KNACK
■ Developer: SCEJ
■ Publisher: Sony
DON’T KNOCK IT! The first game announced was a new franchise from Sony Japan Studio called Knack. Set in a colourful, cartoony world where goblins and humans are at war, players control the titular robot who is capable of exponentially growing in size by absorbing matter around him. He starts off as a cute little guy who couldn’t threaten our nans, but give him the opportunity and suddenly he’s bigger than a house and punching you in the face.
The little gameplay we’ve seen looks to be standard actionplatformer fare in a Skylanders vein, strolling through bright levels and smashing up the hordes of goblins in your path. The Pixar-style graphics look wonderful, with some of the animation in cutscenes perfectly mimicking the kind of thing you see in blockbuster CGI fi-lms.
Along with SCE Japan, famed developer Mark Cerny, who had a hand in such PlayStation hits as Crash Bandicoot , Spyro and Uncharted, is directing and designing Knack. If it can evoke the same simple wonder that fi rst exploring Crash Bandicoot can, we might be onto a winner with Knack. It might not appeal to everyone, but kids, and adults who never really grew up (that includes us here at Play) should have a ton of fun.
■ AN INTERERSTING CHOICE to lead with, Knack will hopefully be one of the PS4’s early surprises. It’s nice to see a non- Ratchet platformer on the console.
INFAMOUS: SECOND SON
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■ Developer: Sucker Punch
■ Publisher: Sony
MORE LIKE SECOND FUN Sucker Punch is back with a new InFamous game for nextgen, but Cole McGrath and his lightning powers are nowhere to be seen. Instead we have InFamous: Second Son, set a few years after InFamous 2 with a new hero, Delsin Rowe (we know, it’s a terrible name.) The themes of Second Son seem to be similar to those of Watch Dogs – constant surveillance, a lack of freedom, taking back control of your own life – except this time, the guy you play as has superpowers! Delsin is a 24-year-old convinced he’s destined for greatness but lacking direction, until a chance accident imbues him with superhuman powers.
The world has changed since InFamous 2 and anyone showing signs of being a “bio-terrorist” is immediately handed in to the government to ensure the events of Empire City and New Marais never repeat themselves. Delsin decides he isn’t going to go down quietly and the rest is elementary. We didn’t see any gameplay, but we’d imagine something similar to the previous games with some lovely next-gen twists. It’s set in Seattle and promises lots of familiar, real-world landmarks, a first for the series, which should help it feel more grounded and lend more gravitas to the themes it aims to convey.
■ A SURPRISE RETURN for the moderately popular InFamous series that essentially amounts to a reboot. An open world exclusive to be excited about.
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT
■ Developer: CD Projekt RED
■ Publisher: TBA
ONE OF THE BEST RPG SERIES FINALLY COMES TO PLAYSTATION CD Projekt RED is one of our favourite developers here at Play, with its two excellent Witcher RPGS on PC and 360, but it has yet to grace a Sony console with its prescence. That all changes with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, confi- rmed to be coming to PS4 when it releases in 2014. Once again following the eponymous Witcher, Geralt, CDPR is promising an RPG on unparalleled scope and depth. Considering its track record, we can’t help but believe it. Hopefully this means the developer’s upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 will also be coming to our new console.
■ Arriving on PlayStation 4 ahead of Bethesda should garner The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a lot of early attention.
THE WITNESS
■ Developer: Jonathan Blow
■ Publisher: TBA
WE CAME, WE SAW, WE BOUGHT THE T SHIRT Jonathon Blow, famous for creating the time-bending indie smash-hit Braid, has been hard at work the last few years on his next game, The Witness. Based around solving puzzles on an island ( Myst, anyone?) we don’t know much else about The Witness yet besides the fact it looks lovely and has a great team behind it.
We love that Sony is maintaining its focus on indie development, giving it time to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the huge triple-A titles. The Witness has been in development for some time now, so it shouldn’t be too much longer. May this mark the start of a prosperous partnership between the PS4 and indie developers everywhere!
■ No, it’s not 3D Worms on PS4. The Witness should be one of the console’s smarter offerings.
DEEP DOWN
■ Developer: Capcom
■ Publisher: Capcom
DOWN DOWN, DEEPER AND DOWN Capcom game producer Yoshinoro Ono, famous for recently revitilisng the Street Fighter franchise, visited the Sony conference to show off both a new engine, known as “Panta Rhei’ (ancient Greek for “everything fl ows”) and a game to demonstrate it, with the working title Deep Down. This looked like a dark fantasy game reminiscent of Dark Souls, with two armour-clad dudes duking it out with a dragon in a dark dungeon. It’s hard to tell how much of what we saw was actual gameplay, but the beautiful visuals, bleak tone and intense action were enough to get our juices fl owing.
■ It’s very Dark Souls, we must admit. Nothing wrong with that, of course.
DIABLO III
■ Developer: Blizzard
■ Publisher: Activision Blizzard
DUNGEON CRAWLING FROM THE PC MASTERS Despite being a multi-billion-dollar success, Blizzard has never before published a game on a console, their one dalliance away from PCs before ( Starcraft: Ghost) being cancelled long before it ever saw the light of day. Teaming up with Blizzard is a big deal for Sony, and although a Diablo III port might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, what it signifi es is pretty fantastic. Blizzard has got a lot of interesting stuff in the pipeline, and if it all comes to PS4 as well as PC, there are going to be a lot of happy gamers.
