Sony PlayStation 4 Pro Reviews

We'll say it again: the PlayStation 4 is a great piece of hardware. It's fast, attractively built and has a streamlined philosophy that puts games front and center and has helped it achieved a relatively attractive price point. It's also in its infancy. It's worth owning, but not worth rushing to the stores for. It's only going to get better, when the truly next-gen titles start to arrive, when more streaming media apps are available, when its own media services gain stability and Sony patches in that much needed media playback support. Maybe it'll even clean up the What's New feed. We really enjoyed our time testing the system, but as far as the games go, we failed to find a truly standout title. We're still waiting for the game that makes us say "yes, this is why you buy a PlayStation 4."

Our opinion? Wait a bit if you can, just to see what console exclusives, feature additions, and bug fixes Sony brings to the table. A few more points on that scoreboard, and we’d feel much more secure in our recommendation that the PlayStation 4 is the console to beat. (That, and maybe you can score a better deal on the device after the holiday season.) Otherwise, if the thought of Santa omitting a giant gaming console from your or a loved one's loot stash fills you with holiday dread, we'd say pick up a PlayStation 4 over the Xbox One, if all else is equal. Our big caveat: That might not be the best answer come two years from now. But it’s the best answer right now.

Clearly, for serious gamers the PS4 is the way to go. It will get all the new titles, specially designed for its superb specification. But the PS3 is an option for more casual games fans. And it makes a better media player, costing far less. Who knew?

When this review is first published, the PlayStation 4 will have just launched – less than a week ago, as it were. It’s generally understood that a gaming console such as this has potential that can be unlocked in full many years after launch. The PS3 is still seeing game launches 7 years down the line, and they’re looking like they’ve been released on a platform that’s nothing like the original. In the early days of its release, then, in the PlayStation 4 we see a console with massive potential and just enough content at the start to want to own the hardware right out of the gate. At $399, the PS4 is a steal. Jumping in now will result in the endless button-mashing of anticipation for new games as they arrive and the offbeat enjoyment that comes with being an early adopter. As this system’s ecosystem is one of notoriously grand evolution, there’ll be no lack of change in how we view the PlayStation 4 and how we judge it to be keeping up with the times. Stick around the SlashGear PlayStation 4 tag portal for more throughout the weeks, months, and years as we watch and report.

The first fully redesigned PlayStation in seven long years sports a fresh look, an all-new interface, some unique features, and a much more comfortable controller.

There is no doubting that the PS4 is a powerful machine that has masses of potential. The graphics on the day one games we've played are a definite cut above - but we're sure there's a lot more to come then just Lego Marvel Super Heroes in 1080p. The biggest problem this side of Christmas is that the PS4 just lacks those must-have games. If you ignored Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts on the current-gen then it might have made it worth holding out for. But the likes of Knack and Killzone: Shadow Fall haven't entirely convinced us to fork out the £349 on hardware alone. Indeed, in the case of the former title, it's only frustrated us, particularly when glancing at the competition's lineup. But promise goes a long way. PlayStation 4 might not be the all singing, all dancing media hub of the home just yet, but it's a solid console that looks good from the outside and when it unleashes the interior power in full and laps up the titles from the likes of Naughty Dog, Quantic Dream and various Sony Computer Entertainment departments will be a product to behold. If you are a Sony fan you won't be disappointed, because you'll know everything will, eventually, get better, but for now you'll have to be patient, very patient.

With the PlayStation 4, Sony is giving us a very clear indication of where the company wants to take gaming, with its focus on streaming, social networking, and sharing. The meshing of the PlayStation Network into the console's OS is a compelling narrative on paper, but whether it pans out is still up in the air.