Spider-Man for the PlayStation 4 is one of the many games that have come out in the last few years that really validates your system purchase. This amazing game based off of many’s favorite Marvel super hero, is not only a system seller, but it may be one of the greatest superhero video games ever made; even rivaling the top dog, the Batman Arkham series. The Dark Knight got many things right with Arkham City, and Spider-Man took many pages out of the playbook of said series. While the ingredients will seem automatically familiar, the execution of these recognizable mechanics are masterfully implemented.
Mary Jane Watson Voiced by the Extremely Talented Laura Bailey
Spider-Man games have a polarizing legacy, and the quality of the games run the whole spectrum. With this entry we get one of the better experiences as Spider-Man that the gaming industry has ever had. Not only do we get incredible moments as the hero, but you will step into the shoes of costume-less Peter Parker, running his daily life, as well as Mary Jane, who is now a reporter for the Daily Bugle.
Being able to tell these more human sides of the story really build out the emotional narrative that is at play here. Make no mistake, this story goes to some heart pounding, and breaking, places. The narrative is elevated by interesting characters, some familiar, some entirely new.
The real stars are the incredible voice cast, Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Laura Bailey as Mary Jane Watson, and Stephen Oyoung as Martin Li, to name a few. A story is only as interesting as its character, and characters are only as interesting as their voice actors. Take a breath of relief that Spider-Man is firing on all cylinders in these regards.
New York is always as big of a character as Spider-Man is, and this game delivers one of the best seemingly one to one creations of New York. Real and fictional locations alike are on full display here, with many of the fictional locations being some very awesome Easter Eggs. I don’t even want to spoil any of them here, besides the one we have seen in trailers, the Avenger’s Tower. The real magic is naturally finding out what’s hidden among the city, as I had plenty of moments where my fanboy jaw hit the floor when I found some greater Marvel Universe nods. There is a bigger world here just waiting to be explored in future sequels or spin offs. The possibilities of what could be are nearly endless. New York feels like a living breathing city, with plenty of NPC who love to walk up and interact with you. Giving pedestrians a high five and taking selfies with some fans never gets old, and it brings life to this open world map.
New York, The Other Main Character of Any Spidey Tale, complete with Avengers Tower!
No open world game is equipped without side content and collectibles, and this is sadly where the game starts to show some of its shortcomings. There are 
collectibles to acrue in the form of backpacks, which are very cool little tidbits of Peter’s past, and some excellent world building you can glean from the items. While those type are welcomed and don’t seem too intrusive, other collectibles are a bit of a grind, and come off as just fluff content. Collecting pigeons comes immediately to mind. While you get a good story with the quest giver, the act of collecting the birds themselves, leaves a lot to be desired.
Side content also lacks variation. There are crimes to stop in each district of NYC, and while a cool concept in theory, there are only a few variations of these crimes. Ultimately you are just stopping a getaway vehicle, stopping a robbery, stopping a drug deal, or stopping a kidnapping. And every crime pretty much ends in fisticuffs. While these crimes lack variation, it is a minor complaint, as they are never boring to do because the mechanics are just so wonderfully executed.
Speaking of mechanics, they are just about as perfect as can be. Swinging around New York has never felt better, and while it is easy to do, it take a bit of time to fully master. There are a lot of mechanics to be utilized while traversing the city, and as you gain locomotion through your countless moves and abilities you will find yourself swinging around at breakneck speeds. I have never felt more like Spider-Man in my life!
Our friendly neighborhood arachnid does hit the ground at some point though, and usually that means, hitting some bad guy face. Let me tell you all, hitting faces feels pretty damn good in this game.
So while we’re on the subject, let’s just address the elephant in the room. Spider-Man’s mechanics are heavily inspired (and heck, even borrowed) from the Arkham series. Some will think this is a rip off, but in reality, this is just a case of taking a great working combat system and retooling it for a new game. In Spider-Man, you are aiming to get your combo up as high as possible, why using reactive dodging in large crowds of bad guys. While multiplying your combo, you are filling up a focus meter which allows you to use instant take-downs. Also, the player can use a various amount of gadgets to crowd control the enemy. So yes, if this sounds like Shadow of Mordor or the Arkham games, you are right. But I have to point out that its this execution that makes the game so worthy. Though I concede to the point that others might feel like this is a reskin, I would encourage those who do to realize how perfect this combat system works for Spidey, and how it really nails his acrobatic nature and use of cool gadgets.
