The CEO of Counterplay Games has explained how the studio’s upcoming fantasy “looter-slasher” Godfall makes use of the PlayStation 5’s tech and controller.

Godfall was announced for PS5 and PC at this year’s The Game Awards. It’s an action-RPG that focuses on what developer Counterplay Games calls the “looter-slasher” experience; that's essentially all about smashing up enemies so you can loot better augments and armour pieces for your hulking, flamboyant fantasy knight whose mission is to stop the apocalypse.

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After its announcement, Godfall’s creative director Keith Lee spoke to PlayStation Lifestyle to further discuss its design. As part of this, Lee outlined how Godfall makes use of the next-gen hardware available with the PS5.

“The exceptionally powerful SSD on the PlayStation 5 offers a new level of detail for each individual object as well as seamless loading of our expansiveness world,” Lee said. “Our combat is kinesthetic in nature, so the new controller’s ‘adaptive triggers’ and haptic feedback will make moment-to-moment combat feel exhilarating and visceral.”

We already know that the PS5’s solid-state drive (or SSD) will bring much faster and smoother loading as Sony demonstrated it this year, so the level of detail Lee mentions is expected of all PS5 titles. Still, it’s good to hear developers mention it.

Lee also says that the small changes made to the PS5 controller - compared to the PS4 one - will help enhance the combat in Godfall. The haptic feedback he mentions replaces the rumble of previous DualShock controllers as it can give the feel of different surfaces, like sand and concrete, while the adaptive L2 and R2 triggers will be able to give different resistances depending on the action - the leading example being the feeling of pulling back a bow. Lee also took the time to detail a little more how Godfall’s combat is designed.

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“All players have ranged attacks at their disposal, but limited by cooldowns or charges,” he said. “Godfall’s focus is about tightening up the combat circle for melee combat. Players will always have two primary melee weapons to switch between during a mission, none of which are exclusively long-range in design.”

Godfall was one of the surprise announcements at The Game Awards. It’s due out for PS5 and PC via the Epic Games store in late 2020, which is, of course, also when the PS5 is due to be released.

Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.