PlayStation 4: One Month On

Sony have been selling out stocks all over the world. It's clear that a changing of the guard was long overdue.

Unlike it's competition the Xbox One the PlayStation 4 features a fairly easy to navigate and bare bones user interface. An evolution of the cross media bar with everything a simple scroll away. That said we're curious how the game area will work once we have a more sizeable library of games to browse on the harddrive. It's also a little annoying that installed games are shown there even if the disc isn't in the tray.

Initially we had only praise for DualShock 4 and it's still wonderful to play. Especially when switching back and forth between playing on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 it becomes increasingly painful to play first person shooters with the DualShock 3. But there are issues with DualShock 4. Most prominently the rate at which the rubber on the top of the analog sticks crumble. Across our network of writers the pile of DualShock 4's in various state of dispair is growing, although it should be noted that some of our staff wear out controllers like Edward Scissorhands wears out gloves. There is also the odd report of the sticks starting to feel a little loose. Obviously, this is an issue that Sony needs to adress as DualShock 4 is a rather pricey controller and you'd expect it to last at least a couple of years with heavy use.

Another issue we've experienced with the controllers is the rate they eat through the built-in batteries. Perhaps it's a result of us enjoying very long sessions on our new consoles, but the batteries only rarely make it through an entire sitting. It's definitely a bigger problem than it was with PlayStation 3, even if the solutions are simple (plug it in and sit closer, or use a second controller while it charges). Another thing we've noted is that the PS4 tends to get a little hot during long play sessions.

The share button was one of the more lauded features of the PS4 and the new controller. However, we would have loved to have seen a more open solution to sharing the stuff we record. For those eager to stream on Twitch and Ustream it's easy enough, but the only option for sharing a recorded clip is Facebook. You can't even access your clip with a PC for editing and uploading elsewhere. Hopefully this feature is improved on and opened up more with future system updates as the underlying functionality is brilliant. We were also a little disappointed to find Twitch content was limited to PS4 related clips on the console.

Another area that could do with some improvement is PlayStation Store. The current layout is already struggling with the amount of content currently there and naturally we'll see that amount explode over the next 12 months. When browsing the shop for this article the search and filters were slow and unresponsive at times and looking for something as simple as demos is tricky. We found two demos currently available for download on the European PS Store (FIFA 14 and Lego Marvel Super Heroes), add to that free-to-play titles like DC Universe Online, Warframe, War Thunder and Blacklight: Retribution and there is enough free content to keep us happy, even if more demos would certainly be a welcome addition (along with a direct link on the left to access demos). One thing that needs to be said of the free-to-play games is that they could do with some console optimisation - the interfaces are often lifted straight from the PC versions and it makes for a less than stellar experience on PS4.

The online experience on PlayStation 4 was simply put very poor as it launched. Sony scrambled to add features we all took for granted and while we still hold Xbox One leagues ahead in this area, online is now serviceable on PlayStation 4. Given that we're now paying for the privilege of playing online (through PS Plus) it's a good thing. Speaking of PS Plus it's given us three games to date as part of the Instant Game Collection - Resogun and Contrast kicked things off and recently Contrast was replaced by Don't Starve. Even if the plan was for a bare bones version of Driveclub to be part of the PS Plus package from day one this is still a very nice treat and all three games offer something different.

We've had other painful experiences like getting our singleplayer progress wiped in Battlefield 4 and work our way into online matches in the same game with a group of friends (party chat is nice and all, but we'd like to see party play as well).

Remote play has worked very well with PS Vita and we've enjoyed games like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Resogun and Don't Starve on the small screen. The sharp OLED has no problem transferring the action and even if some text is one the smallish side with the Vita screen it's a great way to experience PS4 games while the TV is occupied by someone else in the household. With Black Flag we found that the missing buttons (bumpers, clickable sticks) were simulated on the rear touchpad, while Resogun was a poor experience as we didn't find any way use the abilities mapped to the bumpers when playing with DualShock 4. The same goes for Don't Starve (bumpers control the camera angles), but the game was still fully playable through remote play.

After a fairly packed launch line-up of games we've now reached something of a drought. Sure there has been a few smaller games - Tiny Brains, Doki-Doki Universe and Don't Starve - released post-launch and more are lined up, but we're going to have to wait until March 21 and Infamous: Second Son for the next big exclusive. We still don't know when Driveclub will hit and before then we're getting Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (January 31), Thief (February 28), Rayman Legends (February 28) and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (March 20).

It may sound like it's all complaints, but that's simply because the flaws are easier to note and list. To be honest it's hard to go back to the clunky interface, constant updates and restarts and slow downloads of the PS3 when you've transitioned over to PlayStation 4. It may not be perfect yet, but we're sure that Sony will have improved the experience massively once we sum up the first year of the PS4.