So Sony showed up in town to show off what they have coming out for this holiday season. I've got to say that I was much more impressed with the Sony offerings than those from EA's recent press event. There were so much that once I got to the event, I wasn't sure where to start. I knew I wanted to get some hands on time with the new PS Vita, and was it awesome. I tried Wipeout, Ruin, Sound Shapes and saw Uncharted: Golden Abyss.
Wipeout is back and on the Vita as well as the PS3 simultaneously! That was the biggest draw of the game and I was impressed. Being able to play on your brand new Vita and race against someone that was playing on a PS3 at the same time was mind boggling. And the fact that it looked nearly the same on both was even more impressive.
Sound Shapes was a very impressive new title which combined major aspects of a PixelJunk game and Lumines into a side scrolling music game that's pretty awesome. Not only does everything within the stage do something to create the music you listen to, but you can also create your own levels via the in level builder.
Uncharted was Uncharted and I don't think I need to go into detail here. I'm pretty sure this was the same build from E3 and it was just as hands off as E3 too. Sad face.
On the console side of things was Need for Speed (NFS) The Run (again), Starhawk, God of War: Origins Collection, Ico & Shaodw of the Colossus Collection, and my personal favorite, Resistance 3.
I'm going to skip over NFS: The Run since it was the same thing from EA, which you should read to learn what I thought of it (link coming soon). So on to Starhawk, which I definitely went in with the wrong impression as I thought this was a direct follow up to Warhawk. Starhawk is a 3rd person shooter set in the lawless frontier of space. The cool part was being able to call for offensive and defensive structures and weapons from space and change the battle in real time. Also, there were jets that turned into mechs ala Macross. That alone is worth a win in my book.
God of War Collection was the re-mastered version of both PSP games for the PS3 on a single disc. The graphics were beautiful and everything had been given the 3D treatment to boot. Outside of that, don't expect much in terms of changes for those games.
The same can be said for the Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection as the God of War Collection; this is also both games pressed on to one disc and re-mastered in 1080p with 3D. Look for both collections in September.
Resistance 3 looked awesome was my favorite of the event. You take to crossing half of America as Joseph Capelli in hopes of stopping the Chimera. One of the major changes is that since you no longer play as Nathan Hale, you're health doesn't regenerate so life packs will be a priority. I didn't get a glimpse as to any new weapons or features, but the gameplay is just as good as the others and you should be on the look out for this one.
Other honorable mentions for the PS3 include Uncharted 3 (which was hands off…again) Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Twisted Metal and the Playstation 3DTV, which for $500 comes with Resistance 3. Sony has wowed me and actually made me look forward to the holiday season.
