Luckily, many developers have introduced them as the main enemy of their games. If you’ve ever wondered how it would feel about hunting dinosaurs, you’re closer to the answer. So get your rifles ready, and gather up to find the best dinosaur games on PS4 and PS5.
Selecting Dinosaur Games on PS4 and PS5
The title is self-explanatory, but we need to clarify some rules to find the best dinosaur games on PS4 and PS5. We’re simply looking for games with dinosaurs. The selection must have fun gameplay mechanics, at least decent graphics, and grateful critics and fan appreciation. Moreover, the dinosaurs should be an integral part of the game. In other words, the title can’t exist without them. It prevents using the creatures as background or marketing material. Lastly, we can browse across all genres as long as it’s available for PlayStation consoles. It doesn’t mean we’re looking for exclusives, though.
Dinosaur Games on PS4 and PS5
Jurassic World Evolution 2
Jurassic World Evolution 2 is a management, business, and construction simulator. Following the saga, the story happens after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Similar to its predecessor, the simulation revolves around constructing a prehistoric park. There’re over 75 prehistoric species, which include various dinosaurs, marine reptiles, and large birds. Additionally, you build facilities like labs or security areas and recruit people to work in the park. And just like in the movies, the main entertainment is the dinosaurs. So, you play around with DNA collection, study, and manipulation to create new species. You build aviaries, lakes, rivers, lagoons, walls, gates, enclosures, and other structures to contain the animals. The goal is to make the park safe and fun for visitors, so you can also build stuff like rides. Animals have unique needs, so you must provide the food, habitat, and care they require. Lastly, the game features advanced artificial intelligence for each creature. They can hunt together and interact with others realistically. Similarly, you have complex terrain tools to shape the environments.
Horizon: Forbidden West
Forbidden West, the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, is an open-world action RPG focusing on hunting machine monsters. These AI enemies have the shapes and behaviors of dinosaurs. You hunt them with a spear, bows, slingshots, and other tribal weapons. More importantly, the enemies have weak points and weaknesses. It encourages you to swap weapons and ammo types to exploit your enemies constantly. Then, loot scraps from their bodies to build more ammo. The story happens in a post-apocalyptic world, and the setting is the Western United States. An extinction event caused rogue robots to destroy civilization. What remains is lost technology, ruins, and tribes. You play as Alloy in a story that takes you to the origins of the extinction event. The setting has various biomes; you can climb, rope-walk, swim, run, and mount to freely explore each area on the map. Lastly, you’ll level up as you explore, complete quests, and defeat enemies. It grants you skill points to invest in active and passive skills. These abilities benefit various areas, such as stealth, melee combat, ranged combat, or crafting.
Ark: Survival Evolved
Ark: Survival Evolved is an action-adventure survival game. You can play the single-player campaign offline to learn its basics or join maps with up to 70 players on PlayStation. First, you select a server (some of which have mods), create an avatar, select a map (an Ark), and a spawn point. Commonly, the southern areas of the map are easier, as the creatures are less aggressive, but resources are less special. Then, these maps are full of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. You can hunt them for XP and resources or tame them for mounts or security personnel. Hunting creatures requires weapons, so first, you need to craft. So, the game revolves around exploring resources you can use to craft tools, structures, and weapons. Everything you do can level you up, which grants points you can invest into various stats. Leveling up also unlocks crafting recipes to create better weapons, tools, and structures. However, higher-tier resources require you to travel farther. As you explore deeper, it will become harder to manage your stats (thirst, temperature, and hunger). Moreover, bigger dinosaurs, and more advanced players, can kill you for your loot or cooperate with you for bigger rewards.
ARK Park
Ark Park is a VR action-adventure / exploration title. It’s also an Ark: Survival Evolved spin-off. Unlike the base game, though, it requires a VR headset to play. This is an immersive and interactive experience. You visit a dinosaur thematic park, which may be a dream come true for many players. Then, you can explore these worlds freely. The title features hundreds of prehistoric species to meet and see. There’re also different areas, habitats, and scenarios to explore. Aside from exploring, you can also gather natural resources and craft things. For instance, you can collect eggs, hatch them, and raise the eggs as your own “pets.” Alternatively, you can play the story mode. It’s a single-player experience revolving around defending a base from dinosaurs with firearms. Lastly, you can play it online with four additional players. You can travel the thematic park with others and share the excitement of seeing dinosaurs up close.
Turok (Remastered)
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is a classic Nintendo 64 that still holds up. It’s currently available for PS4. The newer version has restored graphics and audio, a new graphical engine, and new mechanics. The sequel, Seed of Evil, is also available for PS4, so you may buy the Turok Bundle. You play as Tal’Set, a Turok warrior. Your goal is to protect the Lost Land, an ancient, hidden, and mystical realm. Vicious monsters, dinosaurs, and aliens are threatening its existence. The story is linear, and you play in a first-person perspective. You go through various levels in caves, ruins, and jungles to hunt your enemies. Combat is frenetic and tough and often happens in dark places with no means of cover. Luckily, another NPC will travel will you during most of the story. Unlike the original title, the game is in full 3D. You’re also free to run, jump, and climb in any direction. Moreover, you can aim in any direction, like any other modern game. The story includes 14 high-tech weapons and several alien and dinosaur creatures. An advanced particle technology also features moving spider webs, dust, bubbles, bouncing bullets, and more.
