Save Wizard software for PlayStation 4 in test
Cheat PlayStation 4 games like "GTA 5" and collect trophies by the dozen - without hacking the console? This is promised by a new software from OmegaMods - the "PS4 Mod Wizard". The system behind it is not new: When the Internet did not yet exist in its present form, gamers looked for help in gaming magazines - or bought cheat modules or cheat software. Older gamers still know brands and names like Action Replay, GameShark, Game Genie, Equalizer - and Xploder.
How does the mod work?
Corresponding programs and modules usually change status values in the device memory. This ensures an infinite number of lives, best weapons or immortality of the hero (God Mode) in the game. Whether NES (released in 1983), Sega Mega Drive (1988), PSOne, Sega Saturn (both 1994) or Xbox (2001) - for practically every console generation there was the appropriate cheat tool of the mentioned brands and manufacturers. Then the gaming boxes went online: Since the PS3 and Xbox 360, the console manufacturers have full control over possible software manipulations through the online connection and prevent them with corresponding firmware updates - as a result, there were practically no commercially distributed cheat programs for an entire console generation. Only hobbyists published so-called savegame editors for PS3 and Xbox 360 on the net, with which savegames could be manipulated. Fire International is now taking a similar approach with the Xploder PS4 Cheats System. The company offers pre-made cheat game saves via its servers, which you download and modify with a click so that they run on your PS4. In the best case, the whole thing only takes a minute or two - after that, you're guaranteed to have an easy time. However, the road to get there is rocky.
Bumpy Start
All beginnings are difficult - this time-honored knowledge is especially true for the Xploder software, which is currently only available for download in a digital version. Even the ordering process turns into an adventure. After paying by credit card, you receive an e-mail from the corresponding credit institution confirming the payment process. That was it. No further feedback from Fire International with a download link or similar helpful information. So the question is: What happens next? In the customer account, under the orders, one only finds the note that the transaction is "Pending", i.e. pending. For days. There is no response to queries to support. Also for days. Annoyed, you search your customer account again and, at best, discover by chance a small inconspicuous button in the order account. This opens a window to happiness: There you can find - also a bit hidden - the download link for the cheat software including the corresponding unlock code.
Cheating without instructions
After installing, registering and running the software for the first time, another question arises: How does the software actually work? There is no manual. The help section on the Xploder page only offers a thin Q&A section and provides a short video (as of August 11, 2017). Neither helps if you have no prior knowledge. Fortunately, there were already a few halfway usable tutorials on YouTube shortly after the software's release in early August 2017, which roughly illustrate the procedure. The handling is basically simple: As described at the beginning, the manufacturer offers game saves for about 100 PS4 games (as of August 11, 2017) like "GTA 5", "Bloodborne", "Nioh", "Nier - Automata" and "Dark Souls 3" for download via a special software (for Windows and macOS). Internet access is therefore mandatory. You first download the desired savegames to your hard drive and then copy them to a USB storage medium, which you then use to transfer the save files to the PS4. Except for the last step, everything runs via the Xploder software.
Savegame must match
However, a downloaded savegame cannot be used on your console at first - the savegame does not match your player account. You must first assign it to your profile by clicking in the software after the download. To do this, the program needs a template - you copy any savegame from your PS4 to the USB memory stick where the pre-made cheat savegame is also stored. The program automatically fetches the required profile data when converting it. By the way: Friends' scores cannot be assigned to your profile with the help of the software. The program only converts the Xploder data accordingly.
Cheats for all cases
Fire International offers various types of saves: So-called starter saves provide your digital hero with top equipment, the maximum number of experience points and a bulging wallet right at the start of the game, for example. The saves are available for top games like "Bloodborne", "Dark Souls 3" and "GTA 5". Other game saves transport you into the middle of an adventure - before a certain mission, for example. Or shortly before the completion of an extensive quest series - you then only have to complete one mission and bag the corresponding trophy within a very short time. So-called "Pop Up" game saves are also stored in the database. As the name suggests, trophies pop up more or less automatically after loading the savegame, because the game is fooled into thinking that certain goals have already been achieved with the help of the manipulated savegame. In "Need for Speed - Rivals", for example, you can get a platinum trophy within about 15 minutes if you go to certain stations in the game: Going to the workshop, for example, already gives you a large part of the achievements.
