On stage at Sony’s E3 2018 press conference Shawn Layden promised a different approach this year, instead of too many trailers and presentations he said they would take a deeper dive into 4 of their key upcoming games: The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, and Spider-Man. They also still showed off a good number of announcements via trailer and not much other info, so for those I will just kinda list them off in another article.
A hooded (hoodied?) banjo player took the stage and picked out a melancholy tune, setting the mood and introducing us to The Last of Us Part 2. The opening showed Ellie, who fans will recognize from the first game, hanging out at a dance, having banter with people around her and eyeing one other dancing woman in particular. It appears Ellie and this woman have a relationship and their conversation cuts into a scene of Ellie out in the woods killing a man. With Ellie as a playable character confirmed, we are shown a section of gameplay with Ellie stealthily infiltrating some sort of bandit camp where we witness one baddie literally disembowel a prisoner they have strung up. I assume to let us know just how bad these people are. The following section of cat and mouse combat is probably one of the most fierce, violent, and serious fight scenes I have seen in gaming.
Even just watching it be played I had a real sense of adrenaline and fear and could imagine playing to keep Ellie unseen and alive. Running and hiding, all encounters seem extremely tense. The combat seems to reward creativity. At one point the player strung together explosives, bow and arrow shots, and a slew of different melee attacks for some vicious combat that I can not wait to get my hands on and try. This game is looking very good to me at this point. No release date has been announced. Watch the gameplay reveal for yourselves. Not for the faint of heart.
After an intermission and a few less-informative trailers a man with a wooden flute played some notes and set the mood and tone to show off Ghost of Tsushima. The game has you play as Jin Sakai, one of the last surviving samurai, fighting back against the Mongol Empire as it invades your home. A 3rd-person open world game, the gameplay reveal showed drop dead gorgeous scenery from beginning to end. Riding your horse through golden grass fields, to one of the most cinematic fight scenes I have ever seen.
Traveling across the countryside, the player noticed some people in trouble and rode their way to check it out. A few townsfolk had been slaughtered by what I assume are Mongol soldiers. Jin Sakai rushes in. The swordplay looks fantastic and for a portion of the sequence the player had teamed up with a bow and arrow wielding NPC. Several traversal and combat mechanics were shown off, including a multi-takedown from stealth. The footage ends with a stunning duel as your friend turns on you. Nothing yet has made me want a 4K TV and a PS4 Pro more than that scene. This game is officially on my short list. No release information yet, but watch the gameplay debut and start anticipating.
Death Stranding. What can I say? I am still intrigued. I’m still confused… but in the best way I think. Death Stranding stars Norman Reedus as Sam, a guy that “makes deliveries” and “can sense ’em”… whatever ’em is. The trailer showed what looks to be gameplay footage of the main protagonist walking and climbing, lugging a variety of large and larger backpacks through several beautiful and empty landscapes. One time, his backpack appeared to be carrying a wrapped up person. Another time he appeared to be towing along a couple little hovering platform-trays which more things were stacked on. Lots of pretty scenes and OH GOD, DID HE JUST RIP OFF HIS TOENAIL?!?!? (Yes, yes he did).
Then there is a tone shift and things get weird… er. There’s definitely something supernatural and invisible. Hand prints appear in the ground with intent and force, created by something invisible. The main character seems to know he is being closed in on. There are some sequences that indicate there will be some sort of stealth gameplay where the backpack is augmented into some sort of contraption which seems to allow the invisible threat to be seen. Also it’s powered by a baby in a container that is worn on your front… It is all very odd and all very interesting. If you can’t tell, I have not been reading the wikipedia about this game, so I am likely behind on all that has been pieced together by the collective internet. Luckily I do love this special brand of crazy. I look forward to the future, and barely being able to understand the Kojima game I have just played. Still no word on a release date, but watch the new trailer and confuse yourself.
And finally the gameplay for Marvel’s Spider-Man was shown, and boy howdy did it impress! The combat looked super fluid, a Spider-Manned-up version of combo-driven super hero combat complete with web slinging to shoot projectiles, using webbing to pull enemies toward you, extremely acrobatic maneuvers, and even grabbing heavy objects with your web and spinning them around you to take out groups of enemies. Throughout the sequence shown I saw multiple uses of spider-sense to alert the player to incoming projectiles or fists.
The combat then gave way to a chase sequence as the fight, which started in a prison as inmates are let loose, makes its way across town. Spider-Man is chasing his enemy, Electro, and we get to see a bit of the swing mechanics in action. Again things look very smooth. It appears that points you will be able to grapple and swing from appear on the scenery around you as you get in proximity and it doesn’t appear to be difficult to do. The combination of agile jumping, web swinging, and wall running made me want to get into this world and start traversing. Through voice-over and culminating at the trailer’s end, it appears that Spidey will have to deal with at least 6 of his biggest foes. Shown in the trailer are Electro, Scorpion, Rhino, Vulture, and Mister Negative. They do not say who the ringleader of the band is, so get ready to find out when Marvel’s Spider-Man releases September 7 for PlayStation 4. Check out the demo video and get hyped!
