What We May Play
By Ed Beers
In my last blog here, What We Know: The PS4 , I covered the announcement of the PS4, and what both during and since then we have learned of the tech. Well that's all well and good but for some people, boring. So let me get to something a lot more people should be excited about, the games.
Okay yes let us get this out of the way, it's not backwards compatible,
this should be clear enough that it doesn't have a cell processor but
well, there it is. But to try and get use excited they instead gave us
some games we're more than likely to see in the launch window... Not
enough so they they will have nothing to show at E3 mind you, and not
all of them were all that exciting even with a 'what if' point of view.
Among the low marks were a new first person driver's seat focused
'Driver Club' game, a new IP from Capcom that from it's gameplay free
trailer looks very much like Dragon's Dogma, a new Killzone game that,
for a few minutes before the action really starts actually has color.
And least impressive of all, Blizzard and Square Enix announcing things
they already talked about. Blizzard announcing they are bringing Diablo 3
to PS3 and PS4 so you can play it offline on a couch with 3 other
friends, and Square showing us the same tech demo from E3 as if they
forgot they showed it already.
On the positive side though, we had some games that, while not everyone might care about, I'm excited for. Early on, we were presented to what is likely to be the PS4 try at a fresh new platformer mascot face, Knack. It's looks are somewhere between Crash Bandicoot, Katamari Damacy if it had a respectable day job to go to, and the old Wallace and Gromit animation, especially when they jump from playing it on we assume the PS4, to an on-stage Vita. Our title character, Knack, is an adorable construction able to take into his body bits and pieces of the world around him to gain powers, or let go of them to slip into smaller spaces. It was the demo of this game that made me think Sony's promise to be able to play PS4 games on a Vita was possible, though not as a first choice. Big enough PS4 game on a Vita and I'd rather not think about what one might lose between the two. But that's for when the system and games are actually out, this (Knack) still looks like a fun cute game for every age to grab onto much like Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, and Ratchet and Clank were in the PS2 era.
On a truly different note was that brought to us by Jonathan Blow. He was there to rub in Microsoft's face that he's working with Sony now after all the hardships he was put through. He was presenting a game genre I had not heard of or thought of would really be done. The Witness, the game he was presenting, is set to be an open world puzzle game... I mean, well I suppose one could say such a genre is nothing new but this is the first time in my life of gaming I've been presented with the idea like that. The gameplay shown was interesting enough but it all felt very, out of context and not really telling you what you're goal is in each puzzle. Though knowing creative types like Blow, my hopes are high for this to succeed.
One game I'm really looking forward to out of the announced games at this conference, is from our friends at Sucker Punch, inFamous: Second Son. This is not to be confused with inFamous 3, for it's not the 'how can you continue Cole's?' story continued, but in fact is taking place after inFamous 2, in a new city, and with a new character completely. Although certainly new to the series, the new lead's powers should seem familiar for anyone who played 2, namely dark black and red teleporting and fireballs. Yes, it does sounds exactly like the wild woman in inFamous 2, and no I don't know if our new young brash 'Fight the authorities' hero the crazy rolling in the chaos love child between her and Cole. All we got was a little video of a governmental group cracking down on Seattle claiming to be in control, Orwellian surveillance cameras watching every corner in some shadow filled control room... And our hero beating on some of their jack-booted thugs just so he could mock into one of their helmet cameras that they weren't in control... Okay the story set up sounds cliched but hey, I'm looking forward to it, cause I miss plain clothed super heroes jumping up the side of buildings and kicking enemies off the roves.
We also received, in the actual gameplay form, another look at everyone's favorite surprise announcement from E3, Watchdogs. I cannot expressed how excited I am for this title. The more I see this game in action, with it's constant flow of information, sandbox crime to stop, systems to mess with, I get more and more excited. In this gameplay sample, unlike the E3 run there is no exact mission, it's just an example of what you might come across walking around. With the constant flow of information at your hand, you pick out people to hack the bank account of, get detailed information of if they're likely to be a victim of a crime, blowing up a fuse box while chasing a criminal, and coolest of all stopping a trained and jumping onto it's roof when you've got the fuzz on your tail. Yes, during E3 we were told that this title was coming to current gen consoles, PS3 and 360, but here we were told what to expect from the PS4, namely more activity in the city at once, more reactions from the citizens on the spot. It all sounds like more fun than you can beat an abusive boyfriend with.
We also got a small tease of Destiny, the new game from Bungie now that they've stepped away from Halo. They promise that once it's complete that there will be exclusive bonus content for when it comes to the PS4, though no real detail of what that might be, or really anything about the game. Still, 3 seconds of possible maybe gameplay footage is better than nothing right?
