Every Gaming Series That Died With PS3 – Over the years, many game franchises have come and gone. While we still have games like Ratchet & Clank and God of War gracing every new PlayStation console, we thought we’d take a look at some of the game series that ended with the PS3. Franchises like Prince of Persia won’t be making the list, as we’re not considering full remakes as an entry into the ongoing series. We also won’t be counting remasters or definitive editions. So while titles like Burnout Paradise Remastered released on the PS4, we’re still considering this series deceased.
Also, despite rumors of possible new entries, like Silent Hill, if the game hasn’t been officially announced, we’re still marking the series as dead. You’ll see Dead Island on this list as well, and despite a sequel having been announced, it’s continuous development hell has us speculating that it’ll never see the light of day.
So let’s get started and take a trip down memory lane. Here are all the game franchises that ended on the PS3. Let us know which game series are your favorites in the comments section below or jump over to our forums and start a discussion board there. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Every Gaming Series That Died With PS3
Every Gaming Series That Died With PS3:
- Dead Space
- Castlevania
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
- Portal
- Resistance
- Motorstorm
- Burnout
- Dead Island
- Fight Night
- Silent Hill
- F.E.A.R.
- SSX
- SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALS
- Ridge Racer
- White Knight Chronicles
- Twisted Metal
Dead Space
Kicking things off, we have the Dead Space franchise which lived and died on the PlayStation 3. Developed by Visceral Games, the Dead Space series is a third person action game that mixes science fiction and horror. These games feature a variety of weapons to dismember your enemies including pulse rifles, hand cannons, shotguns and plasma cutters.
Hundreds of years into the future, there is a governmental agency called EarthGov which is bent on researching and developing a energy source from alien artefacts known as Markers. However, instead of harvesting the electromagnetic energy, we find that these artefacts are responsible for reanimating the dead into mutated monsters.
Across all three games, you assume the role of a system engineer named Isaac Clarke. In the original game, Clarke is part of a rescue mission sent to a space mining ship that has gone silent. Turns out, it’s overrun with Necromorphs. In Dead Space 2, you awaken on a civilian space station called Sprawl, with no recollection of the past few years. Turns out, this space station is full of Necromorphs too.
Dead Space 3 is a little different in that the setting takes place on an ice-covered planet known as Tau Volantis. An orbiting moon turns out to be a giant Necromorph and once again Isaac must fight his way through terrifying creatures and prevent a prophecy known as the Convergence Event from taking place.
Castlevania
With the last Castlevania games on PS3 being the double mixed bag that was the Lords of Shadow games, it’s still fair to say that many gamers have a soft spot in their hearts for Konami’s whip-cracking and undead mashing series.
As Gabriel Belmont and Dracula respectively, the two Lords of Shadow games had players cutting a bloody swathe through an undead army as they attempt to save the world from Satan and his dark legion.
Though quite a world away from the 2D franchise entries which arguably made the bones of the series, we’d love to see an entirely new developer take a stab (no pun intended) at the franchise. A 3D Castlevania action adventure by NieR Automata developer PlatinumGames? Sign us up! In the meantime though, Castlevania remains in slumber, much like its famous, Romanian antagonist of lore.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
Our first introduction to Sam Fisher in the Splinter Cell series was on the PS2. Using a heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 2, developers at Ubisoft Montreal were able to create genre-defining gameplay that utilized impressive in-game lighting for its stealth mechanics. While Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, and Chaos Theory were all eventually ported to the PS3, the first instalment built for sixth generation consoles was Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent.
Surprisingly, Double Agent through Blacklist all still used a modified version of the Unreal Engine 2.5. By the time Blacklist released, the visuals were showing their age and the games were running into glaring technical issues with screen tearing and poor frame rates.
Despite the engine limitations, the series is still well regarded today and fans have been itching for a new entry. Rumors have circulated for years, but Ubisoft has yet to make any official announcements. The closest thing we’ve gotten is a Sam Fisher appearance in the Ghost Recon Breakpoint Deep State DLC.
Portal
Developed by Valve, the Portal series is a unique first-person puzzle platformer that uses teleportation mechanics to move the player and objects around the environment. Portal 2 turned things up a notch, adding multiplayer.
The series is known for mind-bending puzzles and sarcastic corporate humor. Sadly, Portal 2 is the last entry in the series. However, the mod community has kept things going, with a recent free Steam standalone called Portal Reloaded. This mod provides you with a Triple Portal Device, not only allowing the you to use the original two portals mechanics, but a third portal that transports players and objects through time dimensions.
