Review: Playstation 5 (PS5) – the frontrunner + the first games

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Read also our review of the updated, big brother model Playstation 5 Pro.

Being the pre-release favorite is perhaps flattering, but it is rarely an advantage. If you live up to the – often high – expectations, you have only done what was expected. If you fall as the predicted winner, you fall especially hard.

It started so well. The hype for Playstation 5 (PS5) has been enormous for nearly a year, ever since the machine was first revealed by lead architect Mark Cerny. The design, the new controller, Sony’s array of unique first-party titles – the Japanese giant seemed to be heading toward another comfortable lead in the next console generation. Microsoft’s Xbox strategy felt so unclear that we even questioned their long-term plans in a column. But then came one show of strength after another from the American “underdog,” and Xbox Series X launched on November 12 and delivered in a big way (read our in-depth test of the machine and all the release games). Instead, we are now left with a number of question marks regarding Sony’s plans to handle the Playstation 5 moving forward. Because the start hasn’t exactly been stellar.

Has the star player become too comfortable in its Top Dog position?

You are reading this review nearly a week after the machine was released on the Swedish market (it officially launched on November 19). For the past ten years, there has always been a shortage of new consoles (and the top-tier iPhone models); that has basically been the case from the Wii U onwards: queues, pre-launch buzz, and pre-orders. Part of it is nerd culture, but there is surely also a conscious strategy from manufacturers to have a shortage of units right at launch to “sell out” of what is supposed to be the “best” and “highly coveted” (which doesn’t contradict the fact that the products can actually be brilliant). But the release of the PS5 specifically might be one of the messiest and least well-managed in modern memory. senses is usually among the first media outlets in the Nordics to report in-depth on new hardware and games. This time it was impossible, as the hardware and several games arrived at the very last second, some even after the retail release – and some haven’t shown up at all yet (some media outlets received consoles in time, but they have hardly had any games or accessories to write about). “But what does it matter, since all the machines are sold out?” someone might wonder. It matters because this is the beginning of a new generation of gaming machines, perhaps the last with physical discs. Black Friday and the Christmas holidays are just around the corner, and a major choice must be made in most families – should you buy a PS5 for 6,000 SEK without games, or a new Xbox on an installment plan for a few hundred a month with a game package of over 300 included titles? This is a marathon that will last for the next five to seven years, with presumed mid-generation upgrades along the way.

Therefore, no one can rest on their laurels. The playing field has been reset.

PS5: Design and Technology

The PS5 is a substantial piece of equipment, but not quite as large as many make it out to be. Whether it is attractive is certainly a matter of taste; we dig the flowing, rounded, and space-age forms, as well as the LED light strip. Standing up, the console is significantly taller than the Xbox Series X, but lying down it is much thinner and easier to place in furniture (even though the best placement is outside such units, with full access to fresh air). The colors are black and white on both the console and the new DualSense controller (more on that below).

Unlike the Xbox Series X and S – where the S lacks a disc drive and is also an (almost) entirely different machine in terms of specs – the two Playstation 5 models are identical, except for the disc drive. There is a thousand SEK difference in the suggested retail price (5,990 SEK with UHD 4K Blu-ray and 4,990 SEK without), and in our opinion, you would be wise to choose the model with the drive – especially if you don’t already have a competent UHD 4K player, but also because you then get access to buying used games on disc and can borrow games from friends (this can be welcome now that games are starting to push 800 SEK+). We must mention something about the disc drive – several places online have reported issues with the PS5 not reading discs correctly. And while faulty units surely exist, a PS5 on its side (where we think it looks best) is a true mind-f*ck. In relation to where the buttons are located – which has traditionally always been below the disc drive (even on the Playstation 4) – it is exactly the opposite on the PS5. If you lay the machine down, it’s obvious, but standing up, it’s incredibly confusing for many (including us) and easy to insert the disc the wrong way. So if you’re having trouble reading discs, just try flipping the disc over…

Technically, the PS5 most closely resembles the Xbox Series X, with a couple of adjustments that mean it doesn’t quite pack as many Teraflops (PS5 pushes 10.23 TF against the Xbox Series X’s 12.15 TF), but we are still talking about an eight-core AMD Ryzen CPU at 3.5GHz with variable speed rate, an AMD RDNA2 graphics card with slightly fewer compute units but a higher clock frequency (36 CU @ 2.33 GHz on PS5 vs 52 CU @ 1.85GHz on Xbox), slightly faster 16GB GDDR6 RAM, and a smaller (825 GB vs 1TB) custom SSD, which on the other hand is significantly faster in read speed (5.5 GB/s against Xbox’s 2.4 GB/s, although architecture plays a role here too, not just read speed). Otherwise, the machine aims for gaming at 4K @ 60fps, supports HDMI 2.1 for 120fps and VRR (no games with VRR are confirmed yet, only that they are “coming”), and eventually support for “8K,” likely at 30fps when such content becomes relevant.

