14 DAY TRIAL // After a lengthy wait, we here at Softpedia have finally received out next-gen consoles: the Xbox One and PS4. Alongside them, plenty of games have also appeared, from Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, and Ryse: Son of Rome for Microsoft's device, to Killzone: Shadow Fall, Need for Speed: Rivals, and Resogun for Sony's platform.
We have already posted our own reviews for quite a few of these titles, and the remaining ones will debut next week on our website.
While all games are pretty well made on the next-gen consoles, at least in my eyes, I noticed a distinct lack of a true next-gen "wow" factor in almost all of the titles.
Third-party games that have already appeared on other platforms, like Need for Speed: Rivals, look much better on the PC, for example, with more visual effects and improvements, despite a locked 30fps framerate.
Exclusive titles, like Dead Rising 3 or Killzone: Shadow Fall, also fail to live up to expectations.
Dead Rising 3 is certainly impressive thanks to its open world that's filled with thousands of zombies, but the visuals still don't look as great as they could and there are many low-res textures scattered throughout it. The upscaling from 720p to 1080p also exposes some inherent flaws relating to shadows and other visual effects.
Forza Motorsport 5, while actually delivering a high-quality visual experience, with a 1080p full HD resolution and a 60fps framerate, also doesn't live up that much to expectations, especially after seeing Gran Turismo 6 for the PS3 in action yesterday, as it offers just a small jump in quality and loading times.
Ryse: Son of Rome also didn't blow me away, as while it did have some pretty visuals and animations, the gameplay was rather simple and repetitive.
PS4 exclusives performed a bit better, as Killzone: Shadow Fall certainly delivered a great visual experience that comes pretty close to the likes of Battlefield 4.
Resogun, through its simplicity and spectacle, also impressed and attracted a lot of my co-workers to Sony's console.
I'm aware that launch-day games for consoles usually pale in comparison to experiences that appear after a few years but, as of yet, neither the PS4 nor the Xbox One games have swayed me.
What about you? Did a PS4 or Xbox One title truly convince you that you're in a new generation of gaming?