7 games we want for the PlayStation 5 launch lineup

It's hard to guess what the road to the PlayStation 5 looks like, especially as Sony backs out of more trade shows and stays relatively quiet about what its immediate future looks like. But the PlayStation 5 is inching closer and closer, with a holiday release still on the docket. So with the next hotness in PlayStation gaming coming soon, Shacknews has some ideas for what we'd love to see for the PlayStation 5 launch lineup.

God of War 2

Can we first take a moment to once again recognize what an utter triumph the most recent God of War was? This is a franchise that was practically at death's door by the end of the PlayStation 3, with God of War: Ascension proving to be a massive disappointment and an apparent death knell for Kratos. To put it another way, if there had been a list for "PS4 launch games we need in our lives," I'm guessing a new God of War wouldn't have made the cut.

Kratos' second act has proven to be such an incredible comeback that it's hard not to have a sequel at the top of any anticipation list. It's hard to keep a good god killer down when there's a whole new pantheon to mow down. He was content to settle into retirement, but the Norse gods are the ones who picked this fight and now Kratos has every reason to finish it.

Without spoiling the events of the God of War story, there's a good reason that Kratos and Atreus aren't stopping at one game. And with the 2018 game proving to be such a joy to play, thanks largely to the mechanics surrounding Kratos' Leviathan Axe and his Blades of Chaos, along with a whole new crew of supporting characters, the next chapter is not something we want to wait much longer for. It's a long shot, but we certainly hope to see Kratos' next adventure ready for the PlayStation 5's launch.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Insomniac's debut outing with Spider-Man proved to be everything that any comic book fan could have hoped for and then some. It's not straight out of the comics, it's not straight out of the movie theater, nor is it straight out of any television arc. This was a whole new Spider-Man story, offering a different spin on the Peter Parker that fans might be used to. It was a captivating story of an adult Spidey balancing saving the city with trying to start the next chapter of his life, one that involves less web-slinging.

While the story was amazing, what made Marvel's Spider-Man so great was fluidly swinging across an accurate Manhattan. So the hope for a PlayStation 5 follow-up is to engage in even more city-saving activities, explore more of the Spidey mythos, and maybe even expand the webhead's world just a little bit. The next chapter could help introduce some of Spidey's friends across the Marvel Universe or have him explore elements of the Spider-Verse.

If the last few years of Spider-Man movies have taught us anything, it's that being a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is only part of the story. Let's explore a little bit more of what it means to be Peter Parker: Spider-Man.

Horizon Zero Dawn 2

For a long time, Guerrilla Games had been pigeonholed with the Killzone franchise. They were the Killzone guys, for better or worse. Then they revealed a whole new game that saw what looked to be a primitive native woman ducking into a bed of grass in order to get the drop on a wild beast that was also a machine.

Horizon Zero Dawn drew a lot of interest after that first look and after it was released, it became one of the best reasons to own a PlayStation 4. With a gorgeous open world, an engaging story, and a solid premise that involved hunting down giant robotic beasts, it proved to be one of the best of a new wave of franchises gracing Sony's console.

While The Frozen Wilds scratched our itch for more Horizon momentarily, there's still hope for a follow-up to this 2017 breakout hit. After all, Aloy's world is so vast that there's more land just begging to be explored.

Bloodborne 2 (Or...)

FromSoftware will always be known, first and foremost, for the Dark Souls series. However, the PlayStation audience got a little something special this console generation with the release of Bloodborne, a console-only journey into a gothic world filled with killer beasts and Lovecraftian imagery.

Bloodborne had a lot of the Dark Souls formula, but the setting and the story were notable departures from that beloved series. Diving into this world was one of the true pleasures of the PS4 era, especially for those who were able to hang with FromSoftware's notorious difficulty spikes.

Of course, we're well aware that FromSoftware is quite busy these days, so it's highly unlikely we'll get any kind of follow-up to Bloodborne anytime soon. So in lieu of this, we'll be happy to accept the heavily-anticipated Elden Ring.

Uncharted 5: The Next Generation

It's hard to imagine going on another adventure with Nathan Drake, especially given the roller coaster ride that was Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. There was a certain sense of finality to Nate's last adventure. So what would be next for the franchise? Move on to the next thief, of course.

Uncharted players will recall that A Thief's End concluded with Nate and Elena basically living happily ever after. And yes, that meant settling down to raise a daughter. So the next logical step would be for Cassie Drake to take on the family business. On top of Cassie jumping into her first big journey, players can also learn more from an aging Nathan Drake about his previous adventures. There's room for everyone in the family for this new story, but it's time for Nate to pass the torch to his daughter.

While the Uncharted movie gets off the ground and looks to take Nathan Drake's story to the big screen, we're hoping to see Cassie Drake begin her first adventure as part of a PS5 launch title.

Crash Bandicoot's next big game

As long as we're talking about Naughty Dog, let's take a moment to talk about the franchise that helped get them off the ground. Crash Bandicoot has had somewhat of a revival over the past few years, with new IP owners Activision and developer Beenox helping remaster his classic PS1-era games. Now that the old material has been exhausted, it might be time for an all-new Crash game. And what better place to have it than on a PlayStation platform?

Now that Beenox has had years to learn, understand, and convey what made the Crash games so special, it'd be fun to see them give the old mascot their own spin on the franchise. It's not like they'd need to do anything exceptional to reinvent the wheel. Something that harkens close to the old hits would suffice, especially with PlayStation's first-party heavy hitters providing the top-tier stuff for launch.

Sometimes, we just want something simple and fun to pass the time and we would definitely hope for that for the PS5's first few weeks.

Untitled Hideo Kojima Project

After some ugly legal battles, jumping through a lot of hoops, and years of anticipation, Death Stranding finally reached the PlayStation 4 in 2019. It was uniquely Hideo Kojima, presenting an auteur's vision and putting out a new game that had everybody talking. Whether you liked it or not, Death Stranding was one of the hottest topics of the latter half of 2019. And there was certainly no argument that it was unlike anything else on the market.

So one of our biggest hopes for PlayStation 5 is seeing what's next from the Metal Gear Solid creator. Kojima isn't short on ideas and the gaming world is a better place when he's tapping into his own creative mind. It's not likely that he'll have something ready for the PS5's launch, but on the small chance that he does have something up his sleeve, we can't wait to find out what it is.

Honorable mention: Old dogs, new tricks

It's really easy to fill a list article like this with sequels and retreads. And for the most part, that's what we've done here. That's because the originals have brought so much joy into everyone's lives. God of War was fantastic, Marvel's Spider-Man was brilliant, and there's been a rich history of Uncharted games for over a decade.

But here's what we at Shacknews really want, because we noticed what everybody else has. The PlayStation 4 was at its absolute best when Sony's best first-party developers brought forward something new. This was the console generation where the Killzone guys weren't the Killzone guys anymore. They became the makers of Horizon Zero Dawn. Sucker Punch wasn't the Sly Cooper studio anymore. They became the makers of Ghost of Tsushima. Insomniac not only weren't the Ratchet & Clank guys anymore, but their work on Marvel's Spider-Man proved to be so outstanding that PlayStation officially scooped them up to become an official first-party developer.

That's the level of magic we hope to see from the PlayStation 5 and it's the kind of the thing we hope we get to see in time for the console's launch.

But those are just our ideas. What are your hopes for the PS5's launch lineup? Join the conversation and let us know in the comments.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.