Hands-on with surreal PlayStation VR horror Here They Lie

The PlayStation.Blog team can’t wait for 13 October. With the launch of PlayStation VR, we’re entering a new era of gaming — one that places players directly into the worlds that developers so lovingly create. To prepare for this amazing next chapter in PlayStation history, we all donned that PlayStation VR headset and sampled a bevy of upcoming PlayStation VR titles.

Sampling Here They Lie is a tall order — it means embracing the fear and uncertainty of stepping into a strange, terrifying world quite unlike our own. Developed by industry veterans with a wide range of expertise, Here They Lie drops players into a bleak city with the only hope being the soft voice and bright dress of a woman named Dana. What did we think of this visually immense first-person horror? Read on.

As an aficionado of all things that go bump in the night, I can’t help but feel that Tangentlemen crafted Here They Lie specifically for my own macabre enjoyment. It’s unquestionably one of my favourite PS VR launch titles, partly because it combines so many horror elements I cherish: surreal cityscapes, weird internet urban legends, H.P. Lovecraft. From a game perspective, Here They Lie is a riveting tour through a desolate, eerie city populated by mysterious entities. I felt like I was trapped in a strange fever dream or, as the game’s senior art director put it in our interview, a “digital hallucination.” The game’s use of PS VR’s 3D audio capabilities meant that I encountered trails of sonic breadcrumbs, creepy audio cues that lead me, hesitantly, to the next scare. This is one to watch if you’ve got PS VR on day one.
–Sid Shuman

 

Here They Lie has a brilliant understanding of its own atmosphere. Meticulously decorated and hauntingly dressed, the world of Here They Lie is both terrifying and beautiful. A strange, sick city with a glimmer of hope taking shape in a woman named “Dana.” With PS VR, the dream-like effects — a rush of strange papers, the ghostly tapping of a typewriter — take on a new degree of realism totally unfelt on a traditional display. The developers at Tangentlemen are taking bold steps in this space, and you can feel it in their footprints.
–Ryan Clements

 

I really don’t like scary things. Movies, games, campfire stories… it’s all a bit much for me. That said, horror VR is an experience quite unlike the ones afforded by more traditional media. Especially with PlayStation VR’s Social Screen feature, I see Here They Lie (and, by extension, VR horror titles in general) as a perfect experience to share with my significant other. I’ll play for 15 minutes or so, probably get freaked out, my girlfriend will laugh at me, then I’ll make her play and see how she fares. I might not be much of a horror connoisseur, but virtual reality and PS VR’s Social Screen could be just what I need to finally delve into a genre I otherwise tend to shy away from.
–Justin Massongill

The post Hands-on with surreal PlayStation VR horror Here They Lie appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dhsh1D
via

Read More

Three-player arcade brawler Viking Squad pillages PS4 next week

Hi everyone! We’re proud to announce the release date for Viking Squad, and it’s really soon: 5th October!

As a member of Viking Squad you must put a stop to the wildly mischievous Loki and reopen the gates to Asgard. Work together to take on massive foes and expand your arsenal in this three-player co-op brawler.

Choose one of four characters each specialising in a different weapon and play style. Take on enemies from afar as the archer, play defensive with the shield, get up in your enemies face as the dual axe berserker or beat them to a pulp as the hammer maiden. Each weapon gives characters access to special attacks that can be used to mix up their combos and assist allies, experiment with them all to see which suits your play style.

It wouldn’t be a Viking game without some pillaging! Through your adventures, collect treasure to level up, unlock moves and purchase new equipment to fend off Loki’s corrupt minions. You never know what might be valuable so get creative and experiment with your haul – it may pay off in the end!

Development on Viking Squad has been a labour of love. As a team we grew up playing arcade brawlers and felt we wanted to pay homage to one of our favourite genres. Our goal was to make a game that does justice to the beat ’em ups of the ’90s while incorporating many of the key pillars that make today’s games so great. Tight controls, 60 fps, a difficulty you can really test your skills against, and a fun cast of characters drawn by our very own Jesse ‘Jouste’ Turner. We want to meld the difficulty and camaraderie found in those games in to something that fits the precision and excitement of games these days.

One of the questions we get most often is why the decision for max three players? This just fit our design so well. First it cut down on the amount of cheap deaths by stream lining the chaos on screen. With three players, each can easily focus on a target without having to worry about being side-swiped by incoming attacks from their partners’ foe. It also reduced the amount of network traffic our game requires, allowing for a smoother online experience.

Finally it let us test a lot more thoroughly. Since we are a three person team we could all hop in and test the game throughout its entire development. With that being said, the game can still get pretty hectic at times, especially with three players – you can’t take out all the chaos since that’s half the fun!

If you had a chance to play the game at PSX or PAX we’ve improved and tuned a few things since then. We hope you enjoy it! Happy brawling!

Features:

• Local and online multiplayer for 1-3 players
• Choose from four playable characters
• Lane based movement lets players match up against their foes with ease
• Level up your characters and equip them with epic gear
• Take on massive enemies from the imagination of Jouste the Drawbarian

The post Three-player arcade brawler Viking Squad pillages PS4 next week appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dhfwEx
via

Read More

Become a better Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide warrior with these expert strategies

The End Times are finally here! The team has been hard at work to deliver our slice of the Warhammer Fantasy world to the PS4. I’m Leo, the Community Manager at Fatshark and let me tell you we’re really excited to finally bring the highly anticipated cooperative first person melee-shooter, Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide to your PS4.

