The Great E3 Press Event dash is nearly over, with Sony as the final presenter. Numerous leaks have been spewing out on social media, and some titles are expected to be announced at the event. Everything will be out on the show floor tomorrow, so it's time to see how Sony will end Monday's slew of press events.
The Last Guardian
It's actually here. After years of rumors and speculation, we're finally seeing footage of The Last Guardian. Gameplay footage showed the game's main character as he runs through a large set of ruins. He calls for his companion -- a large, winged, four-legged beast. The duo help each other move forward as they traverse deep caverns and crumbling structures.
There are numerous times when the boy protagonist has to make jumps, and it seems as if he won't make it, but thanks to his large feathered friend, he escapes death multiple times.
After avoiding danger in more ways than one, the two finally reach the other side of the ruins, and we see the name of the game with a release date of 2016. Furthermore, the gameplay shown obviously used the PlayStation 4.
This was one of those games that everyone thought would never come to fruition, but at last it's finally here. Half-Life 3, you're next.
From The Future To The Distant Future
The developers known for the Killzone series have a new project to show fans called Horizon. The trailer shows a character walking alongside a wall of cave paintings. There's talk of the "Old Ones," or what seems to be the peak of humanity before something catastrophic happened to wipe civilization back to a Stone Age-like era. Nature takes over the streets and buildings, while humanity's final survivors come together to build new settlements while also learning new skills like hunting machines while also living in peace.
Gameplay showed a female character avoiding detection from enemy machines, and then sneaking up on large robotic beings. With a special bow, she scares off the small fry but has to face a giant creature resembling a weird version of a triceratops. Weapons are accessible through a quick inventory wheel that allows you to have multiple types of arrows as well as heavy-impact projectiles. Only by piercing a vulnerable fragment inside the mech can it be taken down.
It's an interesting mix of the ancient world and the world of tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see more of that game (hopefully) on the show floor this week. No release date was announced.
Agent 47 Returns
The Hitman cometh. With a trailer showing a rich, yet seedy world, we saw Agent 47 taking out an unknown target. The game, simply titled Hitman, will see the beta arrive on the PlayStation 4 soon. There was no clear date for the beta or even a release date.
Fight!
Birdie and Cammy add to the lineup in the next installment of the Street Fighter games, called Street Fighter V. Once again, PS4 owners will be able to have an exclusive beta starting July 23.
No Man's Sky
The universe sandbox game is back again, and we're seeing more gameplay from the title created by Hello Games.
This time, the demo showed an epic battle amidst a backdrop of multiple planets and structures. However, the developers really wanted to hone that sense of scale in the game. Zooming out from the current planet shows areas that can immediately be reached through fast travel. Zoom out even more, and every blip in space is its own solar system with the possibility of encountering new life.
The demo transported us to a brand new world. In addition, each planet is fully destructible, but be warned; sentinels who protect the planet will hunt you down if you threaten the world's existence. At a beacon, you can upload data about a planet and claim the discoveries as your own.
Sadly, we still don't have a release date for the game. Hopefully, the next time we see it at a press event, not only will we get a date, but that date won't be too far into the future.
Dream Big
Media Molecule, the team behind the popular titles Little Big Planet and Tearaway, now have a new title in the works called Dreams.
Just like the past two games, heavy importance is placed on user creativity. Players can create their own original work in the dreamspace, while other players can also enter your space and make their own mark in your dreams. Additionally, you can control figures in the space like a puppet.
It's definitely a strange game, but the visuals make it almost seem like a mix between claymation and a Van Gogh piece. There's always talk that the only limit in certain games is your imagination, but from these early glances, it actually seems possible through the development team's latest work.
Into The Wild
Campo Santo takes us on a first-person adventure through the wilderness with only a female voice to talk and guide us through our journey in Firewatch.
What starts out as a peaceful walk in the woods, turns into an intense game of cat-and-mouse as you have to find out the fate of two girls who disappeared in the wild. However, there's no word yet on a release.
Destiny
The ambitious multiplayer game by former Halo developer Bungie is getting a new expansion called The Taken King. A new villain enters the space along with new minions. As always, the Guardians of Destiny are also receiving new powers and weapons to take on this new foe. Players won't have to wait long with the expansion coming out in September 2015.
Mind The Gap
For the second time today, we're looking at Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. However, we saw one half of the Frye twins at Ubisoft, specifically Jacob Frye. Here, we get a closer look at Evie Frye. We also get a look at her arsenal, which consists of throwing knives and a pretty cool cane sword.
Final Fantasy
It's another Final Fantasy title, but smaller. The tale follows two tiny siblings and their tiny world. It's due to come out in 2016.
