E3 2018 - EA Overview

Opening

EA Opens with a cool AR/3D video of Anthem playing in the hall. Monsters are stepping out of the screen and other very cool stuff, we’re not sure how great this looks in the hall, but it looks quite awesome from our end!

Andrea Rene is hosting proceedings. After cutting away from the Anthem intro she makes the audience aware that EA is hosting a 3-day gaming festival, where there will be lots of community stuff happening including competitions and early access to new titles.

We then go into a short cinematic about FIFA 19, and are told we will find out more about it later in the show. who’d have guessed it eh?

The conference will also feature two new indie games and an in-depth look at the upcoming Anthem, but first we are going to dive into Battlefield V.

Battlefield V

Oskar Gabrielson and Lars Gustavsson from DICE take the stage to give us some more info on the upcoming Battlefield game.

Screenshots and in-game engine footage show us the DICE engine looking as stunning as it usually does, with one of the hosts telling us that this will be one of the biggest and most immersive Battlefield  games yet. Players will be able to dive and smash through windows as well as move and place weaponry around the battlefield - completely changing how combat works. There will also be a heavy focus on player and weapon customisation across the game, although it’s not clear if this is restricted to multiplayer.

The single player will focus on moments of human heroism and players will witness the war through the eyes of those who experienced it.

Battlefield V will not have any loot boxes and there will not be a premium pass. EA are likely going to move to the Rainbow Six model of supporting the game post-release with free content. Something that fits into their focus of creating ‘Games as a Service’. It looks like EA are also jumping on the bandwagon as they announce that a battle royale mode will come to Battlefield V, but not like we’ve seen it before.

We see a short gameplay trailer of the Ground Operations mode that features a lot of your typical Battlefield gameplay beats. Battlefield V does seem to have a much bigger focus on vehicles though, especially those of the aerial variety.

Battlefield V will launch on October 19th.

Fifa 19

We’re shown a short FIFA trailer, in which the graphics looks just as impressive as they normally do, confirming that the game will run on Frostbite once again this year. Hanz Zimmer’s version of the Champions League theme tunes plays dramatically during the trailer, indicating that this year’s entry will include the UEFA Champions League.

Aaron Mchardy and Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir take the stage, stood next to the actual UEFA Champions League Cup. Both of them talk about the importance of the Champions League to football players and fans alike, which is why they are incredibly excited to announce that this year’s FIFA will include it. FIFA 19 will include an authentic UEFA Tournament Mode, players can compete in the tournament in career mode and Alex hunter will also chase it in the Journey Mode. It will also have some integration with Ultimate Team, although this will be announced at a later date.

FIFA 19 will launch on September 28th and it is playable at E3.

Before the Aaron and Sigurlina leave the stage they announce that FIFA 18 is now free for a limited time. It is available for free on PS4, XBox One and PC through EA Access.

EA Play

CEO, Andrew Wilson takes to the stage to announce EA’s new Cloud-gaming service titled
Origin Access Premiere. The service will work much like any other streaming platform, offering players a library of over a 100 games to play while on to go. The platform will also see some big titles releasing later this year including FIFA 19, Battlefield V, Anthem and Madden NFL.

Respawn Star Wars Game - Jedi Fallen Order

We cut back to Andrea Rene accosting Vince Campella in the audience who announces a new Star Wars game titled Jedi Fallen Order.

The story takes place during the dark times of the Star Wars lore when the Jedi are being hunted. Set between episode 3 & 4, the game is incredibly dark and 'very awesome' according to Vince. Jedi Fallen Order will release sometime during Holiday 2019.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 News

Dennis Brännvall from DIC takes to the stage to give us some Star Wars Battlefront 2 news. Dennis was keen to point out DICE’s controversial decision to make loot boxes such a core element of Battlefront 2, but he points out that the game has now been completely revamped and redesigned based on player feedback.

The game is currently in the midst of its Han Solo season, and there will be a number of free updates to coincide with the release of the Han Solo film. There will be a number of free updates also releasing later this year including a new party system, a dog fighting mode and also a new large scale multiplayer mode based around capturing objective points and destroying star ships.

Dennis also announces a new set of hero’s coming later this year. The new heroes will focus on the Clone Wars era and feature the following;

Heroes - General Grievous, Anakin Skywalker

Villains -Obi Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku

Unravelled 2

Martin Sahlin, the adorable super nervous developer that announced Unravel a few years ago is here again with something new. Martin and the team have been hard at work on Unravel 2.

Unravel 2 now features two yarnies, which can be controlled in single player and cooperatively. Martin is joined on stage by another member of the development team and they both play through a short segment of the new game.

Martin ends the segment talking about Unravel 2, before getting a little bit emotional and announcing that the game releases right now. EA have gone ahead and dropped the first IT’S OUT NOW of E3 Week.

Sea of Solitude

Cornelia Geppert of Jo-Mei takes to the stage to talk about Sea of Solitude, a game about loneliness and its effect on people. Creative Director, Cornelia talks about the game’s link to her own struggles, stating that SOS is very much based on real experiences.

Players will take control of Kay, a young woman suffering from loneliness. This has in turn caused her to take the appearance of a monster. Players must journey through the game finding out why this has happened, and if Kay can be turned back into a human once more.

Sea of Solitude is set to release early 2019.

Redwood Studios New Mobile Game - Command & Conquer Rivals

Michael Martinez and Nathanias take the stage to show us the latest entry in the Command & Conquer series. EA have taken the series to the free-to-play genre, simplifying the title down to a 1v1 RTS battle. Players must fight for control of a central missile that can be used to target the opposite players base. The missile is located between three hexagonal control points whoever controls two of these can fire the missile.

Players must utilise units effectively to gain control of the hexagonal points and attack the other plays base. There are a number of different units available including infantry gunners, tanks, militarised jeeps and many others. There are also clan-specific weapons available to each player.

Command & Conquer Rivals will release on iOS and Android- Android owners can sign up to the pre-alpha now.

Anthem

EA are closing the show with an in-depth look at Anthem. The segment starts with a short trailer that seems to give an inkling into what the story will involve, as well as giving us something lovely visuals of alien looking landscapes. The trailer is accompanied by a great remix of Muse’s Uprising.

There will be single player and multiplayer missions to play in Anthem and BioWare are keen on keeping a solid story throughout the game. The hosts on stage also discussed the fact that they want to continue adding stories to the game well after release, something that falls within EA’s commitment to ‘Games as a Service’.

Anthem’s story with revolve around an unknowable force called Anthem of Creation. The force is the cause of all the change and instability in the world, so expect the story focus on this. The protagonist is a freelancer who is uniquely skilled to pilot the exo suits. An opposing force labelled the dominion have discovered a way to weaponize the Anthem of Creation, so this will also play a large role in the narrative.

The suits, officially called Javelins, are at the centre of Anthem’s gameplay. There are four main classes for players to choose from including Ranger, Colossus, Interceptor and Storm. All of the suits all of their own playstyles, which will give players a lot of choice when going into certain missions. This will also allow for a certain amount of planning in 4 player co-op.

There will be no loot boxes in Anthem, but there will be cosmetic DLC that players can purchase. The developers also stressed that player will not be able to pay for power.

Anthem will release February 22nd 2019 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.