Tuesday 10 June 2014

E3 2014: Sony Fanfare

Hello everyone,
That's it, one more years wait until we get another game blowout, but fear not I will be keeping you busy breaking down and giving my thoughts on all the games shown at Sony's Media Briefing!
 The games I will be talking about are going to be in no particular so let's get into the show:

Uncharted 4 A Thief's End:
 Where else could I start, but at the end. Uncharted 4 now confirmed as having our lovable adventurer reprising his role on our screens Nathan Drake is back. The game is set "several years" after his last adventure we hear Nathan trying to convince Sully to come out of retirement with him for one last job. A little on the stereotypical side but this is Naughty Dog here, rest assured that there will be many surprises. On a speculative note, I think that someone very close to Nathan has been kidnapped by the villain of the game. This is based of the fact that Nathan says in the trailer that he has no choice, and in the description for the video from Playstation it says " His greatest adventure will test his physical limits, his resolve, and ultimately what he's willing to sacrifice to save the ones he loves." So will we be seeing Nathan going through not only a physical test, but also a mental one? I know as much as you do, but we will be getting our hands on this game in 2015, I would put my money on it being released in either February or March, as this was around when Uncharted 3 was released!
Little Big Planet 3: 
In the next Playstation exclusive we will be returning to the sack planet and helping Sackboy out in his new adventure(though with fewer guns than Uncharted 4), this time Sackboy has cajoled some friends to come with him on his adventure. Yes we will be getting 3 new characters to play as this time, with Oddsock, a dog like sack creature who can run very fast and also has the ability to wall jump! Next we have Toggle, who is either very large and heavy or very small and light, and this is controlled by pressing L1 I believe which toggles between the 2 methods of size and shape(See what I did there?). Finally we have Swoop who is a sack bird, so will be able to pick other characters up and transport them to platforms they wouldn't normally be able to get to. 
     It isn't just new characters that is new in LBP3, no in this entry there will be more depth(literal back to front not scope) to the levels, and Sackboy will be able to take advantage of certain areas where he can climb on the walls! That wasn't the only LBP bomb Sony dropped on us last night, when Little Big Planet 3 releases this November we will have access to every single Little Big Planet 2 level, so as soon as you pick up the game, you will have thousands of hours of content at your finger tips! 
No Man's Sky: 
I think this was one of the best games shown so far at E3 2014, made by Hello Games, who brought us games like Joe Danger. This game looks amazing, the premise of the game is exploration, be it exploring open space filled with meteor showers or going on foot and becoming an intrepid explorer of foreign planets. Oh and there are an infinite number of planets because the game is procedurally generated. At this stage I don't think it is known what kind of multiplayer will be in the game, but in the demo we were shown there were other ships joining us in our interstellar dance. I was taken aback by this game and I can't wait to get my hands on this game!
Assassin's Creed Unity:
Words can not truly explain how excited I now am for the next entry in the Assassin's Creed franchise. Going into E3 when it was a near certainty that we would be getting a 4 player co-op demo, I was felt very little towards the game. Then they started playing and that soon changed! Aside from the co-op which I will come to in a second, 2 major features that I have been wanting for a very long time and have now been introduced into Unity are stealth mode(or crouching like in Batman) and the ability to shimmy down a tall building with both ease and speed! Well both of those things are new mechanics in Unity. We also saw a little glimpse into the number of side missions in the game, it may sound stupid but it looks like there will be proper side missions that may even take genuine detective skills to solve! Fun fact for you that you more than likely already knew, Unity is the more modern Assassin's Creed game to date!
Far Cry 4:
