People often say that the new controller for the PlayStation 5 is one of the best features of Sony’s new console. Even MeinMMO author Max Handwerk loves the new DualSense with its cool effects. However, when it comes to defeating enemies, Max and the PS5 controller haven’t quite agreed yet.
Really good optics, fast loading times, a console that doesn’t sound like it’s about to take off at the slightest effort: The PS5 gets a lot right. At least I haven’t had any reason to complain in my first week. On the contrary: Playing with the new console is just a hell of a lot of fun.
This is also due to the new DualSense controller, which has already been talked and written about a lot. So I’ll keep it short here: The amazing gameplay experience that the controller provides with new games is something you have to experience.
You definitely should play the “Directly-Installed-and-Surprisingly-Fun” game Astro’s Playroom if you got lucky despite the pre-order chaos and have a PS5 at home.
Astro’s Playroom fully showcases the features of the PS5 controller, such as
- adaptive triggers
- motion control
- and that crazy tingling in the hands
The PS5 controller makes the PS4 pad look old
You really have to give it to the controller: In the case of Astro’s Playroom, it not only controls the game but makes it better. The feeling of sand tingling over your hands when a few grains are blown into the face of the little robot at the cooler beach, or the triggers that respond differently depending on the task – I had never experienced that before. And I love it.
The fact that the controller also feels really good in the hand beyond the new features, I notice especially when I switch from a round of FIFA 21 on the PS5 to playing on the PS4.
There I use the old controller and notice: The DualShock, which accompanied my gaming sessions for years, just doesn’t feel right in the hand anymore. And that after just one week with the PS5!
So what’s the problem? While I already love the controller, it sometimes seems to want to betray me. Because while it is a nice companion in the friendly Astro game that makes the game better, we apparently have different views on destroying enemies in other games.
I think my controller is a pacifist
I realized that we don’t agree on this in my first rounds of Fortnite on the PS5 (which looks really good on the new console by the way). Here I should say that I openly and honestly am a terrible Fortnite player.
This especially applies to building: I can occasionally build a few walls, sure. But while I’m still working on the protective wall, my opponent has already built an entire fortress. Complete with a watchtower and probably even a trophy room where he can nail the loot of ridiculous victims like me to the wall. How the duel from cover turns out, I probably don’t need to elaborate.
In short: For direct building duels, I’m hardly usable in Fortnite. But at least I can quickly react when I get ambushed (or lie in wait for enemies). In close combat with clear sight, I grab the pump gun and send the enemy back to the lobby. Hearing footsteps, turning around, blowing the enemy away, taking cover – that usually still went quite well. But not anymore.
Because: It seems that my PS5 controller is a pacifist. I realized this when I was attacked by an enemy out of nowhere recently.
As usual, I turned to him, quickly pressed R2, and expected him to dissolve before my eyes… but no such luck. Nothing came out of my shotgun – unlike his weapon. That hit me with a full load and sent me to the afterlife. Which led me to the question: What the hell, PS5 controller?
I’ll have to get used to this situation
Here’s what happened: My new controller probably wanted to take revenge for the fact that I didn’t charge it for so long that it completely ran out of battery. Or it doesn’t like the spot in my living room. Maybe my opponent paid it off. No idea – in any case, it decided to spare my enemy and annihilate me. Definitely. My quick demise can’t have been my fault. Ahem.
All jokes aside, my problem is clear: With its adaptive triggers, the controller outsmarted me. They now feel “like a real trigger” in PS5 Fortnite and resist a bit when you want to shoot. You have to press harder on the trigger to fire. And apparently, I have so little strength in my right index finger that the hasty reaction to the ambush was simply too weak. The usual reaction from the PS4 is certainly no longer enough to pull it through.
The tricky part is, you only experience this effect on the trigger when using a firearm. The pickaxe, for example, completely lacks the trigger effect, which is why I constantly forget that I now have to press harder than before.
This is of course all a matter of getting used to, and soon I will be losing in multiplayer matches for a thousand other reasons again. By the way, I could easily turn off the effect, I know. The thing is: I actually like this new feature. Just in direct duels in multiplayer games, when seconds can matter, it may even be a disadvantage.
By the way: The controller will soon make its presence felt in FIFA 21 as well. For example, the right trigger, which is good for sprinting in FIFA 21, will become harder to press as the players get tired. This is great in that I’ll have a new excuse for why I keep losing in FIFA! And you can find out what else is in the next-gen upgrade of FIFA 21 here.
