How good is the PlayStation 4? Ask me in five years. Ask me after Naughty Dog’s next couple of games, after I figure out whether God of War is headed in the right direction, after I learn whether it has become unfathomable to play a console game without livestreaming it.
You know what? Ask me in a week, because I’ve only been using the new system online since 9pm Wednesday night and let history show that this review first ran online on Thursday morning.
That’s why, for now, I’m calling this a Review (In Progress). These days, many game reviews aren’t really done when they first run. They can explain parts of the game accurately at launch, but online communities shape these games. That’s true too, for the surprisingly online-centric PlayStation 4. We update game reviews to factor in how a game’s multiplayer stands up. And I’ll be updating this one, significantly, as we test more of the system’s offline and online features. Still, there is a lot I can share now.
Today I can tell you a bit about what the PS4 is, how it’s working in its pre-launch phase, and what, as a device, its manufacturer Sony has situated it to be.
The console is a sleek, easily portable (!), wonderfully quiet slab
The PS4 is a surprisingly small box. It is so sleek that it might as well be the 2015 PS4 Slim tossed back to us 2013ers via a time machine. It is lighter, thinner and quieter than the original 2006 PlayStation 3. Some game machines, such as the first fat PS3 or the original Nintendo DS, arrive with an imperfect design that predicts their own looming displacement. Not this one. The PS4 shapes up as a box in need of no space-saving or cosmetic improvement. It doesn’t use a power brick and even uses the same power cable as the PS3.
The new angles of the unit look nice. My colleague Tina calls the console italicised. But this is still as artless a box as most game machines. Perhaps Nintendo’s GameCube was the only console ever designed to be seen rather than to be hidden in an entertainment centre. Sony’s newest is designed to disappear.
The PS4’s trim shape and low profile is nevertheless a boon to gamers. On day one, the PS4 turns out to be easily portable. This is surprising and pleasingly discordant with the fact that, as the performance of PlayStation 4 games proves, this console is a powerhouse. Mighty as it may be, for several days, I’ve been able to easily slip the console into a backpack. I grab two cables and a controller and travel with the machine with little more inconvenience than if I was hauling around a thick laptop computer.
The controller has better sticks, better triggers, better weight and an awesome jack
There is much to like about the console’s new, improved controller.
The DualShock 4 retains the twin-stick, many-buttoned layout that hardcore gamers love and that probably horrifies most of the people who went bowling on the Wii. This controller will break no barriers the way the Wii’s Remote did or the commercials for Microsoft’s Kinect say it will. It should nevertheless please dedicated console gamers. A circular groove around the tops of the controller’s thumbsticks enable more confident analogue movement. The shoulder buttons have more punch. The triggers finally curve outward to cradle your finger as the Xbox 360 controller’s did. And the whole thing is a tad heavier than the disconcertingly light DualShock 3.
One of the signature additions to this PlayStation controller is a multi-touch touchpad, though it plays no great role in any of the console’s launch games that I’ve found. It’s been used for simple swipe-based commands of in-game minions in Killzone and can zoom in on a map in Assassin’s Creed. Nothing amazing yet. It is inoffensive, at worst.
Better, though less ballyhooed, is a headphone jack in the controller that, in conjunction with a change in the console’s settings, can output all of a game’s audio to controller-connected headphones, a trick most recently seen on the Wii U. Call that setting the Domestic Bliss option. Your most beloved housemates will appreciate it if they walk in and you swap the game audio from blaring through your speakers to purring through your headphones. And it works, I can confirm, with regular old iPhone headphones.
The DualShock 4 apes one of Nintendo’s sillier concepts and puts a speaker in the controller. It wasn’t really necessary. But let’s give a cheer for Sony adding a more sensible feature and allowing controllers to be charged when they are plugged into a PS4 that is in standby mode.
Overall, consider DualShock 4 a healthy upgrade.
