Eurogamer 2013 - We Played the PS4

Playstation Online hit Eurogamer on Friday and were delighted with what we saw:


Friday saw a first hands-on for us at this years Eurogamer of the Playstation 4.

The first thing that struck me was the size of the PS4 console, and in fact the controller. The console next to the old fat PS3 is tiny, next to the other next gen console it's about a third of the size, so how have Sony made this happen? Incredible.

The controller looked fatter in screens but when held it's not much bigger than the DS3. The camera is not much bigger than a Wispa bar.

The games on show all look well into development with great graphics and solid frame rates.

Killzone was the best looking game of the show in my opinion and that was the multiplayer that was on show. They have set the bar very high as a launch game that others have to follow.

One of the lesser games that really got me excited was Warframe, fast as hell and looked fantastic, not forgetting that they have put this together in just a few months.

Blacklight is coming along well and it was great to see War Thunder. I came away not only pleased with what I saw but I felt Sony have learnt a huge lesson from PS3 and this launch will be the biggest and most important launch Sony have seen since the very first Playstation.

The good times are back.

War Frame

• War Frame has a similar art style to borderlands and is a great 3rd person shooter. 
• With 18 game modes including co-op you'd pay full price for this game. Being free doesn't mean you'll have to spend to get the cool items though, they told us that items you find can be purchased with real money or you can grind to get it instead.
• This game also let us try out the new touchpad on the Dual Shock 4 and it worked great, you swiped in various directions to activate power moves and it felt really natural.

War Thunder

• War Thunder is another free to play game and looked stunning. 
• The fully functional cockpit dials were beautiful as were the lighting effects shimmering off the propeller blades.

FIFA 14

• FIFA is the most notably improved next gen game, after watching it for just a few minutes you instantly notice how detailed the crowds are.
• The people look great and react realistically to on pitch events and there are stewards, police men, ball boys and camera men.
• Gameplay wise it's a big step up from the PS3 version, the defending is more physical, the passes smarter and attackers make intelligent runs.

DriveClub

• Everyone at the show appeared to have the same problem with Drive Club, they assumed it was arcadey and drove straight into the first corner. It took a few more corners to get the hang of things and then you realised it was a cross between ridge racer and gran turismo. 
• For those not great at the racing there are challenges on each course such as drifting time and you compete with friends to earn bragging rights.
• It looked great particularly with the reflection of the dashboard on the glass of the windscreen.

Watchdogs

• No one was allowed to play Watchdogs but they did show it being played by Ubisoft staff and what we saw made us want to play it. You can complete missions in loads of different ways, in this particular mission he had to reach a control panel inside a secure compound.
• You could sneak in over a gap in the fence and create diversions to distract the guards or just shoot your way in through the main entrance. 
• You can control nearly everything in the environment such as security cameras and traffic lights and one neat trick we saw and causing some bollards to rise during a car chase to take out the chasing car.
• The biggest news though was that you can sneak into your friends games and hack their phone, once you being though they get alerted and have to take you out before it finishes.

Assassins Creed 4

• The water on assassins creed 4 looked great, whether it was still or flying over the sides of your ship.
• Gameplay wise it felt similar to the other games.

Tearaway

• If there was an award for best stand it would go to Tearaway, it looked fantastic in the style you'd expect from the Little Big Planet developers.

Playroom

• If you weren't sure about the camera, then you'll want one after seeing this. 
• The camera virtually adds little robots into your living room. 
• They live in your controller and move around as you shake it, notice the lights going out when you cover the light bar, you can throw them out onto your rug and then throw them around. It all works flawlessly.

Blacklight Retribution

• This is another of the free to play games and solid FPS that looks great.

Killzone

• We didn't play Killzone but watching others play it's clear that this was the best looking game at the show. 

Dual Shock 4

• The new Dual Shock 4 is a lot smaller than it seems in photos and fits perfectly in your hand and is a great weight.
• The central touch pad responds well and can be clicked.
• The indents in the analogue sticks.

The PS4

• The PS4 is unbelievably small and looks great, the camera is sleek and the lenses rotate independently of the part holding it to the desk.

Gran Turismo 6

• Polyphony were showing off the latest Gran Turismo installment and it looked great, the graphics were really crisp and clear and the handling felt like a Gran Turismo game should.

Beyond: Two Souls

• We didn't want to watch too much of Beyond and spoil the experience when it comes out but from what we saw it could easily be mistaken as a PS4 game, the rain and lighting effects were incredible.

Resogun

• Resogun is essentially a 3D version of the popular PS3 game Super Stardust HD, its colourful fast paced and looked great.

Knack

• Knack looks really good in person, its colourful and playful and should be a solid platformer.
• It looks like the first Jack and Daxter

Ratchet and Clank into the Nexus

• Ratchet and Clank is really coming along now, the fun and colorful Playstation platformer is getting close to being a playable Pixar movie.

Batman Arkham Origins

• Batman Arkham Origins is a side scrolling Batman game for the Vita with a twist, it played well and was good fun.

The line to get into the PS4 zone was long the whole day.

The view from the over 18's area upstairs

More videos to follow soon ...