The excitement leading to up to the PlayStation 4 Launch quietly fizzled out by the end of the night. Sure it was a spectacle and a few interesting announcements were made, but overall the launch itself was pretty underwhelming with no new IPs announced whatsoever. We got a sneak peak at extensions of games that are out right now, a killer app for the Ouya is making its way to the PS4, and The Last Guardian was mentioned in a joke. Thanks Sony.
The first announcement set the tone for the rest of the night, as Naughty Dog comfortably revealed the next generation of Uncharted. The teaser trailer shows us map, alluding to a possible story surrounding the Libertatia, a group of anarchists founded by Pirates in the 17th century. (Their motto was ‘for God and for Liberty, the same words on the map shown in the teaser). An older man talks for the duration of the video, explaining how someone owes in after spending time in a “Hell hole.” Old man Drake maybe? Undoubtedly, this is a huge series for Naughty Dogs, so we can expect it to be pretty good. Expected unfortunately, is not as exciting as the unexpected, which is not what we got from the company who brought us Jak and Daxter, a classic platformer many hoped would be revitalized in some way.
Naughty Dog made another appearance later on, showcasing a teaser for the Last of Us: Left Behind DLC. Though it’s not a new IP, it’s still an interesting direction for the franchise to take, and will no doubt provide us with some watery eyed moments as we find out what happened to Ellie before she encountered Joel in The Last of Us.
Among some of the other expected announcement like Infamous: Second Son, and Destiny, something happened. A little indie title popped its head in the mix and made my day. Towerfall: Ascention was announced for the PlayStation 4, and according to the game’s official website, will provide users with a large expansion that includes new archers, powerups, arenas and more. The archery combat platformer is insanely fun, and it’s a pleasure to see it arrive on the PlayStation 4, which has clearly embraced the indie community for the long run.
Despite the unimpressive launch event, which played it safe with a bunch of announcements we were either expecting or didn’t care about – like the trailer showing off the playable classic Snake avatar in Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. How exciting? – it’s safe to say the PlayStation 4 does have an admirable lineup of games available right now. From sports titles like NBA 2K14, to racing games, to platformers like Knack and FPS shooters, a wide variety of audiences have been covered. Is it the worst PlayStation launch ever? Not even close, it’s actually a bit better than last year’s, especially with the friendlier price tag. It just feels all too familiar. However one must keep in mind that the console’s full potential won’t be reached for a few years, and only then will we hopefully see the games we unrealistically wanted to see last night, like Fallout 4.
If you missed the launch event last night, you can still check it out below.
