Earlier this week, DontPlayPlay had the pleasure and privilege of being one of the few people in the world to get a hands-on experience with the new PlayStation 5 (PS5).
With two hours of playtime across three games, including Sackboy – The Big Adventure, Balan Wonderworld and Astro’s Playroom, we had every opportunity to see what’s hot with the PS5.
With that said, here the things every avid console gamer can look forward to, because we can’t wait for the blockbusters to land on the PS5:
Haptic Feedback
The DualShock has been a staple in the PlayStation franchise since PS2 and the feature has given us an immersive experience as it vibrated to a lot of action sequences in the games.
Now, with the new DualSense controller, you can actually feel EVERYTHING, and very accurately. When playing Sackboy and Astro’s Playroom, every single thing that happens onscreen is translated into haptic feedback.
From little things, such as different walking surfaces, to rockets taking off, we felt the actions translated to vibrations in the controller with precision. Trust us, you will love the feeling of a machinegun going off in the heat of the battlefield!
Double-Pressure Triggers
This is probably one of the new features that literally changes the gaming landscape for a lot of people. The L2 and R2 buttons have been upgraded and now for some instances during gameplay, players can be expected to use a little bit of force to trigger the controls.
To explain, in Astro’s Playroom, during some parts Astro transforms into a ‘springer’. When this happens, players would need to pull down the left or right trigger with with some force to generate ‘kinetic energy’ to propel in either direction. Sounds confusing?
Well, here’s another part of the game with the double-triggering. When Astro equips the bow and arrow, imagine having to pull back the rope before firing. Now, in-game, you would need to translate that force into trigger buttons (L2 or R2) before firing.
We know that it may feel like gaming is going to be more complicated, but trust us, you will love it! There’s also a part of the controller where you can blow into it to activate actions in-game, but we didn’t get to utilise it due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Motion Sensors
In Sackboy, we had the joy of using the DualSense’s motion sensors when traversing through game. In one particular section, we had to ride moveable platforms and instead of using the directional buttons, or analog sticks, we swung the controller left, right, forwards or backwards.
Making sure it wasn’t a dream, we actually tested it out several times to see how good the response rate was, and was pretty accurate. Actually, we had to try this out many times because we kept falling off!
The Hardware
A lot of gamers will be wondering if the feeling of holding the new DualSense controller is different; since the shape is somewhat dissimilar to its predecessors. Having held the controller for two hours, while playing there different games, we can say this: it doesn’t feel awkward, weird or any other negative sensation. In fact, if you’ve been used to the PlayStation controllers of yesteryears, this one will be a snug fit.
The other issue would be the size of the PlayStation 5 console itself. You’ve seen the measurements on paper and after getting up-close with the machine, we can finally see for ourselves and tell you that it is quite a handful.
Based on this realisation, make sure you have enough space in your living room and or TV console for this bad boy, if not, make space! It may look like a massive router, but to true gamers, it doesn’t matter what it looks like. As long as it allows us to experience and play the next generation of games with an all-new DualSense controller!
The PlayStation 5 launches in Singapore on 19th November 2020; At S$599 for PS5 Digital Edition, and S$729 for PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive.
