10/15 Thread of PS4 tidbits

1. Lengthy interview about Killzone Shadowfall. I love KZ Liberation and KZ2's SP (I am going to try to find the time and money for KZ Vita sometime soon) so this is my most anticipated PS4 launch game.

http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2013/10/14/you-are-never-going-to-find-out-how-killzone-3-ends-shadow-fall-designer-outlines-stort-admits-previous-clifhanger-will-hang-forever/

LH: This time you’re using more open gameplay areas aren’t you? How does that work?

EB: We call them gameplay bubbles. You go from bubble to bubble so it’s not like an open world. Not an open world at all. But you get to an area and you have multiple options. For example, the E3 level, that’s an example of how, technically it’s linear – you still have objectives to complete – but you can complete them in any order. And how you tackle those objectives is not linear: there’s not just one way of doing it. You have different abilities, different weapons and different kind of tactics you can use. Now some bits are still linear because we still want to tell a story. Eventually we need the player to come back to one specific point so we can tell the story and then open it up again.

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LH: So how are the objectives set up? Are there ones you have to do, some helpful side missions and stuff that just for colour?

EB: There ‘red thread’, must-complete objectives. But there optional objectives, side objectives and other stuff to explore while you get to the end of that red thread. So technically it’s linear but there’s a lot of wiggle room in between.

2. The latest build of Killzone Shadowfall. Not direct feed, but still easy on the eyes.

3. Details on Killzone's multiplayer. I'm not a huge multiplayer online guy anymore, but I may give this a shot. Support sounds like the type of role I'd enjoy playing (I don't mind killing and dying, but I am the sort who prefers to play the objectives in order to help my team win). I hope Guerilla pulls off the tough job of balancing everything out.

http://www.killzone.com/kz3/en_US/blog/features/2013-10-14_support-class.html

After the Assault Class and the Scout Class, we’ve now arrived at the third and arguably most versatile of Killzone Shadow Fall’s multiplayer classes: the Support Class.

The primary ability of the Support Class is the Revive Drone, which deploys a hovering medical robot that can resuscitate critically wounded comrades. Dying team mates who accept medical treatment and are successfully revived will receive full health with additional ammo and a temporary 25% health boost. They also avoid losing a life and having to start over from the spawn point – which can make all the difference during intense matches, particularly in custom Warzones with limited lives turned on.

Unlike the Assault and Scout players, which both have three secondary abilities to choose from, the Support players can choose from five secondary abilities:

• Air Support Drone: The Air Support Drone ability deploys a flying combat drone that protects the area indicated by the Support player and unleashes minigun fire on any enemies that get close.
• Spawn Beacon: The Spawn Beacon ability sets up a temporary in-field spawn point for team mates. Spawn Beacons can be placed almost anywhere in the map, but it takes a while to install them and they’re vulnerable to enemy fire.
• Turret: The Turret ability deploys a sentry turret that will automatically target enemies in its forward facing field of view. While not indestructible, sentry turrets are ideal for guarding choke points and defending mission-critical areas.
• Supply Box: This ability lets Support Class players set up a Supply Box, which team members can use to stock up on health and ammo. The box can be destroyed by enemy players.
• Support Teleport: The Support Teleport ability allows Support Class players to teleport directly to a team mate in need of medical or tactical assistance. The teleportation device has a lengthy recharge time after each use.

Fulfilling the crucial supporting roles that enable other players to complete objectives and continue to fight, Support players form the backbone of any successful team. Advanced Support players will pay close attention to the flow of battle and the current mission objectives, adjusting their secondary abilities between spawns if necessary.

4. The makers of Silent Hill Shattered Memories have two PS4 games in development and state that they have worked very closely with Sony. SM sounded interesting (I skipped it), but it didn't need to be a Silent Hill game. I'm glad these guys are building their own IPs so they won't be fighting against franchise expectations.

http://www.psu.com/a021296/PS4-games-in-development-at-Silent-Hill--Shattered-Memories-dev

5. If the PS4 starts to overheat, it automatically shuts down to keep an RROD situation from happening. So long as it saves the game first...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=697495

6. A version of the popular but bizarre (I don't understand it myself) Sportfriends is hitting the PS4. People that funded the PS3 kickstarter get the PS4 version for free. It will hit sometime after the PS3 version (the developer expects in January) and it hasn't been determined if there will be crossbuy.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/10/14/sportsfriends-vaults-to-ps4/

7. 15 minutes of new Assassin's Creed 4 footage.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=693106

8. The Amnesia team (who is making SOMA for the PS4) is contemplating bringing Amnesia to the PS4.

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/10/11/amnesia-developer-bringing-soma-to-ps4-in-2015-looking-into-bringing-amnesia-to-ps4/

9. CD Project Red's Cyberpunk 2077 is 'probably' coming to next gen consoles (unless the developer hates money).

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/14/cyberpunk-2077-is-probably-coming-to-next-gen

10. Cage states that The Sorcerer only scratches the surface of the PS4's capabilities. While regulars I trust indicate that Beyond Two Souls misses the mark, I am a huge Heavy Rain fan so I am still interested in his next project. Cage is determined not to do what everyone else is doing, but he's also willing to listen to feedback, so he won't repeat the mistake made in Beyond (though he may make new ones).

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/what-beyond-two-souls-reveals-about-the-ps4-1188700

At this year's E3, Quantic Dream impressed us all with its PS4 tech demo for The Dark Sorcerer. "This is basically Beyond's engine, and we were so excited with what we could achieve," says Cage. "Some people were really impressed with the Dark Sorcerer but this is just the beginning, it's the minimum quality you can get on the console.