The revamped PlayStation Network is essentially a Facebook that puts games — good games — first
Now we get to the parts of the PS4 that are harder to review. Namely, everything else. Back in the days of the Super Nintendo or even the original PlayStation, a game console did pretty much just one thing. Maybe two. It played games. You either had fun with it or not. Then Sony made the PS2 a DVD player and Microsoft belatedly turned the Xbox 360 into a video-streaming, fitness-tracking box that also runs games. Even the gaming purists at Nintendo filled their new Wii U last year with video streaming services and a built-in social network.
Keep the PS4 offline and the system really isn’t much more than what I’ve already described: it’s a thin black slab with a nifty controller, and it runs impressive-looking games. (OK, it can also play Blu-Ray movies.) Yours for $549!
Plug the PS4 into the Internet and you can expect a very different experience. It’s ironic that the PS4 was the system that was never announced to require an online connection. That was just going to be the Xbox guys until they changed course. But it sure feels like the PS4 would benefit from a persistent one. Maybe you don’t have to be always online with this unit, but it’s designed to make you want to be. See, Sony’s turning PlayStation gaming into an incredibly social experience. Turn the machine on and the main menu screen will be full of a cascade of updates from whatever PS4-related stuff your friends have been doing: playing games, uploading clips, broadcasting livestreams. I’m not talking about some small feed of info tucked on the side. Below the system’s row of main navigation icons tumbles a waterfall of updates. It is the element designed to catch your eye.
It’s a tautology, but everything about the PS4’s online systems feels designed to make any and all gaming experiences be social. In some respects, the system is catching up to its Xbox rival in activating cross-game party chat. In others, it’s stepping beyond, allowing users to press a “share” button on the DualShock 4 and, with a couple more button taps, broadcast the game they’re playing to anyone on Ustream, Twitch or a PS4 who will watch. To PC gamers, this will seem like another case of cute ‘lil consoles trying to keep up. But if consoles are all about simplifying things, then here is the PS4 with a guarantee that the next time you get a Naughty Dog game, a God of War or Killzone, then it’ll be second nature — and easy — to not just start playing but let anyone watch you as well. That share button should also make it second nature to upload video of anything cool that just happened in a game, posting it to Facebook and, eventually, Sony says, to more flexible services like YouTube.
I’d like to tell you how terrific or terrible all of this online PS4 stuff is, but I can’t. I can only report my initial findings and point out that the value of a social network can only be determined when there are a lot of people on it. On Tuesday night, November 12, 2013, as I write this, there are not a lot of people online with the PS4.
Here’s what I’ve done:
- Gone to the PlayStation online store, queued up some games to download and then hopped around the system menus. No hassles there.
- Friended co-worker Jason Schreier online… saw his PlayStation Network ID begin to show up in my activity feed as he started playing Assassin’s Creed IV…sent him a “true name” request and accepted one he sent me, and then saw him show up more in my activity feed under his real name. I did this with other people, too, and found that their real names didn’t always show up in my feed.
- Started playing arcade shooter Resogun… pressed the controller’s Share button and chose the broadcast option… realised I needed to create a Twitch account and did so through the PS4…and then livestreamed some of the game while Jason spectated first just by spotting me in the Live on PlayStation area of the dashboard that features popular streams (I was popular by default) and then through Twitch… he even typed a few comments! Here’s how that looked:
- Tried using the share button to capture and upload clips, which mostly worked, though I was confused as to how to reliably ensure that the system was capturing what I was just playing. I’ll need to test that more, but, at worst, there are just a few kinks to work out there. Noteworthy: I had to exit the game I was playing to trim the clip I captured from it and I can only share my clips to Facebook as of now.
- Attempted to control my PS4 using a Vita via the systems’ Remote Play feature but managed little more than a slideshow on my never-ideal internet connection. Jason had more success using a PS4 and Vita in Manhattan but needs to test this feature more before we can tell you how reliable it is. In my house, I can say, it looks like the Wii U will still outperform the PS4 for off-TV play.
