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August’s State of Play shows off Hitman VR and Bugsnax gameplay

PlayStation’s latest State of Play in 2020 focused on multiple games, offering both quick teases of PlayStation 4 and PS5 titles, as well as deep dives on a handful of games such as Bugsnax and Godfall.

The event’s shortest announcement turned out to be its biggest. Hitman III, as well as the previous two entries in the trilogy, will receive full PSVR support. This news was paired with a brief glimpse of what the upcoming title’s virtual reality gameplay would look like, with Agent 47 going first-person.

Bugsnax, a game that has proliferated across social media thanks to its catchy theme song, got an extensive gameplay look. The title will be in first-person and will have the player documenting and catching the titular creatures. In the gameplay demo, the character was shown to be taking pictures of all the different critters before using traps to collect them. It ended showing off what looked like a cross between a pizza and a dragon, so it seems not all of the animals will be cute and friendly. The game will come to PS5 during the holiday 2020 season.

Braid, one of the most beloved games of the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation, will get an anniversary edition with a complete visual overhaul. The new version will lean heavier into the moving painting style that the first game evokes with brushstrokes flowing in and out.

Control teased its upcoming AWE DLC, which drops on August 27, with a gameplay trailer. It confirmed that developer Remedy’s previous game Alan Wake exists in the world of Control. The DLC will show players exactly how the two worlds are connected.

Two new titles were announced for the PS5 as well. A For Honor look-a-like entitled Hood: Outlaws and Legends will release in 2021 along with TemTem, an MMO that launched on early access in PC that heavily evokes Pokémon’s gameplay.

The Pathless, a game that’s been in development for years, got an extensive overview, showing its character running, sliding, firing their bow, and using their eagle companion to fly around. The game will come to PS5 but did not get release window information.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time showed off its playable characters, as well as an inverted mode for all its levels. Developer Toys for Bob partnered with Beenox to design these variations, each of which provided a radical new look for the levels as well as alterations to gameplay.

Spelunky 2 got some quick updates and will release September 15. Brief trailers were also shown off for Genshin Impact, the anime-styled, Breath of the Wild-inspired RPG, puzzle game The Pedestrian, neon beat ‘em up Aeon Must Die and Auto Chess, a title that takes the board game to the next level.

Vader Immortal, the virtual reality Star Wars title which has been available for some time on the Oculus Quest, showed off new PSVR gameplay including iconic lightsabers from the films for its dojo training arena, as well as new force powers.

Godfall, the first PS5 game seen during 2019’s The Game Awards, had an extensive gameplay overview. The game is a “looter slasher, and differentiates itself from other loot grinding games by not be receiving any new gear after launch and having all items obtainable in-game via gameplay. The presentation showed off how the different playstyles are dictated by the player’s weapon choice.

Now that the summer is ending and fall is upon gamers, the State of Play wrapped up the final few releases of the PS4 and transitioned to talking about PS5 more extensively.

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Tom Caswell
Professional video producer and writer, gaming enthusiast, and streamer! twitch.tv/greatbritom
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