So I went to this today in Calgary, thought I'd recap my thoughts for GAF.
The games I played were Killzone, Knack, Contrast and Octodad. Of these 4, only Octodad failed to capture my interest. It seemed genuinely current gen (visually) in comparison, and the controls were far too convoluted for me to confidently grasp them in the brief time I had with them.
Oddly enough, my 5 year old daughter really took a liking to Octodad and spent almost her entire time in there playing it. It's doubtful that I purchase it though.
On to the games I enjoyed.
Killzone was the first game I played, it looks amazing. The 1080p is in fine form here, with a crisp sharpness that was unmatched by any of the other games I sampled today. I played through the first few levels, and I was a little disappointed by the lack of gunplay in these sections, probably not the best spots to demo the game for guys like me that just want to play with the triggers and see how they react.
That being said, the game looks and plays wonderfully. I came across a few texture seams by exploring nooks and crannies that I probably shouldn't have been, but otherwise, the game is gorgeous. It's a testament to the game, that although the single player campaign isn't locked at 60fps, it felt smooth and responsive the whole time.
Easily the showpiece of this event.
Should also be noted that the KZ gameplay featured quite a bit of verticality, jumping down from upper to lower decks, traversing narrow beams spanning deep chasms, stuff of that ilk. All very fun and at times, devilishly tricky to spot.
Next up was Contrast.
I had only seen one brief teaser for this, and wasn't terribly excited for it, but after playing it, I'm happy that I'll be receiving it as a part of PS+ in November. The shadow gameplay dynamic is put to great use, and I adore the effect of jumping into the shadows and making use of routes that weren't otherwise accessible or available.
Contrast runs at a rock solid 60fps and is most definitely 1080p. Skipping cutscenes results in some pretty long load times, so they are clearly using the cinematics to mask the loading screens.
Next up was Knack.
I was already leaning towards purchasing this, based on the fact that I wanted a family-friendly game I could enjoy with my kids, but this hands-on cemented my decision. I mentioned in another thread earlier, the game didn't seem as high-res as Killzone or Contrast, so I was assuming it wasn't running at 1080p, but I've been told I am wrong, so take that for what it's worth. To my eyes, it didn't seem like a 1080p title, but that didn't take away from how great it looked.
Characters animate extremely well, and the game world is colourful and varied. There are many hidden areas with destructible walls hiding secrets and upgrades. Enemies utilize a lot of ranged attacks, which resulted in me taking a quite a few more hits than I would typically expect from a "family friendly" game like Knack. This is balanced however, by the inclusion of a second playable co-op character.
Player 2 is a support character, who cannot stray too far from Knack else he be teleported back onto the screen. I believe destroying enemies gave player 2 some health, but any destructible objects broken by them would immediately come to Knack.
You can also hit each other, which resulted in a few laughs, but overall, the co-op worked just as it should and allowed me, as a beginner, to romp through the level without too much hassle.
Both the camera (constantly changing fixed perspectives) and combat are very similar to God of War. The right stick is for dodging enemy attacks, different buttons are for light and heavy attacks, and comboing them results in more powerful attacks. There are orbs scattered about, that when collected, build up a special attack bar, which allows you to lay the smack down on your foes in style.
Cutscenes were skippable, and doing so did not result in any unwanted load times, a major plus in my books. The cinematics do seem to be rendered at a different resolution than than the game itself, as they were sharper, almost as if the contrast was cranked higher. Might just have been me imagining it, but it certainly stood out as something I noticed.
It should also be noted that Sony gave me $20 off Knack for attending this event, so for $39.99, I couldn't pass up picking up a copy before I left. ^^
Couple other points worth mentioning... I enjoyed my time with the DS4 immensely. The triggers, while smaller than I expected, feel great in the heat of the moment. They don't depress as far as you'd think they would, but it's something that just "works" when you use it.
The speaker on the DS4, used for when you pick up audio logs in Shadowfall, is higher quality than I expected. Even in a fairly loud environment with gamers playing stuff all around me, I could still hear the dialogue with no issues.
My demo cut short just as I got the OWL, so I wasn't able to mess around with the touchpad.
I did manage to get into the PS4 GUI once very briefly, to change the controller settings, and it was extremely fast and responsive. There was no delay going from game to XMB (or whatever you want to call it), which I was thrilled to see.
That's about all I've got for now, if anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer.
Oh, and while I was picking up Knack, I also snagged an extra DS4 and the PlayStation Camera. Now I just need the console, only a few more weeks! ^^
