With Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft down, Sony kicked off their press conference at giant games show E3 looking to make up for lost time. With a huge variety of games, and plenty of big announcements, it was another action packed show - and there's a lot to cover, so let's get stuck in.
Destiny
Sony kicked off their 2014 conference with a flashy new trailer for sci-fi, online focused shooter Destiny, giving us some more details on the campaign. Along with a stunning new white PS4 Destiny bundle, Sony announced that the PS4 players will have access to the upcoming multiplayer beta first on 17th July, as well as additional exclusive access to a multiplayer alpha from this Thursday 29th June. All very nice if you like your shooters with a lot of online multiplayer, but this one still has yet to really gain the interest of the Everybody Plays team.
The Order: 1886
A trailer was shown for the recently delayed steampunk third person shooter, The Order: 1886, a game that was originally intended to be a PS4 launch window title, but has now been pushed back until next year. The gameplay trailer showed the main protagonist battling a werewolf of sorts across an olde worlde towne - hairy stuff indeed. For more info, check out the Playstation Blog.
Entwined
In contrast to the dark horror of The Order, Entwined brought a dazzling display of colour to the event, from Pixel Opus, a new team made up of a small group of graduates. The game is, in a pleasantly surprising twist, available now on PS4 for download on the Playstation Store, and is a twin-stick racer of sorts where you control two brightly lit origami characters - a fish and a bird, a star crossed pair of lovers if ever there was one - with each of the controller's analogue sticks, something that sure to tie our lobes in a twist.
Infamous: First Light
Is it an add-on or isn't it? Technically, the new standalone downloadable expansion for Infamous: Second Son is both, as you'll be able to play it whether you have the game or not. Centring the story around Fetch, a character from the recent (and awesome) free-roaming super-powered Infamous: Second Son, you'll be able to make use of her neon powers in a similar open world adventure. Due out in August 2014, we'll be looking for more on this over the coming months.
Little Big Planet 3
Sackboy's back and was met with rapturous applause when Little Big Planet 3's colourful logo was projected on stage! Developed by Sumo Digital (as opposed to series creators Media Molecule), and announced for a November release on PS4, the creation-focused platformer features four player co-op and introduces 3 new characters, the dog/cat/companion thing Oddsock, Toggle, who can switch between a big and little version of himself, and Swoop, a bird, all of which have their own unique abilities and daft animations. There's also added stage depth (which we're hoping won't be too hard to handle with the control scheme too much), new mechanics and power-ups to use, alongside the cute humour and lovingly detailed character models and environments that have become iconic visual signatures of the series. With another upgraded level editor sure to make an appearance, and a strong focus on co-op, this was one of the liveliest demos of the show, with the four Sony players laughing and joking as they tried and often messed up along the way to get through each level.
Bloodborne
A mysterious new gothic horror game from the makers of the incredibly hard Demon Souls/Dark Souls, From Software announced, due out next year on PS4. For more, check out the trailer here.
Far Cry 4
Ubisoft's sequel to 2012's critically acclaimed Far Cry 3. Featuring a new maniacal villain, grappling ropes, gyrocopters and, most importantly, elephants blowing up cars... as well as a two player co-op mode, a first for the series. Sony also interestingly teased that PSN friends will be able to join your game to play co-op with you without them having to own a copy of the game themselves - although whether you'll be able to play in split-screen remains to be seen. Here's an admittedly fairly clinical chat with the developers about the new game.
Dead Island 2
Because someone out there thinks "more games with zombies in" is what the gaming world needs, Deep Silver's lifted the lid on Dead Island 2 at the Sony press conference - a new 4-player zombie RPG/zombie slaying action game in the series is announced for PS4. The game's trailer is suitably comedic and violent in equal measure, and is more in tune with the game's violent humour and gameplay unlike the melancholic tearjerker of a trailer used for the original game. No release date as of yet, but check out the first trailer for more plot and other juicy details.
Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition cross over with The Last Of Us' clickers
A special exclusive dungeon in Blizzard's upcoming Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition on PS4 will reportedly feature the horrible fungal clicker enemies from Naughty Dog's The Last Of Us.Diablo 3: The Ultimate Evil Edition, a HD re-release of Diablo 3 containing new gameplay modes and the Reaper of Souls expansion from the PC version is due out on Aug 19th on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. To see the game in action, check out this chat with the developers straight from the show.
