Spider-Man
Sony and PlayStation 4 at E3
Sony is doing things a bit differently this year with their E3 conference, as they’ll be focusing on what they’re calling the “big four.” The conference will deep dive on four big upcoming PS4 games, the first of which is the highly anticipated Spider-Man from Insomniac Games, the creators of Ratchet & Clank.
Spider-Man tells an original story for the characters, and sees an older Peter Parker who’s now been the titular hero for eight years. Since Peter is an experienced Spidey he already has a full grasp on his powers, and he’s more than comfortable as the hero, meaning this isn’t going to be just another origin story. Although we don’t know too much about exact story details yet we do know a number of characters that will be appearing including Mary Jane, Miles Morales, Mr. Negative, Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin, Norman Osborn, and Shocker.
Gameplay-wise, Game Informer’s cover story earlier this year gave us our most in-depth look yet showing off how interactive the world can be, web-swinging, various gadgets you’ll have access to, and a bit of how combat works. The new game has a big focus on momentum, keeping Spider-Man moving through the environment through a combination of parkour and web-swinging. Considering the game is set to launch on Sept. 7, you can expect we’ll get a good amount of details at this year’s E3.
Ghost of Tsushima
Sony and PlayStation 4 at E3
Ghost of Tsushima was a huge surprise at Paris Games Week last year, the kind of announcement you’d expect to start or end an E3 press conference. A gorgeous and moody trailer showed off a Feudal Japan setting that almost looked like a new Onimusha, before revealing the Ghost of Tsushima title followed by the Sucker Punch logo. It’s a huge deviation from Sucker Punch’s usual titles, which mostly include the superhero-themed inFamous series and Sly Cooper.
Outside of the initial reveal trailer we know very little about Ghost of Tsushima, and Sony has been intentionally tight-lipped. What we do know is that the game will be open-world, and takes place in on the island of Tsushima, during the Mongol invasions of Japan in 1294. With God of War now out and Spider-Man just around the corner, Ghost of Tsushima could easily be the next big PS4 exclusive that Sony focuses on. Seeing as the company has said little so far, this year’s E3 should give us a good bit of information on the title.
The Last of Us Part II
Sony and PlayStation 4 at E3
The Last of Us is one of the highest rated games of all time, and it was a smash hit with both critics and fans alike. When a sequel was announced at the PlayStation Experience in 2016, fans were justifiably excited, but we’ve yet to learn much since then. The first trailer showed us an older Joel and Ellie in a house filled with dead bodies. Ellie seems incredibly vengeful, and during PSX Neil Druckmann, the game’s director, went on to say that The Last of Us Part II would be a game about “hate.”
Since that initial trailer, we’ve seen one more incredibly brutal trailer at Paris Games Week 2017. The second one introduces four brand new characters, as they viciously struggle against robed men trying to hang them. We know next to nothing about these new characters, but the new trailer certainly made an impression. Naughty Dog is easily one of Sony’s top developers, if not their absolute top, so you can expect The Last of Us Part II to be a big focus from here on.
Death Stranding
Sony and PlayStation 4 at E3
Hideo Kojima has become something of a rockstar in the video game industry in recent years, especially after his split with Konami in 2015. Fans lost it when Kojima came onstage at E3 2015 and revealed the brand new game Death Stranding, starring actor Norman Reedus to boot. Since then it’s been one cryptic trailer and piece of information after another, and even for everything we’ve seen we really have no idea what Death Stranding actually is. Outside of some very basic information, we know Guerilla Games helped collaborate on the game using the Decima Engine.
Each trailer for the game only makes things more confusing, like when The Game Awards trailer zooms down Norman Reedus’ throat to reveal a baby (yes really). We’ve heard bits and pieces on Death Stranding, like how an underwater scene was a “Game Over” purgatory or how the game will be a “global player collaboration” experience. We also know that the Guillermo del Toro, Mads Mikkelsen, Troy Baker, and Emily O’Brien all have some kind of role to play in the experience. There’s still so much that’s unknown about Death Stranding, not to mention any indication on when we might see it. Hopefully E3 2018 is the year Kojima decides to explain a little bit of the reasoning behind his madness.
Other Potential Games
Sony and PlayStation 4 at E3
While Sony has confirmed they’ll be focusing on those four big games at E3, there’s still a chance we could see some info on other upcoming titles. There are plenty of games that Sony has cooking from different studios including the open-world zombie title Days Gone, and the adorable-looking Concrete Genie. At the same time, it’s been a while since we’ve heard anything on Media Molecule’s strange new user-driven game, Dreams. We could potentially see new info and/or a release date for any one of these games.
In terms of surprises, there’s any number of possibilities for this E3. Sony has a history of Final Fantasy related announcements at E3 with Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts III, and the Final Fantasy VII Remake all officially announced during a Sony conference. Because of this, it’s not unreasonable to say we could see something from Square Enix, maybe a trailer for the VII Remake or the new Final Fantasy XV DLC.
A new domain registered by Capcom suggests we could be seeing Devil May Cry 5, a franchise that has traditionally leaned toward PlayStation. There’s also From Software’s mysterious new game, Shadows Die Twice, which we could potentially see more on during Sony’s event, considering their relationship with From on Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne. There’s also the MediEvil remaster that was announced at PSX last year, which we’ve also yet to hear anything about. We know that the bulk of information will be on the previously mentioned four games, but it’d be surprising if Sony didn’t manage to slip a couple trailer in at the same time.
Sony’s E3 2018 press conference will take place on Monday, June 11, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Published: Jun 4, 2018 03:31 pm