Resistance
While not as infamous as the Killzone 2 trailer, Resistance Fall of Man received major hype when first revealed by Insomniac Games as Project I-8 during the E3 2005 Press Conference. Releasing as a launch title for the PS3, Resistance Fall of Man featured spectacular set pieces in an alternate history version of England. The series eventually would take players across all of Europe in an effort to defeat an alien invasion by a race known as the Chimera.
Resistance Fall of Man, Resistance 2, and Resistance 3 all featured unique weaponry outside of traditional WW2 guns, including favorites like the Hedgehog grenade, XR-005 Hailstorm, HVAP Wraith, Atomizer and Cryogun. The multiplayer modes are great highlights of what is achievable on the PS3 as well, with the original Resistance supporting up to 40 players and Resistance 2 bumping it up to 60 players online.
Motorstorm
One of the most exciting and graphically impressive racing series on the PS3 was Motorstorm. In short, the series did a great job at showcasing terrain deformation and vehicle destructibility. Players can race across multiple tracks using a variety of vehicles including buggies, motorcycles, ATVs, rally cars and racing trucks.
While the original title took place across mud ridden deserts and canyons, Pacific Rift took you to a lush volcanic island. New mechanics were added like driving through or near certain elements like water or lava would affect your vehicles engine. Also, the second entry introduced Monster Trucks for the first time in the series.
Motorstorm: Apocalypse takes place in a ruined city suffering the aftermath of a natural disaster. This new setting opens up for new gameplay mechanics as the track can change mid-race due to the collapse of buildings, explosions, and tremors. In addition, the third entry added new vehicles classes including superbikes, supercars, superminis, muscle cars, and choppers.
Burnout
As mentioned in the introduction, Burnout makes this list because Burnout Paradise was the last main entry in the series and we’re not counting the Remastered version that graced the PS4. The Burnout series is known for adrenaline pumping gameplay that encourages reckless driving. Perform takedowns by corralling your opponents into oncoming traffic or ploughing them into side railings. In addition, you can get speed boosts by performing near miss collisions or drifts around corners.
While earlier entries had players race across specific tracks, Burnout Paradise was an entire open world for you to navigate across. Unfortunately, it would seem as though Criterion Games has been pulled from developing any new Burnout games. Instead, EA has them focusing their efforts on projects within the Need For Speed and Battlefield franchises.
Dead Island
Dead Island is a zombie survival-action game with some RPG elements thrown in for good measure. The first game takes place on the fictional island of Banoi at a fancy hoity toity resort. You have a choice between four playable characters and your goal is to survive and find a way off the island. As the island becomes increasingly overrun with zombies, mayhem ensues, leading to bloody and brutal encounters.
There were two follow up titles to Dead Island. A standalone DLC expansion titled Dead Island Riptide and a spinoff adventure called Escape Dead Island. A sequel was announced in 2017, but has since been delayed indefinitely due to development hell. For this reason, we’re calling the franchise dead.
Fight Night
When you think of boxing games, Fight Night is usually among them. Fight Night Round 3, Round 4, and Championship are premium boxing titles published by EA for the PlayStation 3. All three entries feature realistic character models with dynamic bruising and scarring. The controls are fluid and use a physics based system to determine the strength behind punches.
In addition, all three Fight Night titles on the PS3 include a robust Create A Boxer system. You can choose your boxer’s stance, punch style, weight class and more. It’s actually quite surprising that EA hasn’t released a new entry in the franchise for PS4 or PS5. Fight Night Championship was critically praised and currently sits with a 84% score on Metacritic.
Silent Hill
Here is a series that dominated the horror genre up until 2012 with the eighth and final mainline instalment Silent Hill: Downpour. The franchise is known for its grim atmospheres and intense survival-horror gameplay. Both Silent Hill Homecoming and Downpour released on the PS3, as well as an HD Collection featuring Silent Hill 2 and 3.
However, since the mediocre release of Silent Hill: Downpour, the series has remained dormant. Rumors have suggested a new entry or remake to the series is in the works, but nothing official has been announced by Konami.
F.E.A.R.
You can probably skip the original F.E.A.R. on the PS3 as developers at the time were still figuring out how to code game for the console’s difficult architecture. However, later entries in the series like F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3 are worth a playthrough.
