Electronic Arts kicked off E3 early, hosting its own EA Play event in LA and London. While it was short on major news, there were still some notable highlights! From grappling hooks to Mass Effect mysteries, from blimps to recreational drug use, enjoy EA's E3 outing.
Titanfall 2 is bringing a single-player campaign and sentient Titans to the series, and it all looks great. But the real moment of the presentation took place when one mech pilot ditched their Titan and used the grappling hook to grab another player and destroy them. It was, in Overwatch terms, the play of the game. It’s the sort of thing that most of us will likely never be able to pull off in the course of a standard match, but it shows what’s possible using the game’s new systems and was a pretty neat way to cap off an already impressive reveal.
Following EA's press conference, we were treated to a first look at Battlefield 1's epic multiplayer featuring a 64-player battle and it didn't disappoint. Blimps, biplanes, armored tanks — it was all there. It's best to perhaps just watch it for yourself.
FIFA and NBA 2K are the biggest sports games on the planet, and this year, EA is taking after 2K Sports by introducing a story mode into FIFA 17. Called "The Journey," it focuses on a 17-year-old Londoner named Alex Hunter as he attempts to navigate life in the English Premier League. Sports are so emotional in part because of their stories, so hopefully The Journey can deliver.
EA gave us our first look at the presumed main character of Mass Effect: Andromeda, stammering “We made it,” after waking up in a galaxy far, far away. We still have no confirmation of the name of Andromeda’s protagonist, but we do have some hints.
When EA released its first teaser trailer for Mass Effect: Andromeda last year, it confirmed that the use of Johnny Cash's "Ghost Riders in the Sky" was deliberate and significant. Previous Mass Effect games have focused on the adventures of Commander Shepard, named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space. From that, fans have inferred that our new Mass Effect protagonist may go by the name Rider or Ryder — presumably in homage to Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.
After last year's Unravel announcement and, with it, the introduction of adorable Yarney, EA is following it up with EA Originals, a new program for games that are "unique, gorgeous, innovative and memorable," said Patrick Soderlund, executive vice president of EA Studios. First in that series is Fe, from Gothenburg, Sweden-based Zoink Games.
Fe is "a personal narrative about our relationship with nature," said Lyngeled. "It's a story that reminds us that everything in this world is connected." You play as a young cub that awakens alone in the forest, with no idea of who they are or how they got there. Fe is about learning the language of the forest.
We all had high hopes when Jade Raymond kicked off the Star Wars video montage that something big would be unveiled. Unfortunately, it was more like a recruitment video for EA.
"Come work for an EA studio. Any studio. We make Star Wars games."
There was one highlight though, and it came when a developer donned a PlayStation VR headset and stepped into an X-Wing for a quick look around. It was just an instant in the larger presentation, but a collective gasp rose up in the Polygon newsroom. We can only hope that somewhere deep inside EA a team is working on a spiritual successor to one of the best space dogfighters ever made, and adding in full VR support.
It’s not rare for publishers to pay celebrities likely obscene amounts of money to look bored during press conferences, but EA beat everyone at this game by having a series of celebrities show up to the Battlefield 1 livestream in a condition that we will charitably refer to as “compromised.”
Food tasted a little better, music sounded a bit richer and things took a turn for the goofy. Snoop Dogg didn’t even bother to hide his artisanal ‘cigarette’ during the lifestream. We hear it all smelled great.
