Beyond: Two Souls
One of the big announcements from Sony comes in the form of Beyond, David Cage and Quantic Dream's new supernatural thriller starring Ellen Page.
According to David Cage, Ellen Page's involvement is of the utmost importance and key to the game's story: "I'm sure that all gamers will instantly fall in love with her," claims David Cage.
The term “Two Souls” refers to Ellen's character Jody Holmes and the link she possesses to the afterlife. The game itself is set to span over fifteen years, showing her journey as she realises her powers and comes to terms with them.
If Beyond follows in the footsteps of Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) and Heavy Rain, then we're sure to be in for a treat.
The Last of Us
My personal highlight of E3 so far is the gameplay trailer for Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic survival game The Last of Us.
There's a massive focus on interaction between player and sidekick. When entering a new area Ellie will comment to Joel on their surrounds, also if Joel does something deemed unnecessary, like dousing a baddie with a Molotov, Ellie will respond accordingly.
Along with back-seat nagging, the combat seems not only fluid, but also realistic. In the video Joel stealth kills unsuspecting guard. This isn't the Solid Snake one second kill scene, instead it takes Joel a good ten or so seconds to choke the life out of his foe.
After he quietly places the body down, he moves down the hall and a gunfight ensues. Ammo is seemingly sparse, so in a bid to stay alive, he lays in wait and picks people off as the come through doorways. One of the best moments is when he grabs one guy and uses him as a meat-shield and a hostage. He holds the gun to his head and the other enemy doesn't know what to do for the best. He doesn't want to see his friend's brains blown to bits, but Joel can easily pick him off seeing as he has a gun.
This is truly dynamic combat and I am now at least 145% more excited for the release of The Last of Us.
God of War: Ascension
Sony has announced that God of War: Ascension will launch for PlayStation 3 on 12th March 2013.
Playstation Suite
Playstation Suite is now known as Playstation Mobile.
Wonderbook
Wonderbook is a collaboration between Sony's London Studios and best-selling author J.K. Rowling.
Wonderbook works in a similar fashion to that of the 3DS's augmented reality, where a book is laid down and the Playstation camera will produce images on top of said book for the player to interact with.
With J.K writing the story “The Book of Spells” I know that this is going to grab the attention of the Harry Potter fandom. Fans who if it's not up to scratch, won't have any issues with being vocal and voicing their concerns.
PSN Overhaul
Microsoft want gamers to spend more money via films, music and on anything that doesn't relate to gaming. Sony however, are now offering games as an incentive to join PSN.
First up we have the announcement that PSOne classics will be heading to the Vita this summer, starting with Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy 7.
Jack Tretton also revealed during the E3 stage show that the PSN will offer an instant collection of full PS3 games to members for $5 a month. The move starts today with twelve free games including infamous 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Saints Row 2, Virtua Fighter 5, Just Cause 2 and Choplifter HD, with a goal of 12 games being added every month.
What does my Xbox LIVE sub cover again?
Playstation All-stars Battle Royale
Little Big Planet 2 Vita Controller
An update will come later this year to the adorable Little Big Planet 2 that will allow users to play the game while using the PS Vita as a controller.
Unneeded, but still pretty neat.
PS Move Steering Wheel
Possibly the oddest contraption of E3 so far is the announcement of a PS Move based steering wheel.
Anyone else strangely interested by this?
Author's View
This pains me to say but Sony really blew Microsoft out of the water. They showed games, new games, new gaming peripherals, more games and gaming related content.
At E3, this is what I want.
The Last of Us looked amazing! Beyond, looked amazing! The new PSN, looked amazing! Sure, there were stinkers. I'm still not sure what to make of Wonderbook and the steering wheel, but the games I cared about, showed up in force and reaffirmed just how awesome the gaming genre is.
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Author: Wes Copeland
Position: Editor-in-chief
Born in Cyrodiil but raised in Ferelden, more commonly know as England. Wesley Copeland is a passionate writer with more opinions than an ostrich.
Position: Editor-in-chief
Born in Cyrodiil but raised in Ferelden, more commonly know as England. Wesley Copeland is a passionate writer with more opinions than an ostrich.