The sharing functions are very exciting. I also like the social feeds. But I say all this now when I’ve yet to see if the sharing crumbles under heavy bandwidth usage and if the social feeds will become too cluttered. It’s impossible to know this stuff until crowds of people are using the PlayStation 4’s network. It’s also hard to tell how dependent an ideal PS4 experience will be on having fast home Internet. Sony’s servers for the PS3 were never anything to brag about and dragged, at least for me, while Microsoft’s Xbox 360 ones blazed.
We did hit one hardware speed bump that we’re hoping/guessing is an anomaly
Aside from all this online stuff, there’s one other awkward detail that I can’t accurately assess at this moment. It’s this: the first retail PS4 we got from Sony didn’t work. Now, please, don’t panic. It’s impossible to tell how much of a fluke this was or whether this is the canary in a coal mine of pending PS4 hardware troubles.
Here are the facts: In the past week, my Kotaku colleagues and I have used one pre-release PS4 and three retail PS4s with no problems. I’ve also heard from fellow gaming reporters who’ve used their PS4s with no problems. But the first retail unit that Sony provided me failed to work when I plugged it into a TV in Kotaku‘s office. A colleague and I were able to compare it to a second PS4 that did work and we found that the issue was rather simple: the bad unit had a faulty HDMI jack that we couldn’t fully plug an HDMI cable into. It couldn’t make a solid connection and therefore, apparently, couldn’t transmit a stable signal to our TV. We tried different cables and monitors. The issue was with the console.
I certainly hope this is a fluke. I’ve asked Sony to share any insights they have into how common this issue has been. They’ve not provided any official reply yet, but a rep did seem surprised when I first told him about it. Obviously, we’ll be keeping an eye out for any other reports of this issue. Again, to be clear, the other four units we’ve tested first-hand have worked fine.
Things we worried about, like mandatory installations, are actually no problem at all
As the PS4 begins to sell to thousands of gamers, we’ll learn more about how the machine holds up: what it’s good at and where it struggles. Our team at Kotaku and I have for now tried to do our best to anticipate some of the possible stress points.
We’ve put our ears to the unit and been pleased to barely hear the disc drive spinning. Don’t worry, this thing is no leaf blower.
We’ve reacted to the news that all games must be installed and tested how long it takes to have to wait to play a 20 or 30GB game after the first time you put its disc in the machine. Good news: only about 30 seconds.
We haven’t dropped the console.
We haven’t put it in a sauna.
And, no, we’ve not put it in a blender.
We have played some games on it, and, well, they’re launch games. They’re ok, not amazing. One of the reasons I’m not yet recommending you run out and get a PS4 is that, as cool as a lot of the system is, there’s no game on it that you just have to play and can’t play anywhere else.
We’ve checked out some multiplatform games like Assassin’s Creed IV and Skylanders: Swap Force and marvelled at their graphics. We’ve popped Madden in and wondered if we were looking at a PS3 game.
I just wish the launch games were better
I’ve mostly just thought about what can come of this PlayStation 4. The PS4 has a compelling agenda to make console gaming feel not just more social, but to facilitate better sharing of games and to foment more conversation about games. I’m excited, of all things, to not just curse about the tough part of a game but to hit the share button and show you that annoying section right while I’m still fired up about it. I’m excited to use the PS4’s true name system to make me feel like the people with whom I connect on gaming consoles are real people who I know and who do things with games that I can care about. And, yeah, I’m excited about all this stuff that is barely tested and is on a system that doesn’t offer many gaming moments that I want to share yet.
The console starts out way better than the PS3 did
The PS4 is just starting, and as it is, it is hard to experience the PS4 without thinking about the machine that came before it. The PlayStation 3 made an incredible journey, from rotund Resistance and Lair-playing machine to the console of The Last of Us, Puppeteer and The Unfinished Swan. The console got skinnier. It got better. And it wound up playing some of my favourite games ever.
In November 2013, the PS4 is hopefully both a great extension of the PS3 and, oddly, a clean break. It’s not backwards-compatible, after all. Not yet, not until 2014 when Sony plans to deliver streaming games to those of us with good enough Internet connections to remote-control PS3 games housed on some Sony server somewhere. For now, the PS4 sits next to the PS3 without fully displacing it.