With such a cinematic story, you need a comparable cinematic score. The composer, John Paesano (known for his composition on the TV series Daredevil and The Defenders, and in video games with Detroit: Become Human and Mass Effect Andromeda) really nails all the right notes. He brings in so much immersion with his music, From the cheery tunes that play the moment you start swinging, to the more emotional moments that take place in cut-scenes, he really knows how to capture tone.
Spider-Man on the PlayStation 4 looks great, but the real spectacle happen on the Pro. With great draw distances, crisp graphics, good looking character models, and a pretty consistent frame rate, it really makes for a beautiful experience.
Across my 30 hours of playtime, I only had 3 hard crashes which sent me to the blue error screen and ultimately back to my home PS4 screen. I also had one moment where my character fell through a building and I was stuck there until I reloaded a checkpoint. Listen, its an open world game. These types of things are going to happen in all of them, and while no one ever likes to see a game crash, I have played many monumental and titanic sized games that had much worse issues with performance. Some fare better than others and I would say Spider-Man is one of the better performing open world games at launch that I can think of in recent memories.
At this point, the PlayStation 4 is home to many must have exclusives, and you can add more more on the list…possibly near the top of the list, because this is one of the generation’s greats. After this year’s amazing God of War release, I was worried no other games would compare or even match up to it. Fortunately, Spider-Man maintains the quality of gaming that God of War showcased earlier this year, and while everyone has a personal favorite, I can see Spider-Man being a heavy contender for Game of the Year Awards.
Spider-Man is a must play experience, and with mechanics so tight, a story so unforgettable, and production so high quality, you would be doing yourself a serious disservice by skipping out. Did you enjoy Spider-Man? Notice anything we missed? Tell us about it on Twitter! Want more reviews out from the underground and into your feed? Find more at Sub Cultured!
REVIEW | Salt and Sanctuary
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
Review | Re-Exploring No Man’s Sky Next
REVIEW | Downward Spiral: Horus Station
REVIEW | Smoke and Sacrifice
Sub Cultured stopped by PAX South 2018 to check out all the delightful titles this convention had to offer!
Moonlighter
Moonlighter is like if Recettear and a Roguelike had a baby. You play as a shopkeeper outside of an ever-changing dungeon. Your task is to sell goods to people. When you do, you earn money so you can get better equipment and craft better items to either sell or use yourself to go in to the dungeon. Clearing the dungeon will yield new items, which you can craft and sell in your shop, et cetera. It’s a big ol’ capitalism loop. The dungeon is different every time you enter, which makes it that much more fun. There’s 5 different entrances to the dungeon and characters to interact with so there’s presumably an end, but with the varying dungeons, bevy of characters to please, and loot to grab, you may not ever want to see it.
Moonlighter will be coming out in 2018 for Xbox One, PS4, PC, Switch, and Mac/Linux.
Tunic
Tunic has so much style that it hurts. Zelda is the easiest comparison — you’re a lone adventurer (in this case a lil’ fox) in a mysterious world who collects items that open up new paths. If Hat In Time is a cute-as-heck platformer, this is a cute-as-heck action/adventure game. The controls are tight and responsive and the combat feels fluid and satisfying. An extra layer of polish/intrigue to this game is the concept that it’s a game you’re just discovering that was made in a foreign country, so you’ll see parts of the manual in the game and all the text is in a made up language you don’t understand. Even the website has this language peppered about.
This game is one of the ones we were most excited by at PAX South, so be on the lookout for it coming out later this year to PC, Mac, Linux, and consoles in 2018.
Donut County
Once upon a time, @PeterMolydeux had a joke game description in which you play as a hole in the ground. From that, Ben Esposito created one of the most simple, but compelling games at PAX South, Donut County. The mechanics are simple — you play as a hole in the ground swallowing things up. The more you eat, the bigger your hole gets, which allows you to eat bigger things. Think reverse Katamari. Between levels, you’ll also get a glimpse into the lives of the citizens of Donut County which has been upended by this dumb hole. The art style is simple and effective, the humor isn’t overdone, and the gameplay, though simple, is satisfying.
