Neptunia is a 8.3.

Metacritic user reviews... smh
BlackArmorTails
- Apr 16, 2011 8:16PM
@Gustav, Spoken for truth. This sort of bias needs to be regulated, honestly. What I saw on this list is worse than any form of anti-Wii bias on the web combined (by the way, I own a PS3 & Wii). These PS360 folk need to wake up and expose these money-drunken "critics" (really shareholders in disguise) for who they really are.
gustav
- Apr 16, 2011 6:56PM
This is why I ignore the critics. They give good scores to big games that don't deserve it and ignore or bash smaller games. This is especially true when the big game is developed in the West and the other is a niche Japanese game (Hyperdimension Neptunia is a good example) that the fans like but the reviewer doesn't even like the genre to begin with and it shows.
lolja
- Apr 16, 2011 12:45PM
indeed, a game who received an average score of 8.3 for user reviews is THE "worst" reviewed...

I see a list of bias filled with FPS and Western corporations like Electronic Arts who fills half the freakin chart.
BlackArmorTails
- Apr 15, 2011 5:14AM
@Barry, you're right, too. In fact, not only are some of these games not exclusives, but they also have awful ratings from actual users. For example, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has a critic rating of 94, but a user rating 0f 5.7. Dragon Age 2 has it the worst: critic rating - 82, user rating - 3.9 (!!!)

Also, why are games like Peggle and TETRIS on the list? Where's Gran Turismo 5? Even if GT5 is a trainwreck at best, at least it is a somewhat worthy exclusive, considering the sales that game is earning is equal to the worst game everyone played known as MW2.
Barry
- Apr 15, 2011 2:21AM
This is probably the most biased list I have ever seen. Every game you have posted is what is considered a blockbuster hit due to large amounts of money spent on marketing, development, and reviewer giveaways. You don't even make a mention of the 2009 Game of the Year and overall underdog Demon's Souls. Hell this game beat COD: MW2, Halo 3, and GTA IV for game of the year with $0 spent on advertising and broke records for moving both software and hardware. Get your list straight man, because coming from me, all I see is a corporate shill who buys everything paid reviewers tell him to.

What Our Users Are Talking About

Film Friday: This Week's Movie News and New Trailers

May 17, 2013 - 1 comment
1. rebel6794 : Christopher Nolan... James Bond... (Would that mean Hans Zimmer might score? Weird to consider...) That would be... Read »
Episode Review: The Office (Series Finale)

May 17, 2013 - 2 comments
1. robinm : @oceansroar I'm jealous that you were able to avoid talk of Carell's return that broke late last week. I would have... Read »
2. oceansroar : i love it, but i have loved it through the valleys as well. Yes, it may have been a bit too sentimental, but i think... Read »
Music Monday: This Week's New Albums and Videos

May 13, 2013 - 7 comments
1. Zepfanman : Yep, this is definitely my go-to place for new releases. Got me faked out with the wording of "ALBUM Random Access... Read »
2. XMoUhX : Let me double-second that! Love this feature and I always look forward to it..Keep up the good work, guys! Read »
3. Emmanuel : And yet you still don't have the said album release in your database.. Come on Read »
4. jethibea : Let the third that, love Music Monday, it's my favorite feature of metacritic and I lament weeks when it is absent.... Read »
5. LamontRaymond : Let me second what @conditionals says: it's a great weekly music rundown on a single page keep it coming! Read »
Summer Movie Preview: A Guide to Over 40 Key Films from Star Trek Into Darkness to Elysium

May 2, 2013 - 4 comments
1. TheFineBro : My most anticipated SUMMER movies are: 10) Star Trek 2, 9)Despicable Me 2, 8) The Worlds End, 7) The Hunger Games 2,... Read »
The Most Anticipated Video Games of 2013

January 15, 2013 - 25 comments
1. Calamebe : Ima be playing pokemon x and y Read »