A full UGC suite in a game like I2 is a new experience on PS3, so what can you do with it? And how difficult is it to put something together? Sucker Punch Senior Game Designer Karl Deckard sat down with us to demonstrate how to remix something fun.

As a huge devotee of the first inFAMOUS, I was eager to get my hands on the DualShock 3 to try out the new single player levels. Here are my impressions to go along with the video:

“Forced Conduits”

This mission sends Cole on a search for a blast core – and more power – somewhere in the warehouse district. As I make my way towards the target on the mini-map, I try out the revamped parkour system. Those who thought Cole was a bit too sticky in the first game will find that smoothed out. Jump and towards a handhold, and he’ll do the rest. Scaling is quicker, and overall Cole just seems to move a bit faster.

Blasting open some crates, I discover a safe. Sorry Cole, but our Blast Core is in another warehouse! We don’t come up entirely empty-handed – inside is the deed (and location) of 3 potential hiding places for our treasure.

I’m now set upon by ice-imbued bad guys with frosty shields that resist my electrical attacks. I throw a handful of mini-grenades over one enemy’s head. Not only do they take him out from his unprotected flank, but they also destroy the wall from behind him – a nice surprise. In general, the city itself is not impervious to Cole’s attacks. The damage makes you feel like even more of a bad-ass.

On the hunt for the core, I run into more frozen foes: troops who skid across the ground on a path of ice (a la Iceman), and a huge Ice Crusher, who promptly starts kicking my ass.

As I enter the 3rd warehouse, enemies seal me in and fill the place with gas. I climb to above the plume, and ponder an exit. That’s right – the grenades! I blow out a wall, sending the gas streaming out through the hole. The safe I find, however, is empty. One more to go.

This one must be it – not only due to process of elimination, but because it’s crawling with enemies. Screw entering from the door – I blow a hole open in the wall and make a beeline for the safe. All is well, except for that huge ice boss!

Some well-placed grenades take off his left arm. Then his right. I now have the option of launching into a QTE. I don’t mess these up… Ah, but I didn’t plan on the snipers shooting me from the warehouse rooftop above – they pick me off before I can pry that beast apart, and by the time I recover, so has he – with a pair of new arms.

Fortunately, you’re not forced to repeat the process – with enough of an ass kicking, he goes down. The Blast Core is in my possession, along with a bonus: Bertrand’s briefcase. The day is mine!

“Demons”

The beast’s carapace deflects everything I can throw at it, and its only weak spot seems to be in the mouth – when it’s open. Running away from it, I zoom in with a tap up on the D-pad when I can and unleash a sniper shot. Shooting over the shoulder is easier said than done, but the shot packs a mean wallop when it lands.

Violence begets violence, and the creature’s response is significant. It starts spitting acid and kicking cars at me, keeping me on the run. After receiving another massive hit on the kisser from Cole, it rears up on its hind legs, its ribcage swinging open like the gates to Minas Tirith. Revealed within, some brightly lit and tender looking parts, which I’m all too willing to shock with Cole’s powers.

The stakes are raised – the beast calls for reinforcements, in the form of crawling larvae and a horde of man-sized mutants (which should look familiar if you’ve seen previous I2 demos). They only complicate the matter as I split attention between the hulking monstrosity’s weak points and fending off the smaller attackers with melee strikes from the Amp (which feels awesome, btw).

The New Marais’ townsfolk now start pitching in, taking shots at the fell beast with RPGs and whatever else they have at hand. The behemoth turns down another street, and I double back from behind. Seeing no weak point, I run through its legs, only to find that I’ve gotten too close – a tentacle grabs Cole and is pulling him in – only a well timed shot saves our hide.

It’s time to end this. Discovering one of Cole’s new powers, I levitate a cop car using R2, and then aim and hurl it into the beasts final functioning organ.

The day is won. But what *was* that thing? I’ll find out June 7, along with the rest of you.

First off, Uncharted 3 multiplayer is a complete evolution from the initial foray we made into multiplayer with Uncharted 2. The leap forward in gameplay, technology — not the least of which is 3D stereoscopic support — and depth is nothing short of astounding, no joke. Our goal has always been to take the signature Uncharted gameplay and our penchant for awesome set-piece moments to serve as the key building blocks for creating a multiplayer experience like no other. We dipped our toe in with Uncharted 2. Now, with Uncharted 3, we’re diving in headfirst.

The Uncharted 3 Multiplayer trailer, which was JUST released today, is the best crash course on everything we’ve revealed about our competitive multiplayer modes — and more. Check it out below.

At the event we provided the assembled editors hands-on time with two of our multiplayer maps – The Airstrip and The Chateau. Both are great examples of the whole spectrum of map design and dynamic environments we’re aiming to have available in Uncharted 3.