Vermintide is known for being particularly challenging, so I’m here to bring you some tips to get you started in your quest to restore order to the gothic streets of Ubersreik and repel the Skaven invasion – or try to at least.

Get to know your tools

Each of the five unique heroes have various types of weapon, capable of dealing damage to the vile rat-men in their own special ways: from huge cleaving strikes to direct assaults against one foe.

Try different combinations of ranged and melee equipment, and be sure to coordinate with your group over which benefits you are bringing to the party to ensure maximum efficiency.

Blocking isn’t for the weak

It’s for winners! Always be mindful of your surroundings and be sure to never have the block button out of reach.

Some of the smaller enemies in Vermintide can be pushed – so if things get too spicy you can get some breathing space by shoving the Skaven away.

Dodge. Dodge. Dodge.

Some of the bigger guys can’t be pushed or blocked entirely, and this is where becoming artful at dodging comes in handy.

Dodging heavy attacks or special attacks is a must and is a skill well worth having in your arsenal.

Stay together or die alone

Don’t get brave – going lone wolf isn’t a good idea! Stick with your group and work as a team. The most common cause of being overrun comes from the group splitting up.

It just takes one hero headed in a different direction to bring everything crashing down and ultimately getting the group killed. Don’t be that hero!

And last, but not least…

Watch that friendly fire!

This shouldn’t be a too big of an issue when you start out as the easier difficulties have friendly fire disabled, but over time you’ll become familiar with this as you ramp up the difficulty.

We find it’s best to always expect friendly fire to be on, just in-case you join a match with the those difficulty settings. Practice also makes perfect (or so we have heard).

Thanks for checking out our tips for Warhammer Vermintide. Rest assured, the Old World will fall, so why not be there with your friends when it happens?

For more information on Vermintide, bookmark and check out the following channels:

• Twitter
• Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide
• Reddit.com
• Fatsharksgames. com

The post Become a better Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide warrior with these expert strategies appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2cGs3Up
via

Read More

25 fun facts about The Playroom VR (warning: contains bird poop)

Hi everyone! Welcome again for more on The Playroom VR, a totally free pack-in game for all PlayStation VR owners out there.

After dipping into multiplayer, character creation, the fun of performing as a virtual reality player and a look at our early prototypes, how about we look at some of the secrets and features you might not yet know about The Playroom VR?

1. The Playroom VR was created in Japan Studio by the same team that brought you The Playroom on PS4. The team is mostly made up of members who worked on games as varied as EyeToy, Ape Escape, EyePet, Gravity Rush, The Last Guardian and WipEout. But for the remaining team members, The Playroom was their very first title!

   

2. The name of the team who developed The Playroom is called Asobi! Team. “Asobi” in Japanese means “play”. The team picked that name so they would always put the fun of “play” at the heart of their games.
3. The iconic floating robot in The Playroom VR has a printed serial number: A5081 which also could be read as ASOBI!

   

   All you need to get going with multiplayer in The Playroom VR are: a single PS VR headset and a single Dualshock 4 wireless controller (and a friend, obviously).

4. Monster Escape and Cat & Mouse both use the microphone built into the headset to change the voice of the VR player. And in Mini Bots, you can blow into the mic to make the little green helicopter take off. Maybe you’ll get a reward for keeping it airborne?
5. Most games in The Playroom VR are built for multiplayer but two of them can also be played solo: Robots Rescue and Mini Bots. The latter is more a chilled experience than a game, and the perfect introduction to VR for your friends and family.
6. One of the Trophies in The Playroom VR requires you to stare at a bird in the sky and get pooped on by it. Life is harsh in VR…

   

7. Mini Bots has many references to the PlayStation family. Among others, you’ll find an arcade cabinet called Bot of War!

   

8. The Playroom VR was the first game to showcase a PS VR demo running at a native 120 frames per second at GDC 2015 in San Francisco. It was quite a surprise back then!

   

9. As of today, the team’s best score in the endless mode of Wanted! is 78 kills. Gento (the game designer) and Nicolas (the creative director) had to develop a special communication technique to achieve this score!
10. Before focusing on the final six games for The Playroom VR, the team developed over 40 unique prototypes. They say they have enough ideas left to last another 10 years!
11. Both Ghost House and Wanted feature four stages each to clear, so you and your friends can come back for more.
12. At the end of every mini-game, you get to take a celebration photo. It will then appear as a slide show in that mini-game’s title screen. Remember to smile!
13. Playing mini-games in The Playroom VR allows you to earn coins. These can be used in the Mini Bots grabbing machine to unlock up to 60 new toys.
14. Though it is a full party game, The Playroom VR is only a little over 2GB and can be played via PlayGo before it is fully downloaded.
15. While playing The Playroom VR, there are almost no noticeable loading times. This is because the team members themselves are impatient…
16. Getting a PS VR with a PlayStation Camera also lets you play the entirety of The Playroom (the original PS3 AR version). Give it a try!

