Killzone 2

While Guerrilla Games has become well-known for the Horizon series, remastering Killzone 2 for the PS5 seems a given. It’s the game that put the company on the map and its excellent visual fidelity, attention to detail, fun gun play and solid multiplayer would make a smooth transition over to the console. If a new sequel on PS5 isn’t coming any time soon, then it makes sense to revisit Killzone 2 in some capacity.

About a month ago, Sony announced that the servers for several of its games, including Warhawk, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, and Twisted Metal would be going offline on October 25. For the likes of PS All-Stars and Twisted Metal, that’s a blow, but their campaigns can still be played offline. For something like Warhawk, however, which is entirely an online experience, that renders the entire game unplayable.

However, they now seem to have silently pushed back the date for the shutdown of these servers, as well as for Sound Shapes, which was also due to get its servers shut down, by 90 days. Servers for all four of these games will now be shut down on January 31, 2019.

Sony has sent out an email that notifies players of the same (via Reddit). Meanwhile, the PS Store pages for Twisted Metal, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Warhawk, and Sound Shapes have also been updated to reflect this change, and all mention that their multiplayer and online features will become unavailable on January 31, 2019.

Following that date, Sound Shapes, PS All-Stars, and Twisted Metal’s single player components, local co-op, and splitscreen will still be playable, but their online functionality will become unavailable. Warhawk will be unplayable entirely, unless your PS3 is set to LAN mode for local network play, of course.

Fans of some of the less popular games on PlayStation 3 are probably going to be saddened to hear that they are going to be taken offline in less than a month. Sony today confirmed that that PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, the crossover fighting game that the company released with Superbot in an attempt to emulate Super Smash Bros., will be going offline on October 25.

Sadly, it’s not the only PS3 game going offline on that day— David Jaffe’s failed attempt at a Twisted Metal reboot on the PS3 is also having its servers taken down on that day, as will Warhawk, which saw its significantly less popular spiritual successor Starhawk go offline recently as well.

It is important to note that you can still buy and play these games, even after October 25– all this means is that you won’t be able to play them online. Now, for a game like Warhawk, that is admittedly an issue, but for something like PlayStation All Stars, it should be fine, since there’s a substantial single and local multiplayer component to it.

May Sony’s multiplayer servers for their PS4 games last longer.

With Sony’s games generally doing so well now- games like Horizon, The Last of Us, all sell millions upon millions of copies- it is now clear that no matter what they put out, as long as they push it, they will have an audience waiting for it. An audience that trusts that Sony will deliver only on quality, and nothing else. It is well earned trust- and maybe Sony could now use that trust to bring back some of the lesser known, but absolutely fantastic, gems from their first party lineup of the past. Gems like…

WILD ARMS

"Japanese RPGs are on a resurgence now, with games like Persona 5, NieR Automata, Tales of Berseria, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Octopath Traveler all having broken out and done surprisingly well in just the last year. Sony themselves have a audience eager for quality Japanese content on the PS4, thanks to all the JRPGs that have hit it in the last few years- come on, Sony. What better time would there be to give Wild Arms another go than now?"

Come on, you knew I would start with this. Wild Arms was a series of fantastic, superlative Japanese role playing games, set in a western setting, blended with the traditional shonen elements, fantasy, and science fiction tropes that Japanese games, especially RPGs, so often favor. Wild Arms never managed to do too well in the west, either critically or commercially, but Sony could bring the series back, maybe in collaboration with a studio like Level-5, overseeing it with their rigorous standards of quality and polish. Japanese RPGs are on a resurgence now, with games like Persona 5, NieR Automata, Tales of Berseria, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Octopath Traveler all having broken out and done surprisingly well in just the last year. Sony themselves have a audience eager for quality Japanese content on the PS4, thanks to all the JRPGs that have hit it in the last few years- come on, Sony. What better time would there be to give Wild Arms another go than now? JRPGs are on the upswing, and there’s an appetite for them on consoles. Your own output is high polish, high quality, and well received. Just put out a new Wild Arms, and watch the adoration roll in. And no, I don’t mean that mobile game by WayForward.

WIPEOUT

What bites the most about Sony unceremoniously ditching Wipeout and shuttering their studio Sony Liverpool (née Pygnosis) is that Pygnosis was Sony’s first first party studio ever, and Wipeout their first major first party hit. The game was responsible, in very large part, for helping brand the original PlayStation with an image of being a cool lifestyle device, and not just a kids’ toy like previous consoles had been perceived. And it backed all that style with some substance too, with Wipeout Pure, Wipeout Pulse, and Wipeout HD and Fury being fantastic games that each showcased a new generation of PlayStation hardware. Sony ditching this franchise (beyond remastering older Wipeout games for PS4, and then making them PSVR compatible) really stings, especially because Wipeout would look so fantastic on modern hardware, and would benefit so much from the full rage of multiplayer functionality that modern consoles provide. With Sony not having any arcade racer in their first party lineup, and the futuristic racing genre having no other competition with Nintendo also just sitting on F-Zero, this would be the best chance to throw fans a bone, and bring Wipeout back. Do it Sony.

