It’s that time of year again for Paris Games Week. After deciding not to appear at this year’s Gamescom because of Sony’s already dominant European market share, this conference offered a chance to show off what Sony has to offer for the future. Boy, oh, boy. They did not disappoint.
Possibly the biggest news, as far as Sony is concerned, is their recent decision to rebrand the previously named Morpheus as PlayStation VR. Shuhei Yoshida brought players up to date explaining that over two hundred studios are working to develop in some way for the new hardware. I’ve long felt that Sony would need serious support in the way of AAA games to help make it a success.
So what games are for the offering? For starters, Supermassive Games Until Dawn is receiving a brand new scenario titled Rush of Blood which is built for the VR experience. Tekken 7, also displayed by Bandai Namco, will be playable with the VR headset. RIGS is also bringing their new title RIGS: Mechanized Combat League, a world set in 2065 where players battle against other mechanized RIGS, to the experience. Lastly, the new game in Sony’s racing franchise titled Gran Turismo Sport will also be available.
Quantic Dream also unveiled their recent projects, unsurprisingly for the Paris-based studio. Their newest title Detroit: Become Human is scheduled to be David Cage’s next Sony exclusive game. It showed off some of the most impressive motion captures and graphical displays on the PlayStation 4, but no release window was offered. Ports of their prior games Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls are scheduled for PlayStation 4 release as well.
Space fans can be excited that Hello Games No Man’s Sky finally has a release window for June of 2016. The trailer showed off similar bits of exploration that we’ve already seen coupled with a few shots of gun fights versus alien robots.
Media Molecule returned to show off more of their upcoming creative title Dreams. The showing at E3 left fans puzzled as to what the game actually was. Fortunately, gamers were able to see a lengthy demonstration of many creation aspects the developer is known for in games like Little Big Planet. Each player will possess their own world, known as their dream, which they can create and build to their heart’s content. The most enjoyable part of the experience is opening mysterious doors that serve as random gateways to bizarre worlds that players create. Owners of these dreams can set limits on how much other players can adjust or build within their dream as well, allowing for varying amounts of insane hijinks to occur. Dreams largely impressed for its seemingly endless depth of capability.
Naughty Dog appeared, and thankfully did not offer any more campaign trailers (we’ve seen enough, now let the game come out). Instead, players were treated to a fun trailer for the multiplayer mode in light of the beta going live in December for those who purchased The Nathan Drake Collection. It will feature a variety of classic modes, as well as allow players to play as their beloved characters Nathan, Sully, and Elena, as well as the newcomers. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is slated for a March 2016 release.
Guerilla Games showed us much of the same we at E3 with Horizon: Zero Dawn, only to offer commentary on what exactly the game consisted of. Viewers witnessed a bit of the weapon wheel that consists of various bolts to use with the character’s crossbow. These are crafted by collecting resources from the mechanized beasts that roam the wild. The game is said to be an action-RPG with lots of hunting, gathering, and crafting to create better weapons and unique armor. Gameplay was paused to show off the scale of monsters versus the playable character. These massive beasts feature cleverly placed weak points for the player to attack. They can also sever the beast’s various weapons and use them against them. Guerilla Games is on to something special with this Sony exclusive.
In addition to all of these exciting attractions, Sony is also bringing several other exclusives to the console in the year of 2016. These include:
– Street Fighter V – to be released February 16, 2016 with the introduction of new character Dhalsim, as well as 6 new characters over the course of the first year
– Boundless – a hard to pin down, alien-looking, exploration game
– Vector – a new rhythym game apparently being developed in tandem with artist Avicii
– Matterfall – a new exclusive from Housemarque which showed off a futuristic, sci-fi world
– Ratchet and Clank – Insomniac’s newest entry
– Gravity Rush 2 – the sequel to the ridiculously fun Sony exclusive
Sony was also keen to mention their offerings for the remainder of 2015 as Microsoft heavily outweighs them in the line of first party releases. PlayStation 4 users will be able to get exclusive content in games like Battlefront, Destiny: The Taken King, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 for a limited time.
You can watch the full broadcast archived at PlayStation’s Twitch channel here.