E3 – Playstation Recap

Sony showcased their latest upcoming software at E3 this evening, with a bevy of new footage and game announcements revealed. The conference represented somewhat of a holding pattern for the company. Whilst the hosts literally stalled for time whilst ushering attendees between a number of locations and presenting some admittedly entertaining musical interludes, the presentation itself didn’t contain much in the way of previously unannounced games. A remake of Resident Evil 2 was finally confirmed with a cinematic trailer, as well as a short teaser for Nioh 2, Team Ninja’s sequel to last year’s excellent samurai action game. With the majority of their first party studios hard at work on already revealed titles, Sony was content to tease the audience with gameplay for upcoming AAA releases such as The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding.

The conference kicked off in an unusual repurposed church-like setting, with a beautiful six-string banjo performance by The Last of Us composer Gustavo Santaolalla. This led into a new extended cinematic and gameplay trailer for The Last of Us Part II. The presentation showcased both the amazing facial animations and storytelling which Naughty Dog is known for, as well as an extended gameplay sequence featuring a grown-up Ellie. I honestly had a hard time believing that this was not a scripted sequence, as the enemy AI and fluidity and detail of the combat animations was above the quality of anything else we’ve seen before, but if anyone can deliver on the promise of a next-gen gaming experience, it’s this developer. The game also seems to possess an even darker tone than its predecessor (if that was possible), with some extremely gory death animations being shown.

Following that, the open world samurai game Ghost of Tsushima received an extended gameplay reveal. The setting of 13^th century Japan seems to have been rendered in loving detail by Infamous developer Sucker Punch, with dynamic weather and lighting creating a beautiful backdrop to the fast-paced swordplay. The trailer showcased the main character travelling by horse to rescue a monk from Mongolian invaders, emphasising stealth gameplay, before engaging in a one on one katana duel. The game has no release date at this stage.

Next up was a trailer for a previously unannounced title called Control, from a developer with an excellent pedigree in third person action games, Remedy. Despite it taking place in a mysterious indoor setting featuring dynamically changing architecture and incorporating psychic abilities into combat, not many details were revealed. However, the game does seem to share at least some aesthetic similarities with the company’s previous title, Quantum Break.

After this, yet another compilation of Kingdom Hearts gameplay featuring the Pirates of the Caribbean world, followed by a longer Death Stranding trailer which again left the audience with more questions than answers regarding Hideo Kojima’s strange new IP. As well as slightly fleshing out the backstory of main protagonist Sam and his profession as some kind of porter, two new female characters and a beautifully rendered setting, which was evocative of Scandinavian geography, were revealed. There was also what appeared to be some intercut stealthy gameplay, though everything in this engine looks so good that its honestly hard to tell. The game still has no release date, so I think it’s safe to say that Kojima fans shouldn’t hold their breath to play this in 2019.

Following a short reveal of Nioh 2, the conference ended with another new look at Insomniac’s open world Spiderman game. The trailer showcased Spidey attempting to quell a riot at a prison, while his most deadly nemeses the Sinister Six, broke out and wreaked havoc. As an end of credits bonus, Dark Souls developer From Software showcased a trailer for a beautiful and mysterious looking VR title, Dèracinè.

Recap by Dylan Cook