STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT / EA, Dice
Following the impressive Bethesda and Microsoft press conferences at this year’s E3, we now take a look at what EA Games has to offer. And let’s just say they start things off right with an official announcement trailer for MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA from Bioware. Sure it was just a cutscene, but just knowing this bad boy is out there is good enough for this old chap. It has a new action-heavy focus, explores a new galaxy with new characters, and is arriving Holiday 2016. Get excited.
Up next was a lengthy look at the newest game in the NEED FOR SPEED franchise called…well NEED FOR SPEED. It’s a familiar yet fresh take on the franchise featuring elements from seemingly everything that came before in the franchise. While the blending of real-time actors with in-game car action felt a bit poop, it’s a creative take that may just need some getting use to. Other than that it appears to have an insane amount of customization and look stunning. And it’s headed our way November 3rd 2015 just in time for the holidays.
Reinforcing their STAR WARS connection, we got to see a huge expansion for the already popular OLD REPUBLIC on PC titled “KNIGHT OF THE FALLEN EMPIRE” available for FREE October 27th 2015 for subscribers. While I don’t play this game, it looks like I am missing out on some fun stuff. No gameplay was shown however adding a bit of skepticism to it all.
Then surprisingly, a touching and heartfelt new title called UNRAVEL took me by surprise. The developer presenting was shaking like Dizzy Dizzy Dinosaur as he explained his passion project to the world. It was cute. UNRAVEL is a new IP puzzle platform starring a red yarn creature as he travels through life. Hurdles such as trash, animals, and people often get in the way creating new challenges for players in this 2D landscape. It looks amazing and extremely creative.
The middle of this conference didn’t speak to me really and dragged on a bit. A way too long PLANTS VS ZOMBIES GARDEN WARFARE 2 presentation happened, a crap ton of EA Sports announcements surrounding NHK 16, PGA TOUR, FIFA 16, MADDEN 16, and NBA LIVE took over. While I am not the target audience for any of these sports games, their level of detail and customization was impressive. If I liked sports, I’d be in sports heaven with these games. Anna, EA spent some time on their mobile offering including familiar properties such as NEED FOR SPEED, FIFA, STAR WARS, and a game featuring those extremely annoying Minions from DESPICABLE ME…meh.
Then shit got real when we got a lengthy and hugely impressive look at MIRROR’S EDGE CATALYST from Dice. While not a sequel but rather a refresh, CATALYST explores the origin of the main heroine Faith in this 1st person action/exploration game. This time around the game is a huge open world where players approach challenges at their pace with no levels telling you what to do next. It’s a sprawling a and beautiful city begging to be explored and experienced. It looks sweet and is heading our way February 23rd 2016. Yes!
And finally the meat and potatoes of the event, STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT. They showed us a ton of gameplay and it was most glorious. The amount of love and detail poured into this game is astounding and it looks like an absolute blast to play. During this event, EA/Dice showcased a huge gameplay demo on the planet Hoth. Blasters blasted, ships soared, AT-AT’s and AT-ST’s did their thing, X-Wings and Tie Fighters and Snowspeeders battled it out, and it all sounded nostalgically perfect to my ears. THIS is going to be one of the coolest gaming experiences of 2015 and it’s November 17th 2015 release date can’t come soon enough. Did I mention Luke and Vader do battle in the middle of the battle!? Well, there I just did.
In case you missed it:
E3 2015: Bethesda Press Conference Impressions
E3 2015: Microsoft Press Conference Impressions
