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It’s that time of year again E3. First up, there’s the EA Play press conference. Kicking off with a drum line, it begins. Here are some of my thoughts from the latest announcements.

Madden 18: Longshot: Madden, a staple of the EA Sports franchise has released a new “longshot” story within the game, to be honest it seems like the Spike Lee story in NBA 2k16 and the following of Alex Hunter from FIFA 17.

Battlefield 1: There’s just the more of same, bit of gameplay shown with the release of eight more maps, night maps, the release of the Eastern Front, in particular In the Name of the Tsar. More will be revealed at Gamescom. Likely surrounding the hinted at competitive mode for the title.

Competition: Stay tuned for the middle of the year, EA seems to be following up on last year’s effort to push for more Madden competition and putting more effort into the competitive space in general. With Battlefield 1 joining the ranks as well as creating the largest FIFA tournament ever.

FIFA 18: EA keeps pushing for realism with motion capture from Christiano Ronaldo. The aim is to imbue more personality in the players which will be extending to their on-screen celebrations. The title will feature the return of the story mode character Alex Hunter who is in for another chapter

Need for Speed: Payback: Appears to be about taking down “the House” which is a group of cartels as heavily featured in the story with three characters with different driving styles racing around various environments. Relic cars are a new feature introduced, centred around the idea of finding classic cars and restoring them. Highway heist is a new mission mode which is basically a Fast and the Furious heist whilst driving and dodging cars from the House.

A Way Out (EA Original): Made by the same studio as Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. A Way Out is a co-op prison break game where you direct two characters with different motives. Designed for splitscreen multiplayer only it can be played both locally and online. Exploration, driving and action all in one game. Slated for early 2018.

Anthem: New EA IP, possibly Xbox exclusive.

NBA Live 18: Beta in August. Tracks a single player known as “the One” rather than a team, at least that’s where the hype is. Streets, Drew League and the NBA, your character will grow with stat gains as the game progresses.

Battlefront II: EA actively addresses that the audience that wanted a new story as well as a story mode in general. The all new story takes place between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens, and at this point it is unclear if it is canon. DICE have included many changes, including couch co-op, customisation of players and vehicles. There are more characters to play as, from all three eras (not sure if Jar Jar is playable). New maps including Naboo and Crait from Last Jedi. There are all new vehicles and space battles. A class system has been introduced, including support, heavy and specialist characters. Battlefront II includes battle points which allow players to turn into heroes or access vehicles.

Thanks to San Hoàng for helping out.

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