Gerald James reviews Hades on PS5…
On paper, Hades isn’t the type of game you would expect to be one of the highest rated video games of all time. It’s an isometric rogue-like story of Greek gods and betrayal. Yet here we are, nearly a year after it’s release and the game’s long-awaited release to PlayStation and Xbox are atop many Most Anticipated lists. The Game of the Year award winner does so much right that it’s easy to understand why.
Rarely can you play a game and feel the level of love that was poured into it but with Hades every room you enter reminds you that this was made by a team that truly gave a damn. The art style offers each god or goddess in the manor you would imagine a sexy fresco painting. The music pulls you in and plays as much a role in the plot as it does as background noise. There are over ten hours of recorded dialogue that constantly doles out pieces of a fractured narrative that have you going for “one more run” not only to unlock some cool new gear or ability but to learn more of the Underworld denizens and the gods that they eschew. And the combat is as frenetic and strategic as any of the best action games. It’s hard to believe that a team of twenty put together such a remarkable game, let alone without resorting to things like crunch time.
But all of this we learned last September (or sooner if you were part of it’s early access on the Epic Games Store). Was playing it on the next-gen consoles worth the wait? Better yet, should you buy a second or third copy? Simply put, yes. Playing it at 60 FPS in 4K on a large screen makes it feel fresh again. Being used to playing the Switch version while docked made me appreciate what the current line of hardware can do even more. The improvements you would expect are here in quick loading times and cleaner environments but I have to admit that there’s not much more to it than that. Sure, the lights of the Dualsense matching the god you’re talking to is cool and the first time you pet Cerebus and feel his shivering through the trigger seems neat it’s not the type of thing you’re going to notice on your tenth escape attempt.
I opted to review it on the PS5 to see how it handled the consoles new features and so far it’s not much different I would assume from playing it on the Xbox Series X. In fact I would go so far as to recommend it on the Series X over the PS5 as it will be included in Game Pass and offer quick resume which would be amazing for a game like this where you can knock out a run and jump back into something else for a moment. Of course, that’s if you can pull yourself away, something I’ve been struggling with to get this review done on time. I noticed a few bugs within the lighting and sound that I’m sure will be ironed out in a patch upon release but aside from that there’s no reason everyone shouldn’t play this game now that it’s available on your platform of choice.
Pros:
-Engaging combat
-Endless replayability
-Beautiful artwork
-Fantastic voice acting
-Amazing score
Cons:
-Slight lighting hiccups
-Minor sound popping
Review: 10/10
Reviewed on PS5 (also available on PS4, Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC)
Gerald James
