Gamescom PlayStation Titles
After Nintendo and Microsoft it’s time to take a look at some of the PlayStation games at Gamescom 2014. And while we did cover Bloodborne, there are a lot of other titles that are worth mentioning, such as Until Dawn, The Order 1886, SingStar, Little Big Planet 3 and Far Cry 4.
Until Dawn
It’s great to see that horror games have finally made a comeback with The Evil Within, Alien Isolation, Silent Hills, Fatal Frame and now Until Dawn. Until Dawn is a game that was initially announced in 2012 as a PlayStation 3 exclusive which features move support. Fast forward years later and the game was reintroduced as a PlayStation 4 exclusive.
The game has fixed camera angles emulating that survival horror style from two decades ago. During the demo the few scares I saw were exclusively jump scares. The gameplay is also reminiscent of old adventure games, as there were no combat sections to speak off, with the main emphasis on puzzle solving.
Since it was originally meant to feature move support the Until Dawn uses the Dual Shock 4’s motion sensitivity features in an interesting way. You move the character with the left analog stick but point your flash light by moving the whole controller. When you inspect objects you can also rotate them using the motion sensor in order to get a better view of the object.
The game will have a lot of choices each influencing the outcome of the title. It is said that the game will allow for thousands of play paths and will feature around a hundred different endings depending on your choices.
Until Dawn is built using an updated version of the Killzone Shadow Fall engine, meaning things look absolutely amazing, however in the demo there were frequent frame rate drops, despite being set in such a claustrophobic space.
The game is scheduled to come out in 2015.
The Order 1886
Made by Ready at Dawn, the developer behind Okami and the God of War titles for the PSP, comes The Order 1886. I was really excited when I saw the trailer last year, but after getting to see the game in action my excitement quickly died out. Game plays as a typical cover based third person shooter. There isn’t really anything to the title aside from the breathtaking yet undersaturated visuals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvM0TSD2sc4
Everything you have seen in previous shooters makes its way here. Hiding behind a single cover until everything is dead? Check. Linear levels filled with small arenas in-between which you have cutscenes? Check. Obligatory walking segments so you don’t rush past a part of the stage the developers wanted you to be amazed by? Check.
The game doesn’t offer anything new, and with that said it would be much better off as a film than a typical cover based shooter.
SingStar
While I am not a huge fan of party games, I still decided to try out SingStar for the PlayStation 4, because not many people were waiting in line. The new twist with Singstar is that you no longer use a big PlayStation microphone, but instead you can use your smartphone. Since I haven’t been listening to popular music for a while, I tried out the game with my girlfriend who picked the song Barbie Girl. And it just so happens that I was player one, meaning I sang as Barbie while my girlfriend played as Ken. You can imagine the crowd of people that came to cheer us on, as I half embarrassed and half delighted sang through the song.
I’m glad I tried SingStar out as I had a ton of fun with it and I will surely be getting the game 🙂
Little Big Planet 3
The newest instalment of the LBP franchise adds 3 new sock friends each with their own personality. Swoop is a bird which can fly and carry other players around. Toggle is a character that can transform between a small sock boy and a big one. This allows him to get past tight spaces and press on buttons. And finally we have Oddsock, a terrifying creature… I mean cute a sock puppet that runs on all fours, allowing him to dash quickly and wall jump.
Levels are wider than ever before, making for more complex maps. The touchpad on the DualShock 4 allows for easier customization of both your sock person and levels.
Little Big Planet 3 will be coming to both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 this November.
Far Cry 4
While not a PlayStation exclusive, it was featured at the PlayStation 4 booth. I didn’t personally get to play the game, but what I saw there was amazing. In Farcry 4 you have more freedom than ever. The demo starts you off with an elephant and allows you to rampage through the enemy camp. You can even sore through the air in a helicopter and gun down enemies. The number of different weapons on display was also impressive, as the player had handguns, shotguns, bowguns and sniper rifles.
I loved Farcry 3 and I can’t wait to get my hands on Farcry 4. The game will be out this November for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.
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