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EA @ E3 2016: Recap

EA’s 2016 E3 briefing went to air this morning just after 6.00 am local time. And while there was plenty of content shown of the things we already knew were coming, the surprise factor was considerably limited.

Opening with CEO Andrew Wilson (Australia represent!) for some strange reason the briefing was cast from two theatres — one in California and the other in London. Over the course of the following hour EA switched between both locations delivering an incredibly lacklustre press conference which told us little more than what we already know about the year ahead.

Beginning with Titanfall 2, Vince Zampella of Respawn Entertainment gave us some footage from the multiplayer mode, featuring what appears to be a pretty intuitive grapple ability, some extra manoeuvrability of the Titans themselves and new pilot abilities including some kind of teleport ability (Glitch from Black Ops III anyone?). Thankfully we were also gifted a trailer for the single-player campaign. A feature that we all knew was coming, even before the trailer leaked a few hours earlier.

What we didn’t know though was that in addition to the main character, a pilot named Jack Cooper (dudebro name much?), the campaign will feature a Titan as a character in what is likely to be a John Connor/Terminator buddy story.

Titanfall 2- Titan with dead pilot

Six new titans were also confirmed along with the announcement the obligatory multiplayer beta (sign up here) “designed to help Respawn test various aspects of the game and its online infrastructure“.

Titanfall 2 will launch in the US on October 28.

EA then moved on to their sports franchises presented by Peter Moore on the London stage who introduced the first Madden 17 Championship Series. An Esports competition offering a huge 1 million dollars in prize money. In what appeared to be a desperate bid to grow their audience, this segment featured a promo video starring professional Madden players Problem and Serious Moe. Painting them as rivals EA is clearly trying to establish more interest in an Esports to draw in more fans. The whole segment appeared cheesy and desperate. In hindsight it was probably the best time to go and grab a coffee mid stream.

After the short stop at Madden station, EA called everyone back on board the hype train as BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn walked on stage to show us some content from Mass Effect: Andromeda. Well so we thought. After speaking for a few minutes about the new galaxy, new planets, new technology and new species, they ran a clip which showed us little of the game and lots of the development team which raised the question: How close to completion is it?

Mass Effect Andromeda

And did we mention it was powered by Frostbite? I’ll admit though the visuals we did see looked pretty well polished.

Then, in what was probably the biggest surprise from EA, Wilson returned to the stage to announce its Play To Give initiative. A program supporting several charities focusing on gender equality and IT/Coding skills, Play To Give will bring new challenges to certain games. As challenges are achieved these charities receive donations from EA out of a pool of 1 million dollars. While this is certainly an attempt at improving EA’s image, Play To Give is also an excellent step in the right direction not only because organisations do very important work. But with the level of sexism and bigotry that’s still rife within the bowels of the gaming community it’s sending out a strong message.

We then bounced back to London and back to EA Sports with news on FIFA 17. Focusing on their career mode, the actor playing their main character walked out on stage and delivered an incredibly awkward monologue about the which ending with “And you’re all coming with me” as he ran off stage. As I sat in my office, sipping tea in front of my computer screens, I literally cringed.

The campaign mode unsurprisingly is a rookie story telling the tale of a young aspiring footballer who makes it big, probably hits rock bottom and then makes it big again before the credits roll. They’ve entitled this campaign The Journey which reminds me of every contestant on every Australian reality TV show.

Fifa17- Hunter Goal

And did we mention it’s powered by Frostbite?

Moving on to another new initiative from EA, this time supporting smaller game studios the program labelled EA Originals intends on not only supporting small developers but delivering all of the profits back to them. Once again this is an excellent program and will likely play a big role in EA’s previously not so excellent image. Further to this its going to help give a voice to small development teams which means new and interesting IP. And everyone loves new IP!

The first EA Original game is Fe from Zoink Games, a small studio of only 20 people in Sweeden. This 3D platforming title appears to be a merging of Spyro The Dragons’s mechanics with Ori and the Blind Forest’s design.

And now Star Wars. Jade Raymond took to the stage to tell the world about the number of Star Wars games currently being developed around the world including but not limited to Battlefront DLC with three content drops before the year is out. While only briefly mentioned, Criterion are also working on a battlefront mission seemingly designed especially for PlayStation VR.

It this where VR is taking us? Specific missions that can potentially only be played with a VR headset?

There was also very nonspecific talk of the rumoured Battlefront single-player campaign. Nothing was confirmed but EA has described a “significant new addition” to Battlefront after listening to the feedback from fans.

And did we mention Battlefront is powered by Frostbite? Oh wait we already knew that.

And finally, the big finale. The one everyone has been waiting for, Battlefield 1. This is EA’s baby and likely generates more revenue for them than any other title so it would have been an excellent idea for them to show audiences some compelling features to get gamers reaching for their wallets. But, sadly the biggest announcement here was that Jamie Foxx and Zac Efron don’t give a crap about Battlefield 1.

Battlefield 1- Airship On Fire

A new trailer of the game was presented showing some footage of the campaign where an Irish bloke gets his ear drum burst and a massive airship gets blown out of the sky in quite spectacular fashion. New improvements on the old formula include more dynamic destruction and dynamic weather but with very little actually shown of each feature. While the game looks amazing, I’m not expecting much more over the previous instalments. It will of course keep the die-hard fans happy though. After the conference EA livestreamed a complete 64 player multiplayer match which does appear to be generating some positive views though so all is not lost.

And did we mention…

To sum up, this year I found EA’s briefing to be the complete opposite of what gamers want out of E3. To the average fan sitting at home this event is about getting new and exciting info and almost feeling as though you’re getting your own look into what publishers and developers have been working on. Instead “EA Play” was 90% old news, 5% fan service and 5% actual news to be excited about. While I’ll admit the footage of Titanfall 2 made me a little weak at the knees, the rest of EA’s briefing was mediocre at best.

And did we mention it was powered by Frostbite?


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About the author

Jay Ball

I'm a big fan of older consoles and can flawlessly complete the first 2 levels of Donkey Kong Country with my eyes closed. These days I still play platformers but also love shooters, arcade racers and action adventure titles. I may or may not be in denial about the death of rhythm games.