It’s finally E3, but for some it might have started earlier
in the week. This is always an exciting time for gamers. Seeing all the
announcement, trailers, gameplay, all those juicy video game tidbits that we
want to know about for the upcoming games. First up on the podium is EA.
Expectations
2017 was a rough
year for EA, with Star Wars:
Battlefront 2’s loot box controversy. From my perspective, this was the best
thing that could happen for EA and the gaming industry. Sure, EA took some hits
with sales and players’ perception, but it made the industry act. Loot boxes
are now in the back end of any developer’s minds, it even went as far as to
banning loot boxes in curtain regions.
What EA needs to do
in this conference is to just communicate to the players. They need to be as
transparent as possible to give some reverence to the players. Explain how
they’re handling loot boxes and microtransaction going forward.
Anthem needs to blow players minds, they need to go into a deep dive about
this game, just because of Bioware’s recent game wasn’t up to par as they’re
past game. If they deliver on these aspects of their plans they can win players
good will back.
Full
EA Conference
Coming fresh off
EA’s conference, I would say they’ve done just enough to get me excited, and
I’m sure others are too. The first half was coming off a little slow, after the
Madden showcase it picked up with a new interesting mobile Command and Conquer Rivals and a deep dive into the most
anticipated game from EA – Anthem.
Battlefield V was first on stage doing their battlefield
things. They didn’t get me excited for this next title, even announcing a
battle royale mode I felt that Battlefield V took a backseat this year for Anthem. Speaking of unexciting
announcements, Vince Zampella CEO of Respawn was with the crowd and had a quick
update on their new Star Wars title called – Star Wars: Jeti Fallen Order also
a release window of holiday 2019, which was surprising because an announcement
like that should be on the EA stage. Announcing it in that way doesn’t give me
confident that they will complete it in that window.
EA originals always
has this genuine feel to them. Unravel was
the first and it was fine (by the way Unravel2 was revealed and is out now), but last years A Way Out was a pretty big hit. Players were interested in the fact
that this game was centered around local multiplayer with an engaging story.
This years EA original is called Sea ofSolitude (S.O.S). There isn’t much of gameplay but the setting and feel
seems very intriguing. It seems this is about a personal story about being a
lone and feeling lonely and how we may express ourselves when these feeling are
fresh in our minds.
Right after S.O.S EA
introduced two players that will demonstrate the new mobile RTS game called Command and Conquer Rivals (skip until 2 min). At
first glance you see trappings of a more realistic Clash Royale. As the match progressed you could see more of an RTS
type of play. There are cards like in Clash Royale that uses currency which can
be mined on parts of the map. As you summon units you must capture or defend a
point that will activate a rocket to do damage to your opponent. Each player
can only take two hits from the rocket, once a player takes two hits the match
is over. This seems like a bite size strategy game that can be accessible to
everyone.
Everything in the
conference was cool to see, but to be honest we all watched this conference to
learn more about Anthem. They brought
out Casey Hudson GM of EA along with an Executive Producer, and a lead writer
on the game to have a deep dive in all the things we’ll be seeing in its full
release. Casey explained how this game isn’t an MMO, it is a shared world
experience in which players change the world and how everyone in the world will
see those changes. I’m not 100% sure how this is implemented, but the idea of
this active and dynamic world is watch I’ve wanted in an online game in a very
long time.
This world is
dangerous, to survive and fight we must use these Exo Suits called Javalins.
These Javalins comes in four different types (Classes) Ranger, Colossus,
Interceptor, and Storm. These Javalins uses different abilities that work in
tandem with other Javalins creating combos and chains that decimate enemies.
Because this is EA they were asked about loot boxes and monetization in which
they responded with no they won’t have any loot boxes, but they will have
cosmetics and other purchasable in-game items that won’t be randomized. This
was big because of how Destiny 2 handled
loot boxes and cosmetic items. The gameplay trailer gave me so much vibes from Destiny, specifically the raids. The
atmosphere felt so mysterious and full of wonders, it was really the only time
I got excited about this game. They did an amazing job showing us enough to
make us understand how the game is played, but not too much in which the
mystery is gone. After that great trailer, they announced that the game is
going to be released on Feb 22, 2019 that’s less then a year from now, get
hyped!
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Before the
conference started I wanted to see them make good with the players, along with
a deep dive on Anthem. They did
explain a bit about how they messed up with Battlefront and how it was
difficult for them to actively change the systems, but they learned they’re
lesson. Now Battlefield and Anthem will not have any loot boxes whatsoever,
that to me says we fucked up and now were making it up to you.
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