Technical Summary: Aside from design and size, there is on paper very little separating the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Many components are similar or identical, and others have advantages that go both ways. It will come down to how well developers handle each machine’s architecture to determine which machine, in reality, will actually perform best.

PS5: Backward Compatibility and New Features

Unlike the Xbox Series models – which offer backward compatibility all the way back to the original Xbox from 2001 – the Playstation 5’s backward compatibility is limited to the previous generation, Playstation 4. Over time, most games should work here (at the time of writing, there are about 10 games that do not work and a hundred – out of several thousand – that have shown “issues” at launch). There is also a “boost mode” intended to improve game loading times and performance (individually per game), but some games require installation on the internal SSD for this, which is a bit of a shame since it only gives us 667 GB to work with after system initialization.

It is possible to connect external SSDs to the PS5; the good news is that we get both USB-A and USB-C ports here, whereas the Xbox Series completely lacks the latter. This opens up for much faster solutions on the PS5 since both the USB-A and USB-C ports support at least 10Gb/s (1.2 GB/s), which means you get more benefit from a solution like an NVMe SSD in an adapter, such as a Kingston KC2500 1TB in an ASUS ROG Strix Arion adapter.

A word of caution about external SSDs (and other drives, but you’re surely only running SSDs today?) – the PS5, like the PS4, has issues with the USB ports providing too little power in standby mode, which causes the drive to disconnect incorrectly and require repair after every long break (yes, even if the USB ports are set to “always” provide power). The NVMe solution unfortunately had problems with this, while the HyperX Savage Exo worked well (but isn’t as fast). Unnecessary and hopefully something that can be tweaked with a software update, because surely ports this modern can’t provide too little power from a hardware perspective?

It would have been great to have a USB-C 3.2 gen 2 port, which would have unlocked the full speed of all external accessories and could have given us almost the same performance externally as internally. And like the Xbox Series X, the Playstation 5 only supports a single external hard drive at a time, which is a shame and cumbersome when you want to transfer games between two external drives; you then have to copy them via the internal storage first. Like the XBSX, PS5-patched games must be run from internal storage (anything else is too slow), but here there is no option to offload (archive) PS5 games to external storage, so when the internal console storage gets full, the only option is to delete and later download the game again.

The Playstation 5 unfortunately lacks (at launch at least) features like Auto HDR for games, and the exact effect of “boost-mode” on old games consists of individual improvements depending entirely on the title. So don’t expect a general improvement or automatically higher resolution/frame rate – although some games can unlock that.

Some excellent PS4 games from the previous generation that have received patches and run in a flawless 60fps are Days Gone and Ghost of Tsushima, something that really elevates the gaming experience. But you can pick and choose freely from your collection and find many other improvements as well, where several reach that silky smooth update just on raw power: games such as Final Fantasy XV, God of War, Knack, Sayonara Wild Hearts and a bunch of others that didn’t always quite make it all the way technically on PS4, can bloom on PS5 as they were perhaps intended from the start. So don’t underestimate the value of digging out old titles from your backlog that you can now play in the best version ever.

PS5 SSD – Super Speed Drive

The custom-made SSD (NVMe format) in the Playstation 5 is, as we mentioned earlier, likely the fastest on the market in terms of raw speed. Like the Xbox Series X, loading times are incredibly much shorter now, the machine starts promptly, and games are often ready within a couple of seconds (ten at most). At the same time, 825 GB is a bit stingy, and considering only about 670 GB of that is available for use, you will need to weigh what you have installed simultaneously. The good news here is that, unlike Microsoft, Sony will allow us to use standard, third-party NVMe SSDs as expansion. The catch is just that we haven’t received an approved list of which ones will work, only that they will be required to be PCIe 4.0 compatible with at least 5.5 GB/s read performance, which currently means it will likely cost half as much to expand the internal storage on the PS5 as it does on the XBSX. We will return with recommendations as soon as we have tested them.

