FILLING the void left by now-defunct industry shindig, E3, the online Summer Game Fest kicks off at 6pm today and runs until Monday, lifting the lid on what we’ll be feeding our consoles over the next year.
Sony, however, got the ball rolling with last week’s State of Play, showcasing a slew of PS5 titles that included one exclusive show-stealer.
Sony’s live service iron is white hot after the success of Helldivers 2, and the company is keen to strike again. But with big guns and a quippy cast, Firewalk’s upcoming 5v5 live service shooter Concord comes off like an own-brand Guardians of the Galaxy meets Overwatch (Fauxverwatch?). We can see what all the fuss is about when it releases on August 23.
Horror fans are well catered for with spruced-up versions of two of the finest. 2015′s Until Dawn is still the best choose-your-own-adventure horror, where a gaggle of teens heavy with hormones become trapped in a remote cabin with a killer on the loose.
Paying tribute to classic slasher fare and starring Hayden Panettiere, Rami Malek and Peter Stormare, the PS5 revamp adds a fresh lick of paint while introducing a new third-person camera option.
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Borne of the late-90s golden age of J-horror, Silent Hill 2 eschewed schlock in favour of disturbing imagery and plenty of kinky stuff as James Sunderland travelled to the titular town searching for the missus, who’s still annoying him despite being in a pine box.
Like a foggy Larne, expect much running about a desolate ghost town full of menacing ghouls with funny-shaped heads when the ground-up remake lands on October 8.
If you splashed the cash on Sony’s PSVR2 headset, there’ll be reason to dust off and strap on this Christmas. SkyDance’s Behemoth is a dark fantasy set in the snowy Forsaken Lands, where giant creatures roam. Armed with swords and a grappling hook, expect towering boss fights with Shadow of the Colossus vibes.
Alien: Rogue Incursion is another one for VR fans. An action-horror with an original storyline in the Alien universe, players explore a crashed spaceship while trying to avoid ending up on the business end of a Xenomorph. It looks like the closest thing we’ll get to a VR version of the incredible Alien: Isolation.
Saving the best for last, however, Sony revealed that an all-new Astro Bot game will land on September 6.
It’s the first starring role for Sony’s mechanical mascot since 2020′s Astro’s Playroom, which was shoehorned into every new PS5 to show off its fancy controller.
A full-fat game rather than tech demo, Astro Bot promises to be a celebration of the Sony brand, with over 150 cameos from 30 years of PlayStation history.