Various developers came out of the woodwork today to brag about how the PlayStation 5’s “DualSense” controller, which features adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, will enhance their games. Arkane Studios, for one, claims that the peripheral is powerful enough to block users from activating its triggers – a perfect, physical way to tell players that their weapons are jammed in its upcoming PS5 exclusive, Deathloop.
“I’m really excited by the adaptive triggers and the haptic feedback, both features that will bring some physicality in game experiences, and give important feedback,” said Game Director Dinga Bakaba. “Deathloop being a first-person shooter, we do a lot of things to make weapons feel differently from one another. One I like is blocking the triggers when your weapon jams, to give to the player an immediate feedback even before the animation plays out, which prompts the player in a physical way that they have to unjam their gun.”
That sounds really cool, but we’re not sure how the DualSense can apply that level of tension mechanically. Super-strong resistance motors? Physical switch that’s engaged somehow? Hopefully, Sony’s engineering department can tell us more.
Insomniac Games also shared how it was taking advantage of the DualSense’s improved haptic feedback, which offers an increased sense of directionality. When Spider-Man fans play Miles Morales, they’ll be able to feel attacks move from left to right and vice versa.
“In Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, we’ll be hinting to players which direction attacks are coming from by providing haptic feedback from the appropriate direction on the DualSense wireless controller,” Creative Director Brian Horton revealed. “What does it feel like to use Miles’s stealth ability? How does a Venom Blast feel? Because of the high resolution of DualSense wireless controller’s haptics system, we can really push the dimensionality of the feedback. For instance, as you hold down Square to do a Venom Punch, you feel Spider-Man’s bio-electricity crackle across from the left side of the controller, culminating in the right side on impact.”
Additionally, Sony shared its first PlayStation 5 TV ad, which you can see below. There’s no game footage, but it does attempt to visually translate the DualSense’s immersive features.