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PlayStation 5 Review: One Year Later

This time last year you were likely combing through a number of reviews for the PlayStation 5, whether to see if the upgrade was worth it at the time or if you batted for team Xbox and wished to see what the competition put out.

We too published a review for the PS5 this exact date last year, noting that we were fans of the architectural design of the next-gen console, as well as being impressed with the performance despite a lack of new titles to enjoy on the device.

Now that the PlayStation 5 is current-gen, we’ve decided to weigh in on the console a year later and see what issues have cropped up, how the hardware has held up and whether the state of available games has improved.

Here are our thoughts on the PS5 with 12 months under our belt.

Can you hear that?

Let’s start with one issue that has plagued the PS5’s predecessors – fan noise. During the first few weeks of having the console in for review, it was near whisper quiet.

There were rumblings at the time that reviewers were seeded with different models to the one’s that the general public would receive, but in the months following our review, we can indeed attest to the fact that some noise has crept in.

It is nowhere near the din that the PS4 generated after a few years of use, but in a generally quiet space, you can hear the fans on the PS5 begin winding up.

As for why this is the case, remains unclear, but we did notice that it varies on where you place the console. An alcove in our plasma unit for example proved to be the worst spot, as heat and noise radiated from the console. As such, an orientation on its side and in a poorly ventilated space, leads to problems.

There is therefore a distinct difference in how much is generated depending on how the console is positioned – upright and with some breathing room as seen in the image above is best in our opinion.

It is unclear if this will worsen over time and given that this review model is not owned by Hypertext, we cannot crack it open to investigate further. Needless to say, over time, parts wear down and do not operate as well as they did fresh out of the box. It is simply an issue that all consumer electronics suffer.

Should things reach PS4 level though, we’ll be sure to note it.

Wear and tear

Speaking of wear and tear, the general hardware of the PS5 has stood firm. Granted we treat it with extra care compared to a unit we would own ourselves, but for the most part it has proved hard wearing, coping with several position changes and even a house move.

One element that has suffered, however, over time is the DualSense controller. The unit included with the review bundle is still functional, but we have noted a slight bit of drift.

This is likely down to the strain placed on the left analog stick, which controls most motion in games. It. also takes on a bit of stress during taxing FIFA sessions.

The result is an analog stick that is a tad wonky to the touch. It is still serviceable, but every so often yields a movement in-game that is less than ideal. As such, a replacement will need to purchased in the new year, especially if we plan to up our game time in the coming months.

Other than that though, the controller is one of the best parts of playing a PS-exclusive right now, with aspects of the gameplay leveraging the features of the controller. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart in particular made the most of this, as well as shooter titles, delivering different levels of feedback from the adaptive triggers depending on the weapon used.

It is one area that we hope more developers look to integrate into future titles.

Still craving more

Now we get to the one area that the PlayStation 5 has slightly disappointed us – the selection of new / exclusive titles.

At launch there were a handful of these, with Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls shining brightest for different reasons, but a true console seller is yet to cross our path.

Whether that changes when something like Horizon Forbidden West or God of War Ragnarok lands on the current-gen console remains to be seen, but for now, we would not say there is one singular title that fully showcases the capabilities of the PS5.

And that is a real shame, with the likes of Xbox Game Pass continuing to win over players.

All that having been said, the fact that a PS5 is nigh impossible to get a hold of locally at the moment, as well as the outlook for the next year or so being quite sparse too, means the console does still carry some weight if you own one right now.

Should you pick one up right now then? The short answer is yes, if your budget allows for it, as there is expected to be a long wait until stocks return to the levels of availability we saw at launch last year.

It means that our original eight out of 10 score for the PS5 remains unchanged, with the small niggles that have crept in, relatively easy to deal with and not out of the norm. What still needs addressing, however, is the ecosystem, as we are still craving games that will push the PlayStation 5.

FULL DISCLOSURE: HYPERTEXT WAS SEEDED WITH A LONG LOAN PS5 REVIEW UNIT BY LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR GAMEFINITY. THE CONSOLE WILL BE RETURNED ONCE REVIEW PERIOD HAS ENDED.

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