Donut County is coming to PC, Mac, and iOS in 2018
Check out more of our coverage from PAX South 2018!
Aftercharge, Pato Box, Phantom Doctrine
Party Hard 2, Due Process, The Swords of Ditto
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Nan Desu Kan 2018 Photo Gallery
Black Friday sales have become a thing in the UK, in spite of the fact that we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.
A lot of retail outlets go a step further, and start their sales a week (or more) prior to the big day itself. That was when several shops started advertising they would be selling the PlayStation VR bundle with VR Worlds for £249.99 (around $334.00 at time of writing), with many including an option of either Skyrim VR or Gran Turismo Sport.
It’s now a month later, and I find myself looking back at the investment and wondering if I am happy with my purchase, so I thought it might be helpful to share my experiences.
The PlayStation VR bundle itself did not come with the PS Move controllers, but I still had a set from the days when motion control was the direction that the console manufacturers wanted to take their market. Though they have had the sole purpose of gathering dust for a few years.
I couldn’t really afford to buy it, but if I chose the Skyrim bundle, I would be getting a £49.99 game included in the purchase, so I justified the purchase by the fact that I would be saving around £150, as well as already owning a couple of VR titles thanks to the PlayStation Plus offerings of RIGS and Until Dawn : Rush Of Blood.
It’s now a month later, and I find myself looking back at the investment and wondering if I am happy with my purchase, so I thought it might be helpful to share my experiences.
What I have been the most surprised with is the interest from my friends and colleagues.
On the day I rushed to the store during my lunch break to grab the unit before they inevitably sold out, I had several people asking to have a look, and perhaps understandably, some not even understanding that you’d need to plug the system into the PS4. However, once I had explained all this, my manager told me I should leave the office early to go home, wire it all up, then tell him how great it was so that he could try and persuade his family it would be a great present for Christmas!
It didn’t take long for a few colleagues to invite themselves over an evening to try it out. At this point, I had only really tested the waters by playing through the Rogue One X-wing mission in Star Wars Battlefront (a free DLC content pack), which I guarantee will astound any Star Wars fan, although you can quickly establish if they have played any kind of flight game before by how fast they get confused by the controls.
One of my colleagues was a little older than me, and although she had a Wii, clearly hadn’t used a PlayStation controller before, as she was constantly confused by the buttons, but aside from that, was clearly blown away. When the next player put the kit on, I could hear comments such as “It’s a shame you can’t get this for the Wii”, as well as quietly discussing how much money would be required to invest whilst also having to order the PS4. Although I was not in the office the next day, I heard that she was so impressed she was telling everyone.
I’ve travelled to see friends over the holiday season, and having purchased a carry case to store the headset when it is not in use, I’ve taken it with me to let others try it out, and even the friends who were initially resistant at thought of stepping in to virtual reality have changed their mind and asked for go with the feigned reluctance of, “Oh, I suppose I’ll give it a try since you’ve set it all up…”.
I feel I should make it clear that I have not been showing off the VR as a demonstration to my friends as a kind of humble brag. It was purely because the price point means that the average potential buyer will not consider it, as it is too much of a risk if they don’t get on with it. I had had the luxury of trying it myself at a friend’s house before I bought my own.
But getting all my friends to try it is not the only use it has received. Far from it! I have had quite a lot of fun streaming games on twitch.tv. When using the PS4’s native broadcast mode, chat comments are displayed as pop-ups on the view screen inside the headset, rather than reducing your field of vision by having the chat bar along the side of the screen. Whilst this is very handy, it doesn’t display the message for long, and if you don’t have the chance to read it, you can’t exactly scroll through the chat to find it again. I guess it is also open to abuse if you had a lot of users in the chatroom spamming messages. You’d probably want to disable your comments at that point.
