Sony PlayStation 4 user review

  • PS4 impressed. My impressions.

    • Review of Sony PlayStation 4
    • Games Console
    • Author Det
    • Post date
    First Impressions:

    1) the UI is good. We'll thought out and very quick. Even in the middle of a game when you "snap" (for lack of a better term) to it. Press the PS button once to go to the home screen or twice to go back to the last screen you were at. I did notice some lag when trying to type messages and the like when snapping but I think that was more down to my really crappy internet. Don't underestimate how crappy it is. I'm not trying to dress up something that's bad because I don't think it's the systems fault. Honestly.

    I couldn't find any way to "be invisible"

    2) The actual console: nothing to write home about imo. It looks OK but I didn't once look at it again after I started playing so not overly concerned with the looks. The no USB on the back is retarded and I hate Sony for it. I had problems getting the optical to take for about 30 seconds. The flap wouldn't give but it eventually did. Non issue now that it's in. It doesn't get overly hot and I could barely hear it while playing games and only if I made it a point for listening to it.

    3) Graphics: Mind. Blown.

    4) Controller: UPDATE) I've already done a write up on this in the past and it hasn't failed to impress. It's very good. It's improved on just about everything in relation to the DS4. Dead zones improved, triggers and grips improved, etc. And the touch pad is really clever and probably the best innovation i see for gameplay mechanics next gen. My right forearm cramped up during the initial sit down to play but I don't think it had anything to do with the DS4 as I've been using it with the PS3 for a while now and not had any cramps. Dehydration mebbe?

    5) Games:
    A) Killzone: UPDATE) I have now played this game the most. Probably 9-10 hours worth? Holy balls this is fun. Definitely underrated by the media. I haven't experienced the full SP story obviously but it was freaking beautiful. MP took a bit to understand how to pick my load out and get going and do well. But once I got the hang of it I started pwning teh newbs! Maps were constructed well and look great. I have been playing this the most of the bunch of games I have. By far my favorite next gen FPS MP game so far. BF4 would get more attention but I'm kicking myself for not going digital. I don't want to miss out on game time so don't bother changing the discs and instead just pick one of the many digital Titles i have to play.
    B) Resogun: Before I played it I was like "meh, glad it's free"... but since playing it I would have gladly forked out $25. More if there was story attached to it. The gameplay was tremendous and everything the press fell in love with it for.
    C) Battlefield 4: Graphics and story appear to be good. I got a chance to play this a bit on the main screen and it runs and looks superb. I guess there is a glitch with Conquest and Noone can get a game right now so I haven't experienced the full 64 players yet... unless 64 are on Rush then I have. Hit detection and draw distance and clarity are all superb so gone are the days of "where the hell did he come from"
    D) Contrast: UPDATE) it's actually pretty fun. Not a game you'll replay over and over again but worth a playthrough. Love the stylized setting and gameplay mechanics. Definitely different to your cut of the mill noire game.
    E) Playroom: as expected. Kids played with it for almost an hour and then got bored of it. But my daughter is already asking me today to play it. The camera or the PS4 does some pretty good motion tracking. The little robots reacted to my kids drop kicking and karate chopping them. And there are trophies!
    F) DCUO: surprisingly a lot more fun that it was on PS3. Maybe it's placebo and a shiny new toy but I genuinely had a lot of fun for the half hour I played. I rushed through character creation and tutorial type stuff cuz I was already streaming and wanted to jump into the game asap. I stopped playing it after that half hour cuz I imagine that wasn't a huge title people were interested in watching. Love the dynamics and customization though. Shame I couldn't pick one of the things I wanted when creating my toon... I would have had to pay real money for it.
    G) Warframe: pretty much what I expected... space ninjas. Menu's were retardedly hard to figure out and customize my Toon but the gameplay was fun. Coop killing with friends. Will be nice to get it up and running with avf peeps soon. Sword work is not as fluid as you would think. It really should have an "auto-aim" mechanic to it but it doesn't. Also the enemies appear to all look the same. The suxx0rz imo! Next level console deserves next level enemies! But they could change the more involved in the planets you get. F2P and I didn't notice any pay to win elements. You can but it's not necessary especially since it's only coop.

    6) Remote Play: Everything promised. Let's you have full control over your PS4 UI... nothing is sacred.

    7) PS Camera: It looks good. It's built well and does what it needs to. The only thing is when you set the camera for streaming you have to stay in that spot. It doesn't stay with your head. Tho I can see why cuz it would constantly be moving around with my head if I did and probably distract me while gaming. It does not do everything Kinect can do. Fact. But it's still not shabby. It can track who is using the controller via facial recog. So if my daughter has a profile and picks up a controller and turns it on while I'm playing it will automatically recognize her and sign her in and know which controller she is holding. UPDATE) after having my console for 4 days I'm underwhelmed by the camera. The game integration just isn't there. It does have some neat features and is good for streaming my sexy face but other than that... I need to see some integration in games!

    8) Voice control: Meh. It will indeed bring you where you want to go in terms of games. I.e. Playstation start killzone but you still have to click the button to actually start it... unless I'm missing something. I was using the crappy mic that came with it at the time and had background noise. It could get better tho.

    9) Included headset: Really crappy. I mean terrible. Can't hear voice chat from others and it's not comfortable at all. Surprised they chose the circle style tbh. They should have chose the kind that go in the ear with different sized plugs.
    *Update* you can use some decent headphones with a mic attached through the controller and hear voice AND game sound through them. I only found that out after my last session while playing through some of the settings.

    10) Music Unlimited: ok my previous assertion of it being crappy was based on the phone app and PS3 app. It's much better on the PS4. I'm currently playing Contrast and listening to Three Days Grace in the background while using remote play cuz my girls are watching Monsters University. Tho the latency on it still is crappy. The Music Unlimited, not remote play.

    11) Fan noise: I have yet to hear the fan spin up. With the stipulation that I have either had headphones on or the sound turned up loud enough to hear people talking in game.

    12) UPDATE) Streaming: actually done pretty well. My internet sucks so the quality isn't the best. I have like 1mbs u/l so don't judge the streaming service by my stream. I have used both Twitch and UStream and have heard various reports about the quality being good for some and choppy for others. Don't let it out you off... it's my crappy internet. For some reason when I used ustream I could only see comments on screen from other PS4 owners who watched from their PS4 but with Twitch I was able to see all comments. I'm not sure if it will permanently be like that or not. Twitch was infinitely harder to locate my stream tho. Ustream it was just a matter of search and join. Twitch showed I was streaming but when I clicked now playing it didn't show anything.
    This item was purchased for $399 from Amazon.com in 2013 . The reviewer still owns this product.
    Likes: Chris D

    Pros

    • Price was a big one for me
    • Graphics and Physics updated
    • Faster than competitor
    • Remote Play with Vita
    • Streaming works great
    • User Interface has a welcome redesign and is more intuitive
    • All titles are now available via digital download codes on Amazon
    • Party Chat now works and works well
    • Accessories still compatible (I.e. headphones, steering wheels, etc)
    • The games I've played are fantastic.

    Cons

    • Lack of PS Camera integration in games
    • No way to change layout of games library
    • No DLNA or MP3 playback (till patched in)
    • No CD reader
    • No USBs on the rear

    Scores

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    9

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Sony PlayStation 4

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Author
Det
Review score
9 / 10
Average score
9.0 / 10
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