The F.E.A.R. series is a combination of first-person shooter and horror. Not only are you up against heavily armed soldiers, but a paranormal entity named Alma Wade. She has an insatiable bloodlust and terrorizes you throughout the game.
Also, let’s not forget. The franchise is known for it’s unique take on bullet-time mechanics. Slowing down time allows you to blow apart your enemies in spectacular fashion. Monolithic Games has a treasure trove of IPs, but it would be great to see F.E.A.R make a return on PS5.
SSX
SSX on the PS3 is a modern reinvention of the popular arcade snowboarding series. There are nine mountain ranges to ride and an all new physics engine that enables you to trick off almost anything in the environment. Characters include a few franchise favorites as well as new additions. This includes; Elise, Mac, Kaori, Psymon, Moby, Zoe, Griff, Ty, Tane and Alex.
Gone are the limitations of invisible walls and barriers and you can now choose your own path down the mountain side. Using NASA topographical data and EA’s proprietary Mountain Man tool, they were able to recreate several iconic mountain ranges from across the globe. SSX on the PS3 is the last entry in the series, however, there is talk about reviving it for modern day consoles. Hopefully, a remaster of SSX Tricky.
SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALS
SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALS dominated during the PS2 and PSP era, only to pitter out on the PS3. The last mainline entry being SOCOM 4, which released in 2011. The franchise is known for it’s third-person tactical shooter gameplay. You squad up, moving your fireteam to strategic points on the map. You can assassinate key targets, escort VIPs to safe zones, acquire intel and more.
One of the defining features of the SOCOM series was its online multiplayer. SOCOM 4 has online coop, as well as a slew of other modes including; Last Defense, Uplink, Suppression, Bomb Squad and Demolition.
Ever since the closing of development studio Zipper Interactive, the franchise has remained in Sony’s vault. Fans of the series have been clamoring for Sony to remaster or release a new entry for years. Will we see a SOCOM 5 on the PS5? Only time will tell.
Ridge Racer
Did the Ridge Racer franchise really end on the PS3? Wow. Once a thriving series for Namco Bandai Games, Ridge Racer hasn’t seen a mainline entry since Ridge Racer Unbounded in 2012. The entry that most PS3 gamers are probably most familiar with was Ridge Racer 7. First shown at E3 2006, Ridge Racer 7 featured around 40 different cars and 22 race courses that could be played in forward, reverse, or mirror mode. There are several single-player modes including Ridge State Grand Prix, Trials and Arcade mode. In addition, the game featured online multiplayer modes such as Global Time Attack, Team Battle and UFRA Special Event.
Traditionally, Ridge Racer was always known for its arcade style drift racing. However, in Ridge Racer Unbounded, Namco moved the series to a more combat-oriented and destruction style game. Set in the fictional city of Shatter Bay, racers battle it out, dodging obstacles and collisions. Unique to Unbounded, you are able to create and share your own tracks, too.
White Knight Chronicles
Perhaps a hidden gem JRPG series on the PS3 is White Knight Chronicles. Developed by Level 5, White Knight Chronicles follows a protagonist named Leonard, who has the ability to transform into a gigantic white knight during battles. These games are not necessarily for everyone and falls into using all too familiar RPG clichés. What is enjoyable is the large open world, ability to customize your character and craft new items, weapons and armor.
White Knight Chronicles 2 built on its predecessors foundation. You can transfer your character over from the original game, including money, equipment and guild ranks. Also, there are improvements to the real-time battle system. In addition, it added tons of new weapons and armor options, improved visuals and enhanced the online co-op functionality. It’s not perfect, but delivered a solid RPG experience.
Twisted Metal
Oh, Twisted Metal. How we miss thee. Reminiscing of Twisted Metal 2 on the PS1 or Twisted Metal Black on the PS2 really has us wishing Sony would revive the franchise and renew the brutal vehicular mayhem for PS5.
The last main entry to the Twisted Metal series was released in 2012, simply titled Twisted Metal. The game was developed by Eat Play Sleep and series creator David Jaffe. The gameplay mechanics are solid. The vehicles are well balanced. However, the single-player story campaign is considerably lacking. The graphics, while not terrible, are not great either.
Seeing the return of Calypso and his Twisted Metal tournament on the PS5 would be embraced by fans and newcomers alike. Sony could bring back Sweeth Tooth, Spectre, Axel, Roadkill and Mr Grimm, while also introducing a new cast of characters.