 We got our first look at this game during the Ubisoft conference in the form of a first person cinematic trailer, then when the spotlight shifted to Sony, we got a sizable chunk of gameplay shown off. It involves the protagonist, liberating a monastery and we get a look at the mountains around the monastery. We also get a look at a couple of elephants, which are rumoured to the rideable. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the demo was when another player joined the game and helped to liberate the monastery, that in its self isn't all that interesting but after the demo we are told that anyone can be invited to help out in your game, even if the don't have the game! This feature will doubtlessly enrich the gameplay on a moment to moment basis, and I can't wait to see more of this game as we approach its release date later this year! On one last fanboy note the feature of a friend joining your game without owning the game will be available exclusively on the Playstation platforms!
Mortal Combat X:
 I always give you all my honest opinions of the games I see, so I need to tell you that MCX looked awful. I have never been a fan of 2D fighting games, so I am already on a back footing. However the feature that is both central to Mortal Combat game and also what repulsed me away from the game is the violence. I can tolerate so much violence in a game, however in the gameplay for MCX it was quite frankly disgusting the level of violence present! I won't speak any more about such a game, but I feel I have made my position on the game quite clear.
Dead Island 2: 
This was a game that was not even rumoured to be released, and in light of the fact that Deep Silver are now releasing 2 first person zombie games(Dying Light) I am surprised they are making this game. That fact aside the trailer we saw was a man jogging with the zombie apocalypse in full swing behind him. This man then slowly turns into zombie himself. The trailer then ends with our jogger being hit by a van, then the driver gets out and takes the shoe of the dismembered foot of the jogger! All in a days work then. I have never personally played Dead Island 1, nor did I feel I was missing out on the game, however this game with all it's next generation graphics and open world, this game has really peaked my interest. Maybe this will be a third party version of Dead Rising 3?
Grand Theft Auto V:
Possibly the most surprising(and welcome) announcement of Sony's conference was the PS4 trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5, there isn't much to say about this game really other than the fact that it will be hitting our shelves this "fall". It is also worth mentioning that GTA V will be coming to the Xbox One and PC at the same time! There was no mention as to if there would be any DLC bundled with the game, though as it stands there isn't any DLC, it would just have been nice to get a DLC announcement at the same time!
Bloodborne:
A new  game from From Software will always mean good things are coming and this game looks no different! The trailer shows a cross between a Darks Souls 2(no relation) character and the Grim Reaper, fighting zombie esque creatures in a Gothic city with a very black skyline. The trailer doesn't show us all that much apart from the fact that it looks beautiful and daemons and devils will be involved somewhere! We don't have a release date other than coming 2015, so we will have to wait to get a true feel for what the game is. Though if we are lucky we may get a gameplay demo some time during E3!
The Order 1886:
To be honest my hype for this game was really rather low before E3, and it only sank more after more gameplay from this steam punk cover shooting adventure, I don't know what it is about the game, but to me it doesn't look good. I know that is a bit harsh but there you have it. Seeming to follow suit with too many games, The Order 1886 has recently been delayed until 2015, so hopefully with the extra time to make the game they can capture my interest!
Destiny:
Last but very much not least, we got both a new trailer and a beta date for this beast of a game, anyone who preorders the game will be able to access the beta on the 17th of July. If you preorder the game for a Playstation console you will have access to the beta 4 days before anyone else! I can't tell you how excited I am for this game, and I can't wait to see more of the competitive multiplayer during E3! The game launches on the 9th of September and the day can't come soon enough.

