24 June 2016
With Microsoft putting on a great show, Sony had to step up to claim victory at this year's E3. And wow were we in for a short, on point, game after game conference. It was incredible how concise it was while making a big impact. There was no padding at all and no developers on stage (with the exception of one superstar), it was a fantastic show.
It all started with a beautiful orchestra playing heroic music with an occasional deep voiced choir joining in. This in particular was triggering some God of War vibes in my mind, but come the end I thought what a nice opening. Then it cut straight to a game trailer, no one had touched the stage yet let alone said an introduction, and another deep voiced man was calling his boy. A few seconds later, emerging from the shadows was Kratos! The crowd erupted with noise and my inkling was correct. Already a brilliant start, but then we were in for lengthy gameplay of the God of War himself.
He was giving the boy a hunting lesson - but is this Kratos' son? Hell is this even Kratos? The white ash covered skin and red markings tell me it has to be, but this is Norse mythology now rather than Greek. Anyway his huge mystical axe looks brutal and the troll fight was awesome. After slaying the giant himself after the boy apologises for not dealing the fatal blow, Kratos - covered in blood - just says "you're deer is getting away". A great line followed by a huge applause from the crowd, and the trailer wasn't even over. This is the biggest compliment gameplay can get in my book - a cheer before the end. The final few scenes with the boy killing his deer at last were quite heartfelt, but the bigger takeaway for me was this is a new beginning. A new God of War series can easily emerge from this, with the ability to play as the boy once grown up seeming very likely.
Then it was time for big Shawn Layden to take to the stage, but really only to say here are a bunch of triple-A titles coming to PlayStation. First was Days Gone from developer Bend Studio. Only a story based CGI trailer for now but I guessed it was another zombie game and it sure is. Then it was The Last Guardian, resurrected from the dead at last year's Sony conference. It was a similar trailer but notably there are now multiple 'birddogs', which I thought were the guardians. So what does the title 'The Last Guardian' imply?
Next was the hugely anticipated Horizon Zero Dawn and there was a proper lengthy gameplay trailer this time. There seems to be real depth to the combat when taking on the mech dinosaurs. Different bows, arrows, slingshots and other weapons will do more effective damage depending on the target, and whether you can hit their weak spots. Thankfully there is a focus mode of sorts where time slows for the precise shots needed. Most of the robots seem incredibly fast and more agile than Aloy (your female character), so this is a great feature. She can also bore into the mind of the smaller robots to mount them and gain faster transportation. Crafting and dialogue trees were also shown off. Combine this with a huge open world and Sony have a real big hitter in their hands due for launch in February next year.
Continuing the continuous game trailers, Detroit: Become Human was next. This is the next game by Quantic Dream, following on from the highly praised Heavy Rain, and less so, Beyond: Two Souls. This means it is another title with minimalistic gameplay filled with high quality cutscenes, but this time there is real focus on the decisions you make. In this detective story there is no fail state i.e. no game over screen. The story continues regardless of your decisions and you have to deal with the consequences. It was a well put together trailer and the graphics are gorgeous, but I'm not joining the hype train yet on this one. The lack of physical character gameplay is generally the turn off for me with Quantic Dream games. Lastly in this amazing trailer sequence was Resident Evil VII, fully in VR. This would absolutely freak me out as I'm sure the vast majority would agree. I was nervously checking my own living room just while playing Gone Home recently. But for horror fans or Resident Evil fans this would definitely be a case for pre-ordering PS VR.
Which leads nicely into the VR section of Sony's show. Firstly it was announced that PlayStation VR will release on 13th October in the US (and in most of Europe as was revealed after the conference). There will apparently be 50 games available between launch and the end of the year. However I really do question how many of these are actual 'games' and how many are more experiences. Final Fantasy XV VR Experience being the prime example. Another is Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission, which it turns out is a free add-on for all owners of Star Wars Battlefront. Does this count as a separate game? Will it even be sold as a standalone title? Two more seemingly fully fledged games were Farpoint and Batman Arkham VR. The trailer for Batman was nothing more than a teaser, and yet is due for release later this year. Farpoint looks much more interesting. A first person shooter set in a world very similar to Mars from Destiny, and a gigantic spider attacking to close the trailer, but we know very little else. Basically because there have been no developers or creators on stage to introduce or follow up their game.
Continuing this trend was another gameplay demo. Another first person shooter with spaceship combat? It was only after the player grappled an enemy towards him to rip off his helmet did I realise this was the next Call of Duty! Infinite Warfare to be precise. As I mentioned in my article with Battlefield 1, I still have no interest in this space warfare because it is drastically deviating from what Call of Duty is. Fair play to Infinity Ward on changing the style but this is not for me nor I imagine most COD fans.
Then we were in for the shock of the show, and probably my personal highlight. All of sudden Crash Bandicoot theme music was playing, the crowd were going bananas (as was I) and Shawn Layden walked back on stage. It was almost a dream announcement for anyone who grew up with a PS1. The first three Crash games are being "remastered from the ground up" for PS4. No idea on a release window let alone date, but this is happening which makes me so happy. I don't care if the games no longer 'hold up', so long as the controls, characters and levels are the same, I'll love it.
Next was the only developer to appear on stage. None other than Hideo Kojima with his new company Kojima Productions. He was given a rockstar entrance with the floor lighting up as he walked forward. The crowd was once again ballistic with noise. He then revealed a teaser for his new game Death Stranding starring Norman Reedus, aka Daryl from The Walking Dead TV series. This was a super weird trailer featuring Norman, naked with a new born baby, on a beach surrounded by dead sea creatures. It could only be from Kojima. Apparently he hasn't even decided on the game engine yet, so expect to see this title released in 2019 at the earliest.
The last new game announced was Spider-Man exclusively for PS4. I'd heard rumours this was in development and it was now officially confirmed. Being developed by Insomniac Games, the studio behind Spyro, Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance, they have serious pedigree and I'm sure will produce a quality Spider-Man game. The one thing that did annoy me was Spidey's suit. The centre spider logo is too large and too white. But ignoring this I'm excited to hear more because I love the developer.
Sony closed their show with an extended Days Gone trailer. There are some immediate comparisons with The Last Of Us, in terms of a world overrun with zombie-like creatures and the third person perspective gun based gameplay. Days Gone will have a much more open structure to it though, and hundreds more zombies on this screen. The hoard attacking the player in this trailer was superb. You can mow down a few but they will keep coming from every direction. This was another title without even a release year announced so I'd expect this in Fall 2017 at the earliest.
And that was Sony's show! It was hit after hit with triple-A games and surprises. There was no mention of Vita (obviously), but no mention of the Neo either. Sony are keeping their cards very close to their chest when it comes to this ungraded console concept, unlike Microsoft where they officially confirmed Project Scorpio is coming.