https://www.cybersport.ru/games/articles/dualsense-ochen-krut-no-igr-poka-ne-khvataet-poluchili-playstation-5-i-delimsya-vpechatleniyami

UFO in every house

The conversation about the console, of course, should start with its appearance. As befits competitors, Xbox and PlayStation approached the design issue in very different ways. If Microsoft preferred the strict lines that led to comparisons of Series X / S with refrigerators, then Sony, on the contrary, hit the futurism and presented to the public a device whose shape is not so easy to describe in words. However, the first vivid impression is connected not so much with the outline of the PS5 as with its size: the console, as correctly noted in the memes, is really hefty and heavy.

If you have limited space near the TV, then trying to fit the console into the interface can turn out to be an interesting task for you. For example, I discovered that the PS5 simply does not fit on the shelf where its sister used to stand – the PS4, one of the first revisions. Had to give the Sony starship its own tea table.

But thanks to such dimensions, the PS5 practically does not make any noise – and compared to the PS4, which already flew to the moon when some games were launched, this is a big step forward. Neither in the “picture” mode, nor in the pursuit of performance, the existing titles are not able to overclock the console coolers enough to make them audible.

In terms of interfaces, the console turned out to be minimalistic: there is a slot for a network cable, one USB Type-A and Type-C on the front panel, two Type-A on the back, plus mandatory power and HDMI.

Nextgen at your fingertips

Iron is iron, but the main “feature” of the new-generation Sony console in all advertising campaigns diligently indicated the DualSense controller. He not only underwent external changes, but also received a very serious processing inside. The gamepad is designed to change the way we think about vibration and tactile feedback in games.

From the first images, it seemed to me that the DualSense in form factor was closer to the Xbox controllers, but it turned out to be an illusion: if you put it next to the new DualShock controller of the previous generation, it becomes clear that the devices are in many ways similar. A key change in ergonomics is the thickened “legs” of the DualSense, which make the new controller feel more massive in the hands, and I can’t add that to it as a plus. The DualShock shape seems more comfortable to me, but it can be a matter of habit. And the new Sony gamepad is more “rough”, which can be a problem for players with the same delicate hands as Anton Logvinov.

Most important, though, is what’s inside the DualSense – a new vibration motor system, microphone and adaptive trigger mechanisms that really change the way you play. Astro’s Playroom, a simple arcade game about the Astrobot, Sony’s mascot, which exists only to show the player the nextgen technology, does the best at demonstrating the advantages of the controller.

Playroom is a true amusement park with a controller, as even toggling buttons in the menu here causes a pleasant vibration in DualSense, not much like the one PS4 users are used to. Vibration motors are located throughout the gamepad, which is why it can shake very precisely anywhere, adjusting to events in the game. At the very beginning of Playroom, we are shown how the gamepad gradually fills from top to bottom with cubes, and the recoil in the controller surprisingly accurately creates the illusion that the same is happening with the DualSense in your hands.

There are a lot of applications of this technology. In Playroom, vibration is used primarily so that the player can feel the surface on which his character is walking. Run over the stone – you will get a rather rough vibration from each step, stepped on the clearing – the vibration will be more stretched in space, quite accurately simulating the sensation of how the Astrobot wade through the greenery. And when, after five minutes of shaking, you step on a soft cloud, then for a second you will really feel relief – and this is really new and unusual sensations that were simply not in games before.

In Playroom, you can really feel the difference between steps on stone, iron, glass, grass or damp clay – however, the secret here is not only in vibration, but also in sounds. The DualSense speaker plays a huge role in creating this illusion of recoil. In essence, the vibration when running on iron and glass will be the same – both materials feel equally hard under Astro’s feet. But due to the fact that the steps will also sound differently, you can easily identify the material under the hero’s feet even blindly.

We can only say good things about the implementation of adaptive triggers – it’s hard not to smile when you first feel how the controller begins to resist pressing if the hero tries to pick up a heavy object. In Bugsnax, the R2 slingshot really feels like the player is pulling on a rubber band, while in TLOU Part II archery works in a similar way. These are all small things, but they really brighten up the game.