Battlefield Hardline
A newly announced shooter that takes the popular Battlefield name, and adds a bit of a twist, turning it from a military conflict mit vehicles to being a cops and robbers style shooter, a first trailer was shown of the game, which admittedly looks a little bit too familiar to previous Battlefield games than we'd like, but we'll reserve judgement until we've played it. Luckily, that may not be too long, as a first-come-first-served sign-up for the Battlefield Hardline beta was announced for PS4, with the full game due for release on 21st October.
Magicka 2: Learn To Spell Again!
Proving that not all games have to be incredibly serious, the trailer for the newly announced PS4 version of co-op role playing game Magicka 2 raised a laugh amongst the Everybody Plays staff. The top-down co-op adventure featuring spell casting and RPG questing will be coming to PS4 in the future, but there was no mention of a release date as of yet. Still, with some interesting looking co-op spells, this is one we'll be keeping a close eye on.
Grim Fandango Remaster
If you're a fan of point and click adventure games, then the name "Grim Fandango" should mean a lot to you. Originally released in 1998, the film noir-esque adventure game was considered a classic, and news of its remaster went down incredibly well with the audience in attendance. Set in the land of the dead, where good deeds in life are rewarded with a quicker passage through limbo into the "Ninth Underworld", the fastest being a train, and the slowest being forced to walk the distance, the game tells the story of Manny, a skeleton travel agent who has to help his clients find their way to their afterlife. With a strong sense of humour, a great story, and plenty of weirdness, this is due for a "timed exclusive" release on PS4 and Vita, but no date or release window was given.
Let It Die
Dark and bloody action game by wacky and eccentric game designer Suda51 announced for PS4 in 2015 - appears to be some kind of horror fighting game. It's all a bit grizzly, so we'll link to the trailer offsite.
ABZU
Taking a much more pleasant approach, new studio Giant Squid (made up of two former developers from the indie darling game, Journey) unveiled their atmospheric and peaceful trailer for their new game ABZU, which morphologically speaking apparently means 'to know water' ('AB' -water, 'ZU' - to know) - The game looks like a mix between their previous game Journey and Ecco the Dolphin, and it looks both stunning and mysterious in equal measure. Announced as an exclusive console debut on PS4, but no release date was given.
No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky was perhaps one of the most breathtaking and different games shown off at Sony's conference, and perhaps one of the most exciting and truly 'next-gen' titles on display. Made by a small development team in Guildford, Hello Games, known for their entirely different side-scrolling racer Joe Danger, No Man's Sky is a sci-fi space simulation, that lets you pilot your ship from the depths of space to the surface of millions of "procedurally generated" planets, in an apparently infinite sci-fi game world. Every single player will start off on their own planet and according to the game's developer Sean who was onstage to talk to the still jaw-dropped crowd, "No two people will have the same experience". The trailer showcased a glimpse of its immense size by showing players taking off from one planet, shooting down fighters, barrel-rolling and re-entering an entirely different planet's atmosphere. Very exciting!
Playstation Now release date for US and Canada
Rather than engineering backwards compatibility into their console, so you can put a PS1/2/3 disc in and play away, the Playstation 4 is taking a somewhat different approach. Called Playstation Now, the console will instead be using a weird, and very high tech backwards-compatibility streaming service, which will soon be entering an open beta test phase in the US and Canada on 31st July, with the service opening up to PS3 and Vita later on. Letting PS4 players rent and play games from the massive Playstation back catalogue, it was also revealed that Sony are bringing out a basic Playstation Now bundle that would let owners of select Sony smart TVs to play games on the Playstation Now service without them having to own a console themselves - they just need a Dualshock 3 controller! Nice! Among the titles first announced for the service was Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus - the most recent Ratchet & Clank game released on the PS3 in November of last year (and a game we very much enjoyed).
Playstation TV announced for US and Europe
Released last year in Japan only, Sony are now bringing Playstation TV, their new PS Vita-in-a-box-that-plugs-into-your-TV console to the US, Europe and "across the PAL region" for £85, €99, or $99. $99 converts at £71, including our 20% VAT, so that's a £14 UK tax. The device will let you stream PS4 gameplay to another TV in your house, will play PS Vita cartridges (although only certain games will be compatible), and will let you access the Playstation Now service mentioned above. Project Morpheus, Sony's contender in the VR headset race was also given a very brief mention, but otherwise no new details were dropped.