So far, there have been two elements of occasional frustration. The first is the tracking of the headset and the move controllers. There are plenty of videos on youtube that will help you reduce this by setting up the camera correctly and calibrating the headset for you. It does a pretty good job right out of the box, but some people have wider faces than others, and this can lead to the vision being a little off because the image is not directly in front of your eyes due to an average position being adopted. You can also suffer from your move controllers going out of the cone of vision of the camera, resulting in frozen hands in the game.
The second obstruction to blissful gaming is that some players will be more susceptible to nausea from movement in certain games. By far the worst offender for this is the game RIGS, which as the name suggests places you in charge of a mechanical rig, which turns its torso as you turn your head. Because the game is designed to be fast-paced, there are multiple “comfort settings” which need to be toggled until you find what works for you. I found it took a couple of days of playing in short bursts before I could tolerate more than 1 match before quitting.
When you have everything set up correctly though, you can find yourself totally immersed. You take for granted that other characters are a little cartoony, but even that feeling disappears as you forget you are sat in your living room (or whichever room you set it up in), because these characters are talking to you with the sort of volume you’d expect from someone being a foot to the right or 6 foot in front of you. I played Star Trek Bridge Crew for the first time yesterday, and found that I played for a straight sitting of 6 hours, as there is no in-game clock to tell you of the time in the real world.
Bizarrely, I still haven’t tried Skyrim, but I’ve watched it being streamed. The only reason I haven’t installed it myself yet is because I know that I will lose far more than 6 hours!
I should also point out, as some people may not be aware, that the PSVR will shortly be sold as a newer model. The PSVR model 2 will be largely similar, but will have some sockets in the headset casing to store the earbuds that come bundled with the system, as well as an upgraded processor box that will allow HDR passthrough. Currently, if you have a HDR-enabled tv you need to disconnect the box to enjoy the extra benefits over a standard tv. For me, that isn’t an issue as I currently don’t have a 4K / HDR television, but if you have upgraded it is definitely something to consider.
With the Playstation Experience showcase highlighting 80+ games in development for the hardware, I am confident that this is not going to be yet another case of Sony releasing a product and letting it slowly die by not supporting it. Games like Skyrim VR and Doom VFR being available, and hopefully Fallout 4 VR being migrated to the PS4 in 2018, there is a lot to feel confident about.
Ultimately, this reflective piece was intended to confirm if I think I wasted my money on the PlayStation VR, or if I feel that it will certain reward my investment.
As of right now, I am definitely happy to have bought it. The variety of games available means that there are experiences available for everyone, ranging from peaceful experiences such as Eagle Flight and Ocean Descent, to role-playing games, such as Star Trek and Skyrim, to scary games like Resident Evil 7 and Rush of Blood : Until Dawn, and not forgetting puzzle games like Tumble and Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes.
– Justin Smith has been a podcaster for over 6 years, and has been visiting the cinema regularly for 4 of them. When he’s not playing games with Star Wars themed miniatures, he spends time with video games.
Aquaman is the Embodiment of “Fine”
REVIEW | The Punisher Season 2
Sub Cultured Heads to PAX South 2019!
REVIEW | The Batman Who Laughs – #1
Sub Cultured is Heading to DakuCon 2018!
Hey everybody, just a quick blurb about the leaked Western release of Pokémon Go. I woke up this morning to many news sites claiming that we Westerners could download the game via a mirror site and play the full experience with no issues as long as you have an Android device. So as a 30 year old man, who has a deep nostalgia for Pokémon, I had to grab my balls (the poke kind), turned on my GPS (and watched as my battery drained faster than I had ever seen it deplete before), and created my character as I booted up this app. For people who know me, I have a very big problem with mobile games. Instead of going into a more venomous rant on those experiences, I will just simply say they are not for me. You know what is for me? Pokémon.
There are not very many character creator options in Pokemon Go, but that doesn’t matter when you have the goal to catch ’em all. The new professor introduces himself and then he sets you off to catch your first pocket monster. Bulbasaur was my first! After this quick tutorial you are set off with walking around your home town, or local areas and Pokémon will start populating on the GPS map in the app. Also the map is populated with icons that are in real life art, sculptures, or major places of interest. In the game they are turned into Pokémon stores, gyms, and other Pokémon related things. Going to these hotspots offer items such as: Pokéballs, eggs, (can hatch into new Pokémon) as well as incense and other items to use to attract these catchable creatures.
