This year, Sony decided to do something a bit out of the ordinary and hold a two-day event showcasing their upcoming titles and developers’ chops. Why is that out of the ordinary? Well, E3 is in under a month. Either way, we’re not complaining, and neither should you, because Sony showed off some amazing games, and we’ve got the scoop from Day One of their Spring Preview Event.
In terms of the games Sony was showing off, they ranged from casual to hard-core, portable to home console. We saw PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, LittleBigPlanet Karting, as well as Resistance: Burning Skies on the PlayStation Vita. Here’s what we thought about all the games:
Resistance: Burning Skies: When we saw this one at the PlayStation Vita launch event a couple of months ago, it was full of bugs and glitches. Of course, the game wasn’t near completed, so that makes sense. Let’s just say this: it’s amazing what eight to twelve weeks of development can do for a game. Burning Skies looks incredible, and we can’t wait to get our hands on a retail copy.
PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale: While we weren’t allowed to take any pictures of this game because it is not far enough through development, we can say that it plays very smoothly and looks great. There were only six characters on demo, four of which were actually playable, but we’re certain there will be more added in the near future. Yes, the comparisons to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. are fair, but the game does instantly get its own charm if only by using Sony’s characters in a setting we’ve never seen them in. We didn’t expect to love this game as much as we are, so it’ll be great to see how it develops further. Of course, it also may be the closest we get to a Smash Bros. with online play this year.
A bit of extra conjecture on this one: we fully expect Sackboy to be a playable character like Kirby is from the Nintendo games. It would make perfect sense for him to assume other characters’ abilities and look, but would it be too close to the game’s House of Mario inspiration?
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection: We purposely didn’t actually play the latest collection on the Vita because we’re so close to getting it for real. Word was that the games (yes, plural) were excellent reproductions of the original, so we’ll let you know what we think when the official review surfaces in a few weeks.
LittleBigPlanet Karting: This is the first major jump for he LittleBigPlanet series, and while it is cute and cuddly, we’re really excited about the PS Vita game to feature our favorite little Sackboy. Karting is a fairly decent representation of the franchise but it makes us wonder if it should have really been developed since LittleBigPlanet 2 was supposed to be the “any kind of game you want” entry in the series.
Starhawk: While we didn’t get much hands on time with this one, as a sequel to Warhawk, we have decent hopes for this one. It doesn’t seem to have let us down so far from everything that we’ve seen, and of course we’ll have a more complete review shortly, but this is a game that’s got fantastic graphics, great audio (from what we could tell in a relatively loud room), and a whole bunch of whoop-ass tech powered by a guy that looks like Iron Man. Any arguments?
Sorcery: At E3 2010, we saw Sorcery unveiled. And then, like the magic that it is, it vanished. Well, the game isn’t dead, and luckily for us, it’s back and better than ever. Take a look at the original demo of the game below, and you’ll see just how far the game has come and how beautiful it is now. For those that don’t remember, Sorcery is a magical game (no pun intended there, folks) that combines wizardry with the PlayStation Move. This game is actually the one that we’ve been waiting for to really make the Move worth it. We’ve always liked Sony’s take on motion gaming, but it’s a title like this that will really make it shine. Being able to combine spells to destroy enemies in different ways and seamlessly move through the world as you throw bolts of fire and ice all make the game some of the most unique stuff we’ve seen yet. Adding motion control to that is just a bonus. Unfortunately, Sorcery wasn’t playable at E3 2010, but it will be out in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned for our review when May 22nd rolls around!
We still laugh that the original release date for Sorcery was Spring 2011. Lawlz.
You can check out the event tomorrow as it opens for the public around 5:30PM. It’s at Camp Oochigeas at Bathurst and College in the Toronto core. Tomorrow’s event is dedicated to Canadian Indie developers, so make sure you head on down to see the latest, the greatest, and the unreleased! Before you do, though, check out one more grab from Sorcery from the event!
