E3 2017 has officially kicked off with EAPLAY 2017, Electronic Arts’ interactive press conference and gaming centre. EA kept it mostly safe, announcing new — but expected — IPs, such as BioWare’s newest addition to the EA family, but also a broadened commitment to cinematic storytelling in its EA Sports titles.
We’ve narrowed EAPLAY down to three big reveals. These announcements stand out because of EA’s commitment to gaming and quality entertainment.
A Way Out promises a revolutionary co-op experience
One of the biggest new faces to the EA family is A Way Out, a cinematic co-op experience from Hazelight. But unlike other games that offer a drop-in and drop-out co-operative experience, A Way Out looks to break the mould and require players to experience the tale together.
The game follows to convicts as they break out of jail and try to reconnect with their former lives, but it does so in a 24-style split-screen format. When this was first announced, it sounded like the game was only offered in a couch co-op environment, but the trailer seems to point toward a split-screen presentation.
That’s to say that the game will showcase both players, but it’s entirely possible to play with a friend remotely. This is the biggest selling point for the game, as it promises to be very story focused.
If I had to describe it, it looks like an Alan Wake-type game or something even more cinematic. But rather than battling one’s demons alone, A Way Out places its emphasis on solving problems as a team.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 fixes the mistakes of the past
One of the big expectations people had going into E3 was in relation to Star Wars: Battlefront 2. When it was first announced, everybody involved knew that DICE’s series reboot was kind of a disappointment.
While the game looked pretty and was fairly mechanically sound, it was lacking a lot of the modes and content fans expected from the original series. EA committed to fixing this early on with Battlefront 2, and it looks like the dream has been realized.
Vehicles are playing a much larger role in the game, couch co-op has been added as a game mode, and EA promises more than three times the amount of content.
Aside from fixing what was missing from the original title, EA is committed to the longevity of Battlefront 2 and announced plans for free events to support the game through the release of new films and additions to the Star Wars universe.
Making sports games more interesting
Sports games have always been an interesting area of EA’s business strategy. Usually new and exciting features are reserved for FIFA and then added to Madden or NHL later on, but now it looks like EA is trying to bridge the gap between its titles.
The next episode FIFA’s cinematic storytelling was teased for FIFA 2018, but EA Sports is committed to adding this content in other games, with the show teasing a new story mode for Madden 2018 right out of the gate.
With NBA Live 2018, EA Sports appears to be going big with the franchise’s renewal and adding detailed career modes and also opportunities to better prepare for the NBA with various “league modes.”
While there’s a lot of reason to be skeptical of NBA Live, as the series has had many setbacks and cancellations in recent years, it looks like EA is finally committed to making all of its content stand out, rather than the one or two flagship franchises.
