Gamescom 2011 – EA press conference: BF3, ME3, SWTOR
The EA press conference started with EA's European VP Jens Uwe Intat taking the stage. Johnny and Alex were there to liveblog the event. Catch up on all that happened below.
Gameplay demos, trailers and news about Battlefield, SWTOR, Mass Effect 3, FIFA, SSX and The Secret World were shown. Dates for Reckoning and the new Funcom MMO were revealed, along with the first ever look at co-op for Battlefield 3. See each section below for details.
FIFA Street
Andrew Wilson and Gary Patterson from EA Sports took the stage to announce an all new FIFA street game in development at EA Canada, after showing a video of chaps playing football in the streets. It's coming early next year and will be built by the EA Sports football group, which went around to various areas and did on the ground research. The firm even enlisted the help of pro street footballers for the game's mocap, with over 35 environments from the UK, Barcelona, and Tokyo among others.
The game will contain twice as many moves as FIFA 12, so skill moves are making up a big part of it along with 5 vs 5 and 6 vs 6 making it the "deepest streeet ever." It will also support EA Sports Football Club and EA Sports Season Ticket holders will get early acces to FIFA Street's full release before release.
A video for the title can be watched here.
NFS:The Run races through the Rockies
Jason Delong, exec producer of NFS: The Run took the stage to discuss the game and its over 300km of road. An on stage demo of a new level set in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado was demoed to the audience by Drew, the NFS community manager. It showed lots of in-level events such as landslides, and rocks literally smashing off the front of the car as it passes through some of the landslide.
You, as the driver, need to fight to stay alive as well as win the race against over 200 other drivers. Games' out on November 18.
Bioware's Ray Muzyka makes announcements
Four titles from Bioware today will be shown, said Muzyka, starting with a new one from Mythic called Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes. It's a free pvp for PC.
“The BioWare Mythic team is exploring new gaming platforms with our longtime partners at Games Workshop," he said. "Warhammer Online is an accessible, fast-paced, highly competitive, and I can tell you from personal experience, a hell of a lot of fun.”
Wrath of Heroes is coming this fall and you can sign up for the beta starting today here.
Muzyka moved on to SWTOR, and said since pre-orders began and the game has set a new EA record. Some retailers have already sold out of the Collector’s Edition and supplies continue to be limited.
“Our goal is to set a new standard for an MMO launch," he said. "Thousands of testers have already been in early testing and the feedback has been great.
"A key part of the end-game are operations or raids - large, epic conflicts everyone remembers from the Star Wars films. Today, we are showing you the first operation in the game: The Eternity Vault."
The playable, live 8-player demo was narrated by Gabe Amatangelo, the lead game designer for SWTOR.
Open beta weekends start for SWTOR next month, as previously announced.
“Mass Effect 3 a classic, high-octane alien adventure,” he said. “The scale of the emotion and action are at an all-time high. Mass Effect 3 is the ultimate action RPG – this is all out galactic war.”
After the SWTOR demo finished, Muzyka took the stage again to talk Mass Effect 3.
“Mass Effect 3 a classic, high-octane alien adventure," he said. "The scale of the emotion and action are at an all-time high. Mass Effect 3 is the ultimate action RPG – this is all out galactic war.”
The first gameplay video for the title, called Squad Leader, was shown with a party consisting of Shepard, Garrus and Liara. A big mech has landed out of nowhere from space.
As previously announced, ME3 will be available in North America March 6 and in Europe on March 9.
SSX and multiplayer
After Muzyka left the stage, Todd Batty, creative director for SSX is took his place to talk about SSX and to show pre-alpha gameplay.
According to Batty, the game has a huge in-game world built by NASA and Google Earth data, along with the gameplay that makes SSX what it is: races, tricks, and survival. The game will also contain social play with a focus on multiplayer and online gameplay.
“SSX is going to revolutionize social gaming," said Batty. "We’re gonna make sure it is fun and easy. Even better, there are no lobbies and no need for scheduling."
“SSX is going to revolutionize social gaming.We’re gonna make sure it is fun and easy. Even better, there are no lobbies and no need for scheduling.”
Multiplayer modes Explore and Global Events were announced, In Explore you can drop into any mountain ranges, and any time you have a personal you can get an uploaded ghost of your run put permanently on the server for friends can see even if you are not at your console.
You can even take down your friends ghosts and move up the leader board, and you win money this way. Also, if a buddy of yours tries to take down your ghost and fails you win money also whether online or not.
Global Events will have up to 100,000 players live at once and include customizable events which you can set up just for you and your friends.
"Instead of riding against ghosts of past runs, now you’re competing against other players around the world in real-time," said Batty.
Natty also announced Ridernet, the same Autolog engine in NFS: Hot Pursuit which will allow you to like your favorite drops as well as provide you with recommendations.
If you head on over to the SSS website, you can click a pre-order button to get the special Elise edition exclusively Origin.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Ken Rolston from 38 Studios with much excitement coursing through his veins. He seemed really pumped. He also announced the official release date for the game: February 7 in the US and February 10, 2012 in Europe.
“I can’t wait for you to get your hands on Reckoning and test out the combat for yourself," he said. "Until you’ve really played it, you just don't have any idea how much fun it is.”
The Secret World and it's secret war
Ragnar Tournquist from Funcom took the stage to talk about The Secret World, the firm's upcoming MMO. August 26 is when the beta registration starts, and the game is set for release in April 2012.
The team plans to reveal the game's large-scale player vs. player battlefields at its booth.
"This isn’t your typical fantasy MMO," said Tournquist. "In this world, everything is true: all the myths, legends and conspiracies are true. Players have to choose a side and join one of three secret societies engaged in a secret war against the darkness – a war fought in battlefield and in board rooms.
"In Secret World we have no levels, no classes, but an incredibly deep skill system tool that allows you to create exactly the type character you want to play.”
A new trailer for the Secret World was shown and will be posted later today.
David Rutter talks FIFA 12
EA Sports' Andrew Wilson introduced David Rutter, the game's senior producer who took the stage to talk about the Pro Player Intelligence system which sees the AI reacting more realistically than ever. This has been touched on previously by the firm.
However, Rutter did talk about Online Friendlies mode, A SPORTS Football Club, and how challenges will input storylines from the real world of football into the game.
He also chatted about FIFA Ultimate Team and how it will ship with the disc, and allowing those who have used it before to get a head start on building your team starting on September 20.
The demo is live on September 13, and launched in the US on September 27 and Europe on September 29.
Battlefield 3
Karl Magnus Troedsson, GM of DICE and Patrick Soderlund, EVP EA Games took the stage to talk about Battlefield 3 with Troedsson calling it the "best Battlefield experience ever," and the "best modern warfare experience game this year.”
“This is going to be the best Battlefield experience ever, and the best modern warfare experience game this year.”
The duo also demoed and reveled the game's co-op was revealed, which features the full range of Battlefield gameplay. Shown on PS3, the mission played was a the rescue and escort to safety of a "high-value target".
Those who are at gamesom this week will be able to play the demo shown at the booth. Visitors will also be able to try out the 64 player multiplayer on PC.
After the demo, Troedsson talked about Battlelog.
“Battlefield has always been a social experience, but Battlefield 3 takes this experience to a whole new level and Battlefield 3 extends the in game experience to be available anywhere, whether on your PC, console or mobile devices," he said. "Battleblog will keep you informed of every update from your friends, all in real time.”
A multiplayer gameplay trailer was shown of the Caspian Border, which shows the return of jets to Battlefield. A video of this is posted in full size below.
Game's out on October 27 in Europe.