Picture this Friday as a crucial moment in the great Sony relay race. The PS3 is handing off the baton, and just as it happens, time seems to freeze. The next runner, the PS4, has taken the hand-off but hasn’t quite landed its first stride. The PS3 will keep running for a time, coasting on its own momentum. The PS4 looks poised, ready charge forth. We assume it’ll happen. But that hand-off is still in progress. It’s too soon to tell what happens next.
The PS4 seems like it’ll be a hell of a console, but it’s mostly potential and a bunch of new tools in need of some awesome games for them to work on.
I think you’ll want one eventually. But, cool as the PS4 is, a lack of a must-play game means you can afford to wait. Do you need to have a PS4?
This review will be updated throughout the coming weeks to ensure we’ve covered all the basics and adequately tested all the social features with a growing PS4 userbase.
Comments
85 responses to “The PlayStation 4: The Kotaku Review”
🙁 This is like the 5th review from mainstream media I have read that said there is no need to rush out and get PS4 on day one….this BLOWS
Hype train derailing…… Oh the humanity!
Sucks when reality hits home that neither console is a must buy at this point? Give it two years and youll see some spectacular stuff though.
It appears that the second coming of Christ has yet again been delayed!
I’m still sore about the world not ending last year. It would have saved me the disappointment of finding out the new consoles aren’t a day one purchase.
DELAYED!!? BUT MY BELOVED CULT LEADER IS ALREADY HERE!!
Every store seems to be sold out until Jan-Feb. None of the games look that interesting anyway.
dicksmith got some 700$ killzone bundles left i think for 23rd of dec this was 3weeks ago though
JB will guarantee a console by christmas if you get in and preorder now. That could stop at any day though.
There is not much of a reason to buy ANY console at launch unless you REALLY want it.
I am buying my PS4 at launch because I want to play games on next-gen consoles, I want to play the best versions of games like ACIV, BF4, COD Ghosts. As well as some nice exclusives like KZ:SF.
Best versions are on pc
^he has never played AC on pc
A console with greater potential than its initial launch offering is par for the course these days. The online-centric functions don’t grab me all that much. It’s more Sony’s in-house stable of talented developers, married with strong hardware, which sells this console to me. And although the launch lineup may not set everyone on fire, for me they’re a great indicator of that hardware potential. Killzone at least looks incredible, even if it’s not the revolution in FPS design that, say, Halo was.
Solid hardware in the hands of developers such as Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, and Quantic Dream is what PS4 and the Playstation brand is all about for me. The games library will, eventually, be stuffed to the gills with titles from these studios (and many more). So for me the PS4 may fall by the wayside for the first six months in favor of other priorities, but I guarantee you it’ll be my next big investment in consumer technology. Reviews such as this are useful but, in all honesty, Sony had already sold me a PS4 before they officially announced the thing. And that’s based purely on the investments they made during the last generation in quality studios producing unique gaming experiences.
This is very true. Sony really brought their A-game with the PS3. It started out rocky but damn they just had hit after hit in terms of amazing games from their first-party devs. I expect nothing less for this generation as well and it’s very exciting. I’m dying to know what Naughty Dog are up to in particular (fingers crossed for a new Uncharted on PS4!)
I’ve been hoping for an open world Uncharted a la Assassin’s Creed – climb anything, go anywhere, shoot if you want, creep by if you so please. An Uncharted which focuses on one diverse locale rather than structured globe-trotting, where new areas are opened up as you explore and upgrade abilities (such as in Metroid), would be amazing.
Naughty Dog haven’t tackled open-world design since the Jak series, and although they excel at linear, cinematic experiences, I’d love to see what the can bring to the table by allowing players to play at their own pace.
And if they feel that they can only do that style of game justice with a new IP, then great. They’re a developer which I have complete and utter faith in. Essentially, they’re Sony’s Retro, and Microsoft’s … hmm.
Hey I love the fat PS3!