"It was done with a very small team, a very small amount of time and small resources. Now we have a full team and we hope to make something really impressive."

11. Last but not least I recommend checking out the awesome new PS4 trailer which Solid has already created a thread about.

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/games-discussion-1000000/new-awesome-ps4-commerical-30851173/#14

The team behind Shattered Memories made something really special, but it was honestly just way too light on actual gameplay. Incredibly memorable, but the very definition of a one and done. Hopefully, if they continue down that path, they do via digital services at an appropriate price range for the value they are actually providing. I don't think "experiences" should cost the same as more beefy traditional games. Hence my main problem with David "Pay sixty bucks to play my six hour game only once" Cage.

Heavy Rain took ten hours to beat. Beyond is supposedly the same length.

I've got no problem with designers charging traditional game prices for nontraditional games provided the quality and the amount of content is satisfactory (yes, a vague criteria).

I enjoyed Killzone 2 and 3. I really wish that the game's story was at least mediocre but its absolutely horrible and possible the worst gaming story I have experience in a FPS. Outside of that I am very excited about Liberations.

I blame Rico. (and S0lid)

@Randolph:

I agree....I understand the cinematic approach as a way to immerse the gamer, but it should be complimented with more gameplay.....Still interested to see what Cage has up his, sleeve....BTW, how bad ass was it to see Willem Dafoe in Beyond. ...worth the price of admission. ..

:-)

Dafoe's chin makes everything at least a little bit better by default, it's an invaluable asset.

LOL that trailer for Dark Sorcerer :D awesomely done.

Sony is starting to allow PS4 game preorders on PSN. The first two games available are Knack and Warframe, which is damn weird because Warframe is free.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/10/15/playstation-store-update-307/

I like the Pixar-y look of Knack. Hope the game's good, because I'm keeping an eye on it.

Damn that Sorcerer footage impresses me everytime. More games that looks like this please.

The next Uncharted is rumored to have one million poly characters just like the characters in the Sorcerer demo. It might be revealed at the VGAs.

Wow. How many polygons can the PS4 push?

i heard theoretically 1.6 billion polygons. but apparently thats not the best metric to measure graphics. Most games dont even push 4 million polygons.

There is no way U4 will push 4 Million polygons in realtime, thats incredibly ineffecient and a waste of resources.

In other news, Flower will be 1080p/60fps on PS4 and FREE FOR PEOPLE WHO OWN IT ON PS3! I had my $10 set aside already, brilliant news. Flower is my top 5 games this gen.

This is good news in a sea of bad news.

That's also the case for Flow, Sound Shapes and Escape Plan. Escape Plan wasn't perfect but it was good on day 1 and got better because the developers made some pretty substantial changes in reaction to the feedback they got from gamers and reviewers (one big tweak that springs to mind is that they stopped counting the number of times players touched the screen against them). Perfection is tough, but even guys who sucked at puzzlers (including yours truly) could figure out the puzzles and if one got really frustrated, one could skip a puzzle. It was a big indie hit before the PS Vita became an indie darling. The team released a ton and a half of DLC for it (some free, some very cheap) and then went very quiet. I thought they were working on a new PSV game, but apparently they were working on a PS4 port.

Doesn't the PS4 have some sort of suspend feature? Maybe that will automatically kick in whenever it has to shutdown to prevent overheating?

Awesome. Wonder if the same will apply to the forthcoming Vita version as well.

I beat Heavy Rain in five hours getting all the "positive" trophies, so I'm assuming I did it right. I thought beyond was going to be a 20 hour game as it explores different times in her life.

That's far and away the fastest playthrough I've ever heard of. I'll take your word for it.

It does.

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/18045/article/sound-shapes-flower-flow-and-escape-plan-cross-buy-includes-ps4-and-ps-vita/

Knack looks very interesting to me, like it's a mix of platforming, puzzles, and some fighting. Very curious to see how this will play when I get my hands on it.

Nice! Cross-buy is the best.

Is that black and white game above called Escape Plan Carnage? That game looks like a great one I missed. Is it on the PSP?

Vita, actually. Was one of the launch games.

Ooh. I'd completely forgotten about Escape Plan! Now I have a Vita, I'll have to try and track it down - ta for the reminder. :)

Killzone Shadow Fall's campaign is going to be the star of tonight's episode of GTTV.

Damn tempting Vita. I love my PSP and want one....but it's so expensive :(

The Reaper of Souls Expansion pack is confirmed for the PS3 and 4 editions of Diablo 3 and at Blizzcon the PS4 version will be playable.

https://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/11217435/reaper-of-souls-at-blizzcon%C2%AE-2013-on-pc-and-ps4-10-17-2013

We're also excited to announce that Diablo III: Reaper of Souls will be making its public debut on the PlayStation® 4 at BlizzCon 2013!

In our action-packed single-player and same-screen co-op demos, players will get to explore the haunted streets of Westmarch as one of our five original classes or test their mettle as the unyielding Crusader. Attendees will also be some of the first in the world to take on Death itself using a DUALSHOCK®4 controller, featuring touch pad technology designed to help keep heroes out game menus and focused on what they do best: killing monsters.

Click here to view the full BlizzCon 2013 floor map.

For those of you who are BlizzCon-bound, we salute you! If you can't make the show in person, be sure to check out the Virtual Ticket, which includes over 60 hours of high-definition footage so you can catch all the action from the comfort of your home.