RESISTANCE

"Alternate history shooters, and shooters focusing primarily on their single player campaigns, have done well in the market in the last few years, and Sony themselves lack any shooter in their lineup, voids which Resistance could fill in."

Of all the many IP I will name in this article, Resistance is probably the least loved. Insomniac’s alternate history first person shooter series never quite seemed to find its footing in the market. The first game was a standard, if unremarkable, shooter, while the second chased many multiplayer trends, failing to capitalize on them, and also alienating the fans the first game had managed to pick up along the way. By the time the third game came out, the series had finally found its identity, and Resistance 3 remains one of the finest, and most underrated shooter campaigns of all time. But by then, it was too late- the market had moved on, and there were many other shooters for them to sink their time into. Things have changed since then, however- alternate history shooters, and shooters focusing primarily on their single player campaigns, have done well in the market in the last few years, and Sony themselves lack any shooter in their lineup, voids which Resistance could fill in. Given Insomniac’s own output is so much more high quality now than it was in the early, confused PS3 days too, I have no doubts a new Resistance would be absolutely fantastic. Maybe after Spider-Man?

JAK AND DAXTER

Who would argue with someone wanting Jak and Daxter back? Before Naughty Dog became Sony’s prestige studio, pushing the envelope on interactive storytelling with their games, they were known for making great mascot platformers. Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation, and Jak and Daxter on the PS2- the latter games being great, whimsical open world platforming collectathons with action elements strewn in. Jak and Daxter never found the kind of following Crash did, mostly because of a mid-series pivot into trying to go in a more serious and gritty direction, but the games remained high quality, and would do exceptionally well today- especially now that Sony’s own lineup seems to lack anything meaningful in the way of platformers, something like a (non-gritty) Jak and Daxter would go a long way in adding some color and variety to their portfolio.

WARHAWK

"Warhawk is tailor made for success in today’s market- Sony just has to be smart and revive it. They sorely lack multiplayer games of cosequence in their lineup- Warhawk could change that."

Okay, stay with me here. Warhawk was absolutely freaking fantastic, especially the PS3 reboot. It was a multiplayer game of the kind that there have been few of since, and it was way too ahead of its time. It managed to do well, but it preceded its market by at least a half decade. Now, imagine a new Warhawk put out by Sony- no campaign, just multiplayer. Make it free to play, make it a GaaS style game, add cosmetic microtransactions to support it. Ensure the unique multiplayer style and spirit of the PS3 game is maintained. Warhawk is tailor made for success in today’s market- Sony just has to be smart and revive it. They sorely lack multiplayer games of consequence in their lineup- Warhawk could change that.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Warhawk was a 2007 released flight and vehicle combat game developed by Incognito Entertainment. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 and is based on an aerial warfare game also entitled Warhawk. Interestingly enough, Warhawk was actually the first game ever to be available on both blu-ray disc and downloadable via the PlayStation Network.

The game was met with mixed reviews, but the fans quickly solidified into a diehard online community.

In a recent series of Twitter exchange, the mind behind Warhawk Dylan Jobe hinted at the fact that he has an idea for what Warhawk 2 would entail, but that his concept idea would be too expensive for a Kickstarter campaign. He then goes on to say that if fans want it so bad, it will be on Sony to recognize the outcry and fund the project.

@ThePaulCollett Warhawk community is awesome! But the budget required for my Warhawk 2 concept would be too expensive for KickStarter :-/

— Dylan Jobe (@DylanJobe) September 16, 2013

Do you want to see a Warhawk sequel? If so, get on the bandwagon and tweet your thoughts out at Sony and Dylan. Stay tuned to Gamingbolt for more updates.

However, not all games or even new IPs are the subject of great commercial success. Some of them may have scored very well commercially but added that extra zing to really win consumers over. Some of them were disappointing and didn’t live up to the hype. Some, however, were just criminally over-looked.

Here’s out top 10 games that no one played last generation. If you did experience these titles, and wonder why they’re here, then remember that they didn’t (probably) receive even half as much acclaim or attention as they might’ve warranted.

1. Asura’s Wrath

The adventures of Asura were a rather quirky affair. You switched between the third person perspective and executed several quick time events, with the story being broken up into episodes with openings and credits, and each episodes consisting of several short parts to play.

It was odd, for sure, and the style of gameplay wasn’t for everyone as some critics sounded off on the excessive use of QTEs. Nonetheless, as a game, it’s unique and worth a go.

2. Binary Domain

Sega’s Yakuza Team decided to do something different this time around with the typical third person shooter. They wanted to make a cooperative experience but with the game’s AI, allowing players to use headsets to issue commands to their squad-mates in game.

A Consequences system that made you think and consider your actions to win over your team-mates also broke away from the typical run, gun and cover mechanics of most other TPS games. And it didn’t hurt that this one had its fair share of addictive action. Sadly, it only sold about 20,000 copies in its first month of release and has since sunk into oblivion.

3. Warhawk

The multiplayer only release from Incognito Entertainment and SCE Santa Monica Studio focused on aerial combat and warfare, and was actually a remake of the same game from the PlayStation days (despite having nothing in common with that game).