DualSense – A New Level of Controller on Playstation 5

DualSense is one of the coolest innovations with the PS5. The new controller is truly something fresh, both in terms of design and functionality. It has an extended grip surface and shape that somewhat resembles the stunning “boomerang” controller shown at the concept stage of the Playstation 3, but which never became a reality. Others think it looks like a Dual Shock 4 wearing a white tank top… The controller has been given “haptic feedback” (adaptive triggers), which means more motors creating immersion, including in the L2 and R2 trigger buttons – firing different weapons in the latest Call of Duty now feels different in your hand. Crazy cool. In addition to that, the controller has been equipped with a microphone for sound/blowing inputs in games á la Nintendo.

The war has long been between which game controller is best: the Dual Shock 4 or the Xbox Controller (S). But now the crown for the market’s most comfortable and coolest controller must go to Sony’s DualSense, which besides being the most innovative, also retains the rechargeable LiON battery and additionally gives us fast charging via USB-C. But if you want an extra one, you’ll have to open your wallet wide – they cost 800 SEK.

The Games on Playstation 5

Like the Xbox Series, the Playstation 5 gets its games in two forms: old games that receive patches and are improved for PS5, and completely new, dedicated games for the format that do not work on PS4. We are going through the games we received in time for this article:

Old Games Improved for PS5

Destiny 2: Beyond Light

Time for the Destiny 2 impressions on PS5, which are based on having previously played the latest expansion (Beyond Light) on PS4 Pro. There, loading times were already noticeably better than before. The PS5’s cluttered interface, however, meant that our tester was not at all impressed at first, but after a while, they discovered that the game was running on the wrong version (tip: you switch versions, if you have both installed, at the three dots …). Sony needs to do something about the system with these three “dots” so that it becomes clearer exactly which version one is actually running or downloading from the library. Why not do as Xbox Series X does and list the installed games on PS5 that are optimized versions? After finally loading the correct version of Destiny 2, he was greatly impressed by the optimization Bungie has done. From launching Destiny 2 to being in Orbit takes about 35 seconds, and from there down to the Tower takes another 30 seconds. The game itself has received a real facelift; environments simply look much more detailed and alive. Crucible also has support for 120Hz in multiplayer, which is a huge improvement in fluid motion. Unfortunately, you die just as often as usual.

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition

Devil May Cry 5 is a nearly two-year-old game (which we have reviewed) and has been remastered (improved) for next-gen consoles, so one could see it as a bit of a “new-old” title (the Special Edition version does not work on last-gen machines). Missions and content are exactly the same as before, but the graphics mode has received ray tracing and 120fps, if you have a display that supports it. You can either go for ray tracing with higher resolution (4K) or lower the resolution to Full HD and instead get a steady 60fps (alternatively choose 120fps and skip the ray tracing). The game is obviously better looking, more detailed, and the ray tracing gives us impressive reflections and light management that we didn’t have before. But best of all is the faster frame rate, where 120fps basically unlocks the frame rate and has an advantage on PS5 over the Xbox Series X (which on the other hand performs better in 4K – unfortunately, you can’t switch between graphics modes in the game itself, only through the main menu). Perhaps not a must if you’ve already played through the game on PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, but if not – or you did it on the base machines – then this version is improved enough to be worth the 400 SEK it asks (half price compared to new games on PS5…). And those of you who are trophy hunters can win a new set here, even if you completed the game on last-gen.

Fortnite

Like the Xbox Series X version, the incredibly popular free-to-play phenomenon Fortnite also gets 4K and 60fps on PS5 as well as cross-platform support so you can challenge everyone regardless of format. But PS5 gets an added upgrade thanks to the DualSense controller, and that is haptic feedback. The weapons now feel different, and the resistance in the R2 trigger is actually a fun bit of flavor. The game runs just as well here as on Xbox Series X, and colors and lighting effects have never looked better. Fortnite fever isn’t likely to subside soon, especially considering Season 4 and the collaboration with Marvel. And the fact that it is getting an Unreal Engine 5 upgrade soon. Free to start playing.

Maneater

The quirky open-world action game Maneater makes you the terror of the sea – the Shark – and lets you follow the predator’s adventure from a small pup to a Megalodon. With a lot of humor and tongue-in-cheek (the game is a “single-player, open-world action RPG (ShaRkPG)”), Maneater is very entertaining and unique in moderate doses. Its origins as a mid-tier game are apparent even in the PS5 upgrade, which certainly offers higher resolution and better colors but suffers from dropped frames and lacks the ability to adjust graphics modes. 4K at 60fps with ray tracing is promised, but objects are of very varying quality (the humans especially feel a bit stiff, almost like mannequins), and the support for the DualSense controller was either very subtle or we didn’t directly notice much haptic feedback other than the controller pulsing at times. Those who have the PS4 version get the PS5 upgrade for free; anyone else who wants to try something new, playful, and occasionally oddly scary can give it a chance as the digital price tag is just under 300 SEK, which compensates for some technical shortcomings.