However, not everything is so rosy in the Japanese kingdom. InFamous Second Son, released at the beginning of the PS4’s life cycle, there were also interesting finds with a controller: in the very first mission, the game forced you to flip the DualShock and use it as a spray can to paint graffiti. In the six years that have passed since then, no one seems to have come up with anything as original. Therefore, there is a risk that the DualSense features will also be quickly forgotten – after all, there are no such functions on either the PC or the Xbox, and therefore the work on special vibrations and trigger mechanics for third-party studios will be an additional and not very justified load.

Even in the starting line of PlayStation 5, a similar problem is already observed: if in Astro’s Playroom the controller’s features show themselves in all their glory, then in Demon’s Souls and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, innovations are used insofar as. In the remake of a game from FromSoftware, vibrations (in conjunction with the speaker) occur only at the moment of hits and dodges. So, having made a somersault on the stone floor, the player will hear the clang of armor, but if he repeats the action in the water … he will hear, in principle, the same thing, just quieter.

Strikes are the same story: no matter where your attack comes from – a stone wall, a wooden beam, or an enemy’s neck – the tactile sensations will be the same. The only interesting find is the eerie crunch and the corresponding vibration during backstabs, during which we, apparently, are allowed to feel how the protagonist breaks the spine of the opponent. But this is the only such moment in the entire first location. What can you expect from games that will be released by developers of independent studios? They are unlikely to devote more time to the unique features of DualSense.

Sergeant Grafouni and the Order of the SSD

From a technical point of view, there can be no questions for the PlayStation 5 at the moment: a great-looking remake of Demon’s Souls works at fair and stable 60 FPS even in the most graphical locations. At the same time, as befits a game from FromSoftware, it tells the user only the most necessary things about itself, and therefore I remembered the possibility of switching the picture to “quality” mode only before the second boss. In this mode, Demon’s Souls gets 4K resolution and other graphic improvements, but the frame rate is cut down to 30 per second. However, if your TV does not support this resolution, then you can hardly see the difference in the picture – examples below.

The vaunted SSD will not be able to surprise real PC boyars who are already familiar with this technology, but it will most likely impress console players: it takes 24-25 seconds from turning on the PlayStation to entering the main menu, and the console exits sleep mode by another 10 seconds faster … Games also start instantly – however, counting the time is problematic due to imperceptible screensavers. You can load from the main menu to the world of Demon’s Souls in less than 5 seconds, other titles show a similar time.

The PlayStation 5 cannot keep several games open at once and in this regard it is inferior to the console from Microsoft, which allows you to quickly switch between different titles, keeping progress in them. In the menu of each specific game on PS5 there are “cards” that show where the user left off during the passage: for example, now the console remembers that in Sackboy: A Big Adventure I entered the second level, and in Demon’s Souls I dealt with Phalanx. Beneath these cards is a Continue button, which appears to be designed to skip the intro and main menu, allowing the player to resume where they left off. However, now this function does not work everywhere: in Sackboy I really return to the selected level, but in Demon’s Souls I still get to the main menu. Perhaps, in the future, such widgets will support more functions – it was not for nothing that Sony pointed out this option in a promotional campaign.

Backward compatibility mode works flawlessly – at least in those titles that I managed to try. FIFA 21 (the nextgen update has not yet been released for it, so the game is working precisely for backward compatibility), Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope and Watch Dogs: Legion – they all work without graphical or any other bugs, which is not much justifies the frankly weak starting lineup of the new console. At least it can play all PS4 games – and this time with a good frame rate. Therefore, if the console is your main gaming platform, then the PlayStation 5 will be a great upgrade right now. For everyone else, it probably makes sense to wait for new announcements – after all, they have always been Sony’s trademark. Expect detailed reviews of all PlayStation 5 starter games on Cybersport.ru in the near future!