A few days after the reveal of the PS4 we got a couple nice little teases to get use excited. Firstly there was the confirmation that the Witcher 3 will be coming to the PS4 which, while better late than never, still leaves me wanting a way to play the rest of the series on a Sony console. Secondly, and much more importantly, and I think I've pointed this out before, that the PS4 will still use a disc system, allow it's owners to play used games, and play these games while the system is offline. All these facts are important details for any console, especially in these uncertain times full of worrying rumors. Speaking of worrying rumors, please look forward to my next and last part of the PS4 overview.
On the positive side though, we had some games that, while not everyone might care about, I'm excited for. Early on, we were presented to what is likely to be the PS4 try at a fresh new platformer mascot face, Knack. It's looks are somewhere between Crash Bandicoot, Katamari Damacy if it had a respectable day job to go to, and the old Wallace and Gromit animation, especially when they jump from playing it on we assume the PS4, to an on-stage Vita. Our title character, Knack, is an adorable construction able to take into his body bits and pieces of the world around him to gain powers, or let go of them to slip into smaller spaces. It was the demo of this game that made me think Sony's promise to be able to play PS4 games on a Vita was possible, though not as a first choice. Big enough PS4 game on a Vita and I'd rather not think about what one might lose between the two. But that's for when the system and games are actually out, this (Knack) still looks like a fun cute game for every age to grab onto much like Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, and Ratchet and Clank were in the PS2 era.
On a truly different note was that brought to us by Jonathan Blow. He was there to rub in Microsoft's face that he's working with Sony now after all the hardships he was put through. He was presenting a game genre I had not heard of or thought of would really be done. The Witness, the game he was presenting, is set to be an open world puzzle game... I mean, well I suppose one could say such a genre is nothing new but this is the first time in my life of gaming I've been presented with the idea like that. The gameplay shown was interesting enough but it all felt very, out of context and not really telling you what you're goal is in each puzzle. Though knowing creative types like Blow, my hopes are high for this to succeed.
One game I'm really looking forward to out of the announced games at this conference, is from our friends at Sucker Punch, inFamous: Second Son. This is not to be confused with inFamous 3, for it's not the 'how can you continue Cole's?' story continued, but in fact is taking place after inFamous 2, in a new city, and with a new character completely. Although certainly new to the series, the new lead's powers should seem familiar for anyone who played 2, namely dark black and red teleporting and fireballs. Yes, it does sounds exactly like the wild woman in inFamous 2, and no I don't know if our new young brash 'Fight the authorities' hero the crazy rolling in the chaos love child between her and Cole. All we got was a little video of a governmental group cracking down on Seattle claiming to be in control, Orwellian surveillance cameras watching every corner in some shadow filled control room... And our hero beating on some of their jack-booted thugs just so he could mock into one of their helmet cameras that they weren't in control... Okay the story set up sounds cliched but hey, I'm looking forward to it, cause I miss plain clothed super heroes jumping up the side of buildings and kicking enemies off the roves.
We also received, in the actual gameplay form, another look at everyone's favorite surprise announcement from E3, Watchdogs. I cannot expressed how excited I am for this title. The more I see this game in action, with it's constant flow of information, sandbox crime to stop, systems to mess with, I get more and more excited. In this gameplay sample, unlike the E3 run there is no exact mission, it's just an example of what you might come across walking around. With the constant flow of information at your hand, you pick out people to hack the bank account of, get detailed information of if they're likely to be a victim of a crime, blowing up a fuse box while chasing a criminal, and coolest of all stopping a trained and jumping onto it's roof when you've got the fuzz on your tail. Yes, during E3 we were told that this title was coming to current gen consoles, PS3 and 360, but here we were told what to expect from the PS4, namely more activity in the city at once, more reactions from the citizens on the spot. It all sounds like more fun than you can beat an abusive boyfriend with.
We also got a small tease of Destiny, the new game from Bungie now that they've stepped away from Halo. They promise that once it's complete that there will be exclusive bonus content for when it comes to the PS4, though no real detail of what that might be, or really anything about the game. Still, 3 seconds of possible maybe gameplay footage is better than nothing right?
A few days after the reveal of the PS4 we got a couple nice little teases to get use excited. Firstly there was the confirmation that the Witcher 3 will be coming to the PS4 which, while better late than never, still leaves me wanting a way to play the rest of the series on a Sony console. Secondly, and much more importantly, and I think I've pointed this out before, that the PS4 will still use a disc system, allow it's owners to play used games, and play these games while the system is offline. All these facts are important details for any console, especially in these uncertain times full of worrying rumors. Speaking of worrying rumors, please look forward to my next and last part of the PS4 overview.
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