Sony PlayStation Night 2011: Hands-On With Uncharted 3 And Tekken Hybrid

Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand was kind enough to invite us to its annual PlayStation Night. It is here where the company showcases all of its upcoming products to be released before the busy Christmas season. Amongst all the music, drinks and celebrities attending the event, the real stars of the show are the blockbuster games on display.

The obvious biggest addition this year was Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. While the gaming public enjoyed playing the multiplayer aspect of the game, I had a chance to experience a few moments of the epic single player campaign. Not only that, but it was displayed in stereoscopic 3D too. As it usually is with these types of events, my time on the game was fairly brief (a lot of people were waiting to play the game also), but I had a chance to witness some epic moments that a rarely seen in any other video game to date.

One of the Hollywood-style set-pieces I experienced while playing Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was when Elena was driving a car to allow Nathan to climb aboard it. Although something like this is highly unrealistic, it makes for a very exhilarating gameplay experience. At first, I missed my chance to board the plane and it just flew away. Luckily for me, the checkpoint wasn’t very far and Nathan Drake was able to show off his man power and jumped aboard the plane.

The danger didn’t stop there as a very huge henchman was waiting for me. He wasn’t here to greet me kindly as all he wanted to do was kick my little butt! Many parts of the Uncharted games consisted of shooting and exploring, this was one of the few times where were forced into an all-out fist fight. No matter how many times Nathan punched the guy, he would not fall down. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone let’s just say this fist fight is something you’d witness in a classic James Bond film.

In terms of the game’s visuals, what else can I say about it? You could say it looks similar to that from Uncharted 2 but that game already had the best ever visuals seen on the PlayStation 3. The only difference being is that Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is in stereoscopic 3D. If you haven’t experienced seeing a video game in 3D yet, I’m sure Uncharted 3 is the best game to display what 3D can offer.

The other major title I was able to play was Tekken Hybrid.
Unfortunately, Tekken Tag Tournament HD and Tekken Blood Vengeance weren’t on display. It didn’t matter too much as we got to see how Tekken Tag Tournament 2 plays. As fans should already know, Tekken Hybrid includes a preview of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and this is the build we got to play.

The only characters you can get to be in this preview are Ling Xiaoyu, Alisa Bosconovitch, Devil Jin and Devil Kazuya. If anyone has played Tekken 6, the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 looks and plays exactly the same as that game albeit in tag team format. One thing I dislike about the Tekken-style tag team format is that it’s game over when only one member of your team is knocked out. I prefer the Marvel vs. Capcom format where you have to defeat every member of the team.

Nevertheless, the game is as enjoyable as any other Tekken game before it. Much like Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, the game was very popular at the event. I managed to squeeze in a few rounds with a few other people and I have to say it’s a game that needs to be enjoyed with a group of mates. In terms of the character’s move sets, they’re mostly retained from previous Tekken games but I did notice the two Devil and Xiaoyu had some news moves in their repertoire…

Those two games were the major titles at that event. Some of the other games on display were Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Battlefield 3, House of the Dead: Overkill and a plethora of PlayStation Move titles. I unfortunately didn’t have time to play all the games at the event but I must say the upcoming games this Christmas are well and truly packed. Game on!