    

17. The team developed an 8-VS-1 version of Cat & Mouse where each of the four in-game Dualshock 4 wireless controllers can be shared by two players. It was a lot of fun but the team ran out of time to put it in the final game.
18. One of the programmers (Kazu) had a baby during the production. We dedicated the game to him.
19. The Playroom’s iconic AR Bots were created because the team wanted not one but many little characters scampering on the floor. They chose robots because it was the simplest way to make a character look good (no skin and eyes to animate).
20. It took 18 people and 18 months in total to create The Playroom VR.
21. The Playroom VR is an international collaboration, with team members hailing from UK, Germany, France and, of course, Japan!
22. The Playroom VR team attends Japan Studio’s happy hour the most frequently. On one occasion, the entire team ended up at the bar at the same time…
23. Both Nico and Takumi from Asobi! Team had their family members try the game during the Sony family day, more than one year before release. What a privilege!
24. Asobi! Team is always keen to hear the ideas of the community for their next game. So if you have cool ideas and want to share them, get in touch!

    

25. Asobi! Team is always keen to hear the ideas of the community for their next game. So if you have cool ideas and want to share them, get in touch!

The post 25 fun facts about The Playroom VR (warning: contains bird poop) appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dwTYmB
via

Read More

Dishonored 2: hands on with Arkane’s ambitious sequel

Arkane Studios‘ Dishonored 2 is destined to be one of my favorite games of 2016, and not just because I loved the 2012 original. This stealth-action sequel is upping the ante on its predecessor in seemingly every way, pitting a pair of supernatural assassins against treacherous usurpers in a violent, vivid world.

Based on my hands-on experiences this week, the game is, quite simply, a bigger, better take on the original. Where Dishonored had one playable character, the sequel has two — papa Corvo and daughter Emily — each blessed with unique supernatural abilities thanks to the touch of the mysterious Outsider.

These supernatural abilities can alter the core action and stealth gameplay in some startlingly inventive ways. Sure, Corvo can instantly Blink past threats, even Possess a rat or fish to evade detection. But Emily can use Domino to invisibly bind multiple foes together, then take them all out with one blow, or use Shadow Walk to melt into the darkness.

Overall, the game’s scope feels bigger, more ambitious, and more varied than before. I played through a full mission set in the ominous Clockwork Mansion, an ornate death trap where walls and floors can shift and rotate like blocks in a murderous Rubix Cube. I was sent in to rescue a hostage and terminate (or compromise) mad inventor Kirin Jindosh before he finalizes an army of lethal Clockwork Soldiers.

True to Dishonored 2 form, I instead chose to remove Jindosh as a threat without killing him — I dosed him with a tranquilizer dart, then zapped away his intelligence using an experimental machine located in his laboratory. How merciful!

The choice between using lethal or nonlethal means to deal with your targets is central to the Dishonored experience, and I was pleased to learn that Dishonored 2 offers a larger arsenal of nonlethal takedown options.

As before, Dishonored 2 features a “Chaos” system that introduces consequences if the player racks up the body count, and which can ultimately alter the game’s ending. At the event, Creative Director Harvey Smith indicated that Dishonored 2 would feature a wider array of ending “permutations” as a response to fan feedback from the first game.

What’s more, Smith indicated that the consequences for slaying evil NPCs will be less severe — empowering morality-minded players to police the thoughts of Dunwell natives using the Heart, a mystical artifact that reads minds and reveals secrets.

This revenge tale takes place in the deliciously morose, macabre city of Dunwall, which is as much a character as Corvo or Emily. The levels are positively riddled with fiction — notes, book excerpts, paintings, and audio recordings create a snackable narrative that I found endlessly fascinating. The Arkane team continues to design some of the most detailed, most interactive levels seen in modern game design, and I applaud them for it.

Few details have been overlooked. New character animations help the combat and traversal feel more grounded, more physical, in a way I’ve not seen outside of games like Mirror’s Edge.

Thus far, Dishonored 2 is shaping up to be one hell of a love letter to fans of this genre — it’s due out this November for PS4.

The post Dishonored 2: hands on with Arkane’s ambitious sequel appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dwCNWC
via

Read More

Bound’s remarkable soundtrack is now available for purchase

Dear PlayStation fans, this is Oleg Shpudeiko. I’m a music composer who works under the Heinali moniker and who recently wrote music for Bound. Today I’m excited to announce the release of the soundtrack.

When I was first contacted by Plastic, I knew they were up to something special. After some time, as I got to know the game’s themes, it became very personal for me. After a year and a half of work, I hope I could carry this feeling through the music.

Bound is a rare case when the game writes music itself. You just have to pay attention to what you see and how it makes you feel and then write everything down. It works that way because the game’s world is abstract and minimal, but in a good way — it challenges your imagination. Like a good book, it leaves room for you to construct your own impressions and make your own sense.

The score is a blend between minimalist piano and electronics. Most of the original score was composed of layers, so it could be integrated into the game’s world and respond to event triggers. To make a separate release as the official soundtrack, I had to re-work the layers into traditional compositions. Some of them underwent small changes during the process to bring them all together as an album. As one big adventure.

I started my work on Bound both terrified and excited. Terrified because it was my first ever game score. And the level of responsibility and trust was high. Excited because the gamer in me couldn’t believe his luck. Back in my teens, when I spent most of my time playing games, I couldn’t even dream of composing a score for one. I worked hard, together with Plastic and Sony Santa Monica and I hope you will enjoy this release!

The Bound Original Soundtrack will be available in both digital (via iTunes and Amazon) and vinyl editions (more on that soon!). Today, the digital edition is available and features all the music from the game, plus two bonus tracks — the Bound PlayStation Dynamic Theme music and the first draft track, from which the musical journey began. You can hear a preview of the album and download a free track here.