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition

Like the Xbox Series X update, Mortal Kombat 11 offers ultra-violent fighting in brilliant 4K at 60fps even on PS5, and you can upgrade to next-gen for free regardless of which version of MK11 you previously owned. Crazy, overly campy, and yet unexpectedly fun, the game has never looked as good as it does now. The HDR is brilliant (literally) and almost makes us believe that the developers sneaked in ray tracing without telling us (though it’s unlikely they wouldn’t promote such a feature). If you dig fighting games and the series in particular, the Ultimate Edition for five hundred SEK, with all DLC and skins, is well worth picking up on next-gen.

Spider-Man: Remastered

One of 2018’s best games gets a PS5 patch with improvements – but it isn’t free. Spider-Man: Remastered requires you to repurchase the game on PS5, which is a bit bold for a game that was a massive success barely two years ago and is likely already in many Playstation owners’ collections. The improvements on PS5 include higher resolution and ray tracing, and the mode that does a bit of both is the absolutely most recommended, as the game reaches 60fps for the most part while still getting all the sleek ray tracing effects and new reflections. Spider-Man is still an excellent game from the creators at Insomniac (Ratchet & Clank), but the fact that the upgrade costs money – when Spider-Man is included in the PS4 collection you get with PS Plus on PS5 – just feels penny-pinching of Sony. If you (against all odds) haven’t played it before, there is no better way to experience the adventure. If you already own it, the question is somewhat open whether it’s worth full price again and if you feel like replaying it so soon when so many new games are constantly being released.

Warframe

The looter-shooter Warframe was one of the first games confirmed for the PS4. Since then, the free-to-play giant has grown significantly and now challenges much larger and more well-known competitors. On PS5, the game gets a real boost – thanks to the incredibly fast SSD and the PS5’s muscle, we are treated to brilliant 4K at 60fps with lighting effects that are very close to real-time ray tracing. Naturally, the DualSense pressure-sensitive buttons are also utilized, but in a fast PvP game like Warframe, it almost only adds a sluggishness that we probably prefer to leave turned off. Free to start playing and easy to get hooked on, Warframe is undeniably a major upgrade on PS5, as the images below can give you a hint of.

Warhammer: Chaosbane

From the newly formed studio Nacon (formerly BigBen Interactive) comes this Warhammer license, an action-RPG and likewise a Diablo clone that was released for last-gen in 2019. It actually looked quite good even on PS4 and Xbox One (especially the X); on PS5, Warhammer: Chaosbane has received 4K resolution, better textures for the dungeon horrors, and perfectly smooth flow at 60fps. A nice voice ties together the deep fantasy-inspired frame story presented in the form of a still-image comic book. Warhammer: Chaosbane is entertaining in moderate doses alone, but is – just like Diablo and other dungeon crawlers – twice as fun in co-op (which can be played both online and locally). Perhaps no Diablo III killer, but still nice for those of us who like the genre, a solid update for PS5, and somewhat cheaper than the average PS5 games in stores. Should keep fans of the genre entertained while waiting for Diablo IV.

New Games for Playstation 5

Astro’s Playroom

A free game that comes pre-installed on all new PS5 machines. Essentially a glorified tech demo intended to teach you all about the excellence of the DualSense controller, but it succeeds in being a sweet and unexpectedly challenging platform adventure during its roughly three-hour duration (though steering a space capsule with motion controls will never be precise enough for platforming purists like us). Very fun regardless, with a lot of Playstation history and references you will smile at if you’ve been around for the previous three generations over the 26 years the format has existed. A must-try, fun for the whole family – though the youngest will likely need help with several levels.

Bugsnax

A cute little FPS adventure that borrows heavily from genres like The Witness and Pokémon. As the protagonist, a furry creature with large front teeth and a journalist with a talent for catching insects, you are to discover the magical world of Snaktooth Island. Fun characters meet you along the way, and the game feels like a more family-friendly version of Grounded. At the same time, Bugsnax really pushes no technical boundaries on Playstation 5, rather the opposite: the graphics are relatively simple, objects are cute but stripped down, and the frame rate drops and leaves something to be desired (there are also no graphics settings whatsoever, or clear info on what exactly is improved on PS5, other than the resolution being obviously higher and details better than on PS4). But it’s certainly still a step up from before. Worth trying with the family’s younger gamers too, as the game is included this month with PS Plus (on Playstation 5 only, not on PS4).