■ Developer: SCEJ
■ Publisher: Sony
DON’T KNOCK IT! The first game announced was a new franchise from Sony Japan Studio called Knack. Set in a colourful, cartoony world where goblins and humans are at war, players control the titular robot who is capable of exponentially growing in size by absorbing matter around him. He starts off as a cute little guy who couldn’t threaten our nans, but give him the opportunity and suddenly he’s bigger than a house and punching you in the face.
The little gameplay we’ve seen looks to be standard actionplatformer fare in a Skylanders vein, strolling through bright levels and smashing up the hordes of goblins in your path. The Pixar-style graphics look wonderful, with some of the animation in cutscenes perfectly mimicking the kind of thing you see in blockbuster CGI fi-lms.
Along with SCE Japan, famed developer Mark Cerny, who had a hand in such PlayStation hits as Crash Bandicoot , Spyro and Uncharted, is directing and designing Knack. If it can evoke the same simple wonder that fi rst exploring Crash Bandicoot can, we might be onto a winner with Knack. It might not appeal to everyone, but kids, and adults who never really grew up (that includes us here at Play) should have a ton of fun.
■ AN INTERERSTING CHOICE to lead with, Knack will hopefully be one of the PS4’s early surprises. It’s nice to see a non- Ratchet platformer on the console.
INFAMOUS: SECOND SON
■ Developer: Sucker Punch
■ Publisher: Sony
MORE LIKE SECOND FUN Sucker Punch is back with a new InFamous game for nextgen, but Cole McGrath and his lightning powers are nowhere to be seen. Instead we have InFamous: Second Son, set a few years after InFamous 2 with a new hero, Delsin Rowe (we know, it’s a terrible name.) The themes of Second Son seem to be similar to those of Watch Dogs – constant surveillance, a lack of freedom, taking back control of your own life – except this time, the guy you play as has superpowers! Delsin is a 24-year-old convinced he’s destined for greatness but lacking direction, until a chance accident imbues him with superhuman powers.
The world has changed since InFamous 2 and anyone showing signs of being a “bio-terrorist” is immediately handed in to the government to ensure the events of Empire City and New Marais never repeat themselves. Delsin decides he isn’t going to go down quietly and the rest is elementary. We didn’t see any gameplay, but we’d imagine something similar to the previous games with some lovely next-gen twists. It’s set in Seattle and promises lots of familiar, real-world landmarks, a first for the series, which should help it feel more grounded and lend more gravitas to the themes it aims to convey.
■ A SURPRISE RETURN for the moderately popular InFamous series that essentially amounts to a reboot. An open world exclusive to be excited about.
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT
■ Developer: CD Projekt RED
■ Publisher: TBA
ONE OF THE BEST RPG SERIES FINALLY COMES TO PLAYSTATION CD Projekt RED is one of our favourite developers here at Play, with its two excellent Witcher RPGS on PC and 360, but it has yet to grace a Sony console with its prescence. That all changes with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, confi- rmed to be coming to PS4 when it releases in 2014. Once again following the eponymous Witcher, Geralt, CDPR is promising an RPG on unparalleled scope and depth. Considering its track record, we can’t help but believe it. Hopefully this means the developer’s upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 will also be coming to our new console.
■ Arriving on PlayStation 4 ahead of Bethesda should garner The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a lot of early attention.
THE WITNESS
■ Developer: Jonathan Blow
■ Publisher: TBA
WE CAME, WE SAW, WE BOUGHT THE T SHIRT Jonathon Blow, famous for creating the time-bending indie smash-hit Braid, has been hard at work the last few years on his next game, The Witness. Based around solving puzzles on an island ( Myst, anyone?) we don’t know much else about The Witness yet besides the fact it looks lovely and has a great team behind it.
We love that Sony is maintaining its focus on indie development, giving it time to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the huge triple-A titles. The Witness has been in development for some time now, so it shouldn’t be too much longer. May this mark the start of a prosperous partnership between the PS4 and indie developers everywhere!
■ No, it’s not 3D Worms on PS4. The Witness should be one of the console’s smarter offerings.
DEEP DOWN
■ Developer: Capcom
■ Publisher: Capcom
DOWN DOWN, DEEPER AND DOWN Capcom game producer Yoshinoro Ono, famous for recently revitilisng the Street Fighter franchise, visited the Sony conference to show off both a new engine, known as “Panta Rhei’ (ancient Greek for “everything fl ows”) and a game to demonstrate it, with the working title Deep Down. This looked like a dark fantasy game reminiscent of Dark Souls, with two armour-clad dudes duking it out with a dragon in a dark dungeon. It’s hard to tell how much of what we saw was actual gameplay, but the beautiful visuals, bleak tone and intense action were enough to get our juices fl owing.
■ It’s very Dark Souls, we must admit. Nothing wrong with that, of course.
DIABLO III
■ Developer: Blizzard
■ Publisher: Activision Blizzard
DUNGEON CRAWLING FROM THE PC MASTERS Despite being a multi-billion-dollar success, Blizzard has never before published a game on a console, their one dalliance away from PCs before ( Starcraft: Ghost) being cancelled long before it ever saw the light of day. Teaming up with Blizzard is a big deal for Sony, and although a Diablo III port might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, what it signifi es is pretty fantastic. Blizzard has got a lot of interesting stuff in the pipeline, and if it all comes to PS4 as well as PC, there are going to be a lot of happy gamers.
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