And the whole ‘facebook for games’ thing isn’t a plus for everyone. I prefer a stripped back system personally.
Yeah, I never liked yelling with people I dont know like a crazy on the web TBH… It’s why I never used the headset.
Same. I’ve got a headset and have only used it with friends. Always felt weird to chat to complete strangers when gaming.
Headsets on the PC arent just for yelling 🙂
I played a game the other day on PC and forgot to mute the chat (I always mute). It took less than 2 min for some kid to start yelling and calling people retards… They are everywhere.
I predict a billion unremarkable videos of double kills and glitches. I have a feeling there’s going to be a tidal wave of asinine videos spewing forth from the PS4 and Xbone, at least for the first year or so until people start to figure out that there’s no audience for their fully sick no scope on an AFK player.
Still going to buy one ^_^. Got to have some NBA 2k14 next gen. Looks amazing.
People say that there is no reason to upgrade, I say there is no reason not to. Battlefield 4 is my reason for upgrading, plus games like Infamous and Planetside 2 coming next year.
Dont get excited about planetside 2. Been playing it for a bit on pc and yeah… its a bit shit.
Reasons not to:
There will likely be a price drop
There will likely be better versions released with larger hard drives and/or better performance
Failure rates of first release consoles are extremely high compared to later releases
You don’t have a clue which console will end up being more suitable for you until a lot more exclusives are announced
I will likely get a PS4, but I’ll definitely be waiting at least 12 months.
I can’t see a pricedrop, there will be no need, demand is outstripping supply and it is already very cheap.
Can’t see any better performance coming, they won’t change the chipsets, and the BD is already plenty fast.
Failure rates, who knows? I am sure everyone learned from the 360 debacle though.
Exclusives? It is pretty clear right now which developers are lined up on either side.
I’ll be waiting a tad under 6 months, but only because my pile of shame needs to be gotten through first.
It doesn’t matter if you cant see a pricedrop. It will happen. Why?
You have your initial core gamers who will preorder, and preorder they have. It will sell like hotcakes for a year, Then your core audience has its consoles, then you need to attract your peripheral audience, your more casual people. They look at 500 bucks, no matter which console and say ‘Eh… the Wii U is only 300 lets get that?’ because they have zero idea of the tech aspects, they just care about which console is cheaper, which seems more ‘kid friendly’. Happened with the Wii in a big way.
So they will eventually drop it, not majorly, maybe 50 bucks, possibly 100, but it wont be for a year or 18 months, but it’ll come eventually. It always does, it always has and always will.
There’s already been some reports about some consoles being broken and not outputing display etc.
Please show me the data on failure rates.
‘better’ is fairly subjective term… I have a Ps3 fat with 60GB still going strong, and a slim. The ps3 Fat does more than the slim… however I like the look of the slim. The NEW ps3 is crap. Plastic fantastic that looks like it is covered in corrugated plastic.
I can appreciate what you are saying on price drops… though, sometimes that means culling features.
PS4 has no gaems.
I should hope not… It has games though. 😛
No gaems! Proerder cancelled!
I’m happy with the launch games on offer, whilst Killzone isn’t to everyone’s tastes, I love the setting and the lore behind it, so I am happy to pick one up for just that, Resogun is the icing and cherry on top! Factor in all the other crossgen games, there is plenty to keep you entertained until the “better” games hit.
Which isn’t far off, given that Infamous is due in Feb.
Resogun is in next months Instant Game Collection in EU’s Playstation Plus, and that’s not all…look….
Entering PS Plus:
29th November: RESOGUN
29th November: Contrast
27th November: GRID 2
27th November: Guacamelee! (Cross Buy)
27th November: Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed
27th November: Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories
Does the waggle happen on all PS4s? http://i.minus.com/iYj0EJfDdruQy.gif
For it to be that prominent a rubber stopper has obviously come off underneath.