The Chateau is a more traditional style arena map, with multiple levels to take advantage of our unique Uncharted traversal options — including ziplines. The Airstrip is a two-part map where the location and map layout actually changes in the middle of the match! The first part of the match takes place on a massive cargo plane being chased by trucks, with players jumping from truck to truck and between the cargo plane and the truck convoy. You can see some of this better in the Uncharted 3 Multiplayer trailer we released today. The second part of the match begins when the cargo plane is about to take off from the runway. After takeoff, the match changes locations for all players to the airstrip hangar area for a slightly more traditional multiplayer setting and layout. Just watch out for the fighter planes that will inevitably come in for a strafing run.

We revealed two of our new competitive modes, along with the perennial favorite Team Deathmatch. One is Three Team Deathmatch, which is a small-team 2 vs. 2 vs. 2 variation on Team Deathmatch. The other is the oft-requested Free For All – with every player out for themselves. Over the months left until release – that’s about six-and-a-half months if you’re counting – we’ll detail all of our competitive modes.

As you’re looking to get into matches, we’ve made some updates to make it easier to get into games quicker, and with your friends. The first is Late Join, which is a staple of many online games and for good reason. It ensures that matches stay full, that you can get into matches faster and you can get into your friends matches faster if there’s a slot for you, instead of waiting for your friend to finish their current round. We’ve heard that many of you want to play with a friend on the same couch and we’re really proud to say that we were able to not only implement same-console split screen but you can log into two independent PSN IDs for most gametypes – the ones you can’t are to prevent unfair collusion between players.

Playing with friends and creating a team environment is extremely important for us and we’re trying to encourage this with the Buddy system. Each player will be partnered with a Buddy and you’ll be able to collectively share your successes throughout the match with each other. You can even pick up Treasures — more on that later — for your Buddy. The Buddy system also allows you to choose to spawn on your Buddy if they are safely out of combat so you can jump into the action together quicker. This is key since most of our game modes are all about team play and teams that stick together will do far better than teams who don’t.

New to Uncharted 3 multiplayer is character customization. Both heroes and villains skins will have a hundreds of customizable parts, from accessories to shirts and pants to a deep weapon customization feature. Even named characters, like Drake or Sully, will get plenty of options to make your character your own. Hand in hand with customization is our emblem editor. If you’ve worked with emblem editors in other games, you’ll be pretty familiar with the one we’ve implemented in Uncharted 3. Our emblem editor extends the level of customization of your online profile with hundreds of decals, three layers, rotate and scale functions – you’ll see your final emblem on your character and even possibly in the environment during matches.

Speaking of weapon customizations – it goes beyond the cosmetic. We have weapon mods that not only change the look of your weapon of choice, but they are functional too, adding precise scopes, bigger clips and more!

Boosters are back in Uncharted 3, but we didn’t just carry over the Booster selection from Uncharted 2. There are a few old favorites in there, but we’ve created what we feel is a more satisfying mix of old and new based on your feedback and selection patterns. We’ve extended the Booster system with a special subset of Paid Boosters, give you a one-time Booster that you spend some cash to have the option of using during a match. There’s still other ways to get minor advantages during a match. You have to option to select a specific Medal Kickback, which activate when you’ve racked up the required number of Medals for that specific Kickback. You can see this in the Multiplayer Trailer when the RPG Kickback is activated at 00:50 into the video. You’re taking a little chance when you select these, as some really choice Kickbacks require you to get a significant number of Medals before you can activate them.

Those are a TON of customization options you can pick through and we know that you don’t want to be bogged down in menus in the limited time before the match begins trying to figure out which sets of customizations you want to slot for that match. We’ve introduced four slots to save specific loadouts — your starting rifle, starting sidearm, weapon customizations and mods, Boosters, and Kickbacks.

All of these customization and modifier options allowed us to extend our in-game reward system. No longer is everything tied to level gain or cash. During matches, you’ll have the opportunity to get items from treasure chests on the maps. You’ll also be able unlock a wide variety of items and modifiers through Missions. There are two types of Missions – some are instant missions and others, accessible from the Multiplayer menu, are more long term. Instant missions can appear in the middle of a match and provide a target that you can complete within a few matches tops. The Missions you select from the Multiplayer menu will take significantly more time, days of playtime possibly, and the rewards will be accordingly more significant.

A couple of things we’ve learned over the past year and a half of reviewing thousands upon thousands of Uncharted 2 matches is that it really sucks to be blown out on the way to losing a match and that winning or losing a tightly contested match by some kill made way off-screen is a bit of a letdown. We’ve thought of some ways to make these inevitable multiplayer moments a bit more exciting and satisfying. Power Plays activate when one team is way behind in the score count. They provide the team on top with an opportunity to maximize their cash for the match, while evening the odds a little for the team on the losing end of the equation and giving them the opportunity to close the gap a little.

