Sony had their press event last night and their big focus was games, games, games. Sony didn’t really have any new hardware to show, there was a brief glimpse of it’s steering wheel for the Move and their augmented reality Wonderbook but it was mostly about the games. Read on to see what Sony had to reveal.
The first game that was shown, which was hinted at but finally revealed was Quantic Dream’s newest title Beyond: Two Souls. As always Quantic blew everyone away with stunning performances and visuals, aided by the new tech seen in the “Kara” video from GDC and by actress Ellen Page who portrays the main character Jodie Holmes. Admittedly there was no gameplay shown, but Quantinc likes to focus on the story first and the video shown definitely left an impression on me and everyone in the audience.
Another big title highlighted in the show was PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, which had been previously announced but this time there was a twist. They had four people playing against each other on stage, two on PS3 and two on PS Vitas. That’s right, the game will feature seamless cross platform gameplay. You can have a friend sitting next to you play on a Vita while you are on the PS3 or you can play on the PSN against other PS3 and Vita players. In addition to that news they also revealed two new characters for the game, Nathan Drake and Big Daddy from Bioshock, SWEEEEET! All-Stars Battle Royale should be out around Holiday 2012.
Ubisoft was on hand to show off a never seen before level of Assassin’s Creed 3 that takes place on a ship in the Caribbean Sea. You see the new character, Connor, captain of his own ship which he then directs into a full out sea battle with some British Naval Ships. They showed off not only how you have to control the ship and order your men to fire cannons at the enemy but the weather can change at a moments notice and you can engage in a sea battle in the middle of a raging storm. There were different types of ammunition that could be shot out of the cannons including chained cannonballs that can take out another ship’s sails. When this is done the ship is incapacitated and is vulnerable, at which point it can boarded! So not only are you an assassin but you can also be a pirate assassin! Ubisoft also revealed their PS Vita title Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation.
The one piece of new hardware/software that Sony showed off was their Wonderbook. It’s basically a book with Augmented Reality (AR) tiles in it, the book will work with the PS Eye, PS Move and PS3 software to create an interactive game experience. The featured game that will introduce the masses to Wonderbook is Book of Spells created and written by none other than J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. Book of Spells takes place in the world of Harry Potter and allows you to learn magical spells which you use in mini games that take place in Hogwarts. They demoed the game which looked pretty cool but I thought it went on a little too long, especially since the software was a little glitchy and wouldn’t always respond properly. It was a pretty smart move to get Rowling involved in this as this will really help push Move units. Look for Wonderbook & Book of Spells to be relased around Holiday 2012 for $39.99 for the game and the book.
It seems like it just isn’t a Sony conference if Kratos doesn’t show up and boy did he show up when they demoed the newest title in the God of War franchise God of War: Ascension. The showed off some single player action but sadly no multi-player, which I feel is a mistake since that is really the newest feature to the franchise and it should be exploited. But seeing Kratos going solo and kicking the crap out of everything that crosses his path is always a treat. I didn’t think that Kratos’ kills could get any more brutal but then he ripped open the skull of an elephant-like creature and exposed his brain so I guess there is no limit to his creativity in slaughter. GoW: Ascension should be out March 2013.
Finally Sony ended their show with one of the most talked about games coming from Naughty Dog, the post-apocalyptic title The Last of Us. The section they demoed showed how important it is to pick your shots carefully since ammunition is a very scarce commodity. We see the main characters, Joel and Ellie, going through an abandoned hotel when they come across some Hunters, other human survivors that will kill other survivors and steal anything they have on them. The person playing the demo showed off the fight mechanics of the game, including taking one of the hunters hostage and using him as a human shield. But it has been revealed that you can also play the game without engaging in combat if you choose to do so. The fighting was very gritty and violent, but it works because these characters are doing everything they can to survive. They also showed a glimpse of the crafting system in the game where Joel went in his backpack and combined a bottle of alcohol with a rag to make a molotov cocktail, which he then preceded to throw it at a pair of enemies. The demo ended with Joel wrestling a shotgun out of one of the hunter’s grip and blew his head off. This is going to be an intense game that I must have in my library. I proclaimed after seeing the demo that I want to marry the game, it looks that good.
Overall the press conference was good. There was no major announcements, certainly no news of a new PlayStation which makes sense because Sony is committed to that 10 year system cycle. But it’s fine that we won’t see a PS4 any time soon because the hardware is still viable and there is still a lot that can be done with the system. There were a lot of games that they didn’t show in the conference but that they are showing in their booth, including a Portal 2 DLC that adds on Move support for existing levels and some new levels. Having the focus be on all the different types of games that Sony is going to have on it’s platform is exactly what they need to focus on and it really worked for them. They kept saying that their focus is on the gamers and it shows. Keep it here at Bifuteki for more E3 coverage on stuff coming from Sony and their competition in the coming days. And if you missed any part of the press event you can check out all 3 parts below.
Part 1
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Part 2
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Part 3
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