The third annual PlayStation Experience is finally here. Just like last year, Sony’s two-day event kicked off with a keynote that lasted over an hour. In the presentation, we saw the debut of some major titles from the company’s first-party developers, but also some new content from third-party studios.
To kick off the show, a new trailer was revealed for an upcoming game that showed a woman in a hijab sneaking through the streets of a military-run town. She eventually makes her way to her rendezvous point, but a few soldiers catch her. Once she and another woman fight them off, her face is revealed: it’s Chloe Frazer, one of Nathan Drake’s female compatriots.
That’s right, we have a new Uncharted game.
But unlike previous titles in the series, the new Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a standalone game with Frazer as its main protagonist. Along with Nadine Ross, the lead mercenary from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Frazer will search for a “legendary artifact” somewhere in the mountain ranges of India. A release date wasn’t announced for the game.
Up next was the latest installation in the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting series, called Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, which is slated to come out sometime in late 2017. In addition to the traditional gameplay found in the fighting series, you’ll also be able to use Infinity Stones as a way to turn the tide of the fight in your favor.
Knack 2, a sequel to one of the launch titles for the PS4, was also announced. It also includes the ability for a friend to join you for some co-op gameplay.
Third-party Games, Remakes and Updates
Third-party production senior director Gio Corsi also went onstage to showcase the plethora of other titles coming to the PlayStation platform. Dreadnought, which we saw at last year’s PAX West, is coming to console sometime in 2017. Supergiant Games’ Pyre will also head to the PS4, and those at the show will have a chance to play the game’s new head-to-head mode, a first-time endeavor for the studio. Absolver, a new online combat-based RPG title, announced that it’s coming to the PS4 first before any other platform. As such, it will also have some exclusive content for PlayStation players. Let It Die from Grasshopper Manufacture (the studio founded by Goichi Suda, aka Suda 51) is now available, and it’s free to download. For the rest of the third-party games announced for the PlayStation platform, take a look at the list below.
VaneWhat Remains of Edith FinchNex Machina (from Resogun studio Housemarque)Mother Russia BleedsGarou Mark of the WolvesSurgeon Simulator: Experience Reality (PlayStation VR)Lara Croft Go
There were also a few remakes announced from the stage. Fans got their first look at the remastered version of the Crash Bandicoot series, titled the N. Sane Trilogy. Vicarious Visions game director Dan Tanguay said that his studio rebuilt the game’s original levels, characters, and cinematics, but they also added a new save system, menus, and time trials.
The Wipeout racing series, which includes Wipeout HD, Wipeout HD Fury, and Wipeout 2048, is also getting a remake for the PS4 and PS4 Pro in the form of the Wipeout Omega Collection. For Pro owners, the game will support 4K resolution as well as high dynamic range (HDR).
For the even more nostalgic fan, there are some classic games that are coming back to the PlayStation 4. This includes PaRappa the Rapper, Patapon, LocoRoco (all three games will get native 4K support on the PS4 Pro), and Ys Origin. As an extra bonus, Windjammers, which was initially released on the Neo Geo, is also coming soon to the PS4.
Updates on upcoming titles were also available. Prior to the release of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard next month, the final demo for the game is now available to download on the PlayStation 4 as well as PlayStation VR (PSVR). We haven’t seen Ace Combat VII since last year’s PlayStation Experience, but a new trailer was also revealed. Those at the show will be able to try it as well. Gran Turismo Sport was delayed to 2017, but a new trailer showed that the game would get HDR support in addition to the implementation of PSVR.
A couple of Japanese games also received some release dates for North American fans. Nier Automatais is scheduled for releas on March 7, 2017, ande Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is set to arrive sometime next year. Additional new trailers were shown for upcoming games including Nioh, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, Yakuza 6 and Yakuza Kiwami, MLB The Show 17 (which includes a new Retro mode), and of course the highly-anticipated Horizon Zero Dawn.
Where’s PSVR?
Other than a brief mention alongside Resident Evil 7 and a small highlight reel, the PSVR lacked any significant presence. In fact, the only new game for Sony’s virtual reality headset that received significant airtime was a ship-based shooter called Starblood Arena, which is coming in the spring. The lack of PSVR coverage at the show is definitely a concern, especially after its October release date.
One More Thing
As the show began with a Naughty Dog, so it ends with another game from the studio. The story of Joel and Ellie isn’t over, and Naughty Dog showed a brief cinematic of the duo’s next chapter in The Last of Us Part II. The studio is using an updated engine for development, but it’s still in the early stages of creating the game. However, we might see the title later this year as part of Sony’s press conference at E3.
Just like The Game Awards earlier this week, PlayStation Experience provides an extraordinary list of games that arrives in the coming days, weeks, and months. Those fortunate enough to make it to the show will have some new demos to try out. For the rest of us, there’s always new trailers to watch on the company’s YouTube page.