If matches are too close to call as they get close to the end, Overtime will activate, giving either time an opportunity to win the match by more than one point within a limited time. If the game is still too close to call, the match enters Sudden Death. Sudden Death is similar to Elimination – there are no respawns and the last player standing wins the match for their team.

We’ve also made it easier to share your passion for Uncharted 3 multiplayer with your real life friends and family through social media hooks we’ve added to the game. We’ve integrated Facebook into the game in a way unseen on a console game so far – way more than just sharing videos and photos, or updates to your Wall. USA Today has an exclusive look at our plans to bring social networks into Uncharted 3. Cinema mode has gotten a revamp allowing you to create clips from full matches and upload them directly to your own YouTube OR Facebook account (or both). We’re streaming a tightly curated list of awesome Uncharted videos created by you – our community – back into your multiplayer menu via Uncharted TV. We’ll have more details on all of the above over the next few days.

Oh yeah, and we have a brand new Sprint button. Don’t hate on it until you’ve had a chance to go hands on! We feel it works extremely well and, of course, we’ve built Uncharted 3 multiplayer to take into account that you can sprint.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about competitive multiplayer, but what about co-op? Fear not, co-op is most definitely IN Uncharted 3 multiplayer and it too has been vastly expanded upon. We didn’t cover anything co-op related at our multiplayer event last week – everything and anything co-op will be revealed further down the line.

When can you get a crack at Uncharted 3 multiplayer? In just a couple of months – the Multiplayer Beta for Uncharted 3 begins WORLDWIDE on June 28, 2011, with early access for PlayStation Plus members or by purchasing specially marked copies of Infamous 2.

Stay tuned as that date draws near for more details!

Here’s another piece of exciting news, Axel is back, and you’ll get early access to unlock this death-dealing war machine by pre-ordering Twisted Metal at any participating retailer!

We’re on a roll now with Twisted Metal news, so be sure to check back for more info as we approach launch on October 4th, 2011

Our new single-player area finds hero Joseph Capelli and Dr. Malikov in the dark woods of Pennsylvania, hunted by Chimeran snipers and dropships. In this section of the game, players must sneak through the forest, avoiding the spotlights of the dropships while dispatching the sniper hybrids. They also run into Hybrids that are shielded by drones – requiring Capelli to destroy the drones first before attacking the Hybrids. A big emphasis in Resistance 3 is opening up the gameplay spaces, allowing players to not only choose which weapon to use for each situation via the weapon wheel, but also how to approach each situation while using the environment to their advantage.

After our Community Day in Hollywood a couple of weeks ago, many of you who couldn’t make it asked “when can I see the Boat level you showed?” Today is that day. Our journalist friends had the chance to go hands-on with the entire level, as it takes Capelli and Dr. Malikov through the flooded waters of the Mississippi as they approach St. Louis. We have released the first extensive footage of the level today, which you can watch above.

We also allowed the journalists in attendance to check out a new multiplayer map from our upcoming internal closed online beta test. The sun-soaked trainyard set in Bogota, Columbia represents another variation of the palette and weather in Resistance 3, and offers a lot of verticality with train cars and buildings to move in, around, and over. Media also familiarized themselves with the Chimeran Deadeye sniper rifle. The Deadeye packs a punch with its alt-fire, a skill shot that requires you to charge up and track the target for a second before delivering a devastating blast that can penetrate multiple enemies if performed correctly.

We hope you enjoyed this fresh look at Resistance 3. We are busy polishing the game ahead of its September 6th, 2011 release date. There is much more news to come in the coming months, so keep it tuned to the Insomniac Games Facebook and Twitter pages!

We’ll answer your questions below!

Yesterday in Los Angeles, we presented a new demo of Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One to an audience of US and European journalists. While we presented some new levels and weapons/gadgets, we also wanted to show once again that All 4 One is a sprawling new Ratchet & Clank adventure, with a full story, big arsenal, and tons of co-op mayhem. Further, in All 4 One, we like to say there’s an “I” in team: work together, but reward yourself. You all have to help each other out, but at the same time, the winner will earn the best rewards and get the first chance to buy the newest weapons in the game.

We illustrated this in a new level of the game, set in the Terawatt Forest on Planet Magnus. It’s the home of a scientist named Dr. Croid — who holds the key to the mystery of the Creature Collector. The plants and animals here are mutated thanks to the presence of a strange meteor – and players will also have to look out for Dr. Croid’s giant Guardian robots that patrol the area (which you’ll see in the video above!).

