E3 Predictions

 

Well we are less than a month away from E3 2013, and it’s going to be a good one. Sony is going to be showing off a lot of new things. Obviously the center of their presentation will be the PS4. Everyone has been anticipating what they will announce next for the console, as well as showing off the console itself. With all of the rumors flying around, I have anticipated a few things myself.

 

Sony is going to try to do everything right for this consoles launch. The PS3 had a rocky launch. It was plagued by set backs, a high retail price and virtually no games. If Sony wants to come out strong they are going to need to support their console from day 1. I am expecting the console itself is going to cost around $400, which is reasonable I think. A lot of people held off on getting a PS3 because of the high price tag so Sony is going to have to make that more appealing to buyers. But what will we be getting for $400? I am expecting a pretty large hard drive. To say a TB of data wouldn’t be very outlandish considering those of us with PS Plus could fill a 500GB with no issue.

 

But what about the games? Well I expect to see the normal companies there. Gureilla games will be showing off Killzone: Shadowfall, Sucker Punch is showing off Infamous: Second Son, but what about the other 1st part developers? Naughty Dog is set to release The Last of Us this june, but I feel like they have something up their sleeves for the PS4. They have had a high profile game on every single Sony console (Crash, Jak, and Ratchet&Clank). Another developer I expect to see is Santa Monica Studios. Their latest release was God of War: Acension but they have to be working on something for the PS4. Then we have our 3rd party developers, EA, Insomniac (;__;), Irrational games, Gear Box, etc. As far as games go I’m not sure what will be announced. If I were a developer I would use this as a new beginning and start off fresh with a new IP. We have so many sequels and spin offs of the games we like, but lets see something new.

Not all of the attention will be on the PS4. Sony can’t forget about the Vita. The Vita still hasn’t got the “Must Have” game yet. I expect Sony to show off a few surprises, maybe even a price drop. The Vita is an awesome system but it hasn’t captured attention like the 3DS has. Sony needs to really kick that console into high gear and really have it show off what it has.

 

I’m not entirely to sure about this next part but it would be nice to see some indie games shown off. Over the past year, Sony has shown strong interest in indie developers. Such games like Journey and Guaccamele have really captured the attention of gamers as quality games. Sony has seen the potential in the indie studios so I think we will see strong support from the independent studios.

 

Personally I cannot wait for E3. I know this is a Playstation focused blog but I always get excited to see what everyone else has to offer (except microsoft, nobody cares about the kinect). E3 2013 is happening June 11-13 and in those three days I think the gaming world as a whole will change as the next generation is shown off

Gran Turismo 6 Announced

 

Sony has announced that Gran Turismo 6 will be coming out this fall for the PS3. There are no details yet if a PS4 version is in the works but I assume we will hear that at E3. Among the new features in GT6, you can now customize your cars. So the car you tuned can not only sound awesome but look awesome. View the announcement trailer above to get a glimpse at what to expect

Heavenly Sword [Retro?] Review

I recently purchased a copy of the PS3 launch title Heavenly Sword.  After playing All Stars I wanted to play more of the games of the characters involved, this is the first of such games. I’m not sure if I can call this retro but i mean the game is almost 7 years old.

 

Heavenly Sword..what can I say about it.  It’s a pretty decent game, pretty short, but otherwise good. I decided to pick it up after seeing it at my local game store for $10. The game does show its age, remember it was a launch title for the ps3. In terms of story this game is great. The main character Nariko becomes the wielder of the heavenly sword and must use it to defend her tribe against an army of invaders who want to destroy the tribe. The one problem is that whomever wields the heavenly sword eventually dies because it drains their life force (this isn’t a spoiler, its literally in the first scene of the game). The story is the main driving force of this game, considering the gameplay is nothing special.