I have not spent much time in Pokemon Go but I am working my way to become Level 5 so I can take on my first gym. How that works I have no idea but I will certainly report back! For now I suggest going to the mirror site where you can download the Pokemon Go app here and start your Pokémon journey!
REVIEW | Salt and Sanctuary
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
REVIEW | Spider-Man PS4
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E3 is the stuff that gamer dreams are made of, even nearly a month after all the announcements. It is never too late to report on hype, so here I am sharing the E3 experience, as told by some guy watching from his couch. I have been following the event for 14 straight years now, and it is customary for me to been write out my thoughts and reactions to all of the announcements. This is my gamer holiday, my gamer Christmas…E3 is my gamer Mecca. Allow me to take you through my journey of E3 2016, and why I think it was one of the most successful trade shows in the history of the business.
Living Through the Hype
There is nothing quite like the Electronic Entertainment Expo for a passionate gamer like myself. Every year E3 acts as a temperature check for hype of the industry, but more importantly it proves that this industry isn’t going anywhere. It is as healthy as it has ever been and while a trade show like E3 may not be around forever, it will take a new form in terms of being a hype generating machine. We need trade shows and press events like this, and while more and more studios, companies, and developers drop out in turn of trying out their own personal conferences, one thing is for sure, there is nothing in this world quite like the week of E3.
This year there weren’t any “next gen consoles” to announce, it was just all about the games, and boy howdy were there some interesting looking experiences. Sure Microsoft tried to sneak in a few words about their slim line system as well as their .5 step up labeled the Scorpio, but they did it with class and it took up minimal time of the press conference. You would think Sony would have spent so much time on showing VR games that are near impossible to show in a press conference setting, and while they did show up with some news, it was such a small fraction of time that they took up. Everybody who showed up for E3, including EA, Ubisoft, Bethesda and Nintendo, came to win. They came to murder the competition and explain why their games are the experiences you should be playing this fall and going forward. I think all of them had strong showcases (with a few major stumbles from EA) and delivered on the one currency that matters in this industry…hype.
As an agent of hype, I go out of my way to be overly excited about any and all games. Pushed release dates, games that won’t come out for another 3 years, and completely out of context CG trailers do not put me off. Speculating on these games that are not out yet is one of my favorite activities to do. I like to build my own story and elevate my own hype on these experiences that are years out, and then the payoff of getting them when they finally do arrive is unmatched to any feeling this industry can evoke. Has my hype ever turned against me? Sure every once in a while, but I don’t let that ruin future potential to be excited about something. I’d rather be excited and let down than spend the road to launch being pessimistic and worried. Gosh that just seems incredibly draining; I’ll take the hype any day. So we all get it now right? We are on the same page? E3 gets me hyped and now it’s time to break this year’s conferences wide open. I just want to focus on my personal High and Low of each conference.
EA Conference
This was the first conference of the week and by far the weakest, but I think it set expectations correctly for my mind (and hopefully yours) to be efficiently blown by the coming conferences. What was not lacking however was how they started the conference. That first game announcement is the hook, and blowing out Titanfall 2 at the top of the show was an amazing idea. That game showcased so well, and the single player trailer got me more than hyped to get back into this series. I really enjoyed the first game, and it is quite easy to tell we live in a post Titanfall FPS world now that all games have taken their locomotion mechanics. It’s hard to find a shooter nowadays that you aren’t jet-packing, double jumping, and wall running around, and that’s totally okay but just remember who pioneered it! Titans seem to have personalities and characteristics now, and I have a feeling that will be on full display in the story mode. It is very hard to top the new whip though, which adds to your maneuverability as well as works as a melee weapon. Gosh, the end of that trailer where the two pilots are in the sky and whipping towards one another…that’s how you evoke mass excitement!
