Use your mouse and keyboard with these PS4 and PS5 games

Most people are well aware that PC gamers are at an advantage when it comes to pinpoint control and accuracy. Using a mouse and keyboard certainly has its benefits and not everyone is aware that the PS4 and PS5 support keyboard and mouse input. Here are some of the best PS5 games that support a keyboard and mouse that you might want to try. Though all of these don’t have native PS5 releases, they can be played on Sony’s latest console, which has system level mouse and keyboard support thanks to backward compatibility.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the latest and greatest entry in the long-running franchise. After its most recent releases brought players to ancient Egypt and Greece, Ubisoft hopped forward in time to set Valhalla in the Dark Ages of Europe. As Norway is ravaged by years of war, viking warrior Eivor and their clan set sail for England to find a new home. The locals, especially King Alfred of Wessex, don’t take kindly to these people who they view as savages. What kicks off is an epic tale that intertwines with the Assassin/Templar conflict we’ve come to know and love.

For those more interested in the mythical and sci-fi elements of the series, you’ll find plenty of it in Valhalla. Eivor can visit the mythical worlds of Asgard and Jötunheimr, running into characters like Loki, Thor, Tyr, and Freyja. And of course the Isu play a large role in the game. The modern-day storyline picks up right after the events of Odyssey’s DLC, and Layla is now the keeper of the Staff of Hermes, a powerful Piece of Eden.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

$40 at Amazon
$60 at Best Buy
$40 at Walmart

Players are transported to the Dark Ages in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Lead your Viking clan from the shores of Norway to the sprawling kingdoms of England as you attempt to find a new home, all the while becoming embroiled in the Assassin/Templar conflict the franchise is known for.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Most people play Call of Duty for its multiplayer, and a mouse and keyboard gives you a greater advantage over those playing with controllers. Black Ops Cold War’s multiplayer features several multiplayer modes — many of which are 6v6 or 12v12. Some are new while others are making a return from previous installments, like its classic Zombies mode. With cross-play support, you can team up against those on Xbox and PC.

More interested in the single-player campaign? Black Ops Cold War has a decent one for you. As the name suggests, it takes place during the Cold War of the early 1980s. Following the Iran Hostage Crisis, President Ronald Reagan send out a black ops team to find and kill the Russian spy Perseus.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

$70 at Best Buy
$60 at Walmart

The Black Ops series went back to the Cold War in this entry, which follows a CIA operative on a mission to neutralize the Russian operative Perseus before the spy can cause more damage. In addition to a single-player campaign, Black Ops Cold War also has the several multiplayer modes along with the iconic Zombies returning.

Final Fantasy 14

MMORPGs just aren’t the same with controllers as they are with a mouse and keyboard. Final Fantasy 14 supports both control schemes on PlayStation so you can play with whatever you’re most comfortable with. Taking place in the land of Eorzea, Final Fantasy 14 sees players traveling into the future after the region was devastated. As civilization starts to rebuild, the Garlean Empire threatens to invade and destroy everything.

Over the years, its received a handful of major expansions, with the upcoming Endwalker expansion set to release in 2021 taking players to the moon. The end of the world is nigh — once again — and it’s your job to stop that from happening.

Final Fantasy 14

Like so many MMOs, there is a lot going on in Final Fantasy 14. With so much happening on the screen, playing an MMO with a console controller can sometimes be a bit of a pain. Fortunately, Final Fantasy 14 has native keyboard and mouse support and that might make your life a little easier.

From $20 at PlayStation

Overwatch

Blizzard’s hero shooter took the internet by storm when it first released, and it seems there’s no stopping that momentum. Overwatch is beloved for its characters and plotline outside of the game itself, expanding with media like comics and animated shorts. Its art style is instantly recognizable and the gameplay stays fresh when Blizzard adds new heroes and events to the mix.

While the company has announced Overwatch 2, which is expected to have a dedicated PvE mode, it could be a couple of years before we see that game hit the market. Until then, Blizzard is sure to keep supporting Overwatch with new content. Now’s the perfect time to hop in, especially when you can play with mouse and keyboard on PlayStation.

Overwatch

Mouse and keyboard offer a tremendous advantage to Overwatch gameplay, much to Blizzard’s dismay. Blizzard Entertainment initially wanted Sony and Microsoft to remove the use of the superior mouse targeting, but both companies decided to keep it. If you are an Overwatch fan on a console, you might want to consider these tools.

