It has been seven years since the release of the PlayStation 3 and since then the gaming console world has changed

dramatically. The average gaming console used to be just for gaming, nothing else. In this day and age, consoles are media centers for movies, TV, music, etc. With the PlayStation 4, Sony looks to bring gaming back to its roots with a console built to play games, and boy does this console do a damn good job at playing games.

First Impressions

When the PS4 was first announced, I didn’t think I would care to much about it. The few games looked good on it but I didn’t think that was enough to sell me. A few months into the summer of 2013, I saw a video over the menu interface of the console and how the console runs games. Immediately, I thought I needed one. Then, Sony announced more great looking games for the system. I was ecstatic for the console. I preordered the console and a few games for it after hearing of this.

At first glance the console looks very futuristic in a sense. The design of the console is sleek, simple, light, and reminds me of the good old PS2 days. The console actually really has a resemblance to the PS2 in the frame design and the even the startup interface.

The new Dualshock 4 controller is giant leap of improvement over the old Dualshock 3 controller. The controller is very

comfortable to hold for long periods of time. The backend of the controller is now rubberized. The back triggers feel more concave. The buttons have a more of an enjoyable feel to them. There is now a touchpad in the middle of the controller that can be used for things like selecting guns in Killzone: Shadow Fall. The new share and option buttons sit in a awkward place on the controller and is the only real gripe I had with the controller. A headset jack is now available on the underside of the bottom controller as well making for easier online communication. Overall, this is Sony’s best controller to date.

When you turn on the system, the console beeps and a blue strip on the system lights up. The start up from there is easy to do.

The dashboard is simple and quick. Finding things are easy to do. Unlike its predecessor, the PS3, the games are front and center on the dashboard. The PS4 dashboard is very enjoyable and makes you want to just play games on it.

The Performance

Here is where this system really excels. Playing most games at 60 fps (frames per second) at 1080p is insane for any standards. The PS4 consistently plays games at 60 fps and runs perfectly while doing so. That’s crazy. Somehow at the same time the console looks amazing as well with the 1080p resolution. Gaming has truly come a long way in the last seven years.

The share feature on the new Dualshock controller really works nicely. The only problem I have had with it is that the video can be very low resolution. Other than that, the feature performs great for live streaming of games.

The Games

This is probably what you really care about knowing, how do the games play and what games are there.

The games I have for this console (Battlefield 4, Killzone: Shadow Fall, and NBA 2K14) are just great to play on here. The visuals on the games make my jaw drop. NBA 2K14 looks almost too real at times. The shear detail the developer has been able to include in just the player models almost scares me. Watching LeBron on NBA 2K and watching real life LeBron, the

differences are hard to find. Sometimes while playing, I can just be lost in the virtual world because it looks so much like the real world.

These games are great and all, but none of them can really make you want to buy the system just for them. Killzone is a gorgeous game that plays very well, but the campaign can get very boring at times. NBA 2K is fantastically beautiful and is probably one of the best basketball games I have played in awhile, but it is also on other next generation consoles. Battlefield 4 is a brilliant shooter that has extremely high action almost all the time, but it is on current generation consoles already (These are not the only games on the system just the only ones I have). From these games, none of them would want to make me buy the system. Also, the amount of games out for the PS4 right now are very underwhelming. This will change in the future but at the time of this review, the lack of games is pretty bad, especially for a console built to play games.

Multimedia

The normal video streaming is here. Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and Redbox Instant streaming are among the usual streaming services. Along with these, Sony has its Videos Unlimited Service, a service that pretty much adds a few more movies and TV shows to your library. Music can also be streamed on the PS4 with Sony’s Music Unlimited service, which is just Spotify on a gaming console. You can not stream MP3’s from your computer either on the system. The multimedia features on the system are altogether lackluster and can not even come near competing with other next generation consoles. This is only okay because the system was not built for multimedia but more so built for gaming.

The Verdict

The Playstation 4 is a powerhouse of a console. Sony has really built a console that can have a very extensive library in the future. The fact that the console’s main focus is gaming is great. The problem with the system is it’s greatest success though, it focus’ on gaming a little too much leaving out some multimedia from the console. That and the gaming library at this time is very lacking. The good thing about this console is there is a lot of room for improvement here. Even with it’s problems, it is still a damn good console to play games on..  8/10

Check out another awesome review by Polygon.com here.

What do you think about Sony’s new console? Do you agree with our score? Do you disagree? Leave your opinion in the comment section below.