But the bigger news is the return of a classic. Final Fantasy VII is finally getting the remake everyone has been wanting for years, called, appropriately enough, Final Fantasy Remake. A few years ago, we saw a concept as to how it would look like on today's consoles, but this time it's real. No date has been announced yet, but you can bet we'll be keeping an eye on this.
Indie Titles
Devolver Digital is also making an appearance on the PlayStation 4, Vita, or both. These include Ronin, Eitr, Mother Russia Bleeds and Crossing Souls.
Another fan favorite is also making its return after a long, long time. Shenmue 3 is finally in the works, and it needs funding on Kickstarter. Even with a $2 million goal, there's more than enough fans to easily reach that goal. Hopefully.
I Am The Night
With only a week left until release, we're getting one more trailer for the new Batman: Arkham Knight. Featuring the cremation of Joker, we see gameplay where a cop has to deal with a minor incident at a restaurant. However, it's actually Scarecrow as the cop who now must face his worst nightmare of blood, gore and demon-like skeletons. We'll see the full story in about a week.
Hello Morpheus And Vue
Just like Microsoft, Sony is putting a lot of effort into VR, specifically with Project Morpheus. However, the company went a different route, focusing multiplayer games both local and online. Games like Wayward Sky and EVE: Valkyrie make up a seemingly huge roster which should provide a great deal of VR content on Morpheus.
In terms of entertainment, Sony praised its continued cooperation with Spotify, but PlayStation Vue seems to give cable providers a run for their money by allowing users to subscribe to individual channels instead of ordering a whole package. There's no word yet on pricing for each channel.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Instead of the usual Microsoft reveal, Activision switched sides and showed off Call of Duty: Black Ops III at Sony's event, a first for the publisher.
Instead of multiplayer, single player gameplay was shown with space for a total of four players for cooperative missions.
The gameplay showed the team inside a burning aircraft amidst a war-torn city. The big emphasis this time is around the futuristic armor and weapons, which seems to take a page from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. You're not just using your gun in combat. An arsenal of futuristic versions of today's weapons coupled with high-tech armor puts a new twist on combat while still keeping the familiar gameplay well-known throughout the series.
Now we get to the meat of the game: multiplayer. With all the futuristic tech, it's more chaotic and it will be just a little bit harder to keep your killstreak alive. It's everything you expect from a Call of Duty, and there's no doubt that fans will jump on it. Additionally, PlayStation 4 owners will be able to play new content first, including the beta, when it comes out in August.
Not Giving Up
A few years after release, the Vita doesn't seem like it's the handheld device that everybody wants, but that doesn't mean Sony is giving up on its smaller device. A brief montage of games were announced for the Vita, but even then, owners can use it as a second screen for their PS4, use it for remote play, or even play original titles.
Star Wars Everywhere
Star Wars is joining the Pixar and Marvel roster for Disney Infinity 3.0. It comes with expansion sets such as Rise Against The Empire, which will introduce new Star Wars fans to the classic series with the full cast of characters at the player's disposal, including the legendary Boba Fett figurine, which is part of the limited edition lineup coming out this fall.
We saw Star Wars: Battlefront earlier today at EA's press event, showing us new gameplay on Hoth. However, DICE wanted to show more at Sony's event.
The focus this time is on the issue of survival. Players must survive waves of Imperial forces while they wait for reinforcements to arrive. Additional powerups can be acquired through an escape pod sent down after a certain amount of waves. As you fight more and more waves, foes become tougher and you get access to even more powerful weapons in the hope of beating the odds and surviving the onslaught.
Hello Drake
Nathan Drake is here again. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was last shown with a short trailer, but this time, we seem to have a gameplay demo.
Even with a slight hiccup in the demo, fans were glad to see Nathan Drake in a game again as he traverses a crowded market with his sidekick, Sully. However, danger strikes and the two must immediately shoot their way through multiple enemies.
Drake still has his old tricks, such as getting up close and personal to enemies with a melee attack while scavenging various weapons all over the area. Oh, and dodging a heavily-armed truck. Considering the kind of trouble he gets himself in, it's just another day in the park.
However, he also has some new skills such as the ability to drive vehicles. But he even messes that up by wrecking market stands, scaffoldings and almost running over people in an attempt to evade the powerful truck, but try as he may, he always gets caught by enemies. The trailer ends with him using a grappling hook to latch onto the truck on the bridge above, but not before a looming scaffold blocks his way.
The next (and final?) chapter in the Nathan Drake saga comes next year.
The Best Is Yet To Come
With Sony's event over, E3 Day 0 comes to a close. Square Enix and Nintendo round out the final press conferences tomorrow, but we'll get our hands-on time with as many games as we can starting tonight with Halo 5: Guardians. There's a lot more to see at E3 in the coming days, and we'll be there to get as much hands-on time as we can with as many games as possible.
Follow Rexly Peñaflorida II @Heirdeux. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
