While Microsoft came to E3 showing off new hardware, Sony took a different approach, left Playstation Neo at home, and went all out with new game announcements and a live orchestral score underscoring the entire event. In the opinion of many gamers, their conference at E3 trumped the rest thanks to high quality games and plenty of juicy gameplay footage.
The highlight of the Sony conference and possibly the entire convention was probably the announcement of a new God of War game. The new game, simply called God of War, appears to be a reboot for the popular series. Perhaps taking influence from the popularity of the TV show Vikings, the new God of War ditches Greek mythology to place Kratos (or whatever he'll now be called) deep in Norse mythology. The footage they showed was spectacular with crisp textures, smooth gameplay, and tons of action. If any game from E3 is going to be a system seller, it's probably the new God of War.
Not content with wowing audiences with a new God of War, Sony showed off the tense, open-world zombie survival game Days Gone. The gameplay trailer is non-stop in terms of action with the intensity level turned up to 11 thanks to an endless horde of the fast and vicious zombies of the game.
The fun didn't stop there though, Sony also took the time to debut the trailer for Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima's first game post-Konami starring Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead and Boondock Saints. far from the action-packed affairs of Days Gone and God of War, Death Stranding held back on gameplay footage and opted instead to deliver an emotional and enigmatic teaser. The question remains however whether Kojima will deliver in the long run, free from the chains of the Metal Gear series that made him such a behemoth in the industry.
Then there's the reveal of Detroit: Become Human, the new brainchild of David Cage and Quantic Dream, developer of the critically-acclaimed Heavy Rain. The trailer promised a game that builds upon the formula that Cage used for Heavy Rain and with a bit of luck will mean a more meaty gaming experience than its predecessor.
Another stand-out title came from Killzone developer Guerilla Games in the form of Horizon Zero Dawn - a post-apocalyptic, open-world game set a thousand years after the fall of civilization in a world that eschews the wastelands of many post-apocalyptic worlds for one filled with verdant plants and wild animals. Also populating the world, aside from the surviving humans are the robotic creations of the bygone civilization. The game itself looks like it takes some influence from the Monster Hunter series of games with the developers making nods to both GTA and Skyrim in describing the type of game it will be.
Finally, for all you horror fans out there, Capcom revealed Resident Evil 7 which looks set to not just scare the proverbial shite out of you but very likely scare the actual shite out of you with its first-person VR focused perspective. A teaser demo for the game is now available from the Playstation Store.
Now I leave you with the live orchestra opening up the Sony conference for your listening and viewing pleasure. Come back tomorrow for highlights on the rest of E3 where we'll see the new Zelda game, Battlefield 1, Watch Dogs 2 and more!
