Many would say that Sony’s Press Conference last year could never be topped with The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3, and Final Fantasy VII Remake. But Sony came out full speed and never slowed down this year. They showed so many spectacular games, most of which, we’ll see within the next 18 months. 

Sony started off with an amazing orchestral performance that was building up tension, and kicked off directly into God of War. Yes, the game is just ‘God of War.’ It came with some different gameplay than in previous God of War entries and seems to have a more methodical pace of combat as these enemies feel more threatening than the last. Do not fear, Kratos is back and he has a beard, and a kid in this expansive world of Norse Mythology.

Following that, Shawn Layden came out to address the tragedy in Orlando and then transitioned to showing us Sony Bend’s new title Days Gone. Days Gone is a post apocalyptic zombie survival game, in which the world has gone absolutely crazy and features an absurd amount of Zombies as we see later in the demo at the end of the conference.

Immediately after that we got a new trailer for The Last Guardian that features another guardian and then the trailer ends with a release date of October 25, 2016.

Then came a lengthy gameplay demo of Horizon: Zero Dawn. This showed off NPC interactions, a weapon wheel, enemies, and even how to tame these wild machines. One of the most interesting parts is that you can scan enemies and figure out their weak points or if they are vulnerable to a specific type of attack.

Then Sony showed off several features in Quantic Dreams’ Detroit: Become Human. Like Heavy Rain, this game seems to have several possible outcomes and endings to various situations. They primarily showed off just one instance where you have to do a hostage negotiation with an android on a ledge.

Then the conference took a turn right down the road that is Virtual Reality. They showed off an eerie horror game, which then turned out to be Resident Evil VII: BioHazard. A playable teaser for the game was released that night for PlayStation Plus Subscribers.

After that surprise they announced that PlayStation VR would launch on October 13th, in addition to being the cheapest VR platform on the market, they also said it would have several big titles with at least 50 games by the end of 2016.

Things moved on to show off a brand new IP for PlayStation VR, called Far Point by a studio called Impulse Gear. This seemed to be very interesting and it seems that players will be stranded and have no idea where they are in the world of this game.

Keeping with the theme of Science Fiction they transitioned right into a splendid teaser for Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission, and very little was shown, but who doesn’t want to fly in an X-Wing?

Then continuing with big licensed properties we were given a short but sweet trailer that was voiced over by Mark Hamill as the Joker for Batman Arkham VR developed by none other than Rocksteady studios. This is interesting because the studio had claimed to be done with making any more Batman Arkham games.

Final Fantasy XV got another new trailer that showed more of the world, traversal and combat all scored by AfroJack. This transitioned into another trailer for Final Fantasy XV VR Experience, where you play as prompto.

After that we were shown a superb gameplay demo of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. This demo displayed a myriad of new mechanics, like grappling hooks, piloting a spaceship, all while taking over an enemy space fleet. This also showed off how players could mess with the gravity to change up gameplay.

Then there was a new trailer for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered however if you want it, you’ll have to buy Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, as that is currently the only way to own it.

For the longest time there has been speculation as to whether Crash Bandicoot would ever return, seeing as the last release was more than half a decade ago. However it’s clear that Sony has heard its fans as the next announcement became remastered versions of  Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, and Crash Bandicoot Warped. In addition to this we learned that Crash Bandicoot would make his debut in the world of Skylanders: Imaginators.

Following that, we saw a new trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This trailer featured voice acting from the original cast members as well as lines from the movie itself. The game is slated to release on June 28th.

A gaming industry legend was then introduced by Sony’s Andrew House. Hideo Kojima came out to show a trailer for his new game, Death Stranding, Which he is currently working on with his team, and Norman Reedus. In the trailer Norman wakes up with handcuffs, a scar on his chest and a fetus. he then proceeds to look at floating people in the distance.

We then saw what Insomniac Games’ has been working on. It’s a new Spider-Man game, which is a PlayStation 4 exclusive title. We got glimpses as to what gameplay will be like and what it will feature, however a proper gameplay demo was not shown.

Finally, to end the conference we saw a gameplay demo of Sony Bends’ game Days Gone. This gameplay showed an astonishing amount of zombies in a detailed gameplay environment. It was not only a technically impressive demo, but it looks to be fun, and should be a sign of great things to come.

---

Charlie Savidge is an associate writer for Middle Of Nowhere Gaming and is happy that he helped save the bandicoot. You can follow his Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.