Unfortunately I have some negative things to say about this conference. A few things really rubbed me the wrong way, and the biggest offender Mass Effect. This was the year to show that game; this was the time for a blowout. Mass Effect Andromeda is coming out next year and we already suffered a delay this year. After the trailer showed, we knew nothing more than what we did a year ago and that is a MAJOR issue. Did I enjoy the trailer? Of course I did, I will enjoy anything with Mass Effect in it. Was it a tease? Overwhelmingly so. We need to know more about this game, and this little trail of breadcrumbs is just not enough. We need facts, we need gameplay…we need some real news Bioware.
The upsets did not end there however, EA was nice enough to bring up the Star Wars games and that is pretty much all they did with them. They might as well have just had somebody come on stage and say, “They exist!” I love seeing Amy Hennig with Visceral talk about Star Wars, and I love seeing dudes in mo-cap suits playing with lightsabers with the Respawn logo in the background. Seeing glimpses of in engine screen shots is always welcomed…but I just needed more to get that level of hype I love to dwell in. If wanting more is the worst thing I can say about this conference, then to me I’d say they still did pretty well.
Bethesda Conference
From the Prey Trailer
Bethesda really knew how to pick up where EA faltered. They came out strong with a Quake announcement and then it never let up until the conference’s end. The high point of Bethesda’s hour for me was the new Prey trailer. I had no idea I was watching a Prey trailer until I saw the title reveal. I was never a big fan of the first game but was excited about the idea of the sequel announced a few years back. Well now that’s out and this reboot/rebrand is in. The narrative that the trailer showcases is awesome. I was so drawn in by this man who ends up speaking to himself by the scene’s end while living a Groundhog’s Day experience as he relives the same day over and over. Who is this man, what is happening to him, and how does he fit into the real story? I don’t know, and I don’t need to know. The trailer sets a tone that I am interested in and I cannot wait to see how it all pans out.
Comparison of Graphics
I wanted to give Skyrim Special Edition as my high for this conference but I have put 300 hours into the original, and despite me being the one of many who feverishly asked for this game, I would feel bad to give it a highlight spot when something new and fresh like Prey should get some of my much deserved limelight. So while Skyrim SE is probably what I am most excited for, Prey is the real show stealer here.
It is hard to nail down a low point for this conference, and heck pretty much every conference going forward. At gun point I would have to say there was a bit of a stumble with announcing the Fallout 4 DLC. I thought it showed well, but it was too quick, and I guess I figured there would be a much bigger announcement. Perhaps those expectations are unfair because Far Harbor DLC did just come out, but for a conference I guess I just hoped for something a bit more than adding working conveyor belts to your settlements. This just comes off nitpicky and that is because it is. The conference was great and it is hard to find anything negative about it. For the new kids on the conference block (this is only their second year at E3) they really knocked it out of the park.
Microsoft
Microsoft was up next on Monday and just like the last few years, they really came out swinging. Sure they opened with an announcement of a slim model which is good, because it just gets it out of the way so the focus can turn to what matters, games. After watching this conference I thought there was no way that Sony had the lineup to usurper Microsoft this year. More on how that turns out later.
Microsoft had so many highs that it’s hard to pick one. It is so easy to go with something like We Happy Few which felt like a completely Bioshock inspired game. Every fiber of my being is shouting at me to write about Scalebound and their awesome presentation…but deep down I know that what wowed me the most was Sea of Thieves. During the entirety of it’s on stage demo (and its following hands on impressions from trusted industry types) I was just thinking of how many friends I knew who owned a Xbox One…and how do I get them to buy this game so we can all go on swashbuckling adventures together. Luckily it will take no convincing because the game speaks for itself. Want to meet up in a tavern and drink with friends? Go for it. Find a treasure map on the island you are on? Go look for it! Want 
to rob people coming out drunk from the local tavern? By all means do it. The real meat and potatoes is boating up with a crew and hitting the high seas. Out there you can run into sea monsters, or worse, other ships with their own crew. Each crew member has a function. One needs to man the sails, the other the anchor, somebody needs to be in crows nest navigating, and a trusted pirate friend needs to be at the helm. Everybody has a function, and everybody must be communicating to ensure that the dangerous ships and crews you face out there will not lead you to a watery grave. The first thing I am doing? Loading up my boat with booze, pals, and instruments, and we will sing sea shanties all the way to Davy Jones’ locker.