As we showed previously, all the weapons have a co-op function to them. For instance, if everyone uses the new Darkstar Fission Rifle at the same time, it amplifies the effect – and we give players a bolt multiplier for co-op kills. But we also reward players for specializing. For instance, Ratchet can use the Arc Lasher to stun enemies while Clank finishes them off with the War Monger rocket launcher.

Many of you have asked if each of the characters will play differently in All 4 One. For the first time yesterday, we showed that each of our characters will have a special gadget that only they can use. These gadgets are special, powerful, and can turn the tide of a battle. For instance, Ratchet can use his Doppelbanger ability to create a decoy that draws enemy fire – but it’ll also upgrade over time into a powerful Turret. Clank, meanwhile, has a Time Bomb that highlights his Zoni heritage and also allows him to slow a fast enemy or extend the amount of time the team has to revive a fallen comrade.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is on course for a Fall 2011 release and can be played in stereoscopic 3D by one to four players, with drop-in, drop-out co-op that can be enjoyed same-screen or online (and in any combination of online/same-screen players as well!). To keep up with all the latest, stay tuned to Insomniac’s Facebook and Twitter pages!

Have you ever put on a wedding or a huge party? A bunch of us are in working this weekend, but it’s not just the normal bug fixing, polishing, and optimizing. Today we’re hanging art, arranging some furniture, and (shudder) cleaning up our offices. All of this is being done in preparation for the 60+ media members who will be flying up to Seattle on Monday for our “Media Day” event for inFAMOUS 2. So you can think of this as our once-every-two-years chance to spruce up the place, and put on a little bit of a show.

So here’s my Virtual Media Day for you guys, a blow-by-blow breakdown of what we’re showing.

In the morning we’ll be hosting all the international press members on a tour of our studios in Bellevue. We will hold out some hope for good weather so we can do some interviews and photos out on the deck. We’ll turn the visitors loose on the bustling metropolis that is Bellevue, Washington and start prepping for our afternoon show. South of the Mariners stadium, we’ll be hosting an evening event showcasing three inFAMOUS 2 highlights:

First, a battle with the monster we call The Behemoth. If you remember way way back to our E3 demos last year, we hinted at the existence of this monster…Well, here’s your chance to see him! As far as inFAMOUS 2 goes, he’s one of the most important enemies we’ve built. We showed an early version of him at our very first greenlight meetings back in December 2009. Seems like a long time ago!

Second, we’ll show a mission called Forced Conduits. If you’ve been following along closely, you know that Conduits are people who are candidates to become super powered. But in this mission, we find out that someone has figured out how to somehow force ordinary people to become conduits… An interesting development in the narrative of inFAMOUS 2!

Finally, we’ll show a handful of missions created in our User-Generated Content tools. I got the chance to play through these missions over the weekend, and the exciting thing for me was the diversity of gameplay being built by the QA staff helping us get ready for our inFAMOUS 2 Limited Beta (on Tuesday!!!). We’ll be showing nicely created combat scenarios, a very cleverly told story mission, and a lyrical reference to an arcade game gone by. A good set overall!

It’s a pretty exciting week, I hope you all get the chance to check out a little more about these new missions! Wish us luck with the media, and I’ll be back again soon with another update!

As a preview to our biggest industry conference—E3—we’re conducting a media tour this week featuring early looks at some of this year’s most-anticipated PlayStation 3 titles: inFAMOUS 2, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Resistance 3, Twisted Metal, and UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception. We’re inviting several of our media partners to get a firsthand look at new content and information from each of the titles, and we’ll be sharing what we show them on the PlayStation.Blog starting tonight and throughout the next week.

In fiscal year 2011 alone, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios brought you 50 full game releases across three PlayStation platforms. Our close-knit community of development studios and partners is one of our most valuable assets in developing innovative gameplay that pushes the industry forward.

For example, both Guerilla Games, the team behind the Killzone franchise, and Zipper Interactive, the creators of SOCOM, worked closely together to develop the new PlayStation Move sharp shooter attachment. And with PlayStation 3 being the only gaming console readily capable for high-definition stereoscopic 3D, we’re continuing to see our developers advancing 3D gameplay. This week on the tour, Insomniac Games North Carolina studio will showcase a 3D CG-animated gameplay experience with the first hands-on of Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One in 3D. Insomniac Games also recently announced 3D and PlayStation Move support for Resistance 3, and Naughty Dog has blown people away with the fire effects they’ve shown off in their first single-player 3D reveal. And there’s much more to come!

As we head into this week of activity, we just want to thank you for your support throughout the first part of this year and we look forward to giving you many more great games throughout 2011. We always love hearing from our community, so tell us in the comments what PlayStation games you’re most anticipating in the coming months!