E3 2017 has begun and the first cab off the rank this year is EA with its separate EA Play conference event. The event was introduced by a line of drummers before Andrew Wilson came out on stage to deliver his opening speech detailing the 8 games they have on offer today.
Madden 18
Now with a player career mode similar to Fifa 17’s “The Journey” this time we follow Madden NFL’s first-ever cinematic and playable story mode where your decisions lead forgotten prospect, Devin Wade on the pursuit to hear his name called on NFL Draft day.
Available on PS4 and Xbox One – August 25th
Battlefield 1 – In the Name of the Tsar DLC
Battlfield 1 was introduced with a montage of YouTubers playing the game. It didn’t go well for Sea of Thieves last year and it’s still not going well now. EA seem to be pushing YouTube personalities pretty hard in both Battlefield 1 and Battlefront 2. In this DLC pack there will be 8 new maps to play night time maps new vehicles/weapons and the iconic women’s battalion of death.
There was also a new, smaller mode teased that we will have more information on at Gamescom in August.
Available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One – September 2017
FIFA 18
A new gameplay trailer was released as well as a sequel to “The Journey” player career mode. This year EA are focusing on a new “real player motion technology” to bring the best FIFA experience to the next game.
Available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One – 29th September 2017
Need For Speed: Payback
Set in the underworld of Fortune Valley, We are back with a new Need For Speed game! Featuring an open-world environment, 3 main characters, Burnout style crashes and Police! The latter has been saved for another trailer. You and your crew are reunited by a search for vengeance against The House, a nefarious cartel that rules the city’s casinos, criminals, and cops.
Available on Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC – 10th November 2017
EA Originals – A Way Out
One of the more interesting things to come out of the EA Play conference this year was a new IP from Swedish developers Hazelight. Previously known for Brothers: A Tale of Two sons comes another co-op game called, this time with continuous split-screen gameplay even while the other player is in a cutscene. Breaking out of prison is only the beginning as you explore the world and get to know the two main characters.
Available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC – Early 2018
Research Division ‘Seed’
EA has created a new division designed to research possibilities for video games development on the latest hardware. SEED is a stealthy, cross-disciplinary team within EA Worldwide Studios. Their mission is to explore, build, and help define the future of interactive entertainment.
New Bioware IP ANTHEM
A tease of whats to come from BioWare was up next and colour us intrigued. This New IP called ANTHEM will be shown off more tomorrow at the Microsoft press conference but for now we have this trailer. Explore a landscape of primeval beauty, confront the dangers you find, and grow in power with every step.
NBA Live 18
Another story focused single player coming from EA in the form of “The ONE” in NBA Live 18.
Free Demo of THE ONE available for Xbox One and Playstation 4 – August 2017
Star Wars: Battlefront 2
EA have come out of the gates swinging and let us know they have addressed ALL of the feedback both good and, constructive from the first Battlefront game. Boasting three times the content an additional Multiplayer gameplay Trailer with the Assault on Theed map and free post-launch content. Vehicle/hero pickups are gone, instead you get points that you can spend on various heroes and abilities. The multiplayer gameplay session that was included in the EA conference also featured iconic characters like Rey, Darth Maul, Boba Fett and Han Solo.
Battlefront 2 will also have a single player story mode! Live the untold Star Wars story of Iden, an elite Stormtrooper, in an original single-player story. Battle on land and in space in an expanded multiplayer experience with iconic heroes and villains, thrilling space battles, and a deep progression and customization system.
Available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC – 17th November 2017
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
The final release for this years EA Play event was the only mobile game of the conference and it’s already been out for 2 years. Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is getting an update with all new raid content and abilities. A weird way to end the conference especially when there were talks of another Star Wars game taking center stage.
Available – Now
Conclusion (by Omer) + Bingo Result
With EA opening E3 2017 with their EA Play press conference first and having a lot of pressure with such moves, they have succeeded overall. Showing from the annual franchises (FIFA and Madden), to games we already knew (Need for Speed: Payback and Star Wars: Battlefront II) it sure did have some excitement. With the showing of Bioware’s next IP, Anthem, and Hazelight’s A Way Out being the most exciting things to come out we are looking forward to Microsoft’s conference tomorrow. Even though they haven’t gone into detail with Star Wars: Battlefront II single player campaign or Bioware’s next IP, there are a lot of gameplay trailers and EA has overall pleased most of the crowds and picked up from the previous year’s press conference.
In terms of our Bingo bonanza predictions we were a little off the mark (9/25). EA has seemed to have forgotten about Mass Effect: Andromeda, The Sims, Titanfall 2, Dragon Age and the new Star Wars game from Amy Hennig but we are happy that Madden/Fifa didn’t take up most of the conference. Stay tuned tomorrow when Microsoft takes center stage to show off Project Scorpio and Bioware’s new IP ANTHEM.