There were next to no low points in this conference. I feel that I do have to point out that I thought ending with the big Scorpio reveal (Microsoft’s .5 console) was a misstep. Really Microsoft? This is the thing you were most excited to show us? Well, I was not excited and while I understand why these .5 systems exist, I do not care to upgrade at this moment in time, especially if all games will continue to work on the current versions of the consoles. Was it a bad announcement? By no means, I thought they did a good job at giving us the information…but I just don’t feel it was the announcement to end on.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft, Ubisoft, oh where art though Ubisoft? Seriously this is the Ubisoft I have always wanted. No annual Assassin’s Creed to slow the conference down, and the weird ecstasy filled dance party at the top of the show was their only “weird moment.” Never before has Ubisoft came out so strong at E3, and that is probably why they are suffering form a corporate hostile takeover by Vivendi. You’re looking too good these days Ubisoft! In any case, Ubisoft focused on all the right things and ended their conference with a big new IP. Sure at surface level Steep seems just like a snow extreme sports game, but is much deeper and you have a community enriched experience filled with so much freedom in terms of traversal and activities. While this was a big moment, it is far from game of the show material.
The moment of hype comes in the form of, South Park: The Fractured But Whole. Not only is this an insanely fun title to say and type, but it also showcased wonderfully. Trey and Matt (the creators of South Park) came out and discussed their heavy involvement in the game. They gave us a very funny trailer which completely satires the blueprint of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase system. If that wasn’t enough, we get three awesome gameplay snippets. The demo itself was filled with great South Park jokes, and Matt and Trey themselves just seemed so excited to show off this game. It was such a treat to see them so passionate about this project. They were very vocal about how demanding The Stick of Truth was and it seemed like they would never do a game again…yet here they are. Guys and gals, it is more than we deserve as gamers!
The low point was hardly low. If anything this is just another positive masquerading around as a negative. I am not a big Watch Dogs fan, so there was not much the sequel could do to get me on board. I thought the first game was hollow, the main character to be as interesting as a wet rag, and found every single mechanic to be less than a game like Grand Theft Auto V. However, this showcasing of the sequel actually has me looking at the game in a much more positive light. The game seems fun, the new character comes off as interesting, and all the little mechanical gripes seemed to have been fixed. Am I back in? Nope, but I can and will recognize that this game does seem to be in good shape. I feel the demo went on a bit long but in the end it did what it set out to do, and that was showing off that they were indeed listening to the fans and their complaints of the original. That is classy as hell Ubisoft.
Sony
Sony my Sony, my sweet and fair Sony…you had so much riding against you this year. You have constant lack of first party games, and all of your delays on properties announced last year are more than noticeable. I had little hope you would take the W this year. Well that’s what I get for thinking. I had figured that they would come out; talk too long about VR and their new .5 system upgrade. Instead you pulled the rug out from underneath us all, and proved why you are still leading this generation.
Where do I even begin in breaking down the major highlight of this conference? How do I choose one? Heck, I could not even choose a game and instead talk about their incredible pacing of their showcases, or even their choice of not resting on their games announced last year. Hell I would even love to gush about the live orchestral performance that lasted through the entire conference. Instead of hearing about Kingdom Hearts 3, Final Fantasy 7, and Shenmue 3, we get a totally new roster of awesome announcements. Some we knew of, while others were major surprises. Is it worth me dwelling on how much God of War rocked me? Never been a fan of the series, but what I saw had me caring in a big way. What about the Heavy Rain inspired game Detroit: Become Human? Sure it was impressive but it was just validating what I already knew.
Sony Bend’s Days Gone
The show opened up with Syphon Filter’s developer Sony Bend studio and their new game Days Gone. While the trailer itself had a very Last of Us feeling, the real bread and butter came from the end of conference gameplay. Wow what an impressive stage demo. The game’s enemy, whom can only be described as the zombies (don’t call them that though!) from World War Z, moves like cascading water in tandem with one another like a wave of bodies. Well look at that, it seems this may have been my highlight of the conference. Sometimes you just have to work these things out on paper before realizing what really wowed you the most. It would have been so easy to talk about how awesome Horizon showed, or talk about the big Resident Evil 7 reveal with a PT like marketing demo. While all of these announcements are game of the show worthy, I truly feel that the surprise of Days Gone landed in a big way for me. The fact that so many people did not feel the same way alarms me, but we like what we like.
