The annual endurance test that is trying to stay up to watch the Sony press conference commenced in the early hours of this morning, and with the PS4 Neo skipping the show it meant Sony could focus on showing the games. That’s exactly what they did, was several surprises thrown in. You know, like composer Bear McCreary conducting an orchestra at the top of the show, and revealing he was doing the soundtrack for… well…
The angry Spartan’s guide to parenthood
Yep – God of War is back, with Kratos bringing his brand of angry to a Norse setting this time around. We got a lot of hints as to the direction of this quasi-reboot, including discoverable locations suggesting an open world environment, and a story centred around his son (who I have a feeling we’ll end up playing as by the end of the game.) What we heard of McCreary’s soundtrack was beyond enchanting, but as a huge fan of his work I was always going to feel that way.
There’s certainly a hint of The Last Of Us in the storyline, but the ridiculously brutal combat should keep fans happy. Hell, I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of the original trilogy, and even I want this, so Santa Monica Studios are definitely doing something right. Unfortunately, there’s no release date, with GoW being the first of several “In Development” titles shown during the presser, but what was shown looked incredibly promising.
Sony’s long game
Also in the “In Development” category was the new game from Kojima Productions, titled Death Stranding. I have absolutely no idea what it’s about, but it will feature a naked Norman Reedus who is seemingly tripping out. Insomniac Games are making a return to the PS4 with the upcoming Spider-man game, which while “In Development” will probably coincide with the upcoming reboot film.
But the big reveal was Sony Bend’s first Triple-A title. Days Gone looks to give us a zombie apocalypse meets Sons of Anarchy, with the live gameplay finale showing plenty of undead to kill. Or swarm you in a terrifying fashion. Either way, we’ll probably be waiting a while for more in as – you guessed it – it’s “In Development.” All three of those titles certainly look promising, and it’s great to see that PS4 owners will have big blockbusters to look forward to.
Narrative threads
Annoyingly, this too is without a release date, but the trailer for Detroit: Become Human rekindled my excitement for Quantic Dream’s next title. Clearly having learned their lesson from the linear-in-comparison Beyond: Two Souls, the android-centric game seems to be using Heavy Rain’s style of multiple narrative threads. Of course, only one scene was played out, but I expect David Cage and co. will want to deliver a personal story that the player has control over.
Another title showing narrative threads was Horizon: Zero Dawn, which continues to impress with its techno-saur battles. The delay to next year is disappointing, but so long as Guerilla Games can match the expectation I honestly won’t mind.
And the rest…
There was so much more I could have waxed lyrical about. The Last Guardian finally getting a release date of this October, Resident Evil 7 being announced AND playable with the PSVR, multiple other VR titles being announced including Batman: Arkham VR, and the Crash Bandicoot series being remastered. Hell, that’s not including the several indie titles that were shown before the presser, including Supergiant Games’ Pyre, and the visually beautiful Bound.
While I wouldn’t say it matched the impact of Microsoft’s show earlier in the day, I do think Sony put on a strong performance that PlayStation fans should be excited about. With games to look forward to this year and beyond, I expect I’m going to be spending a lot of money. Ugh.#
Do let us know what you thought of Sony’s efforts in the comments, and be sure to stay tuned for more impressions from the rest of this year’s E3!