Michal Staniszewski here — creative director of Bound. The team and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Oleg for the wonderful soundtrack that he has made for our game. We would also like to thank all of our fans who became modern art photographers during their not-so-short trip in Bound. We wanted to showcase the hundreds of fantastic photos that you have shared, and that is why we have created a small soundtrack announcement video that features your work. Thank you again!

The post Bound’s remarkable soundtrack is now available for purchase appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dHbxU6
via

Read More

Driveclub VR launches 13th October, with upgrade option for Season Pass owners

Hi everyone! Following last month’s announcement about the impending arrival of Driveclub VR and seeing the great response from fans who managed to get hands-on at Gamescom, we didn’t want to keep you waiting around much longer for a release date.

So – drum roll – we’re proud to announce that Driveclub VR will be available exclusively for PlayStation VR from 13th October this year. The game will be available as both a physical Blu-Ray release and a digital download via PlayStation Store. The digital download via the PlayStation Store will be priced at €39.99 (RRP).

Because Driveclub is and always has been about the community that surrounds it, we’ve also included a digital upgrade for anyone who bought the Driveclub Season Pass before 00:00 AM BST on Thursday 29th September, priced at €19.99 (RRP).

We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone out there for their continued feedback and support. There has understandably been a lot of questions about how Driveclub VR was developed and there’s clearly a lot of respect for the development team at Evolution, so I’d like to clarify how we made the game.

Recreating Driveclub as a standalone VR title was a huge task. As you know, Driveclub had a vast amount of content, so re-engineering the game to render everything in stereoscopic 3D, natively at 60Hz and then adding the head tracking with 120Hz visuals took a long time. In addition, the team added several VR-specific features and made the game look every bit as amazing as you would expect.

The majority of the game was completed by Evolution, with the remainder carried out by a dedicated team comprised of Evolution Studios veterans, several of which now are also members of the WWS Immersive Technology Group – so you can be assured that Driveclub VR is in safe hands.

 
Once again I’d like to thank everyone for their passion and support and express how humbled and grateful we are for the dedication you’ve all shown to Driveclub.

Driveclub VR is now available to pre-order on PlayStation Store. For more information on Driveclub VR head over to the official game page.

The post Driveclub VR launches 13th October, with upgrade option for Season Pass owners appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2cEgHQH
via

Read More

PS4 MOBA Paragon welcomes a new Hero next week: Kwang

Today we’d like to introduce you to the latest Hero for our MOBA Paragon. We call this sword wielding fighter… Kwang. You’ll be able to play Kwang starting Tuesday, 4th October. Get your first look at Kwang below.

Kwang is a durable fighter that excels at initiating. A master swordsman, Kwang can utilise his Legendary Blade to change how and where he uses his abilities. Check out his abilities below:

• Light of the Heavens – Beams of light strike Kwang’s sword, dealing AoE damage around it and giving him Physical and Energy Armor.
• Judgement of the Heavens – Kwang throws his sword to the heavens. When it lands, it deals damage and tethers enemies to it. The sword remains planted in the ground forever, until retriggered or the next basic attack.
• Gift of the Heavens – Passive: Kwang’s sword bursts with light, creating an aura around it that grants lifesteal to both Kwang and allies around him.
• Fury of the Heavens – Kwang spins his blade around him in an AoE, damaging and slowing enemies. If his sword has been thrown and is out in the world he will teleport to it before attacking.

As always, all Heroes in Paragon are free, so jump in as Kwang on Tuesday. If you can’t wait to get your Paragon fix, you don’t have to – Paragon is in free open beta, so you can download and play today.

See you on the battlefield!

GLHF!

The post PS4 MOBA Paragon welcomes a new Hero next week: Kwang appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2cNUBJX
via

Read More

Introducing The Playroom VR’s innovative and unusual control schemes

Hello again. I’m Nicolas Doucet, creative director and producer of The Playroom VR. Today I’d like to talk lightly about how we went about prototyping new ways to play in virtual reality.

We decided early on that our game would be targeted at as wide an audience as possible, meaning that it had to be simple to pick up and play. The richness and fun would come from surprising situations and importantly, a good dose of humour. So we started trying out lots and lots of gameplay mechanics using simple inputs.

At first, we tried head interactions. We found out that looking at things in VR was a solid base for some interaction. For example, to make selections, a normal game would use a combination of left stick and buttons but we found that this could be simplified just by making the player look at the game they wanted to play.

Character interactions could also be made simpler and more reactive. In Mini Bots, the back of the room is packed with VR Bots who react if you look at them.

What’s also critical is for those virtual characters to make eye contact, following you as you move around. This is something unique to VR and extremely powerful to create emotional connections.

We also tried many new interactions using the Dualshock 4 wireless controller. Like the headset, the controller can be tracked by the PlayStation Camera thanks to the light bar, and appear in VR, moving exactly like it does in the real world.

A simple test we did was to overlay instructions on the Dualshock 4 wireless controller, a sort of VR-based tutorial. This was really useful, especially since the VR players cannot see their hands. And because it’s The Playroom, we also added a pair of eyes on the controller that look at you and giggle if you shake the Dualshock 4 wireless controller.

The touch pad is a feature of the Dualshock 4 wireless controller we used a lot, too. One of our popular demos allowed the player to throw ninja stars out of the light bar. Seeing them come out perfectly in sync with a finger flick felt really good. It also created a tangible connection with the real world.

