Real PS4 Screenshots Justify All That 'Next-Gen' Hype

Back when the PS4 and Xbox One were announced, “next-gen” meant a lot of things to a lot of people. Smarter games, bigger games, different games, more ways to play with your friends. But it also meant that games would look a whole lot better.

It could sometimes be hard to tell just what that meant. We’ve learned not to entirely trust the screenshots sent to the public by publishers, as they’re often scrubbed-up “bullshots” designed to make a game look smoother and prettier than it ever actually looks as you play it.

That’s not the case with the PS4 game Infamous: Second Son. Fire the game up for the first time and it’s clear: It is beautiful. And, thanks to the recently-added Photo Mode, players have begun to take the time to capture and celebrate just how good-looking it all is.

I’ve been following a couple of Internet spots that have become hubs of Second Son screenshot-activity—there’s the #SSPhoto tag on Twitter, as well as a really cool screenshot contest going on over at the gaming forum NeoGAF. Here are some of the best shots I’ve seen.

The following images are all fan-made, authentic PS4 screenshots that look as good as we all expected next-gen to look. Hell, most of them look better than any of the Sony-approved promotional screenshots we in the press got during the buildup to the game’s release.

Most of these shots were posted without titles, so I made some up. Also, heads up that a couple of these could be considered minor spoilers for the game—one shows a character from the Paper Trail DLC and another shows a boss from the main story.

As usual, click “expand” to get the full effect:

Chain Reaction by R8TEDM3

Shell Ejection by xenogenesis

Birds of Choice by Scott

Fireflies by Famassu

Selfie Photobomb by Imran Zikri

Papercraft by Dane Brown

Oh Hey It’s Actual Seattle by Hedge.

Raindrops by Dr. Guido

Wind Sprint by Talal

Rock Boss by Bishop89

Leaky ATM also by Hedge