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

OK, it came out a week before the PS5, but Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is still a new game that has two different versions for PS4 and PS5 (so those of you with the PS4 version will have to pay a small fee for the next-gen upgrade). Just as we wrote in our review, this is a Call of Duty game that gets most things right; it’s fun in both single-player as well as multiplayer and the Zombies mode. The PS5 version resembles the Xbox Series X, with 4K, 60fps, and ray tracing (alternatively 120fps without ray tracing), but the presentation isn’t quite as sharp or deep in contrast – there’s a bit of a “milkiness” in the black levels. Not a dealbreaker, but still noticeable. What is much cooler on PS5, however, is that DualSense is utilized for all weapons, which not only means feelable recoil and chatter, but also different sensations in the R2 and L2 buttons when you fire different weapons. This will be a great feature moving forward; Sony has a real ace in this function. And Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a must if you like the series or have the slightest interest in FPS games.

Godfall

One of the most talked-about PS5-exclusive games (also available on PC) beforehand was Borderlands 3 studio Gearbox’s “looter slasher” Godfall. And the DNA is certainly recognizable with constant looting and upgrading of items, while the game has an almost Destiny 2-inspired approach with hubs and missions. Your protagonist – who can switch between different classes during the game – cannot jump, but otherwise, it’s familiar third-person hack-n-slash that is unexpectedly entertaining and keeps you hooked longer than you might first think. The level design is perhaps a bit generic, but the graphics are overall brilliant with impressive lighting effects and details where the 4K mode is a bit too jerky; therefore, we clearly prefer the performance mode (you can easily switch between these in the game), which lowers the ambition (resolution) and instead gives us perfect flow at 60fps. Godfall may not become a gaming classic, but it is still one of the better release games we’ve tried so far and is worth picking up with the machine, as the release front is otherwise quite sparse.

Immortals: Fenyx Rising

Ubisoft’s Greek-mythology action-adventure Immortals: Fenyx Rising (formerly Gods and Monsters) can most easily be described as the offspring of Assassin’s Creed and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. With a lighthearted, playful tone and a lot of familiar game mechanics (including the tiresome stamina bar when mountain climbing or swimming…), it becomes a pleasant, if somewhat familiar, amalgamation of its inspirations. Many elements, such as the double jump, arrows you can steer like missiles, and several of the Zelda-inspired puzzles and “dungeon” setups blend well, and this is an action-adventure with platforming elements for those who like the genre (mostly Zelda, but also jam-packed Assassin’s Creed maps with fifty-eleven points of interest in every zone). The presentation is somewhat varied; sometimes it shines and looks almost like the animated feature film we were teased with a year ago – other times, simpler textures and toned-down details betray the fact that the game likely has its roots in last generation’s architecture. You can choose higher resolution (4K), which unfortunately penalizes the frame rate quite noticeably, or better frame rate, which gives a steady 60fps at the cost of visibly reduced resolution and detail. A game well worth playing if you love the AC series and Zelda and have always dreamed of experiencing the two together, at the same time.

NBA 2K21

NBA 2K21 is not new, but just like on Xbox Series X, the PS5 version is built from the ground up specifically for this next-gen format. And what can one say? The result is striking. It’s 4K targeting 60fps and hitting it somewhat variably, but mostly entirely acceptable for maintaining a presentation level that is the closest to TV-broadcast basketball we have ever come (and we’ve been saying that since the Amiga era’s TV Sports Basketball from Cinemaware, but we really mean it now!). The crowd is much more detailed, players are uncannily similar to their counterparts (try the LA Lakers All-Time Greats and you’ll get some goosebumps if you’re a basketball fan), and the whole setting with commentators and segments, together with the nicely selected music as a soundtrack, makes NBA 2K21 the best sports game you can pick up for your PS5 at release (with very little competition). If you own the previous version, however, this is not a free update, but a completely new game you need to buy at full price again.

