Best Naughty Dog Games: The Top 5, Ranked

Naughty Dog has one of the most consistent track records in gaming, and picking the best Naughty Dog games almost always comes down to a handful of Uncharted and The Last of Us entries fighting for the top spot. Based on critical reception, cultural impact, and how well each game has aged, here’s how the studio’s catalog stacks up.

• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves holds the studio’s highest Metacritic score at 96.
• The Last of Us remains Naughty Dog’s most awarded and most influential release.
• The Last of Us Part II and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End are essentially tied for third, both sitting at 93.
• Every game on this list scored in the low 90s or higher, a rare feat for any single developer.

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is Naughty Dog’s highest-rated release, sitting at 96 on Metacritic. It’s the game that turned Nathan Drake from a promising newcomer into one of PlayStation’s flagship characters. The set pieces still hold up: a train sequence dangling off a cliffside, a collapsing hotel in Nepal, and a finale that pushed the PS3’s hardware further than almost anything else at the time.

What makes Among Thieves stand out isn’t just the spectacle. Naughty Dog balanced the action with genuinely funny writing and a supporting cast that felt real, something a lot of blockbuster games still struggle with today. It’s also the game most frequently cited by critics as a turning point for cinematic action-adventure design as a whole.

2. The Last of Us (2013)

The Last of Us launched near the end of the PlayStation 3’s life cycle and still managed to become one of the most decorated games of its generation, with an average critic score of 95. Joel and Ellie’s journey across a post-apocalyptic United States redefined what a character-driven story could look like in a big-budget action game.

Naughty Dog leaned into scarcity and tension rather than pure spectacle here, and it paid off. The Last of Us went on to win Game of the Year from dozens of outlets, spawned a Remastered edition, a 2022 PS5 remake, and an HBO adaptation, making it arguably the studio’s most culturally significant release even outside of gaming.

3. The Last of Us Part II (2020)

The Last of Us Part II holds a 93 on Metacritic and is the most divisive game on this list, though the divide is almost entirely among players rather than critics. Ellie’s story took a darker, more morally complicated turn, and Naughty Dog backed it with some of the best combat and enemy AI the studio has ever built.

Whatever side of the discourse someone landed on, the technical achievement wasn’t up for debate. The Last of Us Part II swept the 2020 Game Awards with a then-record seven wins, including Game of the Year.

4. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016)

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End closed out Nathan Drake’s story with a 93 on Metacritic and some of the best traversal gameplay in the series. The grappling hook alone changed how combat encounters and exploration felt compared to earlier entries.

This was also Naughty Dog’s first true PS4 showcase, and it looked the part. The game leaned harder into Nathan Drake’s relationship with his brother Sam, giving the finale an emotional weight that the earlier, more comedic Uncharted games hadn’t really attempted.

5. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2011)

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception rounds out the list at 92 on Metacritic. It’s easy to overlook sandwiched between Among Thieves and A Thief’s End, but the cargo plane sequence and the sinking ship level remain some of the most inventive setpieces Naughty Dog has ever built.

The story leans into Nathan Drake’s backstory and his complicated mentor relationship with Sully more than any prior entry, giving the game a bit more depth than the treasure-hunting plot initially suggests.

What Could Join the Best Naughty Dog Games List Next

Naughty Dog’s upcoming sci-fi game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, is the studio’s next shot at cracking this list. It’s a bigger tonal departure than anything the studio has released before, so where it lands once it launches is genuinely hard to predict.

FAQ