So far, one of the biggest stories of E3 has been the Playstation 4 and what it will mean for the future of gaming.  Meanwhile in gaming’s present, the Playstation 3 still has a possible game changer with an exclusive, The Last of Us.  

Unfortunately this has left the Playstation Vita, lost in the shuffle.  Can The Vita reverse its fortunes at this years E3, and maybe even reach the potential that the hardware is capable of?  

Well at this years E3 event, I was able to get a hands on look at some of the newest games that will eventually make their way over to the Vita.  One of the biggest complaints of the Vita has been its lack of games to support the stellar hardware.  At E3 Sony delivered… mostly.  

Out of all the games I saw, Killzone Mercenary is the biggest game for the Vita and Sony clearly treated as so.  Unlike a majority of Vita games, Killzone Mercenary was the only one to have a press conference (albeit brief) at E3.  At the Conference Samantha Dickinson of Guerilla Cambridge, gave some ideas of the thought process that went into putting Killzone onto the handheld system.

At the start of the conference, Samantha assured everyone that they would receive a full Killzone experience.  So basically this won’t be like the Unit 13 where you do quick 5-minute missions.  Instead she said there are 9 levels that can last from 45 to 60 minutes long, leaving you with a solid 7 to 9 hours of single player game play.  Additionally there will be up to 4 vs 4 multiplayer combat, which will add to the hours spent playing the game. 

Killzone Mercenary, though, will be a unique experience with many features exclusive to the Vita.  You can swipe the screen to knife an enemy or throw a grenade and by tapping and then holding the back touch pad, your character can easily sprint.  Another difference is that you play a mercenary, making you neither a member of the Helghast or the ISA, which gives a unique outsider perspective.

The game also drops the typical experience based system for a money based one.  So for every kill you gain money instead of typical experience points that can then be spent to buy weapons for multiplayer.  Additionally the focus on money was intentional because as Elizabeth explained, “As a mercenary, it is all about the money.”

When it came to integration with the PS4, Elizabeth explained that Mercenary is a separate story from Killzone Shadowfall, and remote play on the Playstation 4, could be in the games future.

I did ask about what engine the game was running on and Elizabeth said it is running on a version of the Killzone 3 engine.  Although she didn’t go into detail on how they managed to pack that engine into a Vita, she instead referred to it as “Code Magic”.

With my hands on time with Killzone Shadowfall, I agree that“Code Magic” is definitely an appropriate term.  While playing the game, it really does feel like holding a full-on PS3 game in my hands, now this is playing with power.  The game controlled very well and looked very good.  With two analog sticks, the Vita should be the optimal handheld for first person shooters, but instead the system has been let down.  Black Ops Declassified and Resistance Burning Skies, both didn’t take advantage of the Vita’s graphical power and overall really weren’t all that good.  Hopefully Killzone Mercenary will be the FPS that the Vita truly deserves, and with my initial play through, it looks to be likely.

Of course one game doesn’t make a system so I also checked out some other Vita games.

Ragnarok Odyssey Ace for the Vita and PS3 is less of a sequel to the previously released Ragnarok Odyssey but more of a Ragnarok 1.5.  With plenty of additions to levels and characters as well as additional story elements added.  Overall this game had double the text to translate as opposed to its predecessor.  Visually the game was about average for a Vita game, comparable to Earth Defense Force 2017.  The game play is fun although could become repetitive.  It should be familiar to anyone who has played Soul Sacrifice on the Vita.  The expected release date is Winter 2013/ Early 2014.

There also was a strange little puzzle game for the Vita, named Open Me.  This game takes advantage of the Vita’s Augmented Reality capabilities and in the one mini game I was able to try, a box appears on the screen and you tap a button on it as quickly as possible.  Very little details were available, aside from it being released on the Playstation Network.

A game that really impressed me though was Dragon’s Crown, by Atlus.  In this game you can take control of one of 6 characters as you travel through a dungeon, fighting loads of enemies.  What struck me most were the visuals, the game looks beautiful.  The game has a hand drawn, 2.5 D aesthetic and simply making water splash as you run through it, looked very good.  This game will be on the PS3 as well and unfortunately doesn’t support cross play, so gamers will have to be content with cross saves.  The release date is August 6th, 2013

Easily the strangest game I played though, was Hohokun.  In this game you take control of a rainbow snake as you move through a level completing puzzles.  The twist is as you progress through the level and solve puzzles; the music in the game also starts developing.  The game even uses specially made music from Ghostly International Records, which further enhances the experience.  This game cements a unique niche Sony has created for it’s self.  The tranquil music based game, like Sound Shapes, Flow, or Flower.  These games are more like an experience as opposed to a game. The expected release should be in 2014.

Overall, these games all looked and played very well but my biggest concern was that outside of Killzone, the Vita seemed to be lacking a big marquee game.  Although many of the other games I saw, look very good or interesting, I’m not sure it is enough to breathe life into the system, and the Vita may have to relegate it’s self to a small but dedicated fan base.  

 

Be sure to follow Neontommy's E3 coverage here. 

Reach Staff Writer Roger Aguirre here.