Warhawk came off as an addictive, action-packed title that was one of the better initial releases on the PlayStation 3. For some reason, it never received the same amount of commercial acclaim as more mainstream PS3 titles. Nonetheless, it holds a special place for many, 6 years on.

4. Blue Dragon

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s first project since leaving Square Enix introduced an intriguing concept of shadow beasts. However, it flailed hopelessly with its rote gameplay, boring characters and less than stellar visuals. It didn’t help that the project took so long to release, or that it saw decent sales only in Japan.

While the game wasn’t a total failure, it lacked the spark of the Final Fantasy series (well, before XIII came around) and certainly wasn’t worthy of even half their recognition. At least it inspired a half decent manga with Ral Grad though.

5. Lock’s Quest

5th Cell’s Lock’s Quest brought tower defence gaming to the Nintendo DS in an under-stated but nonetheless big way. It allowed for attacking with your main character while building towers to defend, and integrated an RPG like campaign and story.

The overall gameplay was almost deceptively complex and featured some of the most challenging levels possible. Sadly enough, it won its fair share of Best Game No One Ever Played awards when it released in 2008 for the DS, and hasn’t popped up in public memory since.

6. Dark Void Zero

Even though the reboot for the game on consoles was a bust, Dark Void Zero, the follow-up to the game which released on PC, DSiWare and iPhone, was an excellent return to the series NES roots.

It’s amazing that the game started off as a joke but then quickly materialized into one of the better action platforming experiences ever made. What’s not funny is that hardly anyone has bothered to play it.

7. Infinite Undiscovery

For all the bitching we do about Square Enix and the rut they’re in with Final Fantasy XIII, we fail to give credit for games where they truly attempt something new and different. What if you played an RPG where things weren’t scripted? Where everything happened in real-time? Where you could just be sitting around and bam, plot device? That was the logic behind tri-Ace’s Infinite Undiscovery.

It took advantage of its real time settings to allow gamers variety in how they approach different missions, and you could even manage large missions with entire teams of party members. Sadly, the game only barely broke through a half million units sold on launch. The exclusivity to Xbox 360 didn’t help matters either.

8. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

This is the game that featured both R.A. Salvatore of the Forgotten Realms fame as writer and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane for artwork. This was supposed to be the next big action RPG. However, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning only ended up being a tremendous disaster, with Big Huge Games and 38 Studios shutting shop.

38 Studios is currently involved in a legal tussle with the state of Rhode Island over the same issue, following which the Kingdoms of Amalur IP was sold off. And to think that it released to a strong critical reaction.

9. Lost Odyssey

Another attempt by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Mistwalker at an exclusive JRPG on the Xbox 360, only this time with more mature characters and story-telling and far better visuals. Despite the significant leap over Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey just never caught on.

Delays and other issues such as limited marketing – which isn’t quite what a title from the creator of Final Fantasy should have – ensured that the game only sold a few hundred thousand copies since its launch.

10. Folklore

Yet another failed action RPG from Japan from Game Republic, Folklore could easily be one of the few games on the PS3 to make decent use of the SixAxis controller to reel in “folk” for one’s use.

The game’s eschewing of epic story-telling in favour of a fantasy-mystery and use of famous folklore characters – not to mention the vivid art style – helped set it apart from the pack. The poor sales of the game caused developer Game Republic to shut down, with plans for a sequel left to be forgotten.

What are your thoughts? Any particular game you played last generation that didn’t receive enough love? Let us know in the comments below.

A melee button

A small niggle for sure but, in a game as fast paced as Warhawk can be, you seldom have time to equip your knife in the heat of a close range firefight. It’s not exactly the end of the world, but having to equip separate melee weapons in Warhawk often feels counter intuitive. Starhawk can easily rectify this problem if it adds a separate melee button. It won’t make waves as far as changes go, but it might help things flow a bit better.

A less arduous tutorial

Warhawk has never been the most accessible online shooter. Even if you know the basic gameplay mechanics, you’ll still find yourself getting torn apart for your first few hours in the online arena. The tutorials were always available to help ease you in, but they were a real slog at the best of times. They did the job, but a more engaging tutorial process may help newer players get more involved in Starhawk. With its own single player campaign this time around, Starhawk should have know trouble getting new players up to speed but, all the same, let’s hope the tutorial is more concise this time.

Smoother weapon selection

make it simple guys!

The weapon variety in Warhawk has always been one of the game’s big selling points, but it can be a real pain managing all your weapons. The fact that you have to use the directional buttons to change your gun often prevents you from changing arms mid-fight, and the fact that the weapon list isn’t always on screen means you can easily equip the wrong weapon in the heat of the moment. Starhawk need to find a way to keep players moving whilst changing weapons. Some kind of weapon wheel, or other such device, might help keep the game’s pace regular and snappy.

Developers Lightbox claim they have been working on this title ‘for a while’ now Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida told Joystiq, so expectations are mounting.

“The team has been working on something new for a while,” he said, “and I wouldn’t be surprised if are able to soon talk about it. But not at this time.”

As for what this game could be, an interesting clue is that Sony bought the patent to the title ‘Starhawk’. Will this be another iteration of Warhawk in space? Only time will tell.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt as we reveal more.