Last (but not least) on our list of E3 Day 0 media briefings was Sony. While focused on games, unlike Microsoft Sony had some hardware and entertainment to discuss as well. That said, the games were front and center and took up all but maybe 20 minutes of the nearly 2 hour briefing. The first piece of hardware was bundled with a new game – and opened the briefing itself – so that is a good place to start.
Destiny
The show opened with a trailer for this first-person space-themed shooter. The game looks incredible, but it was overshadowed by the announcement of a white PS4 bundle, a PS4 exclusive alpha starting this Thursday, and an exclusive beta starting July 17. You can check out the White PS4 below. Note that the headphones are not included with the Destiny Bundle.
The Order: 1886
We were looking forward to more about this game pretty much right after it was showcased at last year’s E3. New gameplay footage was shown, and it looked incredible. This third person shooter has seen limited coverage, and in the past seemed to shy away from the horror genre, but that seemed to change with this footage. The scene shown took place in what appeared to be a somewhat “classic” dark and mysterious hospital, complete with blood stains and bodies. The enemy? Nothing less than a zombie-werewolf. Exactly where this title falls as far as the overall storyline and genre may remain to be seen, but judging from the graphics alone it is sure to be a compelling title. It will be released in February 2015.
Little Big Planet 3
The crowd was noticeably excited by Sackboy being rendered on the Ps4 – now with 3 new friends. Each character has special abilities (Swoop, the bird, flies, the Oddsock, the dog, runs fast and jumps off walls, and Toggle, the muscle of the group, who switches between big and heavy or small and light) and the cooperative mode was of course in full force. To pass the various puzzles the players must utilize their various abilities to help each one get through the obstacles and reach the goal. The mode was being shown live – and without a god mode – and the audience bore witness to a number of slips, falls and deaths. The result of this seemingly unintentional gameplay was laughter – from the audience and the players – which bodes well for this release (among other things). LBP3 comes out in November.
Dead Island 2
One of the better comedic trailers shown was for Dead Island 2, in which a jogger running along a beach front is listening to music, while behind him zombie chaos ensues. As he gets further and further along, his zombification takes hold and by the end he is just one more zombie in the crowd. Dead Island 2 is set for a spring 205 launch. Not much more was shown, but if you liked the original Dead Island, presumably this one will follow closely in its footsteps.
Bloodborne
A formerly mysterious project developed by From Software was revealed as Bloodborne – an action RPG with more zombies. This one showed us some zombie dogs as well, and appeared to have a more fantasy approach, with wizards and dragons, than a zombie apocalypse game. Not too much else was revealed, but it is a 2015 release title.
Mortal Kombat X
MKX was shown with some brand new gameplay footage involving Sub-zero facing off against longtime rival Scorpian (similar to previously released gameplay) along with a battle between new characters. This trailer was full of bone-breaking, heart-ripping action. This was definitely a Mortal Kombat game.
Far Cry 4
Some gameplay footage was shown for Far Cry 4 as a character explored a beautiful mountainside landscape on his quest to take down an enemy fortress. During this demo, it was revealed that two-player co-op would be coming to the game. And if that’s not exciting enough, for those that get the game on PlayStation 4, you can co-op with a friend even if you don’t own the game. This feature was a huge announcement and definitely something we’re excited to see in future PlayStation titles.
No Man’s Sky
After it’s reveal at the Spike VGA’s last year, we finally got to see more of No Man’s Sky. This procedurally generated sci-fi game has you exploring worlds, flying up into space to battle enemies and flying back down onto another planets surface. All of that without having to wait for a loading screen. Everyone that plays No Man’s Sky will help to expand the areas in the game with its procedurally generated universe.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Sony ended with the announcement that… let’s be honest, everyone and their mother was expecting. We finally got a glimpse of Nathan Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Apart from the grim environment that Drake was in with skeletons hanging from cages, we know very little about the title at this time. Drake has been “out of the game” and asks Sully to help him one last time.
On the hardware front, Sony revealed the Playstation TV (at a $99 price point), a streaming box which essentially allows your PS4 to be used remotely on a second tv in the house. It’s virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus, was also stated to have two new demos at E3 this year, and while no release date has been set, progress is always nice to see, though we wish they would have shown more on stage. Finally, The PlayStation Now beta for PS4 is starting at the end of next month, and will have more than 100 games available.