Category: PlayStation

It’s been almost 30 years since Lara Croft took her first snowy steps in the mountains of Peru. In about 30 days, PlayStation players will get to re-experience Lara’s first three globe-trotting adventures, with a fresh look and feel in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. 

How did we get here? That story takes us to Austin, TX in 1998.

Aspyr & Lara go way back

A burgeoning video game company, Aspyr, launches Tomb Raider II on Macintosh computers. Aspyr continued with the Tomb Raider franchise until 2003, launching Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider III, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider: Chronicles, and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.

We’ve always wanted to revisit these titles, but we always debated the right approach. For years, we worked through the right balance of preservation and modernization. And once we felt we nailed it, we got in touch with our friends at Crystal Dynamics.

Crystal Dynamics vision

As Crystal Dynamics continues to expand the Tomb Raider Franchise, the timing seemed perfect to reintroduce audiences to the games that started it all. We wanted to both honor the foundations of the franchise and make accessible to modern audiences the original games in all their glory. 

What would the balance of preservation and modernization look like? We call it Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft.

Remaster defined

Within pre-production, we divided the conversation into three buckets: engineering, gameplay, and art. With these categories in mind, we led our conversations in the same order.

Engineering goal – performance with pixel-perfect preservation

At the outset, we knew we would use the original source code and engine. Magic can’t simply be rebuilt. A critical feature for any updates we made was to allow the users to toggle back to the original look and feel for Tomb Raider I, II, and III.

It’s a love letter to all of our memories of these games, but it’s also truly fascinating to see how far hardware pushed in the ‘90s to make Tomb Raider work. Preserving that experience will continue to inspire engineers of today and tomorrow to push games to be more immersive and memorable.

Gameplay goal – surprise and delight lifelong hardcore fans

We had a firm belief that the gameplay of Tomb Raider I, II, and III is timeless, and with our use of the existing source code, we had every jump, secret, enemy, and puzzle exactly as the original development team designed and intended.

So the conversation evolved into: how do we surprise and delight these fans? And that’s where we started brainstorming additions instead of revisions.

Classic and modern control options

For our modern controller settings, we take inspiration from the Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld era of Tomb Raider. These changes are felt mostly in the way Lara moves – the right stick has full camera control and Lara moves directionally based on camera position. 

Just like our approach to the graphical presentation, the original tank-style controls are still available to players via a menu toggle.

Boss health bars

One of Tomb Raider’s strengths was the minimal UI. However, this can be frustrating for tougher bosses with massive amounts of health. We added a health bar to let you know if you should swap to the grenade launcher or if you should keep soaking pistol damage.

3D item sprites replacements

While the menus in Tomb Raider used 3D models for the health kit and ammo, the in-game assets were flat 2D sprites. This was a legacy compromise that we’ve adjusted to give a little more umph to item pick-ups.

Over 200 trophies

This is a big moment for the Tomb Raider community, so we made sure to pack in as much content as possible. We’re excited to say there are over 200 trophies to earn including (my personal favorite) locking the Butler in the freezer. Sorry, Winston! See below for a sneak peak of a few you can look forward to discovering!

Photo mode

Exploring environments in Tomb Raider is magical. We want you to be able to share these environments and iconic moments, so we’ve added a robust photo mode to pose Lara, freeze gameplay, toggle between classic and modern graphics, and showcase these environments. We’re super excited to see what the community puts together with these modes.

And a few more surprises

So much of what we love about Tomb Raider is discovery, and we don’t want to spoil that. 

Art goal – visuals as in your memory

Once we finalized the engineering and gameplay intent, it was time to move on to our biggest challenge and changes for the project—the art. 

Our philosophy here was rather straightforward; we want the games to look the way they did in your mind. We knew we were on the right track in our early playtests because some play testers didn’t even know they were playing with the modern art toggled on.

We’ve worked hand-in-hand with Crystal Dynamics on the following modern art updates:

• Baked and real-time lighting effects – These changes add to the immersion and mood of the environment. 

• Graphics toggle – At any point during gameplay, including in Photo mode, you can swap between the original and modern graphics.

• New models, environments, and enemies – As shown in our initial reveal, we’ve added new models for a consistent modern look and feel. We’re excited to showcase how these PS1 environments would look with modern technologies and tools.

• New model for Lara Croft – Her original outfits are stunning. Her silhouette—iconic. Need I say more?

• Additional updates – We love the classic look of the animations, textures, and VFX. We’ve made adjustments in the modern scheme to look consistent with the updated models for a polished final look.

We send our admiration and thanks to the Tomb Raider community for inspiring us to work on this lovingly restored edition of Tomb Raider I-III. We’ll see you on February 14.