In Robots Rescue, the Dualshock 4 wireless controller becomes a grappling hook gadget that the player flicks via the touch pad to attach into the environment and cross ravines.

And at the end of the game, the touch pad becomes a slingshot you use to hit a target.

Plugging the Dualshock 4 wireless controller into things in-game also proved to be a fun mechanic. For example, in Mini Bots, there is a crane machine that we call The Grabber, which is activated by inserting the controller inside of it.

The motion sensor was also a great starting point as it requires no understanding of buttons. By simply tilting the controller and using one button, we could create all sorts of fun vehicles. We fashioned both a bike demo and a flying demo which both had a lot of appeal but unfortunately proved be a bit too intense as a first introduction to VR. So we’re keeping those for another day.

 

There were many more prototypes we created to get to the final product (over 40 in total) but that’s all we have time for today. The best way for you to see how we tried to innovate is to play the game. It’s 100% free to all PS VR users worldwide, so give it a try!

And if you have cool ideas for new innovative gameplay mechanics in VR, please drop them in the comments window, we read all of them! Sayonara, friends!

The post Introducing The Playroom VR’s innovative and unusual control schemes appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2cYteLa
via

Read More

Friday night multiplayer hangout SportsBarVR is a PlayStation VR launch game

Hello from the SportsBarVR dev team! During the development of SportsBarVR, something that has surprised and delighted us is discovering just how social VR can be, and how mixing that social feeling with insane, bottle throwing, chair smashing fights is pretty much the best thing ever.

We are super excited to announce SportsBarVR, co-developed by Cherry Pop Games & Perilous Orbit. We’re bringing an awesome set of bar games, an incredible pool simulation, and a sports bar overflowing with fun and silly interactivity to PlayStation VR this autumn.

You may know us from our past title Pool Nation VR, and we’re excited to bring everything great about that game, plus a whole new truckload of features into SportsBarVR. We have the same great pool physics, but now we’ve added six-player, multiplayer VR hangouts and more than seven pub games in the bar with more to come in future updates.

We’ve had some intense air hockey matches around the office, and while I’ve lost every time, it’s nice to be able to relax and play a game of chess in VR with a friend in a quiet corner of the bar.

One thing we keep finding again and again is how entirely wonderful it is just to be able to hang out in a virtual bar doing “real things.” And since the virtual drinks are free and the janitor seems to not mind cleaning up countless shards of broken glass, it’s all good fun. In both single- and multiplayer, there’s something awesome about having your own carefree, grounded, and immersive VR space (even if the floor’s a bit sticky).

Having a full range of games in the bar really lets you explore a lot of VR interactions and levels of gameplay intensity. Focused turn-based games like chess, checkers, and our staple, pool, let you take a calm but still physical approach to VR gaming,while games like Air Hockey provide fast back and forth fun.

At launch date we have:

• Pool
• Darts
• Air Hockey
• Skeeball
• Shuffleboard
• Chess
• Checkers

…with more to come after launch!

During development, it’s been awesome to see players and testers invent new games inside SportsBarVR… from impromptu baseball (by swinging at bottles with pool cues), to tower building competitions with books, chairs, and dominoes. It’s been awesome to rapidly react to what we see players wanting, and we’re so excited to continue learning from our players and improving SportsBarVR post-release as we have our previous game. Seeing six players all in a fiercely precise game of darts, or everyone heckling one another in a heated match of skeeball just continues to show us the power of social VR and how one player’s fun brings up the level of enjoyment for everyone around them!

We’re proud and crazy excited to be a part of the first wave of PS VR titles when we launch on 13th October and can’t wait for you to try out SportsBarVR!

The post Friday night multiplayer hangout SportsBarVR is a PlayStation VR launch game appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2d9FbCV
via

Read More

How combat works in Vampyr, Dontnod’s Life Is Strange follow-up

Hi everyone! I’m Philippe Moreau, Vampyr‘s game director. Today, I’ll be running through the combat system we have in our new game.

For the uninitiated, Vampyr is our upcoming action RPG set in the flu-ridden streets of London, 1918. All manner of dangers prowl London during a bout of the lethal Spanish flu. From vampire hunters to mutated abominations, Jonathan Reid will face foes as well as friends on his mission to discover the truth behind his new affliction and the origin of the deadly plague.

Armed with an array of conventional melee and ranged weaponry, attack and dodge enemies to fill up Jonathan’s Blood Gauge, which is required to unleash powerful vampire attacks.

From impaling enemies on a spike to draining them of blood at a distance, as Jonathan’s Blood Gauge fills during a combat situation, his Vampire affliction will start to overtake his more human side, unleashing destructive spells and abilities against those who try to stop him.

A nonlinear skill tree will unlock through experience gained and will open up more powerful attacks and abilities. Jonathan is able to equip these abilities in any order, effectively allowing you to create your own archetypes to match your play style. Play aggressively and deal greater damage, or more securely, focusing on crowd-control and keeping enemies at bay.

Skills can be evolved two different ways. For example, Spring, a skill that allows you to rush instantly to a distant enemy, can be developed to either deal area-of-effect damage or grant temporary invincibility. The choice is yours!

Combat difficulty can be affected by player actions out of combat. Feeding on civilians provides a huge XP boost, which will make combat situations easier — but that comes with caveats; an increased danger on the streets, and narrative consequences for the world’s citizens, to name a few.

Full brawls are not the only options open to Doctor Reid — he can also stalk his prey, or even utilize his vampire speed and agility to avoid combat entirely.

