Well, last night the second of the "big 3" gave their presser at this year's E3 expo, so here's a run-down of the highlights and my thoughts on Sony's conference:
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
What a start! Way to grab the audience's attention by the scruff of the neck, Sony! Much like Naughty Dog's preview of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves at E3 2009, the 5 minute demo of Drake's Deception we saw was jam packed with action. Nathan Drake sneaks aboard a cruise liner, only to be ambushed and end up blowing a hole in the side of the ship thanks to a nicely thrown grenade, causing the liner to sink. From that point to the end of the demo it's a frantic race from walls of water and through submerged corridors as Drake attempts to escape the doomed ship.
What was presented looked fantastic; more of the cinematic scope Naughty Dog are known for. The graphics were, as we've come to expect, sublime - with the rushing water and the stormy weather effects being particular stand outs.
After the gameplay demo, a trailer was shown for the game showcasing even more new gameplay elements - again, looking absolutely spectacular. Drake on horseback or holding onto falling cargo from a plane, anyone?
Resistance 3
I'm not a huge First Person Shooter fan, especially not of the modern day warfare variety, but I do like sci-fi. I enjoy Halo, and somewhat enjoy Killzone (though I find that the series takes itself way too seriously, like most of the 'realistic' shooters), and have never tried the Resistance series. What we saw here was typical gritty sci-fi FPS fare, until some giant frickin' spider thing came along! It was a short demo, but what we saw was impressive in scope and left me a little intrigued as to what this series is all about and I might just check it out.
Resistance 3 also began the conference's focus on the Move, with the Sharpshooter accessory heavily featured. It's an impressive piece of kit and it's nice to see more games coming out that make use of it. A bundle was announced that includes a copy of Resistance 3, the Sharpshooter, a Move controller and the PlayStation Eye camera for $150.
PlayStation 3D Display TV & Glasses
Now this was impressive. Sony have always been at the forefront of the 3D gaming revolution, and while I'm not a big fan of 3D movies (I like it when it's done right, and with good intention like in Avatar and Tron: Legacy, but not when it's just a pointless cash-grab) I do find that 3D adds a great deal to the immersion of the gaming experience. The problem is, it's so damn expensive! Well, Sony's got your back with their PlayStation 3D Display, a 24" monitor that offers full 3D support as well as the VERY cool feature that allows 2 players to see 2 different images on the screen. That's right, when playing with a friend there'll be no more split screen, instead player 1 will see one image while player 2 will see another.
Sony are offering the TV, a pair of 3D glasses, a HDMI cable and a copy of Resistance 3 in a bundle for $499. Insanely good price, considering the normal prices of 3DTVs.
PlayStation Move Titles
This was a mixed bag; they announced that NBA 2K12 will include new Move support, and Kobe Bryant came on stage to demo it, and then moved onto show Medieval Moves, a new casual Move title from the makers of Sports Champions. Nothing special, but it was nice to see that Medival Moves was indeed a full, story-driven game and not just a collection of minigames for the motion control.
On the other hand, it was announced that this fall both inFamous 2 and LittleBigPlanet 2 will be getting PlayStation Move support for their user generated content - players of these games will now be able to create and play levels/missions specifically for use with the PlayStation Move controller. Pretty damn cool.
And finally, in a hell of a surprise, Irrational Games' Ken Levine took to the stage to announce that Bioshock: Infinite will include full Move support! Very cool to see that, unlike the Kinect, the Move is really making its mark in hardcore games and not just shovel-ware. Levine also announced that a Bioshock game will be coming to the NGP (more on that later).
Dust 514
No one really knows what to make of this new PS3 exclusive. CCP Games took to the stage to show off their new Massively Multiplayer Online FPS title, that somehow links into their MMORPG Eve Online. Players of Dust 514 will play the part of the ground soldiers fighting battles on the planets in the Eve universe, which in turn will be reflected in the Eve Online universe as the planets fall under different control as battles are won or lost in Dust. Pretty confusing, huh? It's an interesting concept, and I look forward to hearing more about it and seeing how it works in the future.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Sly Cooper is back! One of the most loved platformer games from the PS2 is back for a fourth title, as showcased in a little teaser trailer with a very cool art style. No information was given except that the game is coming out some time next year.
Starhawk
As a huge Firefly fan, my interest was immediately piqued once I heard that the spiritual successor to Warhawk would be a sci-fi/western hybrid, and thankfully the gameplay looks set to keep a hold of that interest. It's a third person shooter with heavy doses of vehicular combat and looks insanely intense. The new "build & battle" mechanic looks cool too, where players in both single player and multiplayer can instantly construct buildings, walls and other structures in the battlefield to use as cover or generate vehicles, etc. Definitely a title to look out for.
PlayStation Vita
We've come to know it as the Next Generation Portable, or NGP for the past few months ever since it was first announced, but at their conference Sony officially revealed their new handheld console as the PlayStation Vita ('Vita' meaning 'life'). What we saw of the technology was very impressive, with Uncharted: Golden Abyss being used to showcase the system's graphical capabilities. And let me tell you, they are damn impressive - it's almost like holding a miniaturised PlayStation 3 in the palm of your hands! The touch screen abilities were also shown off as they showcased how players can touch enemies on the screen to direct Drake in melee combat, as well as being able to use the touch pad to climb surfaces.
Also shown was Ruin, an action RPG that boasted a very cool save-game feature - saving your progress on the PSVita will allow you to resume from the exact point where you left off on the PS3. Imagine the possibilities of being able to to take your home-console games on the move with you and just continue where you left off and vice versa.
Finally, Modnation Racers, LittleBigPlanet and Street Fighter x Tekken (which features a PSVita and PS3 exclusive character in inFamous' Cole MacGrath) were all shown on the console - all looking bright, vibrant and with some very cool touch screen and touch pad abilities, such as Modnation Racers' feature that allows the player to create mountains and lakes in the track editor by simply pushing on the rear touch pad. Very smooth and very snazzy.
It was announced that the PlayStation Vita will be releasing this holiday season for the surprisingly low price of $250 for the wi-fi only model, and $299 for the wi-fi and 3G model (which will be using AT&T in the US - details on service providers for other territories will be given for a later date).
Verdict
Well, where to start?
I was worried after Microsoft's presser that this was going to be yet again another year based very much on motion controls and shovel-ware, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there was a brief lapse with the reveal of NBA 2K12's Move support and the casual Medieval Moves, but for the most part all of the Move emphasis (which there was little of overall) was on hardcore games - Move support in Bioshock: Infinite and inFamous 2? Yes please!
Indeed, the focus was very much on the games this year, with some amazing exclusives showcased; Uncharted 3 looks unsurprisingly fantastic, while titles like Starhawk and Dust 514 proved to be games to keep an eye on. No Disneyland Adventures here, thank you!
The biggest surprise of the show was undoubtedly the PlayStation Vita, however, and it seems to have already stole the hearts and minds of most of the people who saw the reveal. It's technologically impressive, with an astounding line-up of games in the works. And don't get me started on that price!
All in all, Sony have stepped up their game by offering more for the hardcore gamers than the competition and keeping it interesting throughout (Medieval Moves excepted). With a performance like that, they could very well "win" E3 this year, but as Nintendo's gear up to reveal their brand new home console it could be a short lived victory. We shall see once the Big N take to the stage later today.
No comments:
Post a Comment