Pre-orders are available now on PlayStation Store.

Hey everyone, Foamstars Producer Kosuke Okatani here. We’ve kept all of you waiting since the announcement of Foamstars May of last year, but we’re happy to announce that Foamstars will release on February 6, 2024!

Foamstars will be included as a game in the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games lineup* for February and we’re ecstatic to be able to offer a chance to play.

A party for everyone

Foamstars is a brand-new 4v4 shooting game where players can enjoy a combination of a party-like atmosphere where mysterious foam builds up around you, and the intense moments during battle.

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We developed Foamstars with the concept of creating a game that everyone could enjoy. Whether you’re a player who wants to play tactically and test your skills to achieve victory, or a player who wants to just casually party with friends, you will find something to enjoy in Foamstars. Please try it out during its inclusion in the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games. 

Three Foamtastic game modes

On top of the two game modes previously released in the Foamstar Open Beta Party, the just-announced third mode, Rubber Duck Party, will be playable from launch.

Smash The Star – Work together to knock out the Star Player

Win by taking down the opposition’s designated Star Player. After defeating 7 players from the opposing team, one of the remaining players will be granted several buffs and appointed the Star Player. Work together to fight to overwhelm their Star Player while protecting your own!

Happy Bath Survival – A crazy battle in and out of the arena!

Featuring split teams with half inside the arena and half outside of reach for each round, competing to take down the opposing team’s players inside the arena first. Outside players can assist their teammates with defensive foam, while inside players fight up close for victory.

Rubber Duck Party – Fight to dance on the duck and reach the goal!

Get ready for a foam party like no other! Teams must race to the center of the stage and fight for possession of the rubber duck, as climbing aboard will advance it into the opposition’s goal. Dancing on the duck’s head will make it sprint towards the finish line to win the match.

Players will need to utilize teamwork to foam the battlefield allowing for quicker traversal of the large map and to defend the rubber duck from the opposition’s control. With no respawn limit in this game mode, players can focus on the objective to make big plays.

Mission Mode – Enjoy solo or with friends

Protect Bath Vegas from an onslaught of Bubble Beasties in Mission Mode. Take on the challenge solo in Foamstar Mission or work together with up to 3 friends in Squad Mission.

Foamstar Mission – Solo missions

This is a great mode for those new to Bath Vegas. Here, you can try out the six characters and learn how to play them.

Players can also get to know more about each character as each has their own dialogue prepared.

Squad Mission – Cooperative missions

These are team missions where players can cooperate with up to 3 friends to take on the challenge.

During the mission, players will be able to upgrade their Foamstars with different effects that are earned by clearing waves.

Unlock rewards by completing challenges

We have prepared challenges that reward players upon completion. Some rewards can only be received by completing challenges, so try them all.

Additionally, there are three types of challenges: Anytime, Events, and Weekly – each with varying rewards.

For example, The Baristador character is unlockable by clearing the Reach Player Level 3 Anytime challenge.

The Year of Foam

Foamstars will receive seasonal updates over the span of one year. Also, a Season Pass will be available for each season, offering a plethora of bonus items. Players can increase their tier by earning XP from battling or completing missions. Rewards will be unlocked as player’s tiers increase.

In the first season pass that will be available at launch, Mel T will be unlockable as a reward (players who purchase the Premium Pass will unlock the character immediately).

On top of seasonal exclusive content and skins—additional characters, maps, and modes will also be released throughout the year so please look forward to the yearlong Foamstars Party.

*All PlayStation Plus members will be able to redeem, download and play Foamstars at no extra cost from February 6 to March 4.

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

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Hey y’all! This week the gang returns for the first episode of 2024 to talk oh-so-sweet video games, including a discussion on God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla. Plus the team answers a listener letter with tips for your first Baldur’s Gate 3 play-through.

Stuff We Talked About

• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – PS5, PS4
• Bulletstorm VR – PS VR2
• PS Plus Game Catalog January – Resident Evil 2, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Hardspace: Shipbreaker and more
• Cult of the Lamb Sins of the Flesh DLC Blog
• Helldivers 2 PC specifications Blog
• Listener letter
• God of War Ragnarök

The Cast

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Tim Turi –  Manager, Content Communications, SIE

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Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE

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O’Dell Harmon, Jr. Content Communications Specialist, SIE

Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

Last week, we asked you to travel to the shores of Valhalla to face Kratos’ past in God of War Ragnarök using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

sirevanztheduke shares Kratos swinging the Leviathan Axe with a frost attack

Sanderbleidd shares a subdued shadowy portrait of Kratos

DeathStalker131 shares a minotaur rearing back after an attack

thefrostysm shares a low angled view of Kratos wielding the Blade of Olympus

DotPone shares a shirtless Kratos wielding red hot chains

call_me_xavii shares a closer look at the Blade of Olympus

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?

