It’s been just over three months since my PlayStation 5 arrived in my life.
I remember the almost breathless apprehension I had when I opened the box and turned it on for the first time. I immediately feared the day I’d turn it on and it would feel routine, such was my excitement. A new console, for me, is a massive thing, because I game. If my partner isn’t here, which is often as she works away, I don’t watch films or series, I game. When she’s away three nights, I game for three nights. A new console is my portal to relaxation.
However, I’ve found it hard to get games that grab me by the balls and refuse to let go. I often drift into, and out of games. Some hold my attention until completion (Sniper Elite 4), whilst others just fade away, like the bad end to a hit record (Watchdogs Legion, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla). My fear was that when my PS5 landed, I’d keep drifting out of games.
Have I? I’m sure you’re desperate to know what I’ve played over the last three months, and how I found my PS5 experience.
Please note: Gameplay videos are not mine, I have neither the time nor inclination to start uploading videos of my pathetic attempts at beating games.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
This was the first game I encountered on my PS5, as it came packaged with the console. The biggest compliment I can pay the game is this: I thought it was a sequel, not an add-on, like Far Cry New Dawn was to Far Cry 5.
Of course, I realise now the game did share a lot with it’s predecessor, such as a map and basic controls, but it did feel like an upgrade to me. I wanted to see evidence of my new machine being better than the last one; the thought of spunking out £500 on more of the same didn’t really appeal. In terms of loading times and graphical performance, it ticked all of the boxes.
The story was engrossing enough to keep me playing, as was the rewards system, and I got all the way to the final level. As I arrived there, other games began to beg for my attention, and I simply didn’t have the time to get stuck. I couldn’t beat the final boss after two tries, so I shelved the game and waiting for my 11-year-old nephew to come around and Christmas to do it for me. True story.
FIFA 22
Damn you FIFA, damn you, damn you, damn you. I binned off FIFA 21 after the irrational cycle of building a great FUT team, only to have to play Adam Armstrong up top for the first few weeks of the new game. I confess, I’ve bought FIFA points in the past, a futile waste of money fuelled by nothing more than a burning desire to see those multiple fireworks spark up as a player walks on. It doesn’t matter he’s an Italian and you’ve got a Premier League side ready to go, does it? I suppose not.
FIFA 22 is basically just FIFA 20 and FIFA 21 but a bit better. I noted quicker loading times on the PS5, but I’m still bound by wank internet, so I still can’t do anything other than squad battles. I tried a game against a random online; my team featured three icons and was 87-rated, his was 82 and things went badly. At one point, I picked up possession in the middle of the park, everything froze for a moment or two, and when it came back I was 1-0 down.
Still, my team now has two icons on the bench, is 90-rated and I can’t help but log in every Thursday for the Marquee Matchups. It got me, again. The bastard.
Far Cry 6
I was so excited about this; I like Far Cry, don’t care it’s more of the same every year. Far Cry 3 was brilliant, Far Cry 4 was very good, Far Cry 5 was okay, but New Dawn was above ok. All I want is the same; sneaking around bases, killing who I want without impunity, doing the game my way. Did Far Cry 6 give me that? Did it balls. Instead, if I take out a handful of bad guys for no reason, I now get a helicopter come and blow me up. I lasted three hours on this game before deciding the First Person Just Cause angle wasn’t for me. Well done Ubisoft, you’ve ruined the franchise by trying to make the game something it really wasn’t. you reinvented Assassin’s Creed with a degree of success, but Far Cry 7 is further down my wants list than sunburn on my ball sack.
Deathloop
The truth is I wanted a PS5 because of this game. It sounded cool, and when I heard it was PS5 exclusive, I spat my dummy out. When games start going next-gen exclusive, it’s time for me to go next-gen. I knew nothing about it apart from it had a sixties visual and came from the developers of the excellent Dishonored series.
I wasn’t disappointed, not once things got going. For me, Deathloop brings a tired and tested framework and introduces a new and exciting element. The whole concept of a day looping twisted my melon good and proper at first, and believe me, the first time you lose a whole load of power ups because of the game’s mechanics, you’re going to have a bit of a fit.
However, once I understood what was going on, I got right into it; planning raids on the bosses for their power-ups, exploring every nook and cranny of the four maps to understand what I could trigger and how I could outwit those trapped in the loop. All the time I was absorbed in the story between Colt and Julianna, even if some of it went over my head.
I was genuinely gutted once I’d finished the story, and whilst there are other things to see and do, once I’m done, I move on. Mind you, I can safely say with swift loading times and being PS5 exclusive, Deathloop made me happy I’d got the new console. 100%.
Mass Effect 2
I know, right? When Mass Effect was announced as a remaster, I sneered at it, yet here I am, playing through it again! Why? Not nostalgia, that’s for sure. I started Mass Effect and eventually ran out of patience with the lack of direction; I often found myself struggling to find where I needed to be on a map. I didn’t have that in 2007, and then I recalled I’d gone back to Mass Effect, and it’d been the second game that had me hooked. I’m four hours in now, so can’t tell you all that much about my enjoyment of it, but it is making me want to keep going back, which is great. Plus, space never looked quite as good.
