Not necessarily a review, as I can't exactly say that I'm qualified to give that weight to words. However, I wanted to write my thoughts down so that I can maybe open up a discussion about the conference overall. This includes services, not just the games.
First up, EA.
This year all of the eggs were firmly in the basket of Anthem. Bioware took alot of people by surprise with the reveal of this Destiny-like Shared World Shooter, initially due for release this year. This conference showed EA's emphasis on Anthem being the "next big thing," from the AR Javelin versus Titan at the beginning to the hosts mentioning it being at the end of the show. It kind of got annoying as we all knew what people were there for really, there was no need to continually reinforce that point.
EA didn't pull any punches, however, launching us straight into Battlefield V. It's sad that the entire conversation around this game is currently dominated by a gender controversy. EA obviously wasn't listening, putting women front(line) and center in all of the sizzle reels and marketing (for the record, fantastic. Plenty of women brought the boom back in WWII and they should be revered as much as the men that fought.) Managers Oskar Gabrielson and Lars Gustavsson gave us a small glimpse of the new mechanics coming to the game before a small multiplayer sizzle reel and a single-player trailer, which will be fully premiered on Microsoft's stage.
The segment did feel slightly rushed though. Even with the omission of the cringe-worthy 50-100 player matches with celebrity's interspersed between influencers and gamers, I feel like they could've shown some more mechanics in a real world situation or a deeper dive into the classes and some of the maps. I imagine that we will see more come Gamescom. That being said, there is alot more colour in this iteration of Battlefield, especially in comparison to the rather dull palette in Battlefield 1.
Next up was Fifa 19 but I may aswell call it the Champions League Showoff. The classic theme played before Aaron McHardy awkwardly gawked over the trophy sat there on-stage. With Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series losing the license for the Champions League, it was only a formality that Fifa would be the successor for it. EA Sports claim that this will be integrated into almost every mode in Fifa 19, from the Journey (which low key returns for a third year) to their huge money maker in Ultimate Team.
For all of this show, there wasn't too much substance. They barely touched upon any of the gameplay changes, claiming that this will come during the summer as well as Ultimate Team and pretty much everything about the game. The Fifa showing this year was rather superficial, but Fifa is one of those titles that people will buy regardless.
Before moving into their Indie section, Andrew Wilson popped onstage to announce some new tech that EA is experimenting with in the form of the "EA Game Streaming" Technical Trial. He made it clear that it is in early stages and is yet to be optimised and fully realised, but this is a telling sign where the industry is heading. After some comments were made in early June by Yves Guillemot (http://uk.ign.com/articles/2018/06/07/ubisofts-yves-guillemot-says-the-next-console-generation-will-be-the-last), cloud based computing and the era of the console seems to be shifting into a murky direction, potentially making a future that gamers will have constant access to games without the long install/update times.
This is further emphasised with the announcement of Origin Access Premier, EA's own evolution of EA Access and it seems to be taking a leaf out of Microsoft's playbook with Xbox GamePass. By paying this premium price, gamers will get access to the entirety of EA's library and their latest releases ontop of what seemed to be games outside of EA's stable.
Next up was one of two "low-lights" for me, with host Andrea Rene having a conversation with Vince Zampella about one of the Star Wars titles that Respawn Entertainment is working on. The whole seat in the crowd and the entire conversation just felt a little too staged for me. Vince did spill some beans on their next title, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Set between episodes 3 and 4, he states that tonally it will be very dark and is slated for release in "holiday '19."
Keeping with the theme of Star Wars, Dennis Brännvall took to the stage to show additions to the flagging Star Wars Battlefront II. It's always sad when someone has to stand there and hold up their hands on past misgivings, but Dennis took it in his stride and moved on fairly quickly. The additions to the game aren't exactly going to bring gamers back and it does feel like a futile effort, but I hope those that still play this game enjoy the content.
I was pleasantly surprised when Martin Sahlin of Coldwood Interactive walked onstage after a small trailer for what turned out to be Unravel Two. Admittedly I have never played the original, however I am all in for this after the maybe too long gameplay demo onstage. We got our Sega Shadow Drop 30 minutes into E3, with Patrick Söderlund announcing that Unravel Two is out now.
It does go to show that even when a game like the original Unravel is on average a good game, EA is willing to show off smaller developers and let them take some of the spotlight from some of the larger IPs.
This was reinforced when Cornelia Geppert took to the stage with Sea of Solitude, the first game from Jo-Mei Games. Being published by EA as part of their EA Originals initiative, SoS is game all about the self doubt and loneliness that can live in peoples mind and what can happen when it takes over and you turn into a monster. You play as Kay, a young lady whose hopelessness has turned her into a monster. The objective is to find out what made her this way by searching through a partially submerged city aswell as confronting those issues within yourself.