There we go guys, if you have read the whole of this article then thank you very much and well done! I really want to know what you think about the games I have talked about so either leave your thoughts in the comments below or Tweet me. 
Again thank you very much for reading, there has never been a better time to be a gamer, let's hope all the games live upto the hype they have just created!
Ed
Check back soon for more E3 coverage and an in depth breakdown of the Unity trailer!

Saturday 7 June 2014

E3 2014: What To Expect

Hi guys,
 The time is nearly upon us, the time when all players unite under the banner of proud gamers. I'm sure you are aware that I am talking about E3, the global trade show where we are treated to an insight of what we will all be playing later this year in into the next! So I thought I would give all you internetians a run down of the games we know will be at E3, and the ones I suspect will be there. Without further ado let the predictions commence:
  Battlefield Hardline: If you have kept your eye on my site recently you will have read my thoughts on the announcement trailer for the next Battlefield game. If you haven't had a chance to watch the trailer then you can rectify your mistake at the EA conference(which is live at 8:00 PM on Monday the 9th of June) where the trailer will be officially released. Bearing in mind the trailer has already leaked I wouldn't be surprised to see some extra gameplay to be able to show something new for everyone who has already see the trailer.
  Destiny: This game is probably my highest anticipated game of the year(because we don't have many facts about BF Hardline), so I can't wait to see what new Destiny we will be receiving. I believe new Destiny gameplay will be shown off during the Playstation conference at 2:00 AM UK time on Tuesday the 10th of June. Bungie are absolute masters of feeding us enough information to stop us going insane but not enough to stop you coming back for more. I believe and hope that E3 will start the beginning of harder facts coming out the doors of Bungie, but for that, we will have to wait.
  Assassins Creed Unity: This year all Assassins Creed fans are being treated to 100% more Assassins games coming from Ubisoft, yes that is right we will be getting one AC game for last gen consoles, and then Unity will be gracing the walls of next generation owners. Last year at E3 Ubisoft dropped the non to small bomb shell of naval combat on us. That led on to be an integral part of the game, so what will they be treating us to this year? I wouldn't go in expecting as much of a game changer as the naval combat, but I would like to see the introduction of a new gameplay mechanic that we haven't seen before. What ever we see, it will be at 9:00 PM on Monday the 9th of this very month!
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare: As with every E3 for as many years that I have seen, Activision and this year Sledgehammer Games will show of 1-2 single player missions for us to watch in irritation that they haven't shown us the thing that everyone buys the game for, the multiplayer. I would really like to see Sledgehammer games burst out of the fence and show us a multiplayer match played directly from the show floor. No matter what we are show it will with a doubt be at the Xbox conference which is on at 5:30 PM Monday the 9th of June!
  The Division: Last E3 the crowds were stunned into silence when we got our first look at The Division at Ubisofts conference, ever since then the information scene has been desolate. This scene took a turn for the worst when it was announced that the game was being pushed to 2015, I suspect we will be seeing this game on our shelves around this time next year. Delays aside, E3 should signify the start of the trailer tirade that Ubisoft are known for, which isn't always a bad thing. We should be seeing a brand new demo at the Ubisoft conference(which is on at 11:00 PM Monday the 9th of June) and maybe get a solid release date, but I doubt that immensely!
  Batman Arkham Knight: This game was announced out of the blue only a few months ago, but within hours of it being announced it had shoe horned it's way into many people top games of the year list, mine included. I am fairly confident in saying that we will be seeing more of this game in less than 2 weeks let's hope Rocksteady have got some awesome battle arena gameplay to show us!
 The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt: Now that we know that this  beast of a game will be released on February the 24th of next year, it is unlikely we will be seeing any more of this game during the period of E3, however there is a possibility that we will get another trailer, or maybe even a gameplay walkthrough! This game probably won't be appearing at any of the conferences, so keep your eye of any videos coming from CD Projeckt RED's doors.
  Dragon Age Inquisition: I must admit to never having played a Dragon Age game, but ever since Mass Effect 3 changed my perspective on how a game can tell its story, I have been eager to play any other games from Bioware. I would really like to see some more gameplay for this game. When the game is being released in October it wouldn't be too much to expect to see a sizable chunk of gameplay shown off at EA's conference.
  Evolve: This is one of the few games that I have gone from very little excitement to one of my top 3 games coming this year. The scope of the game is truely asstonishing, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I have never played games similar to Left for Dead so this game will be an introduction into a new genre of games, and I am waiting with baited breath for the game to hit our shelves. No matter how good the game will be I expect to see this game making an appearance at E3, maybe we will see it at one of the 2 main conferences(Microsoft and Playstation) but we may just get some over the shoulder gameplay taken from a demo on the show floor, though we don't even know if we will be getting our hands on that!
  So that brings me to the end of my run up to E3 2014, as always the star of the show will be the games that we haven't yet seen at all, so no matter your console preference you really should tune into all of the conferences, I know I will be!
 On one last note, I would like to list the games that I hope will be at E3, but we don't know a single damn thing about them, Mass Effect 4, Bioshock 4, Elder Scrolls VI, Fallout 4 and The Next XCOM Game.
Thank you very much for reading if you are planning to be vocal about your thought through out E3 please bear in mind that this expo is for gamers all together, not just fanboys and fangirls of one console.
Ed
What games are you looking forward to seeing? Let me know if the comments!