EA kicks off E3 with Play Conference

So the EA Panel just wrapped up, and as usual it was a mix of not so good and amazing flash. Overall i have to admit there were a few games that certainly interested me. Here’s my view of some of the things mentioned:

Titanfall 2

Honestly this initially didn’t appeal to me, the game looked like the original with just a new AI, and i was further turned off by the ‘deeper progression’ that was commented on. Slower progression is never a good thing IMO, and making it longer and longer is never a good idea!

However the single player does look interesting, and the SP trailer certainly has sparked my interest.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

So, we learn absolutely nothing about the game, AGAIN, or at least nothing of major value. However we did get some interesting tidbits, some of which make me very worried about the franchise.

Firstly the game is being made in Frostbite, so yeah….

What really made me worried however is the fact they revealed they’ve abandoned everything that the previous games built. I do mean everything, all the lore, races, technology it’s all been thrown into the trash can. Bioware decided to recreate everything from scratch, which as i said is rather worrying. However they did bring back the Mako, so that’s great!

We got our first look at the new Normandy, and i was very pleased to see that it’s kept it’s general shape and vibe, with just a few additions to make it new.

Ultimately though nothing major was revealed, and the panel was short, sad, and a little pathetic.

FIFA 17

This is one of the ones that has surprised me the most. I personally have never played any of the FIFA games, and have never been interested in it, until now. The Single Player side of this seems to be a mix of the usual football game you’d expect from FIFA, but with a narrative RPG like story attached to it.

Following a player from his beginnings and up. However if you’re stuck with just the single character they showed off in the game, i can see it having some backlash. As the way it stands right now you’re character is a black guy called Hunter. I can see this causing some issues down the road unless they open it up and let you pick your own race.

However this is actually the first FIFA game i’m interested in, and will probably pick up.

They did waffle on (EA are the kings of waffling) about the changes they’d made to the game to make it ‘bigger’ and ‘better’

EA Original’s

Oh dear. Next up EA went and announced their new initiative, EA Original’s, where they ‘help’ new up and coming indie developers get their game out. Helping out with funding development, marketing, and other advice. While promising all the proceeds from the sales will go back to the developer.

In my mind this is for two things. Firstly all the games developed under this will most likely be Origin exclusive, so the hope being to push more people to Origin. Also, the cynical side of me is saying this is to find new developers and IP that can be swallowed by the black hole that is EA.

FE

The first game announced under the new EA Original’s is called FE, which is an interesting looking game. The story is a personal narrative with nature, only without words, instead it’s musical. It’s open world, with no hand holding, no map telling you whereto go or anything. You’ve got to sort it on your own!!

What little gameplay we saw looked amazing and graphically interesting, though i got the impression it was going to be a tear jerker!

The more i watched the more i found myself thinking FE had significant ‘Journey’ vibes, that amazing game from the PS3/PS4.

Personal narrative with nature, no words, tea jerker. No hand holding, open world stealthy like.

Star Wars

We got a fat lot of nothing, in around 10 minutes we got told that they were making ‘stuff’ but beyond that nothing else. We did get a few brief seconds of ignore footage from one of the games, and it did look awesome, but no way to tell for which.

Battlefield 1

Airplanes, armoured trains, battleships, cavalry, destructible terrain. Okay i’m sold. Battlefield 1 looks amazing, no to ways around it. The  game looks like its going to be everything i want from a Battlefield game. Which for me is awesome, as I’ve not enjoyed this series since Bad Company 2.

However as with all of the games shown ever there was no true in game footage, but if you can bring a zeppelin down and have it look as awesome as it did in the cut scene, take my money now!!

Round Up

All told it was a typical EA panel, loads of flash and glamour, with no real information or even gameplay. One commentator even said this is the least amount of gameplay seen at any of EA’s conferences. So all told i’ll be taking it with a pinch of salt, but there are few that are on my radar now!

Hopefully the Bethesda conference in a few hours will be more revealing and more entertaining!