E3 2016: EA Play Recap: Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, Mass Effect, and More!
E3 kicks off with Electronic Arts' press conference.
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We're at E3 this week, covering the year's biggest gaming event. Be sure to check out all our coverage on our E3 2016 hub!
Today, E3 begins in earnest! Electronic Arts is the first company to show off games in its all-new EA Play showcase. While Kat is attending the press event directly, Mike will be covering and recapping the show.
Here's everything EA covered during its hour-long EA Play press conference, including all the trailers you're looking for.
Titanfall 2
First, up Respawn Entertainment boss and founder Vince Zampella took to the stage to show off Titanfall 2, coming to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. The game will feature six new Titans, expanded pilot gameplay (ziplines and grappling hooks!), and extensive player customization.
More importantly, Titanfall 2 will feature an offline single-players campaign, shoring up one of the larger complaints of the first game. The story seems to involve a semi-sentient Titan that's bonded to a new pilot. It looks to explore the bond between Titan and pilot in a way that wasn't readily apparent in the original single-player title.
Madden NFL 17
Peter Moore, who was hosting the EA Play show in London jumped onstage to cover Madden NFL 17. Like Kat's preview explained, this year's Madden NFL will feature a brand-new commentary system.
Moore also outlined EA Sports larger focus on eSports this time around. Madden NFL will now be the focus of multiple competitive events in three categories: Challenger, Premier, and EA Major. Challenge events involve players hosting their own tournaments, while Premier events are hosted by EA partners, sometimes with help from EA itself.
EA Major is the big stage, full EA hosted events on a global stage, like the Madden NFL Championship. EA then showed off a short video with two Madden Championship players, Eric "Problem" Wright and Zack "Serious Moe" Lane, before bringing up the eight finalists for this year's tournament.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
For a brief look at Mass Effect: Andromeda, Bioware general manager Aaron Flynn came up to introduce a trailer for the title. Players will travel millions of miles across the cosmos to a new galaxy where "you are the alien". As Bioware previously confirmed, the Mako is back for planetary exploration and beyond that combat... looks like a Mass Effect game. Korgan and Asari companions were shown, but there are going to be all-new species to interact with. The trailer ends with a lone woman waking up for the first time, possibly pointing to the default player character being female. (You can still choose your character, of course.)
EA Play to Give
EA announced its new charitable giving campaign: Play to Give. The idea is to bring together game playing and charitable giving, with special challenges and more for FIFA, Madden NFL, Battlefield 4, Battlefield: Hardline, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, and Star Wars: Battlefront. The charities EA will be donating to will be: Code.org, Code2040, HeforShe, SpecialEffect, and The National Center for Women & Information Technology. EA will be donating up to $1 million during EA Play itself.
FIFA 17
Premier League player Alex Hunter came onstage to explain the new FIFA 17 cinematic campaign mode, the Journey. Players can take a digital version of Hunter through what amounts to a digital sports film, dealing with his trials and tribulations on and off the field.
In FIFA 17 itself, Premier League managers are in the game are in the game for the first time ever. EA Sports outlined new changes to how the game itself players, including rewritten set pieces, a brand-new intelligence system for players, and brand-new ways to finish their goals.
EA Originals: Fe
Patrick Soderlund joined the conference to talk about the all-new EA Originals program. Building on the success of last year's release of Unraveled, EA is doubling-down on working with independent developers. According to Soderlund, the focus of the program is "bringing unique experiences to the world". EA will be supporting small developers throughout the entire development process, including providing funding for dev security. Even better, Soderlund said that all profit from the games would be returning to the developers.
The first EA Originals game will be Fe, from indie dev Zoink in Gothenberg, Sweden. The game is supposed to be a personal narrative about the balance of nature. You awaken as a young cub, with no idea who you are and how you got there. Each creature in the forest has its own language and song. By learning songs, you connect to the forest and each song will help you reach new parts of the forest. Your enemy is The Silent Ones corrupt the forest, literally silencing the songs of every creature. Avoid them via stealth and prevent them from taking the forest's song. The developer says the game won't tell you where to go or what to do; it's all up to the player.
EA Star Wars
Motive boss Jade Raymond stepped up to outline EA's continuing line of Star Wars titles. Players can already play Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Star Wars: Battlefront, but Raymond also reiterated the other Star Wars games on the horizon. The cadence looks to be annual for the major Star Wars titles. Next year will feature a new installment of Star Wars: Battlefront from DICE and Motive. 2018 will see the release of the title coming from EA Visceral, led by former Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig. Finally, Respawn Entertainment is working on its own "third-person action adventure" title, lead by God of War III's Stig Asmussen.
Battlefield 1
Battlefield 1 received a few more details. The biggest change is the all-new dynamic weather system, where the weather will force players to adapt and change their tactics. There's a larger variety of weapons and vehicles this time around, with brand-new Behemoth-class vehicles. These vehicles include battleships, zeppelins, and armored trains, which players can choose to drastically change the tide of battle. Battlefield 1 is coming October 21, 2016 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, but there will be an open beta this summer for EA Insiders.
We're at E3 this week, covering the year's biggest gaming event. Be sure to check out all our coverage on our E3 2016 hub!