EA is a publisher with a long-running reputation for stuffing their games full of microtransactions and holding onto some of the best IPs in gaming history. Frankly, most gamers have a love/hate relationship with EA and E3 2018 will be no different. We’re going to see some awesome titles coming, and some we could care less for.
Although EA may seem like the most predictable of publishers at E3, every year they always manage to give fans a little surprise. Sometimes that surprise is in the form of an EA Original, however, we believe that E3 2018 is bound to have at least two major titles to be hyped for.
As such, E3 might be a great way to help us forget what EA did to Star Wars: Battlefront II. E3 is all about trailers, demos, and game concepts, all of which are very easy to get excited about and dream that maybe this time, EA learned their lesson and stopped trying to push microtransactions on us.
That said, let’s get to it! Here’s EA E3 2018: What to Expect and Why.
EA Games At E3 2018
EA Originals
Ever since EA announced the program at E3 2016, they’ve been announcing one indie game per E3 the company has decided to find. Thus far, we’ve seen Fe and A Way Out. Fe is a game centered around the sound and music, both of which turned out great. However, Fe lost points in environmental design and length. There was a lack of diversity in the environment that made it not worth exploring and the main campaign was too short.
A Way Out turned out a little better. This was the two-player couch co-op we’ve all been starving for. The game was centered around two criminals busting their way out of prison and getting back to their respective families. Some really enjoyed the game, praising it as exactly what we were hoping for. Others were less than impressed, calling the gameplay and story generic, to the point of being quite boring.
Hopefully, EA will choose another “original” that everyone can enjoy at E3 2018.
FIFA 19
We’re not going to get away from it folks, FIFA will always be a part of EA’s press conferences. Though FIFA 18 was a fairly well-done game, there are plenty of improvements fans will be looking for. For one, there needs to be a better balance system so that when you’re playing defense, it doesn’t feel like the offense is unstoppable.
Speaking of unstoppable players, moments of attack occur way too often in FIFA 18. These need to be harder achieve, more like special events if you achieve something rare, rather than almost every time you get the ball behind the goalie.
As to the single player, it would be nice if the player’s dialogue choices actually mattered. Even if the impact isn’t huge, it would be nice to have a poorly done interview affect future PR situations or for certain responses to affect our relationship with a particular character. The more real the story feels the better and more immersive the actual gameplay will feel.
Madden NFL 19
Madden NFL 18 was the breakout onto the Frostbite Engine, so it is hard to imagine EA improving on the graphics at all. Or gameplay, for that matter, as Madden NFL 18 was the first to have a single player campaign and story worth playing. The dialogue decisions the player could make, for example, is exactly what the series needed. It is a lot like Mass Effect, where the choice is more about tone than what you actually say, and each decision influences what other characters think of you.
As to what could be improved on, there are some minor gameplay elements that would help. For example, the target passing mechanic should be made more worthwhile and easier to learn. If EA can manage to make an even more compelling story, Madden NFL 19 would really top the charts.
The Sims 5
The Sims 5 is inevitable when The Sims 4 fell so flat on its face; the creativity in creating Sims and an open world are two of the major features Sims 4 skipped out on. Fans want to see The Sims 5 tackle a new open world to explore, and the re-addition of more races and species to play as. The latter also needs more than just quirks, fans want fully playable and interesting non-human species to play.
Despite what the developers said about not wanting to make another Sims, it is hard to see EA putting a halt to such a successful franchise. Hopefully, that doesn’t mean The Sims 5 will be even worse than The Sims 4. If you’d like more information on The Sims 5 and what we should expect from a new addition to the series, check out Sims 5 Reveal: What to Expect, When to Expect it, & Why.
Anthem
Multiplayer, thy name is Anthem. This is the next game from BioWare, our favorite RPG studio. Anthem is an online multiplayer, set to release sometime in 2019. Players will take on the role of a Freelancer, someone who leaves the safety of civilization and explore the surrounding planet.
It’s not all rainforests and butterflies though, there are plenty of hazards to encounter that will require players to focus on teamwork and upgrade their mech suits (called Javelins). Two classes of Javelins have been revealed so far, the Ranger and the Colossus. The Ranger is more versatile in combat but significantly smaller and more squishy than the Colossus. The latter being the well-rounded tank, slow but heavy for the harder hits.
Genre-wise, Anthem is described as a third-person shooter with action role-playing elements and an open world. There will be a single player mode available, but the focus is almost entirely on co-op and multiplayer.
Dragon Age 4
The BioWare Shuffle may have occurred again, with the entire Dragon Age 4 studio being gutting and reorganized by EA, but the publisher has confirmed that Dragon Age 4 is still happening. It might be a bit of a stretch to speculate that we might see Dragon Age 4 at E3 2018, but EA is very fond of teases and previews for games that still have three or more years of development ahead of them.
As to what we can expect from Dragon Age 4, it is anyone’s guess. It will be an entirely new team working on the narrative and gameplay so we might get another Andromeda, or something a little better. It is difficult to have high hopes when the original writers (like David Gaider) that came up with the world of Dragon Age are long gone and the world has not been expanded upon since (save in Gaider’s books, which Inquisition happily reflected).
Battlefield 5
After Battlefield 1 releasing with such a bang, everyone is hoping that the next Battlefield game will be just as good. Fortunately, it was recently reported that DICE is working on Battlefield 5, but it won’t be just another FPS about war. According to VentureBeat, Battlefield 5 will have a battle royale mode. However, the folks at DICE are still working on the prototype and sources say that we probably won’t catch a glimpse of the new mode when the game launches later this year.
At EA’s E3 2018 press conference we’re sure to finally get a look at Battlefield 5 gameplay, story, and likely a demo for anyone on the showroom floor. As far as we know, Battlefield 5 will be centered around WWII and will be a part of the main Battlefield series, unlike Battlefield 1. Battlefield 5 will not be a reboot of Battlefield 2, but an entirely new game for fans of the series.
Respawn’s Star Wars Game
If you recall, we caught a very brief glimpse of what Respawn was working on back at E3 2016. It wasn’t much, just the studio working on a motion capture of two lightsaber-wielding Jedi fighting. All game director Stig Asmussen stated at the time was that the studio is focusing on “gameplay first” and those “wow moments” that fit so well into the Star Wars universe.
That said, with a game like Titanfall 2 under their belt, Respawn is sure to make a great Star Wars title that we’ll be talking about for months to come. Well, that is if EA withdraws their microtransaction claws from it and not make it another disaster like Battlefront II. EA should have learned