With promises of updates from PS5 first-party studios and updates after the show, Sony provided perhaps the biggest, E3-style view into what PS5 fans can expect for Christmas and the near future.
The surprise, lengthy Direct-style showcase was overdue, although Sony confirmed that a look at the next-generation PlayStation VR headset was off the cards. Still, with titles like God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Stray, Forspoken, Gran Turismo 7, Spider-Man 2, God of War: Ragnarok, and the upcoming next-gen relaunch of Grand Theft Auto 5, there was plenty to look forward to.
The show opened with a message — “Gameplay captured from a PS5 system” — and what would later be revealed as an updated live action PlayStation ad. There were stunts, helicopter chases, people playing on a painfully elaborate chess set, miltech personnel storming a building and talk of a “Queen” being captured.
Once that was done, Jim Ryan appeared and the show kicked off proper with the latest title from Aspyr and Lucasarts and a title for the Knights of the Old Republic Remake.
Next up was a third-person action RPG that began with a character being kicked out into space. It looks like your standard third-person action combat, more in the style of a Bayonetta or a NieR in terms of the fluidity. It’s called Project Eve.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands followed with a release date — March 25, 2022 — and more of a look at its in-game fantasy environments.
Next up was Forspoken and its high-fantasy world, although we got a look at how the game gets started. You star as a normal character who looks like they’re hoping to get out of what could be Manhattan with their cat; they end up in a planet casting magic, freezing things in place, and traversing fairly fast with dashes and other abilities.
It’s launching in Autumn 2022 for Australians.
Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Extraction, which drops January 2022, then played a new cinematic trailer. Remedy’s Alan Wake remaster then followed — with a credit for Epic Games Publishing — and a look at its remastered textures. It’ll be launching on October 5.
GTA 5 then showcased some of the additions it’d provide for next-gen consoles, like seamless character switching. It’ll launch on PlayStation 5 in March 2022.
Ghostwire: Tokyo was the next cab off the rank, unveiling what looked like the main antagonist, more enemies and a little more of the moment to moment gameplay. That was followed up by more gameplay from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, showcasing what looked like some space combat, Cosmo the Russian dog, and a church of space priests that look like they’ll be your main opponents.
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt then played a PS5 trailer for its bloody battle royale. That’s already out now, and it was followed by another game launching real soon: Deathloop.
It was mostly a story trailer from Colt’s perspective, although there were some neat interactions: Shooting a vending machine causes cans to spill onto the floor, which enemies can trip over.
Then we had the most offbeat trailer: an “upside-down digital/analogue universe” exhibition in partnership with Epic, Amnesiac and Kid A from Radiohead. It’ll be launching this November.
That was followed by a much more traditional video game, one inspired by the islands of New Caledonia. It’s called Tchia.
Next cab off the rank was Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, or at least a PS5 and PC remaster. That’ll be launching early 2022. And after a small note from PlayStation’s Herman Hulst, Insomniac and Marvel’s latest project: Marvel Wolverine was revealed.
An organ-driven soundtrack then played for a look at Gran Turismo 7, our first proper look at the latest generation of Sony’s racing franchise. The game’s heavy on style — even compared to something like Forza Horizon — and the showcase actually revealed an awful lot about the menu system and what looks like one of the most extensive photo modes ever seen.
Gran Turismo 7 is launching on March 4, 2022.
Insomniac then revealed Spider-Man 2, which won’t be out until 2023. It’ll feature Venom as a key character, with both Peter Parker and Miles Morales featured in their respective Spidey outfits.
God of War: Ragnarok then brought Boy back into the fray. He wants to take on Loki and Boy suggests getting the help of Odin instead. There’s no release date for God of War: Ragnarok yet, but everything from the trailer looks world-class so far. PlayStation’s Herman Hulst then said in the post-showcase interview that Ragnarok would be the finale in the “Norse” saga, as Sony Santa Monica put it. We’ll definitely see Ragnarok in the game, as well as Thor. (Interestingly, Richard Schiff — or Toby from The West Wing — will be playing Odin in the game.)
This post is being updated live.
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