Sony’s PlayStation Showcase took place last night (September 9th) and as you can imagine there was a lot of exciting news for PlayStation fans.
Whether it was a new Spider-Man or an update on the newest God of War, Sony went out of its way to release a plethora of new details about the biggest next-gen games coming to console over the next few years.
To whittle down the numerous announcements, here are the five things that we found most exciting from the PlayStation Showcase 2021.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Although it’s not slated to arrive until 2023, you can’t help but feel excited about Spider-Man 2. A short teaser trailer was shown off, which was captured using a PS5 but appears to be only game engine footage, there are no gameplay hints here. Visually amazing it was though, and we get to see that Spider-Man and Spider-Man will both appear, which is to say both Peter Parker and Miles Morales are set to fight the also-revealed Venom.
The Insomniac Spider-Man games are much-loved, and the original was exceptionally well-received. It certainly feels like this follow-up could be a smash hit, and giving players a choice of Spider-Men, if that’s what’s going on, would be absolutely great. We’re waiting for this one with bated breath.
Gran Turismo 7 is driving game gold
Every PlayStation generation gets a Gran Turismo game, and the PS5 is no exception. Most of this trailer was pre-rendered, but there were some snippets of gameplay too. This game takes car tuning and racing to the next level, and Gran Turismo has always been a fantastic franchise, and it’s a must-have for racing fans. There’s a mountain of licenced cars to choose from, a lot of aftermarket tuning to give you the edge and all of that sits alongside the best graphics and physics the franchise has ever seen.
Early reaction to the trailer is very positive, Sony’s likely to have a big hit on its hands here.
God of War Ragnarok
God of War Ragnarok walked straight into the sort of Twitter storm that gamers are probably used to by now. The problem? Thor, who apparently doesn’t have the sort of body some gaming bros were expecting. He’s got a gut on him, and brave Twitter crusaders were unhappy because apparently, he’s not meeting their body image expectations. Bold of them, given they could crush their skulls with his godlike hands.
Anyway, the game looks stunning. It’s been a bit delayed, and won’t appear until 2022. The launch trailer showed a lot of pre-rendered stuff, as well as some limited gameplay. It is breathtakingly beautiful and the story looks thrilling, the wise head of Mimir will accompany Kratos and Atreus in their mission. It’s no surprise that, as a Sony Santa Monica production, this game will push the PS5, and we’re legitimately excited about it.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake
Look, let’s be honest, this teaser is really light on anything other than hype. There’s no gameplay and, in fact, no in-game footage at all, even the pre-rendered stuff that fills other trailers. But Knights of the Old Republic is a much-loved franchise and a remaster like this, which will rebuild the game from scratch, is likely to be absolutely amazing.
With the original 20 years old soon, there’s a whole generation of players who can discover it for the first time on a PS5 (or a PC, later). Let’s hope this is a solid reworking, it’ll deeply annoy fans if it isn’t, but with some of the original team working on it, it could be fantastic.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
“You know, some of you are already asking, ‘Tina, why are their guns in a fantasy world’ and I am just so glad you asked because shut up your face and get shooting”. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands promises all of the humour of Borderlands, along with the very particular aesthetic that’s so specific to that game. Wonderlands promises all of the same shooting and mechanics, but with plenty of unique gameplay.
A little bad news too...
The one thing that wasn’t such good news was the delay to GTA 5’s enhanced edition for the next generation of consoles. Originally slated for a November 2021 release, this has now been pushed back to March 2022. That’s a big delay for a game that’s no spring chicken in the first place. Rockstar isn’t building new features but the PS5 will get improved graphics, better gameplay and access to more online features.
Even though the delay is annoying, it does perhaps suggest that Rockstar is going to squash as many bugs as possible. The PC version of GTA 5 has experienced a rollercoaster of problems over the years, including atrocious online load times, which were then fixed by a gamer which Rockstar then included in a game patch. Presumably, the company is making the PS5 version as slick as possible.
We don’t have any reasonable information about the release of GTA 6, but it could be even further into the future if Rockstar is hoping to get as much cash as possible out of GTA 5. Maybe we’ll get a release date when GTA 5 hits 10 years old.
Also shown off...
Rainbow Six Extraction is a follow up to Rainbow Six Siege, although it looks very different. It’s got a lot to live up to, and R6: Siege is a competitive classic, and it seems somewhat unlikely this will achieve that. Might be a fun shooter though.
The Alan Wake remaster also got demoed. Originally an Xbox, and later, PC game, it was one of the finest thrillers of all time. A captivating story and generally very playable game. Its remastering and arrival on PS5 should help bring it to a new audience (and nostalgic Xbox gamers can pick it up for Series X|S too.
