State of Play- The Best Games in Sony's Version of the Nintendo Direct

By: Ryan Ramakrishnan

Monday, March 25 marked the very first “State of Play” for Sony and the PlayStation brand. The 20-minute presentation was quite like that of Nintendo’s recurring Nintendo Directs. Sony didn’t touch on the next generation of hardware, nor did they address games like “The Last of Us Part 2” or “Death Stranding;” however, this slightly low key event nevertheless delivered on showing us unique games and touching more on some we already knew of. It wasn’t the most exhilarating or wild presentation from Sony but there were at least a few games I am excited for out of it. Here they are and why you should care.

Blood & Truth

A fun, comical and charming take on action is always welcomed and “Blood & Truth” is seemingly all of that in a VR package. To that, I am excited. I had vaguely heard about this shooter previously but the new look at it we got in the presentation has my attention. I found the dialogue to be witty and seemingly very fun. And the thrilling spy-like adventurous nature of the game makes it seem like an exciting ride. Seeing as it is all in virtual reality, I can’t imagine “Blood & Truth” will be anything less than a thrill when it arrives on May 28.


Observation
I don’t spend much of my gaming time with horror experiences. I have come to appreciate the genre in film but titles like “Amnesia,” “Outlast,” or “Alien Isolation” never get me enough to actually play. I do however find myself pretty interested in this new title called “Observation.”

Releasing in May, this thriller looks really interesting, and yes- frightening. Despite my lack of experience tackling horror games as such, I can't help but think “Observation” is a game I actually want to try. I think science fiction stories are cool when they revolve around ideas like A.I. control and seeing as the State of Play trailer for “Observation” shows that, I’m sold. I think it is going to be a very thrilling sci-fi experience, one that I am surprised to say I look forward to.

Days Gone
Ironically, Sony Bend’s upcoming zombie adventure, “Days Gone” took me from relatively interested but not overly caring to extremely excited. I admittedly found the game to look a bit shallow or just too familiar at first glance. Now I am really looking forward to playing Deacon St. John’s story to the end.

“Days Gone” has gotten a lot of trailers and gameplay demos since its initial reveal since it has been in development for a while now. It is finally about to release in April and the latest trailer, similar to that of the wedding video of the main character and his wife, really grabbed me and kept my attention. I can’t help but think Sony Bend has an emotional and impactful narrative to tell and it seems pretty interesting.

State of Play also gave us a better, if not brief, look at general aspects of this open world adventure and everything I am seeing may not be entirely fresh and unfamiliar to the slew of games alike in the modern landscape; however, it looks good enough to have me really stoked for April 26 to take on the freakers and see the story unfold of Deacon St. John.

Mortal Kombat 11
Netherrealm Studios has done nothing but deliver on its promises and fan expectations and resulting hype since they launched “Mortal Kombat” in 2011. Eight years later and “Mortal Kombat 11” is on the way with a large roster of iconic and modern characters of great variety, deep customization and arguably the most promising story in its genre.



The game has had seemingly several trailers since it was first revealed in December. Since the Game Awards, “Mortal Kombat 11” has only raised higher and higher in hype levels for me. I personally love the franchise, as well as “Injustice” and know that this game is going to be excellent; the trailers we constantly get just help justify that even further.

Easily my favorite trailer now for the game, The “Mortal Kombat 11” closer to the State of Play was the perfect blend of music integration in marketing, humor, nostalgia and dare I use the word again, hype. The trailer shows us several incarnations of our favorite characters from the long-running series, even the young and old versions of themselves interacting with one another. This story looks like it is going to be a whole lot of fun and “Mortal Kombat 11” looks purely awesome in general. This PlayStation presentation only deepened my excitement for April 23.

Those are just a few of the titles shown off at Sony’s very first State of Play. The presentation, like Nintendo’s Directs, was brief but showed off more than a few games. Of course, there were some other notable games like “Concrete Genie” or the other PlayStation VR titles shown off in an instant. Be sure to let me know in the comments below if you were impressed or disappointed buy the State of Play and what your favorite game showcased was.