EA Play briefing (News and what did we think)

Should I start with drums too? Anyway, EA’s new IP Anthem with a Xbox marketing, Fifa 18, an insane amount of Battlefront 2 and a lot more! What did we think about EA’s E3 briefing and all the news for Xbox players!

Anthem

We will hear more about it at the Xbox briefing but Bioware’s new IP looks insanely interesting. With a mix of Destiny, Evolve and Titanfall it has a lot of promise.

Battlefront 2

One thing is very clear, EA is definitely aware that many players had negative things to say about the first one on Xbox One. The good thing? They listened! A new untold story about Star Wars with existing and brand new characters. The main focus was the online play and visually it looks amazing, it has 3 times as much content as the first one.

Fifa 18

One of my most played games each and every year, so it was pretty obvious that I was excited about Fifa 18. Microsoft doesn’t have the marketing anymore but we are still getting Legends. So no real harm done. Anyway, Alex Hunter is back for the single player and I quite liked all the real life cinematic about our good friend Alex. We didn’t see much gameplay but running styles and stadium atmosphere are two big things that are new.

A Way Out

WOW! This co-op only game looks so damn impressive! From the new studio Hazelight comes a unique co-op game, the design talent behind Brothers is behind this so you can be sure that this will be a joy to play. A Way out is coming early 2018.

Need for Speed: Payback

This new Need for Speed game is about revenge and three playable characters. (or drivers) The gameplay looked very cinematic but I wasn’t really impressed. Let’s hope I’m wrong and that the game can still make a great lasting impression when it’s out later this year.

What Else?

  • A career mode like Fifa’s The Journey is coming for Madden, called Long Shot.
  • Battlefield 1 is getting new content with “In the name of the Tsar” with 6 new maps, new weapons, playable females and night maps.
  • NBA Live 18 will have a free demo in August, it has authentic and street basketball gameplay.

The good and the bad!

  • (GOOD) Xbox Scorpio was mentioned quite a few times for Madden and Anthem. It’s great that one of the biggest publishers has faith in the new Xbox!
  • (BAD) You want to make a good first impression and you start with lame drum show?
  • (GOOD) EA’s constructive Battlefront feedback joke. Calling it “constructive” and afterwards simply admit that some things could just be called negative. Anyway, it’s great that EA is listening to the community.
  • (BAD) The Need for Speed Payback gameplay part didn’t leave me with an exciting feeling. It had frame rate issues and cars crashing against invisible walls. Not to mention that the cinematic cutscenes didn’t have the damage on the car from previous crashes.
  • (GOOD) A Way Out. It looks so interesting and I want to play it right now! Highlight of the briefing!
  • (GOOD) & (BAD) I am happy that EA invests in charity but to brag about it in a briefing? It felt a little forced and out-of-place.
  • (GOOD) & (BAD) We saw a lot of Battlefront 2 (over 30 min) but not much about the single player. I did like Janina Gavankar presentation though, it felt like she had real passion about the game.