EA is usually the show that I’m not all that interested in and I think that would probably apply to a fair few people, but then I think that’s partly down to their reputation.
I don’t know what it is about them they just have this uncool dad vibe about them sometimes, but they still think they’re the cool dad. I just feel like they try too hard and we all know that a try hard isn’t cool – if you’re making good games, let them speak for themselves!
Anyway, this year I think I will have a lot more of an interest in what they have to say. There are two reasons for this, Battlefield 1 and Mass Effect Andromeda; I’ll get to them later.
So what can expect to see from EA this year?
Well, as with every year we will have the usual sports gumpf. Fifa, Madden, NHL etc… they always show up and most people are thoroughly whelmed by them. Expect some cameos from random sports stars too! But hey, what is it they say about things not being broken? The EA Sports franchises continue to sell by the bucket load.
You know what game I’d like to see return – Burnout. I really don’t think it’s going to happen, but wouldn’t it be cool! I’d love to see what kind of destruction we could create nowadays with the crash mode – that mode was amazing.
I think it’s fair to say that EA will be dropping the first footage – trailer or gameplay, of Titanfall 2. Titanfall wasn’t a bad game, it had great ideas, but it just lacked in certain areas and I fully expect Respawn to have worked on fleshing the game out a bit more and I’m actually quite looking forward to seeing what the game will look like.
We all know that it’s not going to an XB1 exclusive anymore and I can understand that move, the game never really took off properly on the Xbox One. Rumours are circulating that the game will release in August, others are saying October, if that’s true then there is absolutely no doubt that we will get to see a good chunk of gameplay at E3.
I’m pretty sure we will be hearing some more about Star Wars Battlefront – no doubt a little bit more info about future DLC, but to be honest I have no interest in that at all. Battlefront has to be one of my biggest disappointments in recent years and I’m really annoyed that I actually bought it as it turned in to such a waste of money.
There are also some rumours of a new Star Wars game from Visceral being shown off. There are no concrete details on what it could be, so really it could be anything. I’d love to see a new Knights of the Old Republic or Republic Commando game come along. I don’t see Visceral creating a Kotor game so I guess something like Republic Commando would be a bit more likely, maybe it will be the long rumoured Han Solo game, or even Boba Fett! Time will tell.
I think it will be a very solid assumption to say that Battlefield 1 is going to be taking a lot of focus for EA and it will arguably be their flagship game this year. I for one am pretty excited to see more of the WW1 shooter. Expect to see a large amount of a campaign mission and then possibly some multiplayer trailer/montage to finish off.
WW1 is a period that is very rarely looked at in video games, but I’m not sure why that is? I guess WW2 has always been seen as the more ‘glamorous’ or Hollywood out of the two and has therefore been the main focus of war games. I like that things have gone back and moved away from modern or futuristic settings and gone to a period we rarely hear much about – personally I’ve never the modern or future settings as engrossing or epic. I think part of the draw for WW1 & WW2 games is that a lot of the time they are based on real events or loosely at least. I can’t wait to see what Battlefield 1 has in store for us!
Ain’t no doubt about it, the Mass Effect trilogy is in my top 5 game series of all time and I’m super hyped for Andromeda. I’m really hoping that we get to see some gameplay for it this year and quite a chunky amount too! We know that Mass Effect Andromeda won’t be with us until 2017, but we also know that it’s been in development for some time so you’d like to think that there would be a good portion of the game ready to show off!
The possibilities for a new Mass Effect series are a pretty tantalising thought!
To be honest, bar Battlefield 1 and Mass Effect Andromeda I actually think EA’s show sounds pretty underwhelming, so I’m expecting to hear about a few new IP’s, but trying to guess what they are is… well, not easy.
What are you hoping or expecting to see from EA this year?
-Will