Just saw this after posting. It is a issue of the placement of the rubber foots. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1cZjmx7qfM
So after picking up your ps4 swing past office works lol
Or just don’t press down needlessly on its corners like a moron…
Remember that may be hard for some lol
I’ll wait until Destiny/InFamous and some other bigger titles come out, maybe there’ll be a little price drop by then too. Not much reason to get one right now if the games i really want to play aren’t out yet.
Infamous is out Feb so I doubt a price drop, maybe a bundle. I doubt there will be a price drop anytime soon. Most likely on the PS4’s 1yr anniversary.
Yea you’re probably right, they’ll stretch it out at full price as long as they can. Hopefully the better it sells earlier will mean the quicker they can bring the price down.
Although really the price from the get go isn’t too bad, when i got my 40g PS3 MGS4 bundle it was $750…
There will definitely be a drop within a year. Give it 6 months, tops.
Disappointed by the loss of PlayTV. It’s been great to just run everything through the PS3 and not worry about extra remotes or changing inputs or thalf-baked TV EPGs.
This is the biggest issue for me on both consoles.
Xbone Kinect 2.0 has an IR blaster you can use to turn things on and off – although naturally YMMV for specific devices. So there’s that at least.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=75375675&postcount=950
Also the One Guide idea inclues an EPG, although again it remians to be seen whether or not it’s half-baked. 😀
Disturbing that his first console didn’t work out of the box 😐
I certainly didn’t panic when I read their first Retail PS4 didn’t work… I mean, when I got my Halo 4 Edition Xbox360, the damn thing was DOA, but was easily replaced for being so.
Also waiting a while before we pick up any Next-Gen, so it’s cool that a lot of people share the opinion that they are doing the same. First console of the two I had was an original PS1, then PS2, then Xbox, then Xbox360… Jumping back to PS4 next year sometimes, and because both consoles are reasonably priced, will be trying to pick up an Xbone afterwards so we don’t miss out on anything, for old-times sake.
I can’t wat tp buy one, but I’m waiting for FFXV and Kingdom Hearts III to come out before I get it.
so im not the only person in the world that doesn’t care about streaming..
also, the console is so god damn cheap, it’s only a matter of time before better games arrive – cheap enough to get at launch for bragging rights man
Grabbing an X1 next week, was going to go with the PS4 but the “sold out everywhere” deal leaves me waiting till Feb next year which surprisingly works to my advantage. I plan to own both anyway and with the wait it means I can allow funds to build in my wallet again, as well as allow a few extra games to be released. I will be getting Watch Dogs on PS4 as well as FF15, KH3 and Second Son.
Screw you guyz – I’m still excited. Sort of…
@andre3000 – did you sign-up just to down vote my ‘sarcastic’ comment? Well done.
And this is the reason I canceled my pre order (The guy at EB gasped at me) I’ll wait 6 months to a year before I buy one, until there is some for of library that I actually want to play.
It’s a shame. Bought PS1, 2 and 3 on launch day. Oh well.
It does sound like Sony learned their lesson well from the various issues with the PS3.
I won’t be upgrading just yet, but it’s a pretty sure bet a PS4 is in my future.
I ordered the ps4 copies of cod, bf4 and assassins creed 4, and I will also have nfs, killzone and knack. Plenty to last me. 🙂
Not to mention the five games they are giving for free. I think I made the right decision in buing day one… I hope!
I have paid off both consoles at this point and I’m starting to regret bothering with the ps4 after reading these reviews. There was only a few games worth noticing (all cross plat im getting on Xb1) Knack killzone and resogun which is basically a next gen geometry wars.
I was hoping Knack and PSN stuff would be good enough to tide me over until the good stuff like infamous arrives, but with delays and the beatings the launch games are getting I’m seriously considering flipping the console on Ebay ( I paid for it with trade in’s so i can’t cancel it, I buy almost nothing from eb, would takes years to use the credit ).
When i compare this with all those nice Xb1 games i feel even more compelled to give it up. Even if i end up hating them all the XB1 still has dr3, ryse, forza, fighter within, zoo tycoon and comes with a free fifa game (though i’m not a fan personally) and you even get the first sport from kinect sports rivals.
