PlayStation State of Play: Astro Bot steals the show

Sony has revealed a number of upcoming games to mixed reviews.

A console manufacturer’s State of Play broadcast is a short collection of trailers and footage from upcoming games.

There has been criticism that the company’s PS5 release calendar lacked the exclusive exclusives that PlayStation built its name on.

He doesn’t usually show bigger games at State of Play – those reveals are usually saved for “Showcase” events.

And it showed again. But there was one exclusive title that stole the show…

Sony devoted most of the presentation to its upcoming online team shooter Concord.

This is not entirely surprising. The company has made a big bet on “live service” games that receive regular updates to keep fans playing, and one of the company’s breakout successes this year was Helldivers 2.

The Starship Troopers-inspired multiplayer game has sold more than 12 million copies since its February release, and its success has been driven by Sony’s strategy to make the game available on PC and PS5 after launch.

It plans to do the same with Concorde, but there were some doubts about whether it could capture the attention of players in the same way that Helldivers 2 did.

A detailed first look at the game’s cinematics, along with gameplay footage, led fans to call it “Overwatch meets Guardians of the Galaxy”.

Speaking of which, State of Play also included preview footage from Marvel Rivals – another team-based online game that could give Concord some competition.

On the PC side, Sony has revealed that its 2022 port of the smashing God of War Ragnarök will be released in September.

It brought a lot of PC-exclusive features, including unlocked frame rates, upscaling technology, and support for ultra-wide displays, which are considered to be a benefit of redesigned gaming rigs.

However, hidden in the fine print on one of the trailer’s screens was a note that players who wanted to experience the hero Kratos’ latest adventure on PCs would need to sign up for a PlayStation Network account.

There was a huge backlash earlier this month when Sony tried to force Helldivers 2 players who had already bought the game to register to stay logged in.

It eventually subsided, but there were still murmurs of displeasure from those who had noticed the warning.

Sony’s underutilized robot mascot is usually reserved for tech demos and if you bought a PS5 it would have Astro’s Playroom pre-installed.

The colorful platformer starring a shiny hero was primarily a showcase for the DualSense console controller.

But now he got his own game.

The trailer showed Astro climbing through desert, snow and mountain environments, facing off against a variety of quirky enemies.

Like the PS5 bundled title, it also featured plenty of references to PlayStation classics, with the trailer’s nods to Uncharted hero Nathan Drake and OG rhthym action star Parappa the Rapper getting the most attention.

Judging by the many, many enthusiastic reactions to this, Astro’s Playroom will have to make room for this sequel on many PS5 owners’ hard drives.

While there weren’t any new installments in any of Sony’s major franchises on display, there was another look at the visually revamped horror adventure Until Dawn.

The 2015 “playable slasher movie” from British studio Supermassive Games was a hit on PS4 and featured performances from Oscar winner Rami Malek and Heroes star Hayden Panettiere.

Another horror remake – psychological classic Silent Hill 2 – has been given a release date and new footage, and top-down RPG Path of Exile 2 has also been revealed.

There were also a few original titles – the “open-world dress-up adventure” Infinity Nikki showed off a cute anime-influenced look.

State of Play also featured trailers for Dynasty Warriors Origins and Monster Hunter Wilds – updates to the popular, long-running series.

Both, especially Monster Hunter, are big sellers in Japan. Some reports have suggested that Sony is struggling to push the PS5 in its home country, and sales of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth are said to have disappointed.

Many speculated that Sony had turned its back on virtual reality after the launch of its PSVR2 headsets.

It has closed its London VR studio and laid off staff at Firesprite – the Liverpool-based team that worked on the flagship Horizon: Call of the Mountain.

But those who jumped on the bandwagon may have reason to brush it off.

SkyDance’s Behemoth has thrown players into a snowy landscape inhabited by giant creatures bent on destroying you.

And Alien Rogue Incursion, based on the classic sci-fi series, sees players navigating a crashed spaceship while trying to avoid one of the iconic xenomorphs.

Sony’s other big games this year, Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin, feature epic sword battles. And one of the most anticipated cross-platform releases is the open-world fantasy RPG Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

They will be in good company. State of Play also included footage of Where Winds Meet. The gripping battler from Chinese developer Everstone Studio has been compared to the beloved Dark Souls series.

Another Chinese-developed game, Ballad Of Antara is a free-to-play action RPG that allows players to travel between two parallel worlds and battle supernatural enemies.