THEME:  God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla (again)

SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on December 17, 2023

Next week, let’s try that again. We’re headed to the shores of Valhalla to face new challenges in God of War Ragnarök. Share more moments from Kratos’ journey using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Announced today, Beelzebub and company are rolling out onto PlayStation 5 & PlayStation 4 on April 26! In this action-RPG players will be able to explore a vast map with a wide array of vehicles in a world developed by the creator of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama.

Become the main character, Beelzebub, and lead your company of heroic misfits on an extraordinary adventure in search of the Legendary Spring hidden in the desert. Between bandits, fierce wildlife, and the Royal Army, reaching the spring won’t be easy!

The latest trailer shows new story elements and exciting vehicular gameplay. Watch the release date trailer below along with PS Blog exclusive info on the newest revealed vehicles in Sand Land!

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Hovercar

As its namesake would imply, the Hovercar is a medium sized vehicle with the ability to hover, allowing it to easily traverse over wetlands and rough terrain. It can also use its boost to float to a greater height to elevate over ledges and cross gaps. When you find an area which seems to be difficult to drive through, like a quicksand biome, try the Hovercar to get out of a tough situation.

When building your vehicles you can build unique, powerful weapons to support you in combat and traversing with the Options build slot.

Hovertank

Another vehicle with similar hover functions but is more specialized for battle is the Hovertank. It equips strong long-range weaponry that can cause massive damage. However, the Hovertank’s aiming stability may be difficult to harness due to its floating nature, but once mastered, the Hovertank will be an almost unrivaled vehicle in your arsenal.

Customize vehicles with wide arsenal of parts and weapons

As shown in the trailer and clips above, vehicles can be customized with hundreds of parts that can be applied to main and secondary weapons, engines, and suspensions. Use your imagination to design your own vehicles and play to your style! Dive into dungeons to find treasure chests and obtain stronger, unique machine parts.

With powerful enemies comes the need for powerful weapons. While designing your vehicles you can equip special Option weapons. Equip the Neutron Cannon to send a flash of high power energy to take down large foes or minions closely placed together.

Dealing with crowd control and need to maneuver? Activate the special Option ability of the Autonomous C-Drone (Auto Combat Drone) to help spread out your firepower.

Stylize vehicles with skins and decals

Customization is not only for performance but also for looks with the ability to change vehicle coloring and the application of decals. Visit the paint shop in Spino, the base camp of your adventure, and design vehicles to show your style to enemies. Check out the preorder exclusive Midnight Panther and Jungle Heart vehicle skins below.

There’s a whole world to explore and more exciting vehicles to discover – check out the previous trailers and find your favorite vehicles! After the reveal of the new mysterious character, Ann, and a new green biome in the latest trailer, stay tuned for more Sand Land info.

We know it’s been a long wait but it’s finally time to reveal more about the PC release of Helldivers 2. We know what’s on your mind, first and foremost: Is it crossplay?

And we’re pleased to announce that Helldivers 2 supports crossplay! That means your teammates on PC can play with you on PS5 and vice versa. Community and teamwork are the most important pillars of Helldivers 2, and so it is essential to ensure players can work together regardless of the system they choose to use. Together we can celebrate victories, mourn losses, and liberate the galaxy without platform boundaries.

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As part of this announcement, we’re also finally able to provide you with the minimum, recommended, performance, and ultra system specifications for PC players to ensure that no matter what kind of equipment your squad uses to play – PS5 or PC with a broad range of supported PC hardware – you’ll be able to spread Managed Democracy together.

Wondering if your PC can handle Helldivers 2? Here are our PC system specifications:

Now you’re armed with crossplay and the required specs to go on your very first dive. It’s not much longer to wait, recruits: Helldivers 2 is launching on February 8, and pre-orders are open now. We can’t wait to see you on the battlefield!

PlayStation Network Account Required. Gameplay requires internet access and paid for PlayStation Plus membership (sold separately) for PS5. PlayStation Plus membership subject to recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply. Full terms: play.st/psplus-usageterms.

In the new year, Rocksteady returns with a fresh addition to the beloved Arkhamverse with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a third-person action shooter launching February 2 on PS5.

I recently had a chance to play the game, including a basic tutorial on each character’s traversal and combat, co-op missions, and a climactic boss battle against The Fastest Man Alive. Let’s dive into the hijinks these antiheroes have up their sleeves.