I doubt i will in the end, unless i could quickly pawn it off locally for a nice profit since there is no way im stuffing around with The worst postal service in the 1st world and the most expensive to ship it.
I suppose the launch is just a massive let down, which is sad because i had low expectations already, i was never expecting the games to reinvent anything but i thought they would at least be polished versions of old games only with more grunt behind them.
Nice XB1 games? Let’s not kid ourselves. Ryse is going to be terrible (http://www.gameinformer.com/games/ryse_son_of_rome/b/xboxone/archive/2013/11/06/ryse-son-of-rome-is-as-fun-as-dialing-phone-numbers.aspx) , and Dead Rising 3 looks and feels like Dead Rising 2, with terrible performance and terrible visuals (www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-dead-rising-3). I’m not a fanboy of either console, but if you dont think both consoles will be equally terrible at launch, you’re deluding yourself. Give both of them 3 months, then they might be decent – bugs ironed out, killer apps finally appearing.
4.2/5 for Ryse seems pretty good to me
What?
Apparently you missed the entire “Even if i end up hating them all” part, don’t know how.
Point still remains though there are 5 possible games worth playing, until the reviews hit we won’t know. Either way 5 > 2, I have a feeling ryse will be panned, forza will get an 8 and so will dead rising and if fighter within works it will be great, if not a steel battalion like score and zoo tycoon will be the sleep hit.
Anyway you look at it my point still stands potential for greatness is better than the already subpar ps4 offerings (which is what they are unless almost all reviews are universally wrong).
Not that it really matters by the time the good stuff roles around.
Guess it depends what type of games you’re into. If I had to choose, I’d still rather an average shooter, a great platformer and a subpar platformer-esque game over a driving game and zombie game that’s on par with its last iteration.
I’m playing the Devil’s advocate here – since when was a 74 subpar? With a large portion of that coming down to polygon’s review.
Let’s talk about that review – Let’s not forget that Polygon is an MS-funded site to begin with. Further to that, they are historically known for being stupid when it comes to reviews: See GTAV 5/10, Gone Home 10/10, etc. Knack isn’t great, but Killzone has been getting 7-8 just because its another shooter, and Contrast is being praised. Not quite sure what you’re after. I can see Halo 5 being just as iterative and getting 9/10 BEST GAME EVER from Polygon.
And where did you even get the 2 from? Off the top of my head, here’s more than 5 launch titles for Sony: Resogun (universal praise), Knack, KZ:SF, Flower, Sound Shapes, Warframe…
At the end of the day, you should be making a judgement based off of, yaknow, the games, and not what gaming ‘journalism’ (which is a joke to begin with) tells you to. IGN is often wrong, Polygon is often wrong, even Gameinformer, who I feel are usually on point, can be wrong. That goes for all platforms.
You say your not a fanboy of wither console but I think your playstation colours are showing :p
I had a hand on with Ryse in August and I thought it was awesome! Fun, brutal, hack and slash.
Oppinions can’t be wrong mate so IGN,Polygon and even game informer aren’t wrong.
I mean wrong in the sense that, they apply a numerical score which is standardised to things they do or don’t like, which inevitably leads to score comparisons despite their being very different reasons why the game is good / not good. Kotaku’s system is slightly better, with the yes/no dichotomy.
You make a good point and I agree that opinions can’t be wrong, but people who base their own on others’ are doing themselves a disservice.
Notice I said I’m playing the devil’s advocate? I happen to think Project Spark looks great, Killer Instinct is going to be fun and Titanfall will be awesome – doesn’t mean I can’t dislike the set of games that are currently up.
Fun, brutal, hack and slash. – so GoW clone?
No. He said “fun”.
Polygon is easily one of if not the worst sites for reviews though.
I prefer most of polygons reviews, they are about the only ones who are honest with scoring where a terrible game will get a low score like 3, and average game will get a 6/7. Instead of the over inflated scores by all other sites that have never used the number 5 or below.
