Insomniac Games opened its doors in 1994 and has been churning out great games ever since. Even its first game, Disruptor, made a few inventive changes to traditional first-person shooters at the time. However, Insomniac has come a long way from that 1996 game. During its history, the studio has run the gamut of gameplay and genre styles, going from cutesy dragon platformer to Marvel blockbuster. It’s tough to decide which of the studio’s many great games should take the top spot on a rankings list, but a few of them stand out.
Here are Insomniac’s six best games.
6) Sunset Overdrive
Even before being acquired by Sony in 2019, Insomniac did much of its best work on the PlayStation family of consoles. That’s what made the announcement of Sunset Overdrive so surprising. Not only was Insomniac moving away from Ratchet & Clank, but it was also partnering with Microsoft to do it.
It worked out for all involved. Sunset Overdrive‘s gameplay compares favorably to games like Jet Set Radio, using best-in-class traversal to the action at a fever-pitch. Insomniac also threaded in just the right amount of humor to keep things light and lively. Given the direction Insomniac has taken in recent years, we probably won’t be seeing a second game to make this a series, but it’s still a good one.
5) Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Year of the Dragon is the third and final Spyro game (not counting the remake trilogy Spyro Reignited, which is pictured above), and it’s also the best one. Insomniac took what worked in the first two games and weaved it together nearly flawlessly to make a game that felt like the best of both worlds.
The 3D platformer rides that balance between being easy enough for anyone to pick up, while still offering a challenge for players who want to dig in. It also looked great and mixed in just enough variety with different playable characters and minigames to keep fans engaged throughout. The camera is a little wonky, but that’s pretty standard for the genre in 2000.
4) Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Coincidentally, Up Your Arsenal is also the third game in the Ratchet & Clank series. It gave fans the fan-favorite antagonist Dr. Nefarious, while also adding online multiplayer for the first time. The latter was a huge addition, giving players plenty to do once they wrapped up the excellent single-player campaign.
Even if you didn’t want to dive into online gameplay, Up Your Arsenal was a must-play for PlayStation fans. The addition of several new weapons and even more upgrade levels made the moment-to-moment action the best in the series to that point. Up Your Arsenal wasn’t reinventing the wheel, but it was making it the best wheel it could be on the PS2.
3) Resistance 3
The Resistance series has mostly been forgotten by modern players, which is surprising given that the trilogy is filled with solid shooters. It’s tough to pick between the three, as they all have positives, but I’d put Resistance 3 forward as the best of the bunch.
This isn’t just your standard shooter. Resistance 3 brings real horror to the mix, leaving you recoiling from some of the scares and violence. The shift from military shooter to post-apocalyptic horror helped Resistance 3 stand out from the previous games. It’s not the best shooter of its era, but it’s absolutely worth playing.
2) Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Spider-Man (and its sequels) is one of the big reasons Sony purchased Insomniac in 2019. Remember, Spider-Man dropped in 2018, giving the PlayStation 4 one of its most successful games. Sony saw that and decided to bring the team in-house to keep one of the best studios in the business under its roof.
For my money, the first Spider-Man is still the best of the trio. Miles Morales is great, but a little too short, while the sequel has some story problems that turned me off. Regardless, there isn’t a series with better traversal. Swinging around New York City is a dream, and the Batman: Arkham-like combat is good enough to keep the action fun throughout.
1) Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
A Crack in Time is the third game in Ratchet & Clank‘s Future saga. I don’t know what it is, but Insomniac always seems to bring it for the third entry in a series. That’s good news if a third Spider-Man game is announced after the developer finishes Marvel’s Wolverine.
Here’s the thing: A Crack in Time doesn’t do too much new for the series. That said, it’s polished to a sheen, making it the best fans have ever had. It looks gorgeous, sounds great, and the usual great shooting action is at its peak. There isn’t a better Ratchet & Clank game, and as great as Marvel’s Spider-Man is, it can’t quite best Insomniac’s longest-running series for this top spot.
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