This is a personal list of my favourite racing games for the PS4. It's my favourite genre of gaming, and I have a long history of playing racing games on both console and PC. I enjoy variety in my racing endeavors, so expect a mix of styles and vehicles. This list is also made from the perspective of a single-player gamer, as to me, a racing game is best experienced in solitude, where you can fully immerse yourself. Lastly, this is not a list of PS4 exclusives.
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I place a high value on Driveclub's exotic locations and immersive capabilities; the attention to detail in the cockpit view, the luxurious visual experience, and the satisfying sound-design. The driving and gameplay is similar to an early Grid or Shift experience. By now, the developers have added a large amount of content to the game, so there's plenty to enjoy for the single-player gamer.
Having played every previous MotoGP game, I consider this the best one so far. Part of it is due to the added Managerial Mode, which lets you manage your own team, as you expand and develop your riders and bikes. With every new iteration Milestone manages to improve what seems marginal, but which together results in a better experience. Again, if you value content, there's lots of it here, with several game modes and three classes of MotoGP to partake in.
This is rally racing in its purest form; just you, your co-driver, the car and the road. Since it's based on a real-life event, there's no rallycross or stadium races, only stage rallies. The standout feature of this game is the intense and wild experience you get. The sense of speed in this game is beyond anything else I've experienced in a rally game. Whereas Dirt Rally is tactful, WRC 7 is a wild beast.
Codemasters did an excellent job with F1 2017, by adding more complexity and choices in the managerial aspects of the gameplay. You have to plan and think about how you drive, the game is more demanding and will ask more input from you. At the same time there's an impressive level of personalization on offer, in how you race and play. It truly is a milestone in the world of F1 racing games.
It had a weak start for me, since I'm a single-player gamer. However, the game has since grown, through a large amount of free added content for single-player gamers. It's still a distance away from being a Gran Turismo 7, but it's getting there quite fast. More importantly, what the game actually offers is excellent; the sound, the visuals, the physics. It's the most complex and technical GT game so far I would argue, especially if you try the more sim-like settings. A big difference too, is that the AI feels more "alive" and less perfect than previously, as they too will make mistakes.
With a Career mode that feels endless, the amount of racing goodness in this game is superb. The game is a feast of dirt racing. It brought back memories of playing Colin McRae Dirt (2007) on the Xbox 360. Dirt 4 is Codemasters at their very best, offering a tonne of quality content in a single package.
Nascar games offer a form of racing you simply won't experience elsewhere, in any other racing game, it's a truly unique thing. And this particular Nascar game is really good; it plays well, it looks great, there's lots of options, and it has a massive amount of Career content. If you enjoy racing games you should really give this shot, there's nothing similar to it, … on the PS4 at least.
Bike games are an aquired taste, but if you enjoy racing games they offer a new and unique way to challenge yourself. Ride 2 is like Forza or Gran Turismo but with motorcycles instead, where you race, collect credits, and buy new bikes, … and the cycle continues. With a good selection of tracks, a huge assortment of bikes, and a gigantic Career mode, Ride 2 has plenty of good things to offer.
The standout feature of this game is that the stage designs are fully modelled after real-life rally stages, they have a sense of authenticity that is instantly recognizable. The other hallmark is that you get to re-live key moments from the career of Sebastien Loeb, one of the racing world's most skilled drivers. With physics that will truly challenge you and an abundance of single-player content, it's an easy game to recommend.
While the physics can be really tough to handle, even to the point of becoming overly frustrating at times, it's still worth experiencing if you are an ardent fan of racing games. The game offers tracks and settings you won't find elsewhere today. It doesn't have a huge amount of content, but what the game does have takes a very long time to master. You need to thoroughly learn the tracks and the bikes, though lots of practise. If you are new to bike games, I recommend Ride 2 or MotoGP 17 instead, since this game is extremely punishing and difficult to master, more so than Dirt Rally and Loeb Rally.