The nice, the dangerous and the very ugly

NEXT-GEN consoles are coming thick and quick – however which one is best for you?

We provide the need-to-know data on the brand new Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 so you may make your personal thoughts up.

• Discover out all the newest PS5 information, tales and updates

The Xbox Sequence X is a slick, highly effective next-gen consoleCredit score: The Solar / Sean Keach

Xbox Sequence X

The brand new Xbox Sequence X is compact and beautiful – a darkish, placing tower of gaming triumph.

It’s actually smaller than the PS5, and I believe it’s lots prettier too.

After all, the true meat of the console is inside, with an 8-core processor and a customized graphics card for stonking energy. This handles 12 trillion operations a second, to be actual.

This PC-grade gear comfortably delivers 4K visuals at 60 frames per second, and there’s the promise of 8K on the horizon too.

The brand new Xbox will woo followers of Halo and FableCredit score: The Solar / Sean Keach

Testing slick racer Forza Horizon 4 on the console left me choosing my jaw up off the ground: it’s beautiful, texture-dense and sometimes photorealistic.

Filth 5 is equally beautiful with flawless lighting, however Forza will get bonus factors for being set in Britain’s lovely north.

Much more animated video games like Ori and the Will of the Wisps nonetheless look unimaginable.

Microsoft’s large trick for this era of gaming is ray tracing – mapping out gentle, shadow and reflections like by no means earlier than.

We’ll see rather more of that within the years to come back, however video games like Watch Canines Legion already supply it, to beautiful impact.

Filth 5 appears unimaginable on the Xbox Sequence XCredit score: The Solar / Sean Keach / Xbox

Don’t overlook the PS5 boasts ray-tracing too although, as does the mighty gaming PC.

Video games on the Xbox Sequence X load typically quicker due to the nippy 1TB solid-state drive.

And this additionally allows Fast Resume, that suspends video games in reminiscence so you’ll be able to immediately hop between them with out saving.

I’m nonetheless not wowed by the roster of latest Xbox video games out there, though I’m wanting ahead to Fable and Halo Infinite subsequent 12 months.

It’s nonetheless early days too: you’ll most likely dangle on to this console for the higher a part of a decade, so don’t be too postpone by 2020’s gaming drought.

Verdict: Microsoft’s Xbox Sequence X is a robust and extra bodily enticing various to the PS5, brimming with gaming potential – although it’s most likely not a must-buy simply but. 4.5

• Xbox Sequence X at GAME for £449.99 – buy here
• Xbox Sequence X at Greatest Purchase for $499.99 – buy here

The PlayStation 5 is a hulking monster, and it is significantly highly effectiveCredit score: The Solar / Sean Keach

PlayStation 5

If a console’s measurement decided its price, the PlayStation 5 would win palms down.

It’s most likely twice as large as the brand new Xbox total, and trumps any console I’ve ever seen.

The space-age design isn’t to my liking, and I used to be upset that I needed to rearrange my Ikea cupboard simply to squeeze it in.

However some folks obsess over the PS5’s new look, so perhaps I’m simply getting previous.

Just like the Xbox, PlayStation is providing up high-frame-rate 4K gaming with spectacular visuals.

The console has an infinite physique full of cutting-edge {hardware}Credit score: The Solar / Sean Keach

I used to be awestruck by the brand new Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which renders a snowy New York within the midst of Christmas brilliantly.

You possibly can see proper throughout wintry Manhattan in 4K, with detailed textures, sensible climate results and infinite metropolis site visitors.

Nevertheless it additionally offers the PS5 an opportunity to point out off certainly one of its neatest tips: ray tracing.

You possibly can see it within the home windows of skyscrapers, which have traded blurry glows for correct reflections – together with folks, vehicles and plane.

It’s good and have to be witnessed to essentially respect how large a leap that is.

However the PS5’s greatest trick is the DualSense controller, which helps you to “really feel” video games via vibrations, sound and pressure.

The brand new DualSense controller is a muralsCredit score: The Solar / Sean Keach

Ray-tracing is an excellent addition to next-gen video gamesCredit score: The Solar / Sean Keach / Sony

Zonal vibrations allow you to really feel various ranges of rumble in several areas of the joypad to match gameplay.

And adjustable pressure within the L2 and R2 triggers mimics drawing an arrow throughout a bowstring, or the stretch of pulling an elastic cable.

Xbox merely can’t match this stage of controller immersion but, so it’s a giant win for PlayStation.

PlayStation’s recreation roster is extra spectacular too, with franchises like Resident Evil, Horizon, Gran Turismo, Sackboy in addition to an unique mode for Name of Obligation Chilly Struggle.

Verdict: Look previous its gargantuan kind and also you’ll discover the PS5 is a console masterpiece – with beautiful graphics, a very next-gen controller and a great deal of must-have video games on supply. 4.5/5

The Xbox Sequence X is out within the US and UK on November 10. The PlayStation 5 is out on November 12 within the US and November 19 within the UK. All costs on this article have been appropriate on the time of writing, however might have since modified. At all times do your personal analysis earlier than making any buy.

In different information, The Solar’s favorite various to a video games console is the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset.

Seize a VR headset and you can play the legendary Beat Saber – like Guitar Hero, however with lightsabers.

And Dell’s Alienware R10 Ryzen Edition is a gaming PC powerhouse that crushes each the brand new consoles.

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