LEGO Jurassic World
Lego Jurassic World is an action-adventure game with the classic Lego themes. That means lots of humor intertwined with top-tier storytelling, easy mechanics, and fun cinematics. It’s an action-adventure game with an original story, but it’s similar to the 90s trilogy. The game is linear, and you go through a mix of 2D and 3D scenarios with different challenges. These challenges may be chases, puzzles, action segments, hide and seek, and more. It’s very much like you’d expect from the movies. And you can play it as any of the 100 unlockable characters and meet over 20 dinosaur species. The title also includes movie characters, and you can play with them. Each has special abilities, and the selection includes Ian Malcolm, Owen Grady, Dr. Alan Grant, and even directors Colin Trevorrow and Steven Speilberg. Alternatively, you can create your own avatar and create hybrid dinosaurs. Lastly, you can play the game alone or play it with another person. The game supports local co-op, and 2 players can play the entire campaign together. That said, using the abilities of each character is a must to progress the story.
Dino Frontier
Dino Frontier is a build and management VR title, but it mixes various elements for its gameplay. For example, the theme is unique: you build a wild west town on canyons and deserts full of dinosaurs as you interact with the game with your hands. You join the game in VR, as this is a simulation. You play as the “Big Major,” but you’re more like a God. Playing with a top-down perspective, you use your hands to pick up resources, command NPCs, and build structures. The game is about balancing resources while your town grows and survivors move in. Bandits, as well as dinosaurs, are the main threat. You can pick up NPCs whenever they attack and send them to fight. These animals can also reward assets and resources in defeat. You can then use these resources to build, develop, and grow your community. Survivors fight them with their fists if they are unnamed, but you can also procure weapons. Speaking of which, the residents will have needs, and they can grow happy or unhappy depending on your performance. You have to build places like homes, clinics, and bars to keep them around.
Primal Carnage: Extinction
Primal Carnage: Extinction is a multiplayer title with an asymmetrical design. It means the two teams are not equal: one team is the dinosaur, and the other is the human. Either option has a set of character classes to choose from. Marches support up to 16 players. As a result, you’ll go through a fast-paced dinosaur vs. mercenaries combat. Dinosaur players can choose from the smallest but faster critters to giant monsters. Then, there’re five human classes, each featuring a weapon loadout, unique gadgets, and special skills. There’re also various modes to alter the victory conditions and gameplay. These may be team deathmatches, escaping to specific areas, surviving dino waves, hunting raptors, or capturing dinosaur eggs. Lastly, you can play the game offline without a PlayStation Plus account. Your teammates and enemies would be AI bots, but there’s no single-player campaign. The game also supports Remote Play.
Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt
Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt is the most straightforward game on the list. The title explains what you’re going to do, as there’s hardly anything else. But if you want to hunt dinosaurs with realistic mechanics, this is it. You play in first-person perspective and use a mix of rifles, pistols, trackers, and other tools to hunt and photograph dinosaurs. It’s a hunting simulation about tracking, chasing, and hunting prehistoric animals. As a real hunt, you must be aware of your surroundings. Environmental elements like wind, raindrops, and even the smell can put you at a disadvantage. You must be careful and evaluate the circumstances before facing each animal. There’re dozens of dinosaurs with different behaviors, intelligence levels, and reactions. The open-world maps feature harmless prehistoric, as well as the fiercest enemies, like a T-Rex. Speaking of which, you can explore islands, rainforests, jungles, mountains, and more. On either terrain, you can climb, stealth, survey, and use other tactics for hunting. Lastly, your most important tool is a GPS radar. It allows you to track and find the animals you need to hunt. Another important tool is a spray to mask your smell. Overall, tools help increase the immersive and realistic elements of the experience.
Island Saver – Dinosaur Island DLC
Island Saver is a friendly and free-to-play action-adventure game. The intended audience is kids, as the title is quite colorful and has no perils to survive. It’s also an educational tool, as the experience details essential elements of money management. Dinosaur Island is a paid but cheap DLC. It takes you to a new area where you can interact and help dinosaurs. You also meet new NPCs and continue the original game’s story. You play from a first-person perspective, and the goal is traversing the area to complete various objectives. In essence, you’re to clean the area from litter, such as goop and scrap. Your companion is the Trash Blaster gun. It allows you to clean the trash. Cleaning areas help the “bankimals.” These are dinosaur-looking animals that store coins in their bellies. You’ll earn coins, learn how to use a bank account, and learn the concept of paying taxes. Lastly, the story is about helping Newton, an inventor. You must use the money you collect and your financial knowledge to help your friend pay and escape his debt.
