When the PlayStation 4 Pro first launched, some people wondered whether it offered a substantial enough upgrade in power to justify a purchase. Well, a new generation of PS4 titles has proven that it does.
Games indisputably look better when you play them on the PlayStation 4 Pro. Hey, it’s just the more powerful system. However, there is a select group of PS4 games that don’t just look better on the PS4 Pro; the look like they were designed specifically to be played on that system.
Here are the already great PlayStation 4 games made better by the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Released not long after the PlayStation 4 Pro debuted, you could argue that Horizon Zero Dawn was the first PlayStation 4 exclusive designed to take advantage of the Pro’s capabilities. It certainly looks like it was.
The difference between Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4 and PS4 Pro is stunning. Performance wise, the game is much more fluid and benefits come some enhanced animations that really help sell the characters and this game’s world. However, the true draw of the 4K PS4 Pro version of Horizon Zero Dawn is the game’s absolutely stunning environments and general level of detail. It’s incredibly hard to go from the 4K version of this game back to the PlayStation 4 version.
Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4 Pro is a pure piece of eye candy, and it still might be the sweetest reason to own the console.
God of War
For over a year, Horizon Zero Dawn stood as the largely uncontested king of PS4 Pro experiences. However, God of War might just have stolen the throne from that stunning title.
Part of the reason why God of War looks so great on PS4 Pro is that the game is generally very good looking. Play it on an older HDTV set on PlayStation 4, and it will still look good. However, God of War on PS4 Pro is an entirely different animal. The character models are the star of this particular show – Kratos looks especially good – but you’ll come to find that it’s the detail in the game’s varied environments that really sells God of War as, perhaps, the best looking game available today.
You should play God of War on any platform, but this game was obviously meant to be experienced on PS4 Pro.
Shadow of the Colossus
At the time of its release in 2005, Shadow of the Colossus was considered to be one of the best looking games ever made. 13 years later, this stellar remake brings it back into that conversation.
PS4 Pro offers you two ways to play Shadow of the Colossus: cinematic or performance. The cinematic mode arguably benefits from some slightly better lighting in areas as well as some additional environmental details, but it’s the performance mode that steals the show. At 60 FPS, Shadow of the Colossus becomes almost an entirely different game. The game’s roaming monsters greatly benefit from smoother animation while the protagonist no longer moves as rigidly as he does in the other versions of the game.
This is the game you want if you’re just looking to show off your 4K set-up.
Ratchet and Clank
This might not be the game that jumps to mind when you think of the best looking PS4 titles, but the PS4 Pro version of the game certainly brings it into that category.
We rarely see games quite this colorful get the full Pro treatment, and Ratchet and Clank benefits greatly from the surprise of watching so many colors pop on-screen when the action kicks into gear. When the game does go a bit darker, the PlayStation 4 Pro manages to display those sections in a way that still feels true to the game’s cartoon palate.
Ratchet and Clank isn’t the definitive PS4 Pro experience, but it has to be the most surprising.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Uncharted 4 might have been released before the PlayStation 4 Pro debuted, but you’d never know it based on how great this game looks on the upgraded PlayStation.
The big difference between the two is the game’s environments. When you play the PS4 Pro version of the game, you start to see some of the tricks that developer Naughty Dog used to get the game to look as good as it does on PS4. On Pro, though, many of those tricks have been cleaned up. This results in much better-looking foliage, cleaner environmental details, and much more organic lighting.
This definitely isn’t the biggest leap in quality out there, but it’s still a great looking game.