Lame system
In practice, users sometimes struggle with annoying problems. The biggest obstacle in the test run shortly after the launch were the servers. They work so lamely that downloading savegames sometimes takes minutes - or even stops. The software also uses the sluggish company servers when assigning the pre-made cheat games to a user profile. This process is also regularly interrupted, and you sometimes have to repeat the procedure twenty times before the savegame can finally be used on your PS4. Annoying! Fire International promises to improve this situation as quickly as possible and optimize the servers accordingly.
Is there a threat of an account suspension?
Another problem possibly arises from a legal point of view. The question: Is cheating with the help of the software actually allowed? Fire International only offers cheat game saves for single player games or modes. Complaints or even lawsuits from disadvantaged multiplayer rivals are therefore not to be expected. Nevertheless, trouble may be looming: "Manipulating the scores - so that they run with your own user profile - could be a case of circumventing technical protection measures. That would be a copyright infringement," explains attorney Dr. Andreas Lober from the Frankfurt law firm Beiten Burkhardt to COMPUTER BILD SPIELE. The possible consequence: "Sony may not block access without violating the applicable law. In cases of doubt - if the action is in the gray area - the company is in the driver's seat. A violation of the law could already be the violation of the PlayStation terms of use," Lober continues. So, if you use the software, you run the risk of having your PS4 account blocked - use at your own risk!
Save Wizard for PS4
Significantly more options than the Xploder PS4 Cheats System are offered by the cheat program "Save Wizard for PS4 MAX" from Data Power Development Limited. With this software, you can specifically modify status values in savegames of about 150 games (as of August 14, 2017). Cool: With this cheat software, you don't fall back on prefabricated saves from the provider, but use (and manipulate) your own save games - almost at will and regardless of where you are in a game. Whether it's a properly boosted EXP value for all heroes in "Final Fantasy 15", maximum ammo and healing items in "Resident Evil 7", a God mode for any character in "Final Fantasy 12 - Zodiac Age" - it's all possible with Save Wizard for PS4.
The handling is comparatively simple, you even save one step compared to the rival: the assignment of the foreign cheat score to your own profile. On the other hand, the processing of the save takes a few minutes - the conversion of the file after selecting the cheats is done via online servers. Thus, a connection to the Internet is also mandatory for this software. All in all, Save Wizard for PS4 MAX is (currently) much more powerful than its Xploder rival and makes a more mature impression. However, this has its price - Data Power Development Limited charges about 55 Euros for the cheat software, which the provider only offers as a digital version for download. Exemplary: The ordering and delivery process is completed within a few minutes. However, there are no detailed instructions for this tool either. This YouTube video shows how it works.
Conclusion
If you don't feel like stress and fiddly trial and error, you should currently keep your hands off the software! All others can expect a cheat system after some training, which basically works wonderfully and is very easy to handle. If you currently buy the software, you will also get a lifetime license for a comparatively low price of about 35 dollars - the tool is expected to cost about 50 dollars soon. The investment is definitely worth it, especially since Fire International still has a lot of plans: According to information on the company's Facebook page, it will soon be possible to assign friends' scores to one's own profile - and thus use them. In addition, you may soon be able to edit your own scores via the software and activate cheats at the push of a button. Fire International also wants to expand the database regularly - cheat scores for games like "Final Fantasy 15" are already in the works. This is also necessary, because the manufacturer only offers a few game saves for current top games at the start. The company does not give any dates for the implementation of the plans. However, it is obvious that the whole thing will not happen in the short term - Fire International will first have to invest a lot of work in the basic infrastructure so that the software works cleanly(er) in the short term.