BATTLE OFTHE BOXES
The new Playstation and XBox go head-to-head
REVIEW PS5
THE subway train is slidingg into the station and I can feell its brakes shaking in myy hands. Minutes later, myy hands are vibrating again as I swing from building to building, and ride through a shopping centre atop a giant villain.
This immersive experience, enough to momentarily convince me I am Miles Morales, is thanks to the PlayStation 5’s thoroughly redesigned controller, a vital addition for any games console but one that takes on extra importance in this nextgeneration games machine.
The feature-packed DualSense controller, along with a serious speed boost, are the two headline features of the PlayStation 5 console arriving next week, and the two biggest reasons (aside from individual titles) a player would choose Sony’s offering over a rival from Microsoft.
Of course, that’s not to diminish other hardware boosts inside the PS 5.
Like every new generation console, its graphics are more detailed, lifelike, and stunning. This machine delivers HDR video that shows light and shade in every scene, raytracing that makes beams of sunlight look genuine, and 4 K gameplay that will make you question whether it’s real — or at least squint at the screen.
The console will also deliver 8K footage to screens
that support it for added future-proofing and 120 frame-per-second video for smooth action scenes.
But the PlayStation’s 2020 speed boost is something more than a generational shift. The addition of a solidstate drive means games now load in seconds rather than minutes (which often seem like hours). Even swapping between games is quick, reducing frustration when you rage-quit a trouble some level.
And that PS5 controller could seal the deal for many. Its haptic feedback is finely tuned and bears little resemblance to the basic buttonand-joystick combos of the past. Its triggers are also adaptive, meaning you can feel the tension change when you hit them to release a web or yank a cord out of the ground.
This year’s PlayStation also comes in a cheaper variety with no disc drive, for those confident about archiving their physical games collections, and both PS5 consoles offer generous backwardscompatibility.