E3 2014 - Sony Press Conference Trailers, Part 1

It's everything you want, it's everything you need

Last but certainly not least: Sony went hard at E3 2014, holding down the stage for nearly two hours as the clean-up hitter of presser day. Interestingly enough, they were also the only company to actually talk about something other than the games, taking the time to catch us up on their hardware and online developments. They also didn't lack for trailers during their 106 minutes, so much so that we have to break their post down into two parts. Onward!

Destiny - E3 New Beginnings Trailer

I constantly bounce back and forth about how excited I am for Destiny. I can't exactly put my finger on why, but I have the strangest feeling that there's potential for it to be another shooter lost in the fray. I have no reason to be skeptical: the settings look immaculate, the action is potent, and the content seems appealing. Yet there is this sneaking suspicion that it won't be quite as good as it's promised to be, and there's something in the trailers that causes that feeling. Almost like the trailer is too confident in how epic the game is. Hopefully my gut is wrong.

Destiny
PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360
Release: 9 Sept 2014
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Bungie

The Order: 1886 - E3 Gameplay Trailer

What an interesting ratio of gameplay vs cutscene, especially for a fight against a singular enemy. The amount of time that the character is being controlled is actually very minimal, only a couple instances of moving and shooting. The scene still had fantastic flow and demanded the gamers attention even though they may not be controlling the action at every moment. I don't know if most fights in the game will be that cinematic; though I can't imagine they will or else they risk less patient people complaining that the game wasn't enough of a "game" for them. 

The Order: 1886

PS4

Release: 20 Feb 2015

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Ready at Dawn, SCE Santa Monica Studio

Entwined - E3 Trailer

The designer of this game called Entwined a game about lovers that are destined to never be together. In the game's case, this is represented by a crane (air breather) and a fish (water breather). You can see the predicament here. Bummers aside, this does look like a beautiful game worth taking a glance at; you control each animal with their respective analog stick, and bring the two souls together over the span of many lifetimes. Woosah. 

Entwined

PS Vita, PS3, PS4

Release: 9 June 2014

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Pixelopus

Infamous: First Light - E3 Reveal Trailer

In a stand-alone piece of DLC (meaning you don't actually need to own Infamous: Second Son to play it), First Light follows the story of Fetch from the main timeline. She obviously wields similar powers to the main character, Deslin, using her neon powers to hunt down drug dealers that plague her home. Second Son actually had a fairly strong showing with its PS4 release, and First Light hopes to continue on that success. 

Infamous: First Light

PS4

Release: Aug 2014

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Sucker Punch Productions

Bloodborne - E3 Trailer

Bloodborne is the next effort from the studio that brought us the warm and bubbly Dark Souls series, so  we know this one is going to be all about picking daisies and floating around on clouds. But really, there's a whole lot of zombie/demon nonsense going on here, and I want to swing that gigantic sword around. Will it be as hard to stay alive in Bloodborne as it has been in the last few games from Hidetaka Miyazaki? It was that formula that gave them success before, and I'm more than interested to see the kinds of horrors that this new setting holds. 

Bloodborne

PS4

Release: TBA 2015

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: From Software, SCE Japan Studio

Dead Island 2 - E3 Reveal Trailer

What do you do when the trailer for your first game is way better than your first game itself? In Dead Island 2's case, you sell the sequel as more rambunctious, more over the top, and set in the middle of Venice Beach! I may have liked this reveal trailer even better than the now-infamous reveal trailer for the original Dead Island that people cried false advertising all over. This time things in Venice deteriorate faster than that guy's skin, to a point of hilarity. This one sets the tone right away: this isn't an emotional zombie game. This is a zombie game where you tear down the street in an armored van from the 70's swinging a giant hammer out of the door. The way it should be.

*Top 5 Tuesday Nominee*

Dead Island 2

PS4, Xbox One, PC

Release: TBA 2015

Publisher: Deep Silver

Developer: Yager Development

Battlefield Hardline: E3 Gameplay Trailer

This is actually all footage from this multiplayer gameplay demo as seen at the EA press conference, cut into a nice little montage and set to fast music. After seeing the full demo itself, I gotta say that this trailer just doesn't really do it for me. It feels like completely different vibes between the two videos. The demo was free flowing, like watching a heist movie unfold right in front of my eyes. This trailer focused on the action set pieces, making it look like everything just explodes all around at all times. But that wasn't the case, as there was a fair amount of cat and mouse being done between those doing the heist and the police hunting them down. So I can see how this trailer appeals to the shooting game fan, but I don't think it gives them the full idea of the scope they're going for.

Battlefield Hardline
PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC
Release: 21 Oct 2014
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Visceral Games

Magicka 2 - E3 Reveal Trailer

What a fantastic trailer. It gives service to the fans of the original Magicka while using humor to engage those that may have missed this game until now. It's been a long time since our good friend Mr. Red Wizard was employed, and Magicka 2 promises more of the top-down, spell-flinging fun that we got to know in the first title. I love the premise of the "unemployed video game character", especially with a game like this that has had a substantial amount of time pass between releases. Awesome marketing tactic by Sony. 

*Top 5 Tuesday Nominee*

Magicka 2

PS4, PC

Release: TBA

Publisher: Paradox Interactive

Developer: Pieces Interactive

Playstation - E3 Indie Montage

Not to be outdone by Microsoft, Sony presented their own montage for their line-up of indie exclusives coming out across all of their platforms. Again, we'll let the video doing the talking, but favorites include: Broforce, Not a Hero, and Hotline Miami 2

Let it Die - E3 Trailer

We conclude part one of the Sony Press Conference trailers with one of the most downright violent trailers in the entire series of pressers. Described as a "free to play extreme hack n' slash" game, Let it Die wants you to do just that... brutally eliminate your enemies and watch them disappear. There also seems to be a companion mobile app in development, being designed with the goal to let you join the Playstation community from your smart phone. The Unreal Engine is looking marvelous in this trailer, and can definitely be a game changer in the hack and slash genre. 

Let it Die

PS4

Release: TBA 2015

Publisher: GungHo Online Entertainment

Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture

Stay tuned for part two of the Sony Conference Trailers coming this evening!