Mortal Kombat X
A new in-game trailer for the latest instalment in the incredibly gory beat 'em up series, Mortal Kombat X was officially announced, with the news that the game would be coming to the PS4 (and Xbox One) but with no release date given. As anyone familiar with the series will likely expect, it featured extreme violence, gore and other such unpleasantries. Check here for the grisly trailer...and we really do mean GRISLY.
Playstation to bring out it's own TV programming
In an unexpected move (seeing as Microsoft tried this tactic at last year's E3 and it didn't go particularly well for them at all), Sony announced that it is developing its own TV programs, including an upcoming series called Powers, based off a comic series of the same name. All PSN users (in the US) will be able to view the first episode in the series for free, with the entire series available to PS Plus subscribers for free - at least in the US. Here's the announcement in full
Ratchet & Clank Movie and news on the 1st game remake
A new trailer for the upcoming game to film conversion, Ratchet & Clank: The Movie was shown off next, giving us an early look at the much-loved duo's adventures on the silver screen. Not much was shown off, but the trailer gave the release date as 2015, so there's still a while to wait
Perhaps more interestingly, Insomniac, the developers of Ratchet and Clank, were said to be hard at work one two projects - on the one hand, working on the film, and on the other, working with Sony to 're-imagine' the original Ratchet and Clank game for PS4. Sony and Insomniac boast that the game will have completely new visuals and gameplay sequences that will 'rival the best PS4 games on the market' - but we'll be hoping it's more than just yet another remake! Both the movie and the game are set to be available in the first half of 2015.
The Last Of Us Remastered
Speaking of remake. Continuing the games industry's new-found love for encouraging people to buy the exact same game again, only on a different format 12 months later, Sony's apocalyptic masterpiece (disappointment - Ed) is coming to PS4 on 29th July in the US and a day later in Europe on the 30th. The game is a remastered version of of the less than a year old PS3 game, but also includes the separate single player downloadable expansion 'Left Behind' as well as the 'Abandoned Territories', and 'Reclaimed Territories' map packs for the multiplayer mode.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Another militarily themed game, only this one with a stealth bent rather than an all out shooter, a brand new trailer for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was shown at E3 - a game that continues to interest us, thanks to its story heaving teasing. The first trailer was one of the best trailers we've ever seen for a game, and even if you're not usually into these sort of games, it's still well worth a watch.
With action, mystery, revenge, sneaking and cardboard boxes sure to be key to the game, this is one to keep an eye on.
Grand Theft Auto V
See what we mean about re-releasing games? In a move that surprised...well, probably nobody actually, Rockstar Games have officially confirmed they'll be bringing their latest massively successful title in the open world car-jacking series to PS4 in 'Fall 2014' (in other words, Autumn 2014 for us across the pond). The PS4, and presumably other unconfirmed next-gen console versions...cough, cough, Xbox One, cough cough, will apparently feature "new enhancements and details for players to discover", but for the most part, will be essentially the same game you already own, only this time on a different format. What's particularly impressive is that PS4 players can transfer over their PS3 AND Xbox 360 (say what now!?) Grand Theft Auto V online progress saves and characters, and carry on where they left off in the next-gen version.
Batman: Arkham Knight
The caped crusader's new crime-fighting adventure for PS4, Batman: Arkham Knight, was displayed in a new trailer that featured the dark knight himself taking down villains and racing around in the new Christopher Nolan-esque Batmobile. With the same over the top action we've come to know and love, only this time with an expanded Gotham City to explore, and a drivable Batmobile, this one's shaping up as one of our most wanted - although it has now been pushed to 2015.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
And finally - Sony's most beloved developer Naughty Dog closed the show with, yeah, you guessed it, a trailer for the new Uncharted game, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Drake's new (and possibly his last as teased by the title) adventure featured our globe-trotting hero awaking on a dark and dangerous beach. Like Tomb Raider, but with a guy, the Uncharted games have become known for their story, exploration, and action, making this one to watch out for in 2015 - even if the game does look like it'll be going to a much darker route.
