This year’s E3 kicked off with a press conference from EA. Now if you’re anything like me, EA is a word that brings about ambivalence in your thoughts and emotions when considering them from a gaming perspective. This is a company that brought us great titles such as Mirror’s Edge, Mass Effect, and Crysis. Juxtapose to this is the tedious annual releases of FIFA, Madden NFL, and more recently – the highly questionable Star Wars Battlefront. There are moments where you sit and become glued to your screen as EA announces some great new IPs, such as Unravel, and then there are moments where they yammer on about a mobile game that is forgettable.
So did they change anything up this year? Not really. It was your fair mix of excitement and yawns.
To start off, their pre-press show was nothing less than cringe-worthy. With terribly scripted banter and vapid emotions driving the whole five-minute segment, all in the name of getting viewers hyped for the main show. Which is ironic because it did the complete opposite and made me more worried that EA’s showcase. Honestly, I really did not have to talk about the pre-press show but I did so because it felt cathartic, and now I feel less tainted and can continue with this recap.
First off, Vince Zampalla of Respawn Entertainment was brought onto the stage to talk about and reveal the enigmatic Titanfall 2. The first thing they decide to show, which still baffles me, is the multiplayer mode. I won’t lie – it looked very impressive. It seems much more fast-paced and energetic than the first installment. And as always, the mechs look menacing and oddly graceful. The transition between on-foot battle to mech battle seems fluid. Zampalla added that six new titans will be added to the game as well. He also stated that gamers can sign up on their official website to partake the multiplayer test that will be conducted before the game’s release on October 28th, 2016.
Even more impressive was the single-player gameplay trailer. Zampalla commented that the narrative will focus more on the relationship between the pilot and the mech. The single-player seems just as action-packed and with more variety in enemies (one scene hinting at that you may have to fight the various ravenous creatures of the planets you traverse). Oh, and also MECH-SWORD FIGHTS! Sadly, not much extra was said about the single-player story and we’ll have to wait as more news comes through the grapevine.
Next up, Madden NFL took to the stage, and it looked ama….Okay, you know what, I can’t finish that sentence without feeling like a terrible human being. Honestly, when the Madden was being showcased I think I went for a bathroom break. Either that or I saw it but my brain has done me the favor of erasing an unwanted memory. If you’re like most of the viewers here in the Middle East, you’re probably going to skip over this portion of the article. But if you aren’t, check out the trailer below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEmQEFCBp2c
Following this was Aaryn Flynn of Bioware, who took to the stage to talk a bit more about a game that fans have been eagerly waiting for since its reveal from last year’s E3. Mass Effect Andromeda. From what was said and shown, it seems as though the game will throw players into the unknown as they explore the Andromeda galaxy. A large part of the game seems to be set around the theme of exploration. Thus, the sneak peek of vehicular gameplay shown in the video; it seems that a lot of your time will be spend exploring all these planets. The biggest takeaway was that the game will be powered by the Frostbite Engine. So, if you thought the galaxy looked beautiful in the Mass Effect trilogy, then this game will most likely sear your retinas through your skull (I mean that in a good way).
Now something for the hardcore fanboys of EA, and by that, I’m referring to consumers of FIFA. It wasn’t surprising that they would start off with a video that commemorated years and years of annual FIFA titles. It was a sort of self-indulgent pat on the back. Thankfully the patting came to a stop and they followed it up with (surprise, surprise) the trailer of FIFA 17. Though the slightly shocking part was that it wasn’t your usual FIFA trailer – a montage of close-ups of various teams playing in-game with some really upbeat music on repeat in the background. Rather it was a trailer about a story mode. The trailer looked interesting and it was even mentioned that players will have to make choices not only on the pitch but even off the pitch (cue ominous music).
It should also be noted that the game will be powered by the Frostbite Engine, thus, you can see the sweat on each footballer’s face with better detail and lighting. Oh, goody. There was also a bit in which they brought Jose Mourinho onto the stage, sadly the scripted humor came off as awkwardly uncomfortable. This was then followed up by a trailer showcasing the overall gameplay for the title. It was the usual “improved mechanics, better rendering and graphics” spiel that we’ve all grown accustomed to.
Following the theme from last year where they announce a small-time developer’s IP amongst all the bigger IPs, viewers were introduced to the new title of ti. The game is brought to us by a Zoink Studios situated in Gothenburg. If you loved Unravel, then Fe will smother you with cuteness! It’s gameplay and setting seemed similar to Ori and the Blind Forest, which is not a bad thing! If you want to know more, check out the trailer below. The introduction of Fe was also used as an introduction to EA Originals. Essentially, Originals is a project that aims to help bring the ideas and plans of small-time developers to fruition. The most notable bit was the mention that all profits will go directly to the small-time developers themselves rather than EA. Only time will tell if this project actually pans out.
Jade Raymond, of Motive Studios, took to the stage to entice fans with some much needed Star Wars news. She stated that gamers will see a Battlefront sequel next year; it will be a collaboration project between DICE and Motive Studios. She followed this up by announcing that both Respawn Studio and Visceral Studio are working on separate action-adventure Star Wars titles set to be released in the coming years. Sadly, that’s all there was to say. Basically, the Star Wars segment of the show could be boiled down to sophistries and rounded statements of what fans should be waiting for, but we know how that tends to turn out (I’m looking at you Battlefront). The only thing we have to really work of is some early in-game footage they showcase for a couple of seconds in this otherwise pointless video.
Now, for the pièce de résistance, Battlefield 1! They started off with a gameplay trailer which pulled no punches when it came to showing off its graphical prowess. Patrick Bach ,of DICE studios, took to the stage to explain some of the mechanics in greater detail. He stated that the multiplayer matches can host up to 64 players, which should make for some memorable all-out warfare. The biggest aspect of maps in Battlefield 1 is that they all are dynamics. A key example given was how a single map will have different weather conditions which in turns changes the way you experience and play about on that map. It will push players to adapt and change their play style on the go. However, the most important news was that YOU CAN OPERATE AIRSHIPS! You know that this is probably not going to be used for “strategic gameplay” but rather we’re going to see a ton of gamers use a single airship just so that they can ram it into that one player that keeps sniping them.
So, that was the EA recap. A good mix of games worth hearing about and games that just happen to exist. Be sure to stay tuned as we cover the showcases of Microsoft, Sony, and Ubisoft.
