SONY E3 2015 CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS & TRAILERS

June 16, 2015

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Jo Wylie ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Video Games Editor

Sony at E3 2015 Absolutely blew out of the water what had otherwise been a somewhat lackluster day. Despite a few great moments, earlier conferences paled in comparison to Sony throwing out blow after blow of awesome, exciting news.

We knew we were in for a huge conference when Sony opened with a trailer for The Last Guardian – The third game in the collection of games including Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. So often gamers will cite Shadow of the Colossus as their favorite game of all time, the stunning visuals and fantastic soundtrack often being noted. The release of The Last Guardian, ten years after Shadow of the Colossus, is huge news for the video game community, and just the first of a collection of exciting announcements at this year’s Sony conference.

Horizon Zero Dawn is a new IP that looks innovative, exciting, and downright pretty. Set in a world where humans are tribe-based, non-technological community living in the long-dead husk of modern society. The enemies in the game are animal-like robots, highly technological and seemingly-evolved androids grazing the landscape – herbivores and carnivores, both hunted by and hunting the human characters.

Featuring a female protagonist, a really fresh and exciting world, and a cool battle system, check out the gameplay below.

Hitman was up next, with a fantastically directed and animated little cinematic trailer. It doesn’t actually tell us anything about the game, but it looks fantastic, and had to be featured in the highlights. Take a look!

Sony invited Hello Games on stage next to talk about their MMO game No Man’s Sky. They blew us away with a demonstration of the breathtaking scope of the game, and went on to randomly select the world and show the kind of day-to-day play we could enjoy. Despite being very ready to be on the hype train for No Man’s Sky, they’ve been keeping the game going for some time, now, and we’re still yet to have a release date. We’re on your side, Hello Games, and ready to get super pumped about this IP. Now we really need something more solid from you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGy8HIYBwV0

Assassins Creed Syndicate took to the stage for a very short trailer finally featuring Evie Fry, the female playable character, in action. It wasn’t much, but it was exciting to see, especially having not seen a lot more than we already knew in Ubisoft’s conference.

Next up, Sony blew us away with two pieces of news that no one saw coming. Looking forwards to a Kingdom Hearts 3 reveal? SURPRISE! Final Fantasy 7, the most adored Final Fantasy games of all time and arguably the game that popularized the JRPG outside of Japan, is getting a complete remake. There’s nothing more to say – nothing can get bigger than this, right?

Wrong! Shenmue, the game that revolutionized RPGs with open-world gameplay, day-night cycles, and a non-linear narrative, is coming back. For so long, this was a series who’s legacy was that it would never come back, and it would always remain unfinished, the cliffhanger at the end of the second game abandoned forever. Getting the whole room on it’s feet, however, Sony announced that Shenmue 3 would come to playstation with the help of a kickstarter campaign. Oh no, we hope it reaches it’s goal! But seeing as it’s made $1,400,000 in the five hours after the conference it’s probably safe.

Star Wars Battlefront took over near the end of the conference, showing us the awesome variation in rolls across the battlefield, as both rebels and empire fighters. Fight in a X-wing, from an AT-AT, or on the ground, and rank up until you get to take on the mantle of one of the iconic heroes or villains. Also, good news! Third person! And those cool alien dudes!

And finally, one of the big pieces we were all excited for (in comparison to those big games we had absolutely no idea were coming. Sony just killed it either way) – Uncharted 4. Uncharted really knows what it is and doesn’t try to change that. It just knows to excel at great characters, stunning landscapes, and immersive fast-paced gameplay. This trailer does all of these things, exactly what we were all wanting and exactly what we got. Strangely, the most exciting thing about the trailer was the way that the environment was completely destructible, cars and bullets alike tearing down the scenery and forcing the player to think fast and keep moving. The way Nate and Sully react to the crowds and the landscape is also awesome – if you were excited that one time in Uncharted 2 when you jumped in a random swimming pool and Nate actually talked about it? Well, this is the gameplay trailer for you.