The gameplay is filled with sixxaxis controls and poor movement. I’m trying not to be so hard on the game considering it was a launch title but it’s hard to not be.  The combat is very clunky. It is a mixture of light, heavy and ranged attacks.  The enemy’s have the same type of stance attacks.  This causes a problem because range attacks can only be blocked when you are in that stance, the same goes for heavy and normal. When I would blocked I usually had a 50/50 shot of blocking but with the enemy’s it was different. I found myself rolling around an enemy like an idiot trying to kill him (this happens A LOT in the final boss). I would roll behind them, use a heavy attack and they would still somehow block it. Another gripe is the limit to how Nariko can use the heavenly sword. The attacks are very generic and basic, you would think being a divine sword you could have a variety of power. When playing it I kept thinking of God of War,the games play very similar. Even though they are similar, God of War does it a hell of a lot better. Kratos has magic and new abilities and a wide variety of attacks. Nariko has a list of combos but good luck executing one because of how clunky the combat is.

Another similarity between this game and God of War is the quick time events and puzzles, but GOW does it better sill. There’s this weird time limit on the events, it feels like you don’t have enough time to react and even if you do it might still register as failed. The puzzles aren’t much better. There are some puzzles in this game that you will be so confused about how to solve them. This isn’t because they are difficult but because they are dam near impossible. There’s one in chapter 4 where you open a door to reveal a switch. You must then throw a disk at the switch to open the door. The kicker? you have 5 seconds and it takes 4 to walk over to the box of discs. I ended up throwing the dead body of a soldier at the switch to open the door because that was the closest thing to me.

Heavenly Sword isn’t bad. It is worth the $10 price tag but that’s about it. If i bought this when the ps3 first came out for $60 I’d be pissed. Its very short ( i beat it in about 5-6 hours). Even though it has a lot of combat flaws it is still enjoyable. The story is well done and the characters develop nicely (well Narkio, Kai, and Bohan, everyone else need not apply). So if you happen to stumble across this game at your local bargain bin I would suggest adding it to your collection, mostly for the novelty of it at this point.

What are you Playing?

Hey everyone, happy friday! As the weekend starts off I already have my plans of how I want to spend it. I plan on playing the hell out of Bioshock Infinite (and then Bioshock 1 if I beat Infinite). I plan on writing  review for Infinite as well as a video of the Premium Edition unboxing so stay tuned for that. What are you playing this weekend?

Crytek USA Looking to obtain Darksiders IP

Crytek USA, or as you know them Vigil Games, are looking to bid on the Darksiders IP when it goes on the market. One of the original founders of Vigil (and now the CEO of Crytek USA) David Adams tweeted “Going to bid on Darksiders IP. Put 7 years of heart and soul into that franchise, and I think it belongs at home with it creators.” Now originally Crytek didn’t want Darksiders because it “Didn’t fit their strategy”. But I think the IP will be in good hands with the original team. I am a fan of the Darksiders series and I was disappointed when I found out that nobody put a bid on Vigil, but then Crytek saved the day and hired most of the team. Then the question came about what to do with their IP’s? Darksiders was starting to come into its own and from what we can gather Vigil was working on some top secret game that blew everyone away. I have no doubt that the studio will be able to reclaim the rights of the IP. Until an official announcement is made, I want you all to have this thought in your mind. A Darksiders game made in Cryengine.

What Metal Gear is it Anyway?

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeros? The Phantom Pain? Metal Gear Solid 5? Yes! all correct! Kojima officially announced today that Ground Zeros and The Phantom Pain are actually one in the same. Metal Gear Solid 5 is both of these “games” and more combined into one. What exactly is it about? I’m not too sure myself but it looks fantastic in its GDC trailer. Hopefully MGS5 will be  a PS4 launch title (now that goes without saying eh?) Above is the trailer for Metal Gear Sold 5: The Phantom Pain, watch it and bask in its glory!

17 Minuets of Battlefield 4

 

Battlefield 4 was officially announced today and with that came a nice little teaser trailer.  A trailer is nice but you want more than that right? DICE has posted a video which shows of 17 minuets of gameplay. I have got to say the Frostbite Engine has never looked better. The scenery and the lighting looks so much more realistic.  As for the game itself, they have really jumped from what Battlefield 3 was. The gameplay still is the same but it seems like it flows much better. I’m sure there will be more at E3 but for now here is some uncut gameplay for your viewing pleasure. Battlefield 4 is set to release Fall 2013