Players will have to investigate and determine who to feed from, and who to spare, conscious of their need to increase their strength. Jonathan’s Vampire impulses will always be working against his human side.

Take up the plight of Jonathan Reid when Vampyr launches on PS4 next year.

The post How combat works in Vampyr, Dontnod’s Life Is Strange follow-up appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2d9bsdo
via

Read More

Resident Evil and Transformers: Devastation are coming to PS Plus on 4th October

Hey PlayStation Plus fans, we hope to help you get in the Halloween spirit with the line-up for October.

First up, we have Resident Evil. What better way to get excited about Halloween and the upcoming Resident Evil VII than by going back to the original game in the series? This year Capcom is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the franchise, and this remastered HD version is the perfect way to enjoy the game that started it all. So whether you are getting reacquainted with old friends Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, or trying the series out for the first time, get ready to learn the secrets of the mansion that lies on the outskirts of Raccoon City.

Next up is Transformers: Devastation. Drawing on the talents from the original Transformers TV series for the story and voice work, the game should feel pleasantly familiar to fans. Fabled developer PlatinumGames also delivers a fun and rewarding combat system with their signature fast-paced action. With your choice of five Autobots, get in there and battle against the Decepticons and Insecticons to save earth from Megatron’s evil plans.

Here’s the full line-up, available for download on 4th October:

• Resident Evil, PS4
• Transformers: Devastation, PS4
• Mad Riders, PS3
• From Dust, PS3
• Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~, PS Vita
• Actual Sunlight, PS Vita

The post Resident Evil and Transformers: Devastation are coming to PS Plus on 4th October appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dkP8HY
via

Read More

Composing Final Fantasy XV: the story behind the music

For long time franchise fans, there’s something special about hearing the latest Final Fantasy score for the first time. Be that in-game or, as was the case a few short weeks ago, hearing it performed live.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra took to the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London to play select tracks from the upcoming Final Fantasy XV for both attendees and those watching worldwide via livestream, offering an exciting glimpse at just some of the music that players will enjoy during their adventures with Noctis and his friends.

In attendance was the game’s composer, Yoko Shimomura. She’s a newcomer to the Final Fantasy series, but not video game music and is revered for her long and celebrated history composing rich scores for memorable games. Across two decades of work she’s penned instantly iconic music for the likes of Street Fighter II, and is loved by fans for her compositions in both Legend of Mana and the Kingdom Hearts series.

A few hours prior to the concert, we had the chance to sit down with Shimomura to discuss her approach to composing for the legendary series and her own favourite moments from the franchise.

You’ve an impressive resume covering so many iconic titles. But this is your first Final Fantasy. How does it feel stepping into such a big franchise? Is there pressure to follow in the footsteps of other FF composers?

Yoko Shimomura: It’s very interesting with XV actually because in some ways, it feels like I’ve been asked to do two projects! At the time the game was Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and it wasn’t part of the mainline series. I was on that project from the start, and because it wasn’t a numbered Final Fantasy, I felt like I could approach it a little more freely.

Had the development started as XV, I would probably have felt a lot more pressure from the beginning, but when this shift happened I had already worked on the project for a while, made a number of songs and had a clear idea of the concept and direction that I wanted to go with for the score. It made it a lot easier for me to continue doing that.

The game has been in development for 10 years – when in these 10 years did you start writing music for it? Has the music evolved or changed direction during this time span?

The first song I actually created for the whole project was right at the start, 10 years ago! It was the song Somnus, and this song is still in the game today. I think the overall direction of the music has been fairly consistent since the beginning of the project. There was music we knew we wanted to add specifically when the game became XV, so a lot of new things were added then, but it was because new things were being added to the game – things that needed to be supported by music.

Final Fantasy XV has been described as a lot darker and more realistic than the previous entries to the Final Fantasy series. There are themes of brotherhood, bonds and emotional realism. How does this transfer to the soundtrack?

It comes down to how to express realism in music. From my personal perspective, I was brought up with classical music so, to me, that’s very immediate and very real, but I know that it depends on individuals and the kinds of music they are used to. It’s a very difficult thing to pin down.

The other thing with the idea of realism is that it’s an abstract concept. Music itself is abstract; it’s not as solid as other forms of art. Trying to depict something abstract on an abstract medium… well, that’s challenging!

I really felt like I was better suited to approaching it by looking at the world of Final Fantasy XV, and I created what I felt fitted with each individual aspect. This is how the bond between comrades is presented in XV, with music that I felt suited that theme.

For the battles, I pictured music suited for battles and then specific visions with the scenery. I tried to get the best music to fit with each individual aspect rather than thinking about the bigger abstract concepts.

Final Fantasy XV’s gameplay is innovative for the franchise. Additions include the day-night cycle as well as the emphasis on real-time action and weapon switching during combat. Do you take those gameplay aspects into account when you compose music, or do have a more classic approach?

There certainly are a number of ways with which we tie the music into the gameplay, as well as certain conditions that govern the changes in the music. For example, with the day-night cycle we’ve got music changes covering early morning, day, mid-day, evenings and nights.

In battles too, there are specific trigger points that spark changes in the music. When you’re dealing the final blow to an enemy the music will finish in the right way and cut off when you need it to. There are little points like this there where the gameplay helps govern changes in the music.

Final Fantasy XV is a big cross-media project and you are composing music for both Kingsglaive and XV. Are there any differences in your process when you compose for the game versus for the movie?