In terms of the games and the 5>2, i was explicitly referencing the exclusives AAA titles( though killer instinct slipped my mind). I really couldn’t care less about the pc ports and indie games they are offering on the psn which are nothing more than a side show to me.
I also don’t understand you comment about GTA V polygon gave it 9.5 and I have no idea why you would bring up halo considering no one mentioned it. I would also point out the fact that Killzone has never been as good as Halo in reviewers or consumers eyes, its always been “that” fps, the obligatory sony one meant to oppose Microsoft’s offerings that never quite reached its potential. But then I lost interest in FPS years ago so I care little about either of them.
Well that would be where we differ in opinions. I for one think Halo is terrible, never really got into Killzone either but it was at least semi-interesting when it first launched. If you’re only about ‘AAA’ exclusives then you’re probably better off only getting the XB1.
You attached a link to what I assume was meant to be a bad review of a game, however they gave it 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars!
Who are you talking about? There’s no reviews out for Ryse yet.
It’s Gameinformer’s hands on with the game.
*sigh*
http://www.gameinformer.com/games/ryse_son_of_rome/b/xboxone/archive/2013/11/06/ryse-son-of-rome-is-as-fun-as-dialing-phone-numbers.aspx
Above the picture in the article/handson/review, there is 5 stars, 1 of them is grayed out, when you hover your mouse over it, it says ‘Rated Good [4.2 out of 5].
I dont know how much clearer I can be.
That’s the article rating…they have one on every page. It even says preview on the CMS tag. Please tell me you’re joking with this. GameInformer don’t even rate out of 5, they rate out of 10: http://www.gameinformer.com/games/ratchet__clank_into_the_nexus/b/ps3/archive/2013/11/11/a-short-amp-sweet-farewell.aspx
my apologies, never used gameinformer before…..Ryse suacks deick!
I’m sorry I was playing DR2 OTR the other night and Dead Rising 3 looks way better
That’s true, but it didn’t run at around 20-24fps, dropping to 10fps (!)
Hmm that would suck!
Completely agree with cancelling your pre-order mate, I’ve done the same. The only game I could honestly think about playing on the PS4 was KZ. But after a standard 8-10 hour campaign mode, seriously what do you do then? Knack looks and has always looked a bit sh! t and the reviews are confirming this!
I just can’t justify 500 ish dollars again to play a single game! I just feel a bit meh about the PS4 and normally I’m totally hyped for new tech releases :-/ (Day 1 Saturn with Virtua Fighter owner :p) I remember seeing the faked KZ videos for the PS3 and nearly wet myself, even after having owned a top spec PC for years! Nothing has done that for me this time around other than maybe Ryse and even that looks like it plays like GOW (which fanboys may want to cover their eyes was always massively overrated).
I’m actually looking forward to Super Mario 3D on the WiiU more than anything else out this year!
Honestly, I’m kinda glad none of the new consoles are “must have on day one!!” I’ve made a pact with myself that I can’t get a PS4 or XBOne until I play some of the games I own, like the Uncharted trilogy, Heavy Rain, Last of us and Beyond: Two Souls. That should take me into next year when some good games start dropping.
Can you get NBA Live 14 on PS3 , nope.
Does that mean i get a PS4 , hell yes.
>>>And, no, we’ve not put it in a blender
but but but…. We NEED TO KNOW!!! *sad face*
😉
People are aware that these reviews are only for the PS4, right? The One legitimately has three – or two – guaranteed good games, yet Playstation fanboys will say that this means both next-gen consoles aren’t worth the purchase to justify their wrong choice.
Calling it ‘The One’ was your first mistake, marketer.
I think people made the mistake of picking up games that were coming out on the one and ps4 on 360 and ps3. I didn’t bother so I have cod, bf4, dead rising 3, ac4 and nba 2k14 to play until watch dogs, destiny and Titan fall
I suppose it’s true that there’s no need to rush, however you’re still most likely gonna buy it in the spring of next year (Driveclub, WatchDogs, Second Son), so why not buy it now and have fun for the Holidays also (Killzone, AC4, BF4, Fifa14, NBA2k14)…