Well, it’s over for another year. The Sony E3 2017 conference has come and gone and we treated to a huge show-reel of trailers alongside a surprisingly long focus on VR games. We’ve already rated the Ubisoft conference, and the Bethesda conference, so here’s out thoughts on Sony’s show.
Sony’s E3 Hits
Spider-Man: From the gameplay trailer alone, Insomniac has seemingly nailed down the essential feel of what a Spider-Man game should be. If it controls anywhere near as good as it looks then this could be a storming Spidey game. Kudos on that Miles Morales reveal too.
Horizon Zero Dawn DLC: The Frozen Wilds looks to be a welcome addition to the already superb Horizon.
Shadow of the Colossus remaster: I understand some of the comments that it looks too clean, and loses the magic, but I can’t say I agree. It was instantly recognisable as Team Ico’s seminal classic, and a revamped version will offer it to a whole new audience. Personally, I can’t wait to play it once again.
Monster Hunter World: Perhaps not as colorful as it could be, but finally, we have Monster Hunter on PS4. Again, it’s a franchise deserving of a wider audience, and this could help that happen.
God of War: An iffy demo, but it did show off some cool stuff, including Kratos’ mighty beard, and a huge serpent. Watch the trailer.
A continued focus on VR: There looks to be a strong lineup of future PS VR titles as we come closer to the end of its debut year. Final Fantasy XV, Skyrim and Doom throw some big budget weight behind the hardware, whilst several other titles such as Superhot were also showcased, offering a diverse, burgeoning roster. PSVR looks like it won’t suffer the same date as Vita as it stands.
Lots of good-looking games: You can be underwhelmed by Sony’s conference, but it was hard to deny what they showed off was pretty solid and interesting.
Sony’s E3 Misses
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy: Right, let me say this straight away. I am massively looking forward to this, but the whole musical build up and subsequent reveal of the trailer felt flat and familiar. For an Uncharted sans Nathan Drake, it felt a little too much like he’d never left. Hopefully the final game caters to having a pair of different lead characters, because currently, it’s looking closer to a reskinned Uncharted than a departure.
Days Gone/Detroit: These games continue to look good, but the showcasing of them here did them no favors. A common thread in the show, and these two were perhaps the most glaring examples of it
Poor presentation: While game quality was undeniably high, the manner in which many were presented was certainly not befitting. It took last year’s concept of rolling out trailers and not spiel a touch too far this time, and the result was an underwhelming conference filled with good things.
Show’s brevity: an hour makes sense to some degree given where we are in PS4’s life, but it’s not like they couldn’t have gone longer given everything that is at E3, but not in the show.
No juicy new IP: We got a lot of the same games as 2016, and that’s not a bad thing in itself, but it could have been bolstered by at least a glimpse of something fresher.
Games demoted to pre-show: The likes of GT Sport, Crash, Everybody’s Golf, an Undertale reveal, Supermassive’s Hidden Agenda, and the announcement of its phone-based interactivity were relegated to the pre-show like they were all on 205 Live. Given the short conference, it made even less sense.
Too many ambiguous release dates: Damn it Sony, your failure to give solid release dates is almost as laughable as Microsoft’s understanding of the word ‘exclusive’.