The trailer was such a joy and I will definitely be picking it up when it launches in early 2019.
It was rather jarring to go from a very solemn and isolating game trailer straight into an upbeat hype reel for NBA Live 19. But that was it, nothing more than a small trailer and the release date of September 9th, 2018. This, along with the Madden Esports trailer and Juju Smith-Schuster taking awkward jabs at Young Kiv, were all largely forgettable. Maybe they will show off the new game systems and features later on, much like Fifa. This wasn't a "low-light," this was just a very "meh" section that didn't need to be there. Again, quite superficial.
Next up is the second low-light, and boy did this miss. Michael Martinez of Redwood Studios and Starcraft WCS Shoutcaster Nathan "Nathanias" Fabrikant were stood behind a small desk and trying to set up the rules for this competitive mobile game that they didn't share the name of. Bringing on an ex-Starcraft Professional and a popular streamer to face off, this showcase was really the low point of the whole conference. The game isn't exactly what I would say is "mainstream" in terms of competitive viewership (look at the declining viewer base for Stacraft 2 and you'll see why this is quite baffling, yet innocuous.) This game reminds me of a sideways Clash Royale with slightly more advanced mechanics. Then it clicked in my head, this is Command & Conquer. What used to be a premier strategy game has now been made into a mobile RTS which, whilst it was proven to work, really hits a bum note with those that still hold that series in high regard. The commentary seemed forced and awkward and I think the game showed pretty much all of what it has to offer in that one match. I will be downloading to see if there is more to it and what forms of progression there is, but I can't see Command & Conquer: Rivals being on my phone for longer than a few hours.
It really sucks that C&C:R took almost ten minutes of run time because my hype levels for Anthem were severely dampened.
The big blowout was here. Anthem is next on the docket and, unfortunately, I think the mixed presentation order hurt it. Bioware open up first with a trailer cut to a really awesome remix of Uprising by Muse before moving into a Q&A with members of the development team. While they were answering questions, concept art and short videos were playing on the main screen whenever key words were mentioned. Finally, they showed us a vertical slice of gameplay.
I'm sold. It seems to me that Bioware are being very mindful when it comes to the message of this game, potentially learning from the very public mistakes that Bungie made with Destiny. The gunplay is reminiscent of Mass Effect, there are four different Javelin units (assuredly taking inspiration from the classes in Destiny) that mix up the gameplay and is best played as part of a group. Plus, flying about in an Iron Man-esque suit while still being able to fight with the monsters in the world looks SO cool.
That's not without its drawbacks. Aesthetically, it does look very similar to Destiny. The overgrown technology jungle environment is slowly becoming over used, with Horizon: Zero Dawn being a standard in environment design (in my opinion,) so I hope to see more of that desert bazaar we were shown in the initial reveal twelve months ago. I'm going to write more on Anthem soon enough, and what it can do to differentiate itself from the game that surely spawned this new IP. In terms of the presentation, I would've literally flipped the order. Have the gameplay trailer with no explanation, go into a small Q&A about aspects of the game before ending with that Muse trailer. I feel like the message got mixed and it kinda dampened the hype for it.
When you think about it, EA is one of two companies that still do this old style conference. They do need to modernise the presentation but the catch 22 situation is that EA needs to be safe about alot of things. They had an awful lot of (deserved) bad press the past 12 months and are probably playing nice with Microsoft and Sony in an attempt to garner some good faith with players. At the same, EA had to keep some things to show off. Unfortunately I feel like some of these announcements could have been handled better. Scrap the small tidbits of Madden and NBA Live unless you are going to talk about new modes or features. If there is a new title that you have gameplay for, tighten it up. Make it concise and leave players wanting more. The awkward, nervous developer play is good but one after the other is probably abit too much. If there's going to be a big reveal of your most anticipated game, make sure gameplay footage is there first. Front and centre.
Despite all of this negativity, I actually think EA had a good showing. Infact, I think this is the best showing they've had in years. Taking into account the bad press and their reputation in the gaming space, there are alot of cool ideas coming out of EA. Initiatives like EA Game Streaming and Origin Access Premier and fantastic looking smaller titles like Sea of Solitude via EA Originals really does say to me that EA is trying their hardest to put their right foot forward. We just have to let them show us that, as opposed to denouncing them at any given opportunity.
Lastly, no Skate 4 makes me sad.
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