In Days Gone, The Environment Is Your Friend
Let’s get it out of the way up front: Days Gone is another zombie game. They’re called Freakers and they’re technically still alive, but the end result is the same: they want to kill you.
The thing that separates Freakers from the zombies in The Walking Dead or Resident Evil is the sheer volume of them. Even if you had infinite ammo, you’d never be able to wipe out the horde that surrounds you at every turn. Instead, you need to outrun them. You need to use the environment around you to slow them down and buy every second you can. Your life depends on it.
In a demo shown at E3, Deacon (the bounty hunter and ex-biker gang member you play as) is searching an abandoned sawmill for a man named Two Dog. Unfortunately, Two Dog gets taken down pretty quickly (R.I.P. Two Dog), leaving Deacon to fend off the horde.
God of War Could Have Been Set in Egypt
Sony unveiled a new God of War during its E3 2016 press conference. And as rumored, the game draws inspiration from Norse mythology. However, Sony Santa Monica once considered a focus on Egyptian mythology for the game.
"Half the team was way into that," Sony Santa Monica creative director Cory Barlog said during a round-table interview, as reported by Eurogamer. "Egyptian mythology is about the pharaohs as embodiment of the gods on earth and there's a lot more about civilization."
He continued: "It's less isolated, less barren." Because of that, the team chose to move away from that idea and towards the Norse setting, as they wanted the focus to stay on Kratos. "Having too much around distracts from that central theme of a stranger in a strange place," Barlog said.
Criterion’s ‘Action Sports’ Game Is Still in Development
Since it was announced at E3 2014, we've heard essentially nothing about Criterion's "action sports" game, unofficially referred to as "Beyond Cars." According to EA the game is still alive, though it has changed a bit.
Speaking about the project with IGN, Executive VP at EA Patrick Söderlund said "We talked about
building something. They are building something. That’s true. But as with any game, whenever you build something new and you go after a new IP, you learn things during the way that may change the course of action."
Kojima Offers More Cryptic Death Stranding Details
In an interview with IGN at this year’s E3, Hideo Kojima revealed the first details about his new studio’s upcoming debut game, Death Stranding.
According to Kojima, Death Stranding will be recognizable as an action game to players familiar with the genre, but that he hopes to do something new with it.
“Metal Gear was an action game,” Kojima tells IGN, “but it was an action game where you happened to be hiding. There was no genre for that back then, and now it’s classified as a stealth game. In that regard, Death Stranding will also be an action game, but I want to make something new, something different.”
Content from Sony Press Conference Has Been ‘Locked and Unchanged for Months’
Sony's E3 2016 press conference did not undergo last-minute changes despite rumors suggesting otherwise, according to Sony's Adam Boyes.
Boyes, the vice president of third party relations at PlayStation, responded to a question on Twitter concerning whether a game had been pulled from Sony's conference, leading to Days Gone gameplay being slotted in as the show's closer.
Horizon: Zero Dawn’s Writer Answers 8 Key Story Questions
Horizon: Zero Dawn is ready to bring players into an imaginative new world where mechanized creatures rule the land and humanity has abandoned the Earth. At the heart of the game is Aloy, a skilled hunter who doesn't know why she is an outcast or why she has many unique abilities. As the game unfolds, it's up to the player to help Aloy discover the answers to these big mysteries.
The E3 demo of the new Guerrilla Games title didn't offer any hints toward what these answers might be, instead focusing on the gameplay and how to fight with Aloy's various weapons and abilities. To try to get some hints about the world gamers will be heading into, I sat down with lead writer Josh Gonzalez to ask my biggest questions about the story in Horizon: Zero Dawn.
13 Things You Should Know about Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil 7 was officially announced during Sony's E3 press conference, but so much of the sequel is clouded in mystery. But that's the strategy. I sat down with the game's producer Masachika Kawata and director Koushi Nakanishi to learn as much as I possibly could about the next instalment in the seminal horror series.
Title aside, it's possible to play Resident Evil 7 and not realise it's the latest entry in the long-running horror series. But Resident Evil 7 isn't a reboot, either. Confused?
Here's how Masachika Kawata, the game's producer, explained it to me:
"It’s the next title in the numbered series, so obviously it’s part of the Resident Evil universe, and overall canon, so to speak. It’s not a separate thing, but we have intentionally made it so that maybe when you first play it you’ll almost think: how could this possibly be related to the rest of Resident Evil? But it is. It is an extension of the series so far. It’s not a reboot. It’s the next main game."
Cars, Clouds, and Crocodiles in Forza Horizon 3
To be candid, Playground Games could’ve set Forza Horizon 3 just about anywhere on the planet and I expect I’d have found myself aboard. This UK-based racing supergroup has carved itself a well-earned reputation as a master of open-world racing; frankly, when it comes to open-world racers, there’s the Horizon series and then there’s everything else.
But yes; I won’t pretend not to be hugely excited at the revelation Horizon 3 is bringing the series down under, and I’ll freely admit that I’m buzzing at the prospect of hooning around in some of the new vehicles Horizon’s Australian holiday will feature. But putting aside the novelty of having a racing game set in my own backyard, Horizon 3 is still shaping up to be the most diverse, most social, and most customisable open-world racer in the business. No matter where you’re from, Horizon 3 seems to be striving to make you happy.
Lego Dimensions Meets Mario Kart Battle Mode in New Multiplayer Battle Arenas
As I flew down from the sky as Ethan Hunt onto the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch for a game of Capture the Flag, I instantly knew something special would ensue. I just didn't expect to be thinking of Mario Kart the whole time.
Lego games have always allowed players to collaborate in their quest to smash bricks and collect studs. Now, Lego Dimensions is introducing a competitive local multiplayer mode that scratches the same itch as the best iterations of Mario Kart’s Battle Mode.
While Lego Dimensions’ second year of content will integrate a number of new franchises into the game’s fold, this next major wave will also mark the introduction of Battle Arenas, which will facilitate several gameplay variants, like objective-based challenges. 21 arenas will come to the game in all, but with the inclusion of Capture the Flag, Lego Dimensions—and one arena in particular—evokes the fast and furious fun of days popping balloons in Mario Kart combined with Dimensions' delightful franchise-blending touch.
Spielberg Makes an Indiana Jones 5 Promise
Some Indiana Jones fans have been worried director Steven Spielberg would kill off the beloved archaeologist in the series' fifth installment, but Spielberg himself has set things straight.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg said he's "super excited" for the movie, and assured fans he won't kill off Harrison Ford's character at the end. The director added that Indiana Jones V—which is scheduled to be released July 19, 2019—is "straight down the pike for fans."
Ford spoke last year of his eagerness to return as Indiana Jones, saying that he's "a character that has a history and potential," and the series has a "kind of rollicking good movie ride for the audience." It sounds like he'll be pleased his character won't be killed off, as well—regardless of whether or not there'll be an Indiana Jones VI.