PlayStation 5 review: Everything you need to know about Sony's new PS5 console

Plus: answers on how current PS4 games shape up on the new PS5, and which ones don't work
PlayStation 5 review: Everything you need to know about Sony's new PS5 console

The PS5 is released today, November 19. 

'Play has no limits.' After the year we’ve had, there’s something extra comforting about the PlayStation 5’s tagline. 

During a time of such heavy restrictions, we need the freedom that gaming provides. The ability to go anywhere, explore anything, to be anyone.

That has always been the real beauty of games – living our dreams. 

So, is the PS5 a dream come true? 

The PS5 will cost €499 for the standard model with disc drive, and €399 for the digital-only model. This places it at the same price-point at Microsoft’s rival Xbox Series X and is standard pricing for a new-generation console.

Although the price is good for the hardware involved, the games themselves will take some time to capitalise on that hardware. In other words, the real value of the PS5 at launch lies in the excitement of a new generation and being part of that journey from the start.

As the new PlayStation launches today, we dive into the good and bad about Sony’s next-generation beast.

The good... 

Solid work 

Time is money. Which is why we use a 24-hour clock – double pay! 

One of the most frustrating things about gaming is load time. Everything from booting up a game, to loading new levels, or sometimes even entering an interior, can cause a loading screen. 

With the PS5’s solid state hard-drive, some of that frustration will be gone. Games can stay ‘paused’ in the background, and you can switch between them easily. 

Level data can load quicker from the hard-drive, saves will boot quicker, games should be smoother in transition overall.

Haptic hat-tip

The PS5’s controller is so intelligent, it gives you honest feedback. Ok, so the feedback is through soundwaves in the design, but it’s definitely honest. 

When you skate over ice, you ‘feel’ it in the controllers. When you break rocks, the rumble is true to that action. When you show it a piece of art, it tells you not to quit the day-job. 

Maybe not that last kind of feedback, but the haptic stuff is revolutionary.

Have you met Ray?

There’s this guy, Ray Tracy. Very illuminating fellow. Fair enough, Ray doesn’t exist. But his computational equivalent does. 

Ray-tracing is the ability to throw ‘real time’ light on objects in a digital space, so that they then react as normal objects do to illumination. 

Spider-Man: Miles Morales, one of the most promising games for PS5
Spider-Man: Miles Morales, one of the most promising games for PS5

It sounds very technical, but it ultimately means much more natural lighting in games, which is a big step forward for aesthetics. 

It’s so important (and so taxing to perform) that the PS5 has a dedicated hardware component just for doing it. Good man, Ray.

Go ahead, Punk 

Make my day. Well, pulling a trigger might actually make a lot of people happier now, with the changes made to the PS5 iterations. The new triggers can provide resistance against your pull, giving ‘feedback’ during gameplay. 

There are the obvious uses, such as pulling weapon triggers, but developers are bound to find more innovative ways to combine haptic feedback and resistance to make your actions come alive.

The future 

The PlayStation 5 is already exciting but, as always with a new generation of consoles, the real excitement is coming further down the line. 

With PS3, that process was notoriously slow and it even took PS4 some time to get going. We expect the PS5 to hit top speed much sooner. 

Developers are reporting that the console is a joy to work on and easy to create for, which means better games coming sooner. We expect a really high-quality opening 12 months for the console.

..the bad... 

Heavy metal 

Bigger isn’t always better. The PS5 is a bold shape and quite pleasing to look at. It also allows for very simple removal of the white faceplates on the side, which allows for custom design. 

But there’s no escaping it – this console could double as your lockdown workout.

It’s by far the biggest PlayStation console yet, heavy to lift, and that is rarely welcome in today’s technology landscape. 

Over time, smaller models will be released, and the digital-only model is slightly thinner due to a lack of disc drive.

Leading lights

Very few consoles launch with a blockbuster, and the PS5 is no different. Although we’re getting some promising, quality-looking games in Spider-Man: Miles Morales and the Demon Souls remake, Sony are missing the magic of a truly big title like Horizon Forbidden West or even a new IP to show what their new piece of hardware can really do. 

In that sense, even gaming was limited by lockdowns this year, as development slowed on certain games.

In spite of that, the PlayStation 5 is a welcome breath of real excitement and wonder for 2020. 

It’s a fantastic piece of new technology that opens doors to our imagination and our fantasies, during a time when too many doors in the real world are shut. 

Gaming is our plane ticket in lieu of holidays. It’s our football in lieu of training. It’s our party in lieu of pubs. Our lives may be limited, but play doesn’t have to be.

...and the backwards

Some PS4 games, like Ghost of Tsushima, run even better on PS5, while a much smaller percentage do not run at all.
Some PS4 games, like Ghost of Tsushima, run even better on PS5, while a much smaller percentage do not run at all.

Sony announced backwards compatibility with PlayStation 4 games for the PS5, before the process was ready to launch. 

Now, there are lots of questions around which games work, and which don’t. 

Let’s start at the beginning and work, well, backwards.

1. Sony announces backwards compatibility: 

Earlier this year, Sony claimed that the ‘overwhelming majority’ of the PlayStation 4’s library would be playable on the PS5, and their team were working hard on making as many games compatible as possible. Questions were raised about what ‘almost all’ really meant, and Sony subsequently said ‘99% of games’ would be playable.

2. Clarification comes before launch: 

In early October, Sony then moved to clarify the reality of backwards compatibility. In a statement released on their support site, the company confirmed again that the ‘overwhelming majority’ of PS4 games would run on PS5 and that many titles would in fact benefit from a ‘game boost’ feature, including improved framerates and loading times.

However, they also advised players that some PS4 games might exhibit ‘unexpected behaviour’ on PS5 and to test their games on PS5 before buying add-ons to make sure ‘you are happy with the play experience’.

3. Sony release a list of incompatible games: 

Last month, Sony also released a list of games that are only playable on PS4. The list was just ten games long and didn’t include any fan favourites or best-sellers. Hitman Go: Definitive Edition, We Sing and Shadow Complex Remastered were the most recognisable names.

4. Digital Foundry is impressed: 

The gurus of gaming hardware and technicalities, Digital Foundry, did a series of tests for the PS5’s backwards compatibility and came away very impressed. Although they only tested a selection of top-selling games, many of these ran better than they do on a PlayStation Pro, meaning the games produced 60 frames a second (for smoother gameplay) and quicker load times. The performance was ‘better than promised’ in some cases.

5. More incompatible games are discovered: 

As users started to test PS4 games themselves, more games started to appear with messages stating ‘this game is only playable on PS4’. One respected source showed that Battlefield 5, Marvel Versus Capcom Infinite and Metal Gear Survive – all relatively big name titles – were not compatible.

6. The current state of play: 

If you are buying a PS5 for backwards compatibility, the likelihood is that you will be happy. It appears Sony’s promise that the vast majority of game are playable is holding true in the early days, with some games even benefitting from massive performance boosts. However, if backwards compatibility for a specific game is a deal-breaker for you, then do some research online to confirm that it works, and plays well.

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