E3 2016 has kicked off already two days before the show floor is open, but surprisingly with one publisher not being at the actual show to do their own thing. EA is big enough with their portfolio of games to have their own event not needing the actual E3 to show off their latest games. I was really looking forward to what Electronic Arts is going to bring to the fold, but unfortunately it was a flashback to their 2014 press conference where they had lots of games in prototype or behind-the-scenes footage instead of actual in-game stuff.
EA did start out with the showstopper that is Respawn's Titanfall 2. Vince Zampella was on the stage to debut multiplayer footage, which can be seen above. More titan types, weapons and a grappling hook for more mobility as well as sweet ways to get kills are what I noticed in this trailer. I played the original a lot and ready to dive back in for more with this highly anticipated sequel.
However, that was not all for Titanfall 2. Even though it was unfortunately leaked hours before the press conference, we also got the first trailer for it's series first single player campaign. The trailer that is available to watch below has a titan/pilot bond be shown off, but nothing concrete about the actual story yet between the IMC and Militia forces. Titanfall 2 comes out for Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC on October 28th. Definitely one of my most anticipated games this fall!
Next up is some EA Sports stuff and a lot of it about with their two biggest franchises. Madden NFL '17, out in August, has a big change in commentary as well as a major esports focus because hey, gotta take advantage of the boom as much as you can. Next year's Madden Championship Series has a a million dollars up for grabs.
BioWare then came on to talk about Mass Effect: Andromeda. Announced last year at E3 and set in a whole new galaxy, they only had behind-the-scenes footage and quick glimpses of what is expected to be talked about more this fall. The Mako is expected to make a return appearance, but this was my most disappointing out of EA'as press conference today. For a game that is slated to come on Q1 2017, I expected more in-game gameplay to get fans excited than these teases, but maybe the promise of this fall of a blowout of more information might work out to give the other games more attention. But for now, Mass Effect Andromeda still seems way off from release and like many are guessing, I have a feeling it is going to get delayed again.
Since EA Play 2016 was also taking place at London besides Los Angeles, there was a lot of FIFA '17 to talk about and it deserves that time because it is their #1 sports franchise personally. The biggest additions to this year's entry are a cinematic story mode called "The Journey" starring an unknown named Alex Hunter and Premier League managers finally being in the game as characters. More story modes in sports games are nice, but if it's more like NBA 2K quality, then maybe that is not a good idea after all.
Fresh off Unravel's release earlier this year, EA is going big with their indie presence called EA Originals. Their next big indie game out this new program is called Fe. It definitely looks impressive and interesting as some moments in the trailer reminded me of thatgamecompany's Journey and Moon Games' Ori and the Blind Forest in some ways.
Next up was Star Wars as Jade Raymond from Motive Games was on stage to talk about what's next for the franchise in the coming years. She did confirm that a Battlefront sequel is in the works for a 2017 release with both DICE and Motive Games at the helm as well as content from the new movies being in. The rest of the segment was another behind-the-scenes video to no surprise since most of these games are too far from release. In the trailer below we see teases of Respawn's action adventure game headed by former God of War III lead Stig Asmussen and Visceral's game set as an original story by Amy Hennig. Seven studios are currently working on Star Wars projects and one of them is a VR game by Criterion, who are still surprisingly still around making something.
Battlefield 1 was EA's closer and it still looks pretty good, but I'm not a fan of DICE showing off a trailer before a trailer during a press conference. The amount of celebrities there to play the first online match was also the most cringest thing I seen in a long time. The game is out on October 21st, a week before Titanfall 2 with 64 players max on multiplayer for consoles and PC.
That is it for EA's Play Press Conference. Titanfall 2 started things out strong for them, but the underwhelming amount of new footage for Mass Effect: Andromeda and a little too much time spent on FIFA '17 were my not so hot moments. The mentioning of Star Wars projects was expected with their teases and I can't wait to see more of them in the future. What impressed you the most from EA's appearance at this year's E3? Let us know in the comments below.
