E3 is fast upon us again like a gaming Christmas in the summertime, bringing us game trailers and exclusives galore. EA was first out of the gate with their conference and grabbing an unexpectedly early slot on the Saturday for their show, EA Play. Stewart, Kieran and Cameron had a sit down after the event to pore back over the reveals and give us their thoughts on the sports, Star Wars, new games and the value of EA ‘Influencers’.
Madden 18 Longshot
EA Play opened as you would expect with sports! A line of drummers live on stage led us straight into a cinematic trailer for the 28th instalment of the Madden franchise. Lots of emphasis was put on the new single player game showing the climb from high school star to the NFL. It also stars an impressively realistic looking mo-cap of Oscar award winning actor, Mahershala Ali.
The game will be released on August 25, 2017.
Battlefield 1: In the Name of the Tsar
A new extensive DLC for Battlefield 1 was announced featuring six new maps, new weapons and vehicles and a new game mode called Supply Drop where you fight it out over a supply cache. A new Scout class is also available in the form of an iconic all-female squad, the fetchingly-named Women’s Battalion of Death.
The new DLC will be released this September.
Need for Speed Payback
A new entry to the franchise that leans heavily on influences from Burnout and the Fast and the Furious films. The trailer demonstrated more high speed chases with slow motion collisions that promise to cinematically blend into the gameplay. The revenge narrative built around an action packed highway heist was the main feature of the trailer with the player switching between characters and cars as the plot progressed.
The game launches November 10th on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.
A Way Out
New IP alert from the developer who brought us the heart-warming co-operative (yet still single player!) Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. A Way Out promises much including an entirely co-operative/split screen game. So you are going to need a friend, and preferably a couch, to play. The story is based on two characters Leo and Vincent working together to break out of prison and go on the run. Not much more is known yet but we will be keeping an eye on this one.
FIFA 18
More FIFA doing what FIFA does best. Now boasting Frostbite technology and real player motion technology! Cristiano Ronaldo adds his likeness and nifty skills to the game. The trailer has some great shots of him in a mo-cap bobble suit which is great for a laugh if you’re not a football fan. There’s also a singer player campaign featuring Alex Hunter’s second season in the Premier League.
FIFA 18 will be released on September 29th.
Star Wars Battlefront 2
As to be expected the multiplayer mode expands on the previous instalment bringing together characters and planets from across all of the Star Wars eras and adding new maps, character classes and ships. However the biggest selling point is the addition of a new single player campaign scripted by Spec Ops: The Line writer, Walt Williams. So, we expect it to be fairly gritty then.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is coming Autumn/Fall 2017.
NBA Live 18
Real-life basketball courts and a new career mode have been added to NBA Live, as well as the opportunity to own the streets in a freestyle mode. Your play style will drive how you can customise your character and allow you to develop a signature move. Dribbling technology has been greatly improved after the disappointment of previous entries in the franchise. The demo will be live in August and promises to carry over progress into the full game when it is released.
Full release date to be announced.