Leading the charge for this year’s E3, EA showed exactly what not to do at a games conference.
Before I get more into it, here is a list off all of the games covered in the conference:
- Titanfall 2
- Madden 2017
- Mass Effect Andromeda
- FIFA 2017
- Fe
- Star Wars rigmarole
- Battlefield 1
Titanfall 2
Unfortunately, Respawn Entertainment was plagued with a leak. This spoiled the announcement of a story driven single player and the release date. That being said, Titanfall 2 was one of the stronger moments of the conference.
In Titanfall 2 there is a strong connection between the pilot and the titan. In the first Titanfall, the titan was a tool for the player, rather than another being.
Titanfall 2 will be released on PS4, Xbox One, PC on October 28, 2016.
Madden 2017
As per usual, EA ran through a sports section during the conference. Unlike past years, EA did not spend time running out famous American football players. Instead, a miniature documentary video was played about two of the top Madden NFL players. EA held a competition after the conference to decide who the top Madden player was.
Mass Effect Andromeda
One of the points that I was most excited for turned into a huge let-down. Slightly more information was shown than last year (which isn’t saying much), but there wasn’t as much information handed over as expected, or needed. The developer diary style explained that the player will be a human exploring the Andromeda galaxy (hence the title).
Despite the disappointing lack of information, they did say that more information will be coming in the fall.
FIFA 2017
The second sports game of the conference was FIFA 2017. Since part of the conference was being streamed from London, there was a significant number of fans in the crowd. The new announcement for the series is famous coaches are joining the fray. There seems to be a large story base for the upcoming FIFA as well.
Fe
Similar to Unravel at last year’s E3, Fe is EA’s tribute to indie games. Fe was a nice change of pace from the pattern of un-gameplay trailers being shown. Fe is completely focused on the connection with nature that the player has. This open world game is focused on exploration rather than point-to-point objective based movement. Fe will certainly be a game to keep an eye on in the coming months.
Star Wars ‘Plan’
Before I start on this, I have the obligation to tell you that I am a massive Star Wars fan. Huge. I’ve been watching and reading Star Wars since birth.
Now to unleash my anger upon EA.
What kind nonsense is this? Another developer diary style of delivering information is not what was needed.
We’ve waited for footage from the Visceral Games Star Wars title for a few years now. We weren’t given any legitimate footage, or even a title to speculate off of. The tentative release for the Visceral Games Star Wars is 2018.
Besides Visceral, a new Star Wars Battlefront was announced. The second DLC hasn’t been released yet, and the final DLC hasn’t been announced yet, but there is a new Battlefront on the way. The new Battlefront will be released in 2017. From the development footage that could be seen in the video, it looked like rather than picking up a token to teleport into a ship, there are actually vehicles around. That is part of the Battlefront that people were hoping for the first time around. In terms of the Battlefront that we already have, we saw a computer model of Bossk. It is safe to assume that he will be the villain for the Death Star expansion coming out later this year.
Battlefield 1
The most information was shown about the newest addition to the Battlefield Family. A Gameplay/cinematic trailer was shown, along with a few matches of gameplay. A 32 on 32 match played by Jamie Foxx, Zac Efron, Snoop Dogg,  Terry Crews, and many more. The gameplay displayed the destructive nature that is a signature to the series, as well as some new features, such as the tank class and the powerful zeppelin.
Round-up
Hopefully the rest of E3 has some surprises to offer. Overall, the EA conference was a disappointment.
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