E3 2017: The EA Snoozefest


Well, here we are at the start of gaming's annual excursion into madness, E3. This year, Electronic Arts started us off, with a press conference I can only describe as dull as a doornail. Here's just a taste of how awful it was: it started with a Madden NFL 2018 drumline.

And trust me, it all went downhill from there.


They look like they had a lot of fun.

Anyway, as we all know, EA makes the trek out to LA each year with one thing in mind: making money. Wait, that isn't it (except that it is). How about, to bring "new ways" to play "massively innovative" titles, like the latest version of FIFA and Star Wars: Battlefront 2! Nothing says "massive innovation" like the sequel to a divisive online multiplayer-focused shooter set in a licensed universe and the latest iteration in a long-running sports series.

Now, before you call me a flat-out hater, let's look at the good stuff EA showed off. Well, there was a new IP called Anthem, developed by Bioware, makers of that wondrous lump of digital crap that we call Mass Effect: Andromeda. In all seriousness, it does look like they could have a cool sci-fi world for us to play through, but it's hard to tell, especially when we've only seen 15 seconds of footage.


Sadly, it does seem a little derivative at first glance. We'll find out more at Microsoft's press event, so I'm hoping this turns out to be good. Cross your fingers!

Okay, that brings us to a new game from Hazelight Studios, the team that brought us the modern classic Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Filmmaker Josef Fares took to the stage to announce a brand new co-op game called A Way Out, a game designed to be played by two players, either online or through local "couch co-op." The catch is that there's no matchmaking system, so if you play online, the person has to be someone on your friends list. Oh, and it's a co-op-only game. No single player mode here, buddy.


Honestly, I'm not crazy about the setting or character design here, but I appreciate what Hazelight is attempting to do with this game. Making a purely co-op focused title is an intriguing prospect, and it looks like the game will have an interesting, emotionally-driven narrative. This was one of the few bright spots in EA's conference for me, so I'm not gonna tear it down.

Hm... what else? Well, there's a new Need For Speed coming up. It's called Payback, and it looks like it could be fun. Then again, that trailer was full of cliched NFS moments, so y'know. But hey, the crashes looked spectacular, so there is that. Oh, and there's a storyline, too, because racing games need stories now.


Other than that, the big showcase for EA was, of course, Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Actress Janina Gavankar, who voices the lead character in the single player component of the game, took to the stage to announce that after taking the enormous amount of feedback that the 2015 edition of Battlefront received, DICE set out to craft a bigger, more compelling experience, enabling us to play as even more characters, including heroic figures like Rey and Darth Maul. This time, the multiplayer shenanigans feature character classes, something that was oddly missing in the most recent incarnation of the game. Behold!


While the addition of Darth Maul definitely makes my inner SW fanboy squee with delight, it's clear that BF2 will probably have some balancing issues that need to be tweaked before the game launches. We'll have to wait and see if it's a truly great gameplay experience, but there's a lot of cool stuff happening on screen, and a ton of fanservice going on. Can't say I've always wanted to play as a Battle Droid, though. But hey, maybe I'll really enjoy it!

Well, that about wraps it up for EA, apart from the yearly sports game updates (and yeah, they all have storylines, too. *Sigh*). Nothing shocking happened at this presser at all, so hopefully Microsoft and Bethesda have some exciting announcements to make later today. I am interested in seeing gameplay from Bioware's latest title, just to see how it looks.

I really, really hope we see something cool at MS' event, because as it stands, E3 2017 is off to a rocky start.

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