It is hard for me to pick out any moments where I felt the pace of the show was hindered. The show was nonstop trailers with minimal talking or presenting, so when those slow moments came with the Skylander’s reveal and the minimal VR…it was necessary to slow that heart rate. The amount of excitement that they built through the run-time of the show was so intensely satisfying that the down time ensured our poor little hearts wouldn’t breakthrough our rib-cage. Do I care about Skylanders? No I do not; I could not even begin to care less. Do I want stage time on VR? Not particularly, but they didn’t dwell on it long and moved right past it and back to their original pacing. What I am trying to say is, that I had little to zero issues with this conference and it should be the defining mold of E3 press conferences moving forward.
Living Post Hype
So with E3 now in our rear-view mirror, a lot of us have that post E3 depression. We’ve all heard so many good things about so many games that aren’t even close to being out. So you may ask, Kyle, how do we even cope with knowing we are so far away from so many great experiences? My answer, give into the hype. I am not saying blindly love and be excited for all of these things until they reach unobtainable levels of interest. What I mean is just give into the excitement, ride the wave of hype all the way to release. The excitement you get from pondering on a game on the horizon is unlike anything else. You will never have this road to excitement other than now, so why even fight it? Excitement and hype are good. For me there is no such thing as “over-hyped.” It is a term I see thrown around all too often. While the game may not have lived up to expectations, nothing can take away those moments of pure concentrated excitement that you felt all the way up to launch. It is a good feeling, so embrace it. E3 is a time where we all as gamers come together and get excited for our healthy industry. I feel that pessimism is in low reserves during this week. Of course it is re-birthed the week after and the internet goes right back to its awful self, but in that moment…we all have E3…we all have the hype.
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
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Eagerly anticipating the final episode of Telltale’s Game Of Thrones? Or have you been waiting for a physical copy to pop in your console so that you can binge the entire series at once? You don’t have to wait much longer.
The final of six episodes in the season, ‘The Ice Dragon’ will be available starting Tuesday, November 17th on PC/Mac from the Telltale Online Store, Steam, and other digital distribution services, the PlayStation®Network for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 in North America (SCEA) and Europe (SCEE), the Xbox Games Store for Xbox One® and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and on compatible iOS and Android-based devices. This marks the first time in Telltale’s release history that a finale will be available to download simultaneously across all console, PC/Mac and mobile platforms, day and date, worldwide.
Based on the award-winning HBO television drama series, Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series tells the story of House Forrester. Caught up in the events of The War of the Five Kings, they are placed in a precarious position where members of the household must do everything they can to prevent the house from meeting its doom. Your story is about to come to an epic conclusion. With House Whitehill tightening its grip on Ironrath at the behest of Ramsay Bolton, the remaining Forresters must give their all to save the family, whether through diplomacy, subterfuge, or violent force. In the frozen wilds beyond The Wall, Gared learns the secrets of the mysterious North Grove, and Mira discovers that political games in a King’s Landing controlled by Cersei Lannister often involve the highest stakes of all.
The game series is based on the world, characters and events seen in HBO’s TV show, which in turn is based on George R. R. Martin’s books (A Song of Ice and Fire). The events in the game series begin towards the end of Season Three of the series, and end right before the beginning of Season Five. Players will visit familiar locations such as King’s Landing and The Wall, as well as unfamiliar locations such as Ironrath, the home of House Forrester.
The game is played from five different points of view. Each is a member of House Forrester; either a direct family member, or a person in service to the House. Scattered across Westeros and Essos, each will play their part in seeking to save House Forrester from destruction.
The season will also debut on disc at retailers in North America beginning November 17th on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 for the suggested retail price of $29.99 USD or equivalent; and beginning November 20th in Europe on these consoles as well as for PC.
When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. Your choices, your story: you decide.
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