E3ODUS [E3 2017 Previews] Days Gone / Evangelion VR.

DAYS GONE (SIE Bend Studio/Sony – PS4 – TBD) – Seems like we’ve been here before. Once, twice — more? Post apocalypse, zombies, lone-wolf badass survivor. Old hat, right? That story is a little tired, or is it? Sony decided to close its E3 presentation last year with the upcoming Days Gone, a post-apocalyptic zombie-slaying adventure survival game. DG held the prime position of the final game showcased in a year that showed Last of Us, Part II and God of War, two of Sony’s biggest and most successful franchises. So… why end it with a new IP, one that has arguably been told before numerous times — if there wasn’t something truly special about it? Holding that marquee position closing the show, Sony shows it has high faith in Days Gone. Expect to find out more this year.

Here’s what we know so far: the player takes the role of Deacon St. John (that’s either the best or the worst name for a protagonist in gaming history; but, seeing how we are, GodHatesGeeks, after all…), a biker, bounty hunter, and all around bad-ass. Sony doubles down on the fandom here, basically taking Joel from The Last of Us and mixing him in a blender with equal parts Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead. The zombies, here called “freakers”, move and behave more like the zombies in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days/Weeks Later film franchise; they’re fast, nimble, and coordinated in their attacks. From what I gather, Days Gone will have some platforming — like they took the Uncharted engine and built a zombie survival game around it. Seriously, if you watch the gameplay demo it looks like Uncharted; same pulse pounding chases and almost identical gunplay. I love The Last of Us, I love Uncharted, and I love The Walking Dead. Is ganking those properties enough to make a great game? I’m eager to tune in to E3 to find out.

The PlayStation E3 Media Showcase is set for 6 p.m. PT on Monday, June 12. You can catch all the action on Twich and the PlayStation Network.

EVANGELION VR: THE SOUL’S SEAT (Namco Bandai – Arcade VR – Summer, Japan Only?) – Neon Genesis Evangelion began in the late 1900s, more specifically 1996. I didn’t discover it until well into my teenage, rebellious, emo glorifying years. Since that day I knew I wanted to pilot an Evangelion in the coming apocalypse. Sadly, the catastrophic events depicted in the series never came to fruition in the year 2015– but luckily that’s what VR was invented for! Throw away the psychoanalytic concepts, emotional distress and religious symbolism from the anime and you have a kick ass mecha video game.

In an attempt to keep their virtual reality initiative going Bandai Namco will be releasing Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Soul’s Seat in Japan this Summer, where players/riders will control either Eva-00, 01, or 02 as they face off against the Angels (the bad guys). And while there’s not much news about a stateside release stateside, it is damn impressive that a series that was started 21-years ago has this kind of staying power and ability to still be influencing creators and developers today with the technological breakthroughs occurring every day.

Check out our other E3 2017 previews:

–Far Cry 5 – 6/7

–Detroit: Become Human – 6/6

–WWE 2K18 – 6/6

–FIFA 18 – 6/6

–Need For Speed: Payback / F1 2017 – 6/5

–Sea of Thieves – 6/5

–The Last of Us, Part II – 6/5

–Assassin’s Creed Origins – 6/4

–Star Wars Battlefront II – 6/3

–Madden NFL 2018 – 6/1

–Extinction – 6/1