$22 at Amazon $28 at Walmart
$40 at Best Buy
$26 at Walmart

They Are Billions

Real-time strategy games are another group that tend to benefit from the finer controls a mouse and keyboard afford. In They Are Billions, players are tasked with building a base to keep out hordes of infected zombies in its post-apocalyptic steampunk world. They Are Billions boasts nearly 50 missions and dozens of hours of gameplay.

The story in They Are Billions is disturbing as you learn the origins of the virus that has decimated civilization. I’ll let you figure that one out on your own as you play the game, but it’s gross. Until then, control your Imperial Army and start taking back the land for the living.

They Are Billions

The swarms of up to 20,000 infected throw themselves at your colony walls. Survive and kill the horde of billions. This real-time strategy game offers randomly-generated maps so every game will offer a unique experience. Will humanity survive the onslaught?

$30 at PlayStation Store

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) reboots the Modern Warfare sub-series from Infinity Ward. Being the studio’s first release after the maligned Infinite Warfare, which was far too futuristic for many people’s tastes, Modern Warfare was a breath of fresh air. Its multiplayer features a realism mode that completely removes the HUD, making it incredibly challenging for most people who’ve come to rely on HUD (which is pretty much everyone, let’s be honest).

Unfortunately for anybody who loves its fan-favorite Zombies mode, it’s not a part of Modern Warfare. Instead, you’ll get the Spec Ops mode from Modern Warfare 2 and 3. It’s not the same, but the multiplayer offerings on display here can still be a ton of fun and play great with a mouse and keyboard.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

This iconic first-person shooter offers the use of mouse and keyboard, which is the superior way to target your enemies for that perfect headshot (in our opinion). Play the solo campaign with better accuracy or hop into multilayer combat and decimate your foes.

$60 at Best Buy
$41 at Walmart

Call of Duty: Warzone

Mouse and keyboard certainly ups your game in Call of Duty: Warzone’s Battle Royale and Plunder modes. When you’re up against 149 other players, every second counts as the map shrinks. You could be one headshot away from victory or death. If you do happen to die along the way, you’ll be given a chance to respawn by fighting another player in a 1v1 death match. If that doesn’t sound appealing you can jump into Plunder, working with a team to collect $1 million of in-game cash scattered across the map.

What’s awesome about Warzone is that it’s completely free-to-play. While there are microtransactions for in-game currency and cosmetics, you don’t need to spend a penny to get in on the fun. Seriously, you don’t even need PS Plus to play it online.

Call of Duty: Warzone

Free at PlayStation

Hot on the heels of Call of Duty: Blackout, the battle royale mode in Black Ops 4, Activision doubled down and created a standalone battle royale experience with Call of Duty: Warzone. Up to 150 players parachute onto a map and try to be the last person standing.

DayZ

What started off as a mod for Arma 2 became a full-fledged game. This survival title takes place in the fictional region of Chernarus, part of the post-Soviet Republic in the game’s universe. After a plague has turned much of the population into mindless infected, you’ll work to gather resources to survive the outbreak. Be careful when you run into other players, though, since they’re just as likely to harm you as they are to help you.

One of DayZ’s key features is its permadeath. There are no checkpoints or saves in the game. If you die, that’s it. It’s not a mechanic built for everyone, but it does make DayZ all the more tense when you’re playing it. Stay safe out there while the hordes of infected try to kill you.

DayZ

Zombies are a constant worry, but perhaps you should fear humans more. DayZ is a post-apocalyptic survival MMO where everything is trying to kill you. Survive the zombies, other humans, and the environment. Work with others to build a base or hide out in a little camp for one.

$40 at Amazon

You can use your mouse and keyboard on a PS4 and PS5!

Few PS4 and PS5 games support mouse and keyboard. For those that do, sometimes that support is even limited. However, it helps with the games that offer it. There is a distinct advantage to using a mouse and keyboard over controllers in shooters and combat games like Overwatch or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The difference between using a mouse and keyboard and a controller can actually be overwhelming for developers. Blizzard Entertainment is struggling to balance classes to overcome the controls. Rather than removing mouse and keyboard from multiplayer games, Sony and Microsoft have released some tools to help make it easier to use the mouse and keyboard.

If you’re looking to up your game already with a mouse and keyboard, consider picking up one of the best PS5 headsets to complement it. Using a headset versus listening to the stereo on your television or monitor is like night and day, and it’s hard to go back once you experience the beauty of surround sound. Those having trouble finding a new console should be on the lookout for PS5 restocks. In our PS5 review we said that “Sony took everything that made the PS4 great and doubled down to create a truly impressive console.”