I worked on some of the songs for the movie Kingslaive, but I didn’t create the whole soundtrack myself. I was given requests for a number of songs, so in that sense it wasn’t much different to how I usually approach music for games. If I had been asked from the start to make the whole soundtrack for the movie then I would have had to approach it a lot differently.

Do you have a favourite Final Fantasy?

(chuckles) This is such a difficult one to answer! I think the ones I played the most were 2 and 5. I really liked these two specifically because of how the gameplay and different mechanics fitted together.

And your favourite Final Fantasy track composed by someone else?

Once again, picking just one is too hard! There are so many pieces I like from Final Fantasy. Of course there are the ones that are present in the whole series – the prelude and the main Final Fantasy theme. I used those and rearranged them slightly for XV, but honestly every time I hear them I always think to myself – these are really really great songs. They still bring a tear to my eye.

The post Composing Final Fantasy XV: the story behind the music appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2cVHZ14
via

Read More

How The Playroom VR encourages real-world tomfoolery

Hello again. I’m Nicolas Doucet, creative director and producer of The Playroom VR. Today, we’ll talk a bit about something unexpected that emerged while our team experimented in virtual reality and that was carried into the final game: the aspect of performance.

As you know, PS VR wasn’t designed only for single player experiences; there are games that make use of the TV screen as a second display as well. Utilising the TV screen means that TV players are able to see the VR player inside the game from a totally different viewpoint. In an earlier post, we looked at how we approached the design of these VR characters to have a certain presence on the television screen.

Today I would like to dig a little into an observation we made while playtesting. We noticed that some players, when they knew they were being watched on the TV, began acting differently in the game, often exaggerating their body language for the purpose of comedy.

And since the tracking of the headset is so accurate, even the most subtle of head movements are accurately transposed and this can create some really funny situations. For example, in Cat & Mouse, some VR players pretended to be a puzzled cat, sniffing objects franticly in the room.

In Monster Escape, you can add drama by coming nose-to-nose with the TV heroes with a menacing look or peek behind a building and come out screaming “peekaboo!” (which earns you a Trophy, by the way). It instantly adds a fun and theatrical dimension to the way these CG characters move. The player becomes an actor or a puppet master, of sorts.

 
We also noticed that people who enjoyed performing in such ways had a tendency to make a lot of noise! So we made sure we used the on-board microphone located under the front of the headset, so the voice of the VR player could be captured, distorted and played back on the television in a silly way. That added a fun aural dimension to the acting. We made sure we pitched the voice up so they sound really silly, too. Of course, we also made the mouth of our VR characters move roughly in sync with the voice of the players, for added comedy.

The interesting conclusion to this discovery is that, while VR would normally be seen as a very personal immersion, looking at someone goofing around inside a “virtual character costume” is also part of the immersion, one where the VR player and their VR costume become one of the benefits to their audience.

The Playroom VR could be considered as a VR party game, where the dimension of performance is no longer limited to what happens in the digital world, but also to what happens in the room. A different way of breaking the fourth wall in future games, perhaps?

So, when you try The Playroom VR, be sure to give your best performance!

Don’t hesitate to drop us your ideas for funny multiplayer VR situations in the comments below, we will read and discuss them all with the team. Thank you for reading!

The post How The Playroom VR encourages real-world tomfoolery appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dkbf5j
via

Read More

Tracklist confirmed for incoming PS4 party game We Sing

Hi, I’m Kimberley Caseres, producer for We Sing, and I’m here today to unveil the full track list and a truck load of new features for the PS4’s upcoming singing party game.

The 30 songs are all original artist recordings bundled with their official music videos, in 1080p with HD audio – so they look and sound as the artists intended. A whopping 26 of those tracks were international number ones, with the full track list spanning five decades, so there’s bound to be something on there for everyone. We’re pretty scientific about how we choose our music, not just what we like! The tracks have to be number 1’s in many countries, have an equal balance of male and female singers, a wide range of popular genres and stand the test of time.

Alongside support for up to four of the game’s official We Sing microphones, you can also download the free We Sing Mic companion App for your iOS or Android smartphones to turn the devices into microphones as well – allowing 10 players to join in simultaneously. Having so many players sing together simultaneously is a first, and it makes for some very competitive – and loud – sing-offs!

There are 12 game modes and 3 difficulty levels, so newcomers and karaoke stalwarts alike have something to challenge them.

The full list is as follows (deep breath):

• Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink – Worth It
• Pharrell Williams – Happy
• Demi Lovato – Let It Go
• Bruno Mars – Locked Out of Heaven
• Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft. MØ – Lean On
• Avicii – Wake Me Up
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz – Thrift Shop
• OneRepublic – Counting Stars
• Shawn Mendes – Stitches
• Sia – Chandelier
• Queen – Another One Bites the Dust
• a-ha – Take On Me
• Rita Ora – Poison
• Charlie Puth ft. Megan Trainor – Marvin Gaye
• John Newman – Love Me Again
• Coldplay – Viva La Vida
• DNCE – Cake by the Ocean
• Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved
• Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – See You Again
• Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
• Lukas Graham – 7 Years
• The Bangles – Eternal Flame
• Fall Out Boy – This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
• Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
• ABBA – Dancing Queen
• Avril Lavigne – Complicated
• Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time
• Elton John & Kiki Dee – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
• Usher ft. Lil Jon & Ludacris – Yeah!
• David Bowie – Let’s Dance

The post Tracklist confirmed for incoming PS4 party game We Sing appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2drt53v
via

Read More

Dark psychological horror Here They Lie is a PlayStation VR launch title

Hello everyone! Cory Davis here – back from the Tangentlemen dev cave, and I’ll be the first to admit… we’ve been a bit cryptic with the details since we announced Here They Lie at E3 2016.

