E3 2014 Review and Recap Part II – Sony
By Dan Maurer
*Click Here For Part I – Microsoft*
Following the great Microsoft E3 conference, it was Sony’s turn to take the spotlight. Boosting an almost 3 million worldwide console lead over Microsoft going into this year’s E3, Sony looked to build on the momentum and record breaking sales of the PlayStation 4.
First thing we were treated to was a world of PlayStation trailer which basically highlighted the history of the brand itself. The next trailer was for the anticipated Destiny. Destiny is the huge open world MMO being developed currently by Bungie and published by Activision. Scheduled for release in September, this game looks and plays fantastic. The alpha is currently out for PlayStation 4 with the beta scheduled for release on July 17th.
Sony’s next announcement was the reveal of a glacier white PS4. It will arrive on September 9th along with Destiny, and comes with a free 30 day trial to PlayStation Plus.
The Order: 1886 was detailed next and this is by far one of the best looking next generation games. The visuals are stunning and it has a very dark and grim feel to it. Not much else was revealed on the game as of yet.
A small trailer was shown for another game called Entwined. It is currently being developed by Pixelopus, an internal Sony studio. It kind of has a Fez vibe to it. A new Infamous: Second Son DLC trailer was also shown. The new DLC seems to focus around Fetch, the woman who gave you your neon powers in the game. Its called Infamous: First Light and it will be available to download in August.
LittleBigPlanet 3 was also revealed. New gameplay mechanics and characters were introduced as well. It is slated for release in November. Another must have game for the holiday season. Yoshida even makes reference to the fact you can play all the previous levels from the other LittleBigPlanet games. That is awesome news.
LittleBigPlanet 3 – E3 2014 Announcement Trailer
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Bloodborne was also introduced. It is being developed by From Software, the studio behind Dark Souls. This appears to be the rumored “Project Beast” game that has made the rounds around the gaming community. Game is very dark and very bloody, hence the name. Scheduled for release in 2015.
Next up was the trailer for Far Cry 4 and it is a gorgeous looking game. Ajay Ghale is revealed to be the main character in this installment of the series. The gameplay trailer contains lots of actions and violence. Also elephants. It was also revealed later on that you will be able to invite people to play Far Cry 4 with you, even if they do not have the game. That’s amazing for a high profile game like this to introduce.
Dead Island 2 was also revealed at Sony’s conference. To be quite honest, the trailer makes the game seem kind of silly. I wouldn’t hold my breath on this game. PlayStation 4 will also get an exclusive 30 day beta.
Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition was also talked about more. It will include the bloaters and clicker enemies from The Last of Us. Very cool little exclusive stuff there.
A Battlefield Hardline was trailer was shown as well. To me it seems like a more action packed re-skinned version of Battlefield 4. I just hope it isn’t bogged down by the crippling bugs and glitches that plagued Battlefield 4. It could be a game to watch out for later this year.
Magicka 2 was also revealed from Paradox and it appears to have some exclusive PlayStation 4 content coming for it as well. Some indie goodness was revealed for PlayStation 4 and Grim Fandango is coming to the PlayStation 4. Hotline Miami 2 is also dropped as a PS4/PS3/Vita release.
New Suda 51 game coming exclusively to PlayStation. Its called “Let It Die”. Its a dark and violent game from the reveal it appears and will be heading to the PS4 in 2015.
More jaw-dropping information was revealed about the PlayStation 4. 95% of PlayStation 4’s worldwide are connected to the PlayStation Network (PSN), more than one billion multiplayer’s have been played, and the share button has been used more than 220 million times. YouTube was also revealed to be released for PS4 later this year. Also there are plans to tweak the broadcasting features on PSN throughout this year to allow more customization.
A trailer was then shown of all the F2P games coming to PS4 within the next year, including the critically acclaimed Planetside 2.
PlayStation Now was also talked more about in detail. It will release July 31st in North America and it will also be coming to the Vita, PlayStation 3 and Sony branded TVs. All you need is a subscription and a Dualshock 3 and you are good to go. The first games coming to PlayStation Now are Dead Space 3, Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus and Ultra Street Fighter 4.
PlayStation TV (also known as Vita TV) will be coming to North America this fall. It will allow for most Vita games to be played, also PS1/PS2 classics. It will launch at $99, or in a bundle with a Dualshock 3/HDMI cable/voucher for a download of Lego The Movie/and a 8GB memory card. Price was not revealed on the bundle as of yet.
Mortal Kombat X gameplay was shown for the first time as well. Very violent game, but it looks amazing and runs at a mind-numbing 1080p/60FPS.
They announced that Grand Theft Auto 5 was coming to PlayStation 4 as well. It even looks like it is getting a graphical overhaul. Even better news? Your PS3 save data will transfer over to the PS4 version. That is a nice little feature.
Batman Arkham Knight was revealed more into detail as well. Game looks amazing and definitely looks next generation quality from what I’m seeing. Personally, I can’t wait for more information to come out for it.
Finally, the last game revealed at Sony’s conference was Uncharted 4. By far, the best looking next generation game to be revealed so far. Naughty Dog has done an amazing job with this. Nathan Drake looks more detailed than ever before. It also appears this game’s environment is heavily set in the jungle region.
With that, the Sony conference drew to a close. Very good showing for Sony this year as well. They seemed to do a good job of showing the direction the PlayStation brand is heading in and I am excited to see where it goes.
PunchDrunkGamer.com’s Sony E3 2014 Conference Grade: B+
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