E3 2016, Day 1 Part 2 - Sony & PC Game Show
The second half of our coverage of Day 1 of E3 spans what has been lauded as the best conference of the show, Sony, and the different, slightly awkward but entertaining PC Game Show.
Sony
Games Shown
God of War, The Last Guardian, Horizon Zero Dawn, Detroit Become Human, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, PSVR, Far Point, Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission, Batman: Arkham VR, Final Fantasy XV VR, COD Infinite Warfare, Crash Bandicoot 1, 2, Warped Remastered, Crash coming to Skylanders Imaginators, Lego Star Wars The Force Awakens, Death Stranding, Spiderman PS4, Days Gone
Breakdown
By all accounts, Sony had the strongest press conference this year. Not content with the usual massive 3 screen setup, they brought along an entire orchestra to the proceedings. Sony opened with a massive game in God of War, a continuation of the much lauded PS3 series, yet very different in it’s approach. From then on it was simply game after game after game, all of which looked fascinating in their own ways. This is also the big year for PSVR, which got a release date of October 13, as well as a bunch of full on AAA games for the system, which will have “over 50” titles before Christmas. There was no mention whatsoever of the Vita. Sony also bought Kojima on stage in the most extravagant way they could, announcing his new game in Death Stranding, which hopefully will make it out before 2025.
Personal Takeaways
Horizon: Zero Dawn is potentially my most anticipated game at the moment. The gameplay demo that was shown on stage was everything I hoped it would be. Bring on 2017 already.
I’ve given zero f**ks about the God of War franchise in my life, yet somehow Sony managed to switch it around and have me super intrigued with this new instalment. It looks like it still draw from it’s roots, but has also grown up to become a game for adults.
If VR is to succeed as a platform, it’ll be PSVR that pushes it to the mainstream. From all accounts Sony are doing everything right when it comes to the future platform, so I have high hopes - fingers crossed it doesn’t become the next Vita.
As a side note, these games are now firmly on my radar: Detroit Become Human, Far Point, Crash remasters, Death Stranding and Spiderman. I’m intrigued for all of these in one way or another - we’ll see just how they turn out before getting too hyped.
PC Game Show
Games Shown
Dawn of War 3, Oxygen Not Included, Ark Survival Evolved, Giant Cop, Mount and Blade 2, The Surge, Lawbreakers, AMD Polaris series, Vampyr, Killing Floor 2, Tyranny, Observer, Dropzone, Arma 3 Apex, Turing Test, Overland, Dual Universe, Halo Wars 2, Day of Infamy, Mirage, Mages of Mystralia, Warfare, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Warren Spector
Breakdown
The PC Game Show was much more streamlined this year, banging through the games with trailers and short interviews. As AMD was a major sponsor of the show they of course got a chance to show off their new hardware. I did find it interesting that of all the games talked about, Civ 6 wasn’t even mentioned at all. The conference ended with a fantastic speech about PC gaming from Warren Spector, creator of the Deus Ex games and a legend in the industry.
Personal Takeaways
Turing Test looks utterly fantastic. A cross between Portal and Antechamber, this puzzle game looks right up my alley.
Tyranny is the next CRPG from Obsidian, creators of Pillars of Eternity. It has an interesting premise - what if evil won? Given the in depth complex lore these guys created for Pillars, I have no doubt this game will be super intriguing.
AMD’s RX 480 is probably going to be a great VR ready GPU at a much lower price point than Nvidia’s recently announced GTX 10 series cards, and will be available in a few weeks.
I've always happily sat on the fringes of ARK, appreciating what it is from afar - but the more recent updates make it look beautiful and sound even more fun. When this game is actually finished, I think it's really going to be something special.