Here’s the thing. Back then, Here They Lie was still oozing out of the subconscious like a tide of terror, washing over our reality, and dragging us further into its’ dark realm. It took everything we had to stare directly into the void… It had to be done in a shroud of darkness.

But that time is past. Here They Lie is coming to PlayStation VR on 13th October. We can’t protect you much longer…

The line between reality and madness is wearing thin. There’s soot in my mouth. Singes on the tips of my fingers. Lungs all black and choked with ash.

And HIM.

He’s just out of the corner of my eye. Or is that my shadow? The longer I go without sleep, the closer he gets to me. Almost like I could make him go away if I would only let him in. A little closer. Just a bit?

NO!

Find me a sigil or a rusty piece of sheet metal. Nail it to my body. Anything to hold HIM back.

The walls have cracks and the foundations and slipping. I can hear the bones rattling on the masks. They are watching me with their filthy, mud-plastered eyes. They are watching all of us. I don’t look the same in the mirror anymore. None of us do. She must know more than she lets on. I can still see her yellow dress through the fog. It looks almost peaceful.

Dana are you there??

We here at Tangentlemen can’t wait for you to take a trip down the rabbit hole and find out for yourself when Here They Lie releases next month. But there’s one last piece to this puzzle. To help prepare for the experience, the Daedalus Project has invited us all to participate in a study of TIME and the mechanisms of universal TRUTH and SIMULATION.

www.HereTheyLie.com

It’s free, non-toxic, painless, sanitary… I promise.

The post Dark psychological horror Here They Lie is a PlayStation VR launch title appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dkorDc
via

Read More

How The Playroom VR’s loveable VR bots were bolted together

Konnichiwa! I’m Nicolas Doucet, creative director and producer of The Playroom VR in Japan Studio. Today, I’d like to tell you about how we created our VR characters.

Those of you who already know The Playroom on PS4 may remember the cute AR Bots, who live inside the Dualshock 4 wireless controller. As we began working on The Playroom VR, we wanted to continue using our robots and their visual identity to create a new cast of characters.

In Monster Escape, for instance, we created the VR 4, a group of super heroes matching the colours of the light bars on the Dualshock 4 wireless controllers.

In Cat & Mouse, we turned our little robot friends into mice. Each one has its own way of walking, size, weight and hiding props – for example, the green one likes to take cover inside broccoli to escape the cat!

,

However, the big addition to The Playroom cast of characters came through our new heroes: the VR characters!

As I explained in my previous post, The Playroom VR puts a big emphasis on multiplayer and so it’s common for the TV players to see the VR player’s head and body.

For our first test, we used a floating headset with eyes. But we soon needed to think about how each mini-game would introduce a strong and unique VR character, while retaining the overall Playroom feel.

We began drawing out what the headset should be like: recognisable as the PS VR headset but with a fun twist and a unique touch for each game. We eventually settled on a visor mounted on our VR characters so that the link with the real headset was obvious.

We also made sure that the blue LEDs, which are an iconic part of the PS VR headset, were very prominent. Where possible, we linked them to the gameplay too. For example, in Monster Escape, the VR monster’s health is represented with the four blue corner LEDs. Those gradually get smashed in-game as the Monster’s stamina goes down.

The eyes of the monster are also displayed as an LED face on the faceplate of the headset, and show various expressions according to the gameplay (painful face, angry face etc.).

Once our first VR character was created, we were able to roll out the same visual language to each game. Depending on the type of game, we also invented a body, or only a floating headset like in this shooting game example below (unfortunately cancelled for the final game).

In Ghost House, we wanted to explain why the players on the TV were able to see a recorded feed from the VR Player, so we mounted him with a camera to the side.

Since Ghost House also uses a controller in VR, we turned the Dualshock 4 wireless controller into a fun ghost blaster, and physically hooked it up to the VR player via a soft cable.

Cat & Mouse was an interesting one. First of all, the eye shapes and the facial expressions of the headset had to be made quite animalistic to really feel like a cat. We also spent some time deciding whether it should have a neck or not. Unlike in Monster Escape, a stretchable neck proved to be really disturbing in Cat & Mouse (probably because we expect cats to be elegant) so to avoid an awkward visual, we simply detached all of its limbs, like in Rayman. That worked much better, as it clearly meant to be a fantasy character.

Wanted! was also good fun because it played on classic Western genre caricatures. In the end, we settled for an eye patch because it gave the VR player an ambiguous feel (is he the Good or the Bad?) and a soft poncho because it made the VR player’s body movement fun to look at. The hat gave us a nice opportunity to slightly obstruct the player’s view and increase the feel of being a cowboy, too.

Going through this process, we were able to continue growing The Playroom’s cast of digital characters into a big, new family. Every new game was a fun brainstorm to come up with a hero character.

Do you have ideas for a fun VR character, and could you think of a theme that would be a good match? Please let us know in the comments below!

The post How The Playroom VR’s loveable VR bots were bolted together appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

from PlayStation.Blog.Europe http://ift.tt/2dp56Sh
via

Read More