Sony’s E3 2018 Showcase Took Us to Church

The Last of Us Two

Sony’s showcase started off with the audience inside a dark eerie church while a banjo player played the theme from The Last of Us Two. On Screen we see a young adult Ellie at a dance inside of a hall. She watches from the sidelines for a while before dancing with another woman. Ellie is told that others are jealous of her and she states that she is just a girl… why should they be jealous? The two end up locking lips we are transported to a much different and dark setting.

Ellie is alone. For a minute.

She is brutally killing anyone in her path one at a time with her knife, bow and gun. After an incredibly brutal series of deaths she is transported back to the dance where it all began. AS the kiss ends it is as if the other woman could feel and sense what Ellie has done and is capable of and tells her that they should all fear her.

The gameplay shown is some of the, if not THE,  most fluid gameplay we’ve seen in any game to date. It’s as if Naughty Dog accepted the challenge thrown down by Sony Santa Monica and are trying to make sure they are in the conversation with God of War for best game…. period.

Call of Duty

After this incredible showing from Naughty Dog there were a couple of Call of Duty bits of housekeeping including a multiplayer map trailer and a two-part announcement stating that maps from Black Ops 1 and 2 were being remade for 3 and 4 and Black Ops 3 would be available tonight as a free PS+ game.

An Extended look at Destiny 2 Forsaken is shown off showing the prison that Cayde 6 had built was being overthrown and ends with his apparent death. For a series that has not relied very heavily on story, this was an interesting move leading us to believe that they are making that more of a priority going forward.

The audience has now been moved into another area a little more modern and familiar as another musical number on stage leads right into the first gameplay trailer for Sucker Punch’s new game Ghosts of Tsushima. We were treated to a very in-depth look at the gameplay here.

The demo opens near a wooded area during a windstorm as a figure and a horse emerge from the woods. Mongol Invasion Day 9 comes across the screen and it is evident that the area is war torn. The figure heads through an apparent battlefield and emerges near the Osuna grasslands. Seeing a tree matching the leaf he held upon entering the field, he summons his horse and heads towards it. You meet three soldiers attacking an unarmed man and you strike swiftly and bring them down just as more arrive. There is an apparent slow-motion element to the battle that is seen here, but it’s unclear yet how and when it can be activated. Violence and gore is ramped up as you take out the men one by one. A woman arrives with a bow and takes out the last attacker just in time. Using stealth and slow-motion you take out two more enemies. You then climb up buildings using parkour as well as a rope to scale the building. As you view the room from the roof you jump down to strike them all in a quick and timely manner. The woman with you tries to take out the priest that you jumped down to save and an ensuing fight is about to begin between the two warriors. The sunset and backdrop of falling leaves is a sight to behold as the shadowy figures fight. What is happening between the two almost fades into the background because of how gorgeous it truly is. In time, you best her. Instead of finishing her off you hand her sword back and the two of you prepare for the next wave of Mongols to appear as the screen fades to the title screen.

With so much speculation as to what this game was, it was fantastic to finally see for ourselves and take a peak at what Sucker Punch has been doing since 2014.

Control

After that a very Remedy looking trailer was shown for their next game called Control. The demo showed the world shifting around the protagonist as she manipulated items in the world, including her own weapon, to take out enemies. Control is looking to release in 2019 and is being published by 505 Games.

Resident Evil 2

At this point we finally saw the first trailer for the Resident Evil 2 remake and, more importantly, we finally have a release date. Capcom is bringing the much-anticipated game to stores on January 29, 2019. January and February of 2019 are shaping up to be absolutely insane.

Trevor Saves the World

Another staple at any gaming event is crazy VR experiences from the co-creator of Rick and Morty. This time around it’s a crazy experience called Trevor Saves the World. It looks and sounds like Rick and Morty, just without Rick and Morty. Needless to say, this should be a fun and wild game worth checking out on PS4 and PSVR.

Kingdom Hearts 3

For no less than the third time this E3 we’ve seen a different Kingdom Hearts 3 Trailer. While the trailers seen at Microsoft and Square Enix were similar, this one started off by showing the return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and then showed a montage of other characters and places we’ll visit when the game launches on, you guessed it, January 29, 2019. The same day that Resident Evil 2 plans on releasing.

Death Stranding

Next on the Docket was a trailer filled with game-play that we had all been waiting for. Kojima Productions finally gave us a glimpse into the world of Death Stranding. The game-play and story notes that the trailer hit were just as confusing as every other reveal for the game to date. Most of the game-play we see just involves walking around carrying objects. The main character, played by Norman Reedus, tells another character that he makes deliveries, and he follows through on this. With more footage of everyone’s favorite thumbs up giving baby as well as glimpses of the enemies that had been invisible to this point, Death Stranding looks as though it will deliver in a big way. We still have no idea on a release window, so don’t expect the game any time soon.

Spider-Man

After a quick yet surprising reveal trailer for Nioh 2 Sony gave us the most complete look we’ve seen so far of Spider-Man. What a way to close the show! Thankfully we’ll be playing Spider-Man soon enough when the game launches on September 7.

The gameplay starts with Electro freeing all the inmates on the Raft. Spider-Man zips around taking them all out one by one. Jumping, sliding, and swinging all over as Rhino is in the next room causing a ruckus. Out of nowhere Scorpion comes down and picks you up. Spider-Man is hit with the revelation – every bad guy he’s put away over the last eight years are here and are now free. With his spider senses tingling, shown as a force field around his head, as danger is near. Spider-Man takes off after Electro, swinging his way around outside until vulture swoops in and carries him off.  He quickly escapes and continues after Electro. Everyone has escaped and five of his worst enemies are now on the run. You continue to chase Electro with an incredible wall running sequence leading to the roof where you are met by Mr. Negative in a helicopter – rounding out the five. Spider-Man is taking them all on and together the five are beating him to a pulp. Things look pretty bleak when off screen someone shows up, to Spider-Man’s surprise, and we fade to the title screen.

Sony promised that we would get a deeper dive into their four biggest titles already announced and boy did they deliver. All the footage shown was incredible, the multiple settings and musical performances were insane, and we even were treated to some new game reveals.  So, what did you think of Sony’s E3 exhibition this year?And keep checking back to Handsome Phantom for more E3 2018 coverage.