Feature: Perusing PS4's Presence at Canada's Biggest Gaming Convention

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend Fan Expo Canada 2014, a genre spanning convention filled with lines, crowds, and more lines. As the third largest convention in North America – behind San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con respectively – the event plays host to everything from movies and television, to comics, anime, and gaming. Here in Toronto, gaming conventions are few and far between, with the most prominent and closest being the aforementioned New York Comic Con and PAX East in the north-eastern United States. Fan Expo Canada attracts many prominent gaming companies to showcase their projects, gather fan reaction, and overall, have a great time.

Sony and PlayStation had a large presence at this year’s show, showcasing many of its upcoming titles with playable demos – even those not arriving until 2015. The most popular game at Sony’s booth was Destiny, the upcoming sci-fi shooter releasing this month. The gameplay demo was an exact replica of the beta that was playable earlier this summer, and allowed many players who perhaps didn’t own a new console to get their feet wet and experience the shooter on new hardware. Personally, I had no interest in checking it out as I played an insane amount during the beta. However, my opinion is still the same: this game is my most anticipated title of 2014, behind one title I will get to in a minute.

Next up at Sony’s booth was NHL 15, the popular sports release making its first appearance on the new consoles. This played great, and those familiar with a previous NHL title will feel right at home. The portion that left me stunned was the visuals: the game looked amazing, from the players and their movement, to the ice and the skate marks as I chased the puck. For those of you expecting great things from a next-gen hockey game, you will not be disappointed. Sadly, the lack of features, such as EA Sports Hockey League, is a real downfall for many avid NHLers, including myself.

DriveClub was next at Sony’s booth and, my goodness, Evolution Studios really outdid themselves with this game’s graphics. It looked stunning, and is a direct competitor to Forza Motorsport 5 in the visuals department. The gameplay felt solid, and as an avid kart racing fan, I was impressed that I enjoyed my time with the slightly more simulation leaning handling model. However, my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt, as these types of games are not necessarily my strong suit.

The one game I was surprised to see at Sony’s booth at all was The Order: 1866. This game is scheduled to launch in February 2015 and, personally, I was shocked to see a playable demo of the game on the showfloor. This game looked right up my alley when it was announced, and I was very excited to get my hands on it months before release. And after playing, I was glad that I did. Visually, the transition between cutscenes and gameplay was almost nonexistent. The detail and realism in all of the characters was drop-dead gorgeous and the steampunk-inspired Victorian setting was dirty, dark, and eerie – the exact feeling that the developers appeared to be going for. Gameplay wise, the cover mechanics took a little getting used to and the gunplay is quite standard for a third-person shooter. My time with the game left a Gears of War-esque taste in my mouth, which, in my experience, is not a bad thing.

The last title available at Sony’s booth was also playable at Ubisoft’s booth, where, surprisingly, the line was much shorter. This game, and my most anticipated for 2014, was Far Cry 4. Far Cry 3 was an amazing shooter with a surprisingly gripping story and great environments. The sequel takes all of this and bumps it up a notch. Visually, the game looks great, and is what you would expect a next-gen Far Cry game to look like. I got to play unique demos, which were available at both the Ubisoft and Sony booth. Both found me liberating a fortress, which involved killing all of the enemies either quietly or explosively.

While equipped with a crossbow, I was able to successfully disable the alarms without attracting any attention, and work my way around the fortress, taking out enemies as I moved. Later, armed with a grenade launcher, I used the mortars atop the fortress walls to take out most of the ground troops, and saved my carryable cannon for the onslaught of trucks and helicopters once the alarm bells rang. Far Cry 4 looks amazing, and definitely will be eating up much of my time come November.

Two more games were shown at Ubisoft’s booth: The Crew and Assassin’s Creed Unity. The latter was shown in a closed doors demo, and although I couldn’t get my hands on the game itself, based on what I saw, fans will thoroughly enjoy this new instalment. The Crew was a really fun experience, especially because of the way that the demo was set up. The demo began with a free roam session, allowing you to travel wherever you wanted. Then, it switched to a race with all of the other players demoing the game, which was awesome. The driving mechanics were a little floaty in my opinion, but for racing fans, the incorporated RPG elements will keep this game in your disc drive for months.

Some other games demoed were Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Just Dance 2015, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Evolve, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, and Dying Light. I had the chance to try all of these titles, and let's just say that, out of all of the games that I played, there was not one that I did not thoroughly enjoy for one reason or another. On a side note, the Warner Bros booth had this awesome Tumbler from Batman: Arkham Knight on display. It was quite a sight to see.

Fan Expo Canada 2014 showcased many great games, from awesome sequels to brand new intellectual properties. The games available to play were all great experiences, and I am very excited for their launch in the coming months. Here’s hoping that next year's event will showcase just as many new titles and games, and maintain the quality of the releases shown this year.

Did you attend Fan Expo Canada 2014? Which title was your highlight from the showfloor? Let us know in the comments section below.