Move with meaning

The hands-on experience began with tutorials to introduce each character’s specific traversal and combat mechanics. Through these lessons, I gained a grasp on how each character’s movement uniquely influences their combat abilities.

“It’s not traversal and combat,” says Rocksteady Advanced Combat Designer Noel Chamberlain. “They’re both really intertwined…everything is seamless.”

For example, King Shark’s athletic traversal and combat are intuitive. His Apex Pounce, a traversal mechanic that launches the big fish into the sky, is a simple way to get moving. Once in the air, he can swim through the clouds to gain speed, setting himself up for a dive bomb landing to viciously melee attack foes via combat knives.

Harley Quinn and Deadshot’s movement mechanics are very different from each other but share similarities in that gaining speed while traversing heavily relies on sliding. This nimble slide is useful while waiting on the cooldowns for Harley’s Grapnel Gun (thanks Batman) and Deadshot’s jetpack.

“The movement is a huge part of the skill in this game, and we built it to have complexity very deliberately so players can get better and learn the intricacies over time,” says Rocksteady Production Manager Jack Hackett.

Perfecting the slide timing to keep momentum once on the ground can be tricky, but nailing the rhythm is so satisfying that you’ll look forward to mastering the mechanics. For Harley, the ability to adjust the length of your grapple rope after deploying also makes for a helpful tool in strategically attacking from above.

Captain Boomerang’s abilities appear to have a steeper learning curve while also boasting a high return on investment for wreaking havoc. Boomerang utilizes a Speed Force Gauntlet (courtesy of Dr. Sivana) triggered by holding R1 and pointing your cursor in the desired direction. Once successfully activated, you’re launched in what seems like a millisecond. How you aim and angle your launch is crucial in setting yourself up for strategic chaos.

Feel good while doin’ bad

Story cinematics followed character tutorials, leading me into co-op gameplay missions throughout Metropolis. Cinematics are dripping with the cast’s rag-tag charisma, and I frequently giggled at the witty banter between the Squad members. Compared to many games where the protagonist’s mission is led by virtue and honor, the Suicide Squad has none of that, creating a light-hearted and sarcastic tone throughout.

“They (Suicide Squad) are brash, impulsive, mean, argumentative and rude,” says Jack Hackett. “And normally when you’re behaving like that in a game you feel like you’re breaking the rules…but with the squad you can be as mean or silly as you like and it all fits the story.”

Express your personal flair and attitude through silly actions you can trigger during downtime.

Open-world Metropolis

The co-op missions were my first true introduction to the open-world Metropolis. The City of Tomorrow is sprawling and immerses players with expansive, sun-kissed cityscapes that make for a traversal playground in any direction you look. The overall detail of the open-world is impressive, from weathered building sides to the train lines running throughout the massive city.

DC fans will be pleased when exploring to discover DC easter eggs planted all over, from a Zatana ad posted on a city building side to discovering Clark Kent’s desk when sent on a mission to recover data from the Daily Planet.

Squad up in co-op

In my experience playing the story missions in co-op, the team dynamic added enthusiasm and presented challenges that stressed the importance of cohesion as one unit. Once headed to a mission objective as a squad you’re quickly reminded of the high stakes present, as stragglers who fall too far behind the pack are considered deserters, leading to literal mind-blowing consequences (brain bomb detonation courtesy of Task Force X leader Amanda Waller). The massive open-world Metropolis can make it difficult to keep tabs on the full team, but it’ll also be crucial for rushing to a downed team member’s aid.

Taking on The Flash

To put a bow on the hands-on experience, I finished up the day with a climactic showdown versus the Justice League’s very own Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash. The battle takes place at a space-themed amusement park located in Metropolis, which almost feels like an arena surrounded by buildings and an overhead bridge that adds verticality to the space.

Be warned that the Flash you face here is not the typical lovable hero that we all know. Though he keeps his wits about him, this Flash is marked with red glowing eyes and seemingly rotten, veiny skin signifying Brainiac’s corruption over him.

The key to taking down Flash is executing Critical Counters to deflect his attacks and charge your character’s Decoupler, which acts as a shield against his Speed Force attacks. Once your Speed Force protection is charged up, the challenge becomes putting yourself in a position to shoot down the speedster.

Taking advantage of the full area and using buildings to create vantage points as Flash zips around the battleground is key. As the battle heats up, stay aware of the surrounding chaos and be sure to evade the Speed Force tornadoes Flash hurls your way.

Prepare to squad up and hit the mean streets of Metropolis when Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launches February 2 on PS5.