The Pathless

One of the most interesting release games for the PS5 is an indie title from Giant Squid (Abzû) and Annapurna Interactive (the film company with game distribution and a special flair for artistic creations with “that little extra,” Sayonara Wild Hearts and What Remains of Edith Finch, among others). The Pathless is like a kind of mixture of fairy-tale adventures, parts Zelda and Journey meets the aesthetics of Rime and Spiritfarer, with problem-solving that echoes Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. The simple yet very well-thought-out presentation quickly puts the player in a magical state and draws them into a fantasy world beyond time with game mechanics that feel like a kind of dance (in a good way!). On PS5, we get either 4K at 30fps (probably slightly higher, but not 60fps) or a steady 60fps at lower resolution (we guess Full HD). A game like this should be able to achieve 4K and 60fps on a monster machine like the PS5, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that improvement patches arrive in the future. But until then, don’t miss The Pathless if you want to experience something very different.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Not entirely PS5-exclusive, the Miles Morales DLC is also being released for PS4, but was released on the day of the PS5’s launch in the states so … sort of. In Miles Morales, we get to control the character of the same name, who is a Spider-Man in the meta-universe (Into The Spiderverse). It’s more of the same eye and ear candy, and the improvements found in Spider-Man: Remastered (tested above) are also present here: ray tracing, 4K, and 60fps (but not all at the same time). Great DLC for those who enjoyed the base game, sold in a value combo with the remastered version on PS5.

Spirit of the North

The indie game Spirit of the North is a refined and quite simple, linear adventure with a focus on exploration and not-too-complicated puzzle elements. You guide a fox through a cold yet magical snow landscape, following a mysterious light creature and helping trapped souls along the way. Spirit of the North borrows a lot of inspiration from games like Journey and Lost Ember. It’s cute, low-key, fairly short (about five hours), and it’s nothing that pushes the PS5’s technical boundaries or tortures your wallet. Perfect for those who want a change of pace from all the stressful action and killing.

In addition to the games above, other new games are also being released that have come to other formats such as Dirt 5, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Observer: System Redux and others. These resemble the versions for Xbox Series X, and those games can be read about in that article.

The monthly service PS Plus (required for online play) for PS5 also gives you a unique Collection consisting of 14 genre-defining games from the PS4 era. This is a fantastic collection of classics: Bloodborne, Days Gone, Detroit: Become Human, God of War, Infamous: Second Son, Ratchet and Clank, The Last Guardian, The Last of Us: Remastered, Until Dawn, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Batman: Arkham Knight, Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombies Chronicles Edition, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Fallout 4, Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition, Monster Hunter: World, Mortal Kombat X, Persona 5, Resident Evil VII Biohazard – but the risk is that as a PS4 player you already own and have played most of them, and many have additionally been offered in previous PS Plus months. But this is of course a perfect catch-up for those who missed something last generation (and especially for those converting from Xbox).

Just like on the Xbox Series X, the release lineup here also feels somewhat sparse. There are some really nice games, but most are available on other formats too. And Sony has been so problematic this year with sending out its first-party titles on time. Three out of nine new games on the list are remakes or remasters of old titles…

Playstation also lacks an equivalent to Xbox Game Pass. Their own service, PS Now, is quite a bit behind in terms of technical solutions and selection, and doesn’t exactly offer a plethora of new games for the PS5 to explore (which Game Pass does for Series S and X).

But there are some exciting draws on the horizon, including a new game with editorial favorites Ratchet & Clank (Rift Apart) and a new Horizon Zero Dawn game (Forbidden West), both set to release in “2021,” hopefully during the earlier part as we will need good games to keep us busy during 2021, which we unfortunately believe will offer more pandemic gloom.

PS5: The User Interface of the Future

Playstation has always beaten Xbox in one category: the menu system. It is smooth, fast, and responsive and essentially always has been. On Xbox Series X it is better, but fundamentally it is the exact same, slightly clunky menu system we had on Xbox One. On PS5, the menu is familiar, but heavily redesigned. Particles and ambient sounds are still part of the concept, but icons are now smaller and instead, every game has a unique sub-menu giving you updates, trophy status, and something ingenious – a “channel” for the game, featuring videos. Here you can see “get started” videos (often sponsored) but also multiple tips and tricks videos, often specifically related to where you are in the game. So if you’re stuck and about to give up, you don’t have to pull up YouTube; just check the game’s own channel (you can adjust settings here to avoid videos that spoil things you haven’t seen yet). A brilliant idea; it’s just a shame the system feels so locked down and doesn’t easily offer icon restructuring or support for themes at this time.

Ultra HD 4K Movies on PS5

The PS5 model with a disc drive has, as we previously mentioned, a built-in UHD 4K Blu-ray drive now, something Xbox offered as far back as last generation, but it’s a first for Sony. It opens up a world of movie watching in a way you’ve never experienced before. Therefore, it’s such a shame that the PS5 doesn’t support any dynamic HDR formats for the best possible picture – neither Dolby Vision nor HDR10+ – but it does at least have HDR10 (which is part of the base specification) and the ability to send Dolby Atmos via bitstream (if you have an amplifier or TV capable of Dolby Atmos that can decode it).

We put in Star Trek: Into Darkness and enjoyed the film’s wonderful opening scene – when Kirk and Scotty are chased through the red jungle by the planet’s indigenous population and Spock dives into the volcano. The UHD 4K edition is mastered from 2K and upscaled to 4K, but the IMAX sequences are downscaled from 11K and the result is visibly better. The film unfortunately “only” supports HDR10, so we can only imagine how good it would have looked dynamically, but it fits the PS5’s capabilities well regardless (don’t forget to change your display source from Game mode to something that handles the picture better, such as Filmmaker or Professional).

Running a Dolby Vision film, like the excellent Game of Thrones: The Complete Collection in UHD 4K, we miss the contrast boost that Dolby Vision provides in The Longest Night, which unfortunately loses a good deal of dynamics here. But it is still perfectly decent and much better than anything you’ve seen on streaming before.

The PS5’s UHD player is technically slightly weaker than the Xbox Series X (even though Xbox currently doesn’t have Dolby Vision either, it is confirmed to be coming soon) and it does not replace a proper UHD 4K player like Panasonic’s market-leading UB9000. But for those of you who haven’t had UHD 4K before, this is a nice “built-in” bonus and, as mentioned, opens up a world of completely new cinematic experiences (in terms of picture and sound).

HDMI 2.1 Fully – Almost, Soon…

Playstation 5 supports (in the future) the HDMI 2.1 standard fully, which is a requirement for 120fps, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), and eARC among other things (as well as 8K when that arrives). ALLM, Auto Low Latency Mode, is however missing (more on that below). The included HDMI cable is naturally Ultra Speed, but at launch, there is no support yet for either VRR or 8K in the machine; it will arrive, as stated, at a “later date.” We don’t see this as a big loss, as no 2020 OLED panel handles VRR entirely correctly at the time of writing. But it will undoubtedly be a boost in games with uneven frame rates once it is implemented in both the machine and the games, and users acquire displays with support for the feature (we predict this will be big in the second half of 2021).

Headphones for PS5

SteelSeries Arctis 7P are specifically designed for the PS5, but also work on PS4, PC, and Switch (not Xbox). They have a USB-C dongle, but this cannot be plugged directly into the USB-C port on the PS5 (!?). Can the PS5 not send audio through the USB-C port (it works on the Nintendo Switch)? It also apparently matters which way you insert the USB-C dongle, which is unique since USB-C is uniform and it shouldn’t matter which “direction” it sits. Oh well. Once we experimented our way to the right result, it sounds great, and few headphones are as comfortable to wear for long periods as SteelSeries. All headphones, including these, support Playstation’s Tempest 3D Audio if you connect them via cable directly into the DualSense. So test it out and see what you like best. A big plus for the 2.4 GHz lag-free connection and brutally good battery life (over 24 hours). Costs about 2,000 SEK, but they may be hard to find right now (try via SteelSeries’ own website).

The popular Astro A50 works after firmware updates to both the base station and the headset, but if you want to be able to mix voice and game audio, you need to purchase an HDMI adapter for about 400 SEK, as the PS5 lacks an optical port. Through USB you get “Dolby” sound (presumably 5.1?). The A50 otherwise supports Dolby Atmos on Xbox Series X, but since Atmos is not supported in games on PS5, it is not relevant here.

PS5: Keep cool and play on

Fan noise, which could be noticeable, was one of the absolute most common complaints about the PS4. Depending on the unit, environment, and usage, machines could sound like small jet engines and require both constant cleaning as well as taking everything apart to apply new thermal paste to the GPU. Like the Xbox Series X, the PS5 is an absolutely superb heat manager. And it would be strange otherwise, given its size and form factor. The advantage of this design choice is that the machine doesn’t even get as warm as the Series X – large parts of it stay around 30 degrees Celsius, and in the exhaust (where it should be hottest), it maxes out at around 50 degrees (10 degrees below Microsoft’s console, which is much more compact). There is no audible fan noise to speak of whatsoever in a normal room.

Power consumption is also similar to the Xbox Series X; the console fluctuates between 50-70 Watts in menus and then stays around 200 Watts in intensive games, 4K, or high frame rates. The PS5 has a 350W power supply, and some old games even draw less power here, as the PS5 is more efficient in its architecture.

Playstation 5 Version 0.9

The PS5 has had a very messy release. There has been a lot of hype and a shortage of machines (which in turn has attracted scalpers hoping to make a quick buck off people’s desperation on Blocket and auction sites). But beyond that, information and distribution have also been handled exceptionally poorly. Yes, it’s a pandemic that has significantly impacted this year, but that applies to other manufacturers too. We have been unable to test many titles by the time of this article’s publication (which is still almost a week after the official release) because they could not be delivered digitally. Digitally – which has nothing to do with deliveries of physical goods in a pandemic but is just an extra code sent out from a system that provides a license…

Sony also has a long list of technical issues to solve and has made some strange choices that they admit will not be fixable:

The Playstation 5 lacks Dolby Vision entirely, so it will never be able to display games or UHD 4K films using perhaps the most popular dynamic HDR format. Nor will HDR10+ – which is a roughly equivalent dynamic format that is free to use – be supported (though it exists on very few films today). The machine cannot decode Dolby Atmos (but can pass the bitstream along, so you can get Atmos sound in films via your amplifier). Instead, the company is focusing on its own “Tempest 3D Audio.” We will test Sony’s own headphones for this when the opportunity arises.

On the resolution side, the machine handles all popular formats like Full HD (1080p) and 4K (2160p) at 60/120fps, but not 1440p native (which is a fairly common resolution); instead, it runs as a 2K image that is then downscaled (this sounds like better picture quality but costs more resources unnecessarily, which can affect the frame rate). 8K is set to arrive “later” (and that’s perfectly OK, as we likely won’t see games in 8K this generation anyway, but rather in the next mid-step in three or four years). The hyped VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) is not supported at release, but also later. ALLM, which is part of HDMI 2.1, is not supported at all (though Sony has a corresponding low-latency signal mode that works with most modern TVs and automatically switches to their fastest Game mode). There is currently no support for themes in the home menu, and several games – such as Star Wars: Squadrons and Rocket League, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the free-to-play success COD: Warzone – have no status on updates for PS5, with developers referring to backward compatibility for the time being (meaning they don’t take full advantage of the machine, for example through 120fps as several of them already do on Xbox Series X).

Several of these shortcomings are naturally teething problems and will be fixed (those that can be), but it is still quite a substantial list of omitted features. Furthermore, the PS5 has been plagued by many bugs, and hardware quality has been widely questioned on platforms like Twitter where the dreaded error code CE-108255-1, which causes the machine to crash constantly, has trended several times (the error has affected hundreds, if not thousands, of users, though not us yet).

All in all, it feels like Sony hasn’t really shown humility leading up to this release, instead being a bit too hasty and relying on past merits. Don’t misunderstand us: the Playstation 5 is a great machine that will keep getting better and receive more unique, fun games. At the same time, it is grating that they provide so few and unclear answers about everything – availability, media support, when they will fix bugs (and what the bugs are caused by exactly?), and so on. There’s a bit of a Ronaldinho feel to it; a super-talent who had it until the end but felt so satisfied for a while at PSG that he didn’t reach his usual level.

Summary: Playstation 5

The hype has been enormous, the wait has therefore been long, and the Playstation 5 is finally here (for some) under the heavy burden of high expectations. It provides performance, a fresh new approach, and a promising lineup (especially on the horizon). Both top consoles this generation (PS5 and Xbox Series X) offer incredibly much gaming machine for the money; a PC with equivalent components would cost around 17,000 SEK, compared to the consoles’ 6,000 and 5,700 SEK respectively. At the same time, there are a couple of problems and a quiet wonder if Sony with the PS5 is as hungry as they once were, or if they perhaps feel a bit too secure on the throne? The release has been plagued by many issues, and we haven’t really felt that Sony’s organization truly wanted to fight and do its absolute utmost to communicate with the press and users and present plans for solutions.

Therefore, there is a streak of disappointment, not just because of the somewhat thin release lineup, but also for all the imperfections. As a Playstation 4 player, you will likely want a Playstation 5 eventually. It improves on basically everything from the fantastic four – which may have been the best console generation the company had since the original. But while many are sitting at home feeling bitter that they didn’t get hold of a machine, the PS5 is a format that will only get better and gain more must-play games. Therefore, we encourage you to get one – but in a little while, once the teething problems have been fixed, availability is normal, and there are more great games to choose from.

Regardless of which format you choose in the next-gen era, or if you – like us – love both (or soon all three, with Nintendo’s next), it is clearly a very, very exciting console generation that lies ahead of us. And the playing field is significantly more open than we might have first thought back in the spring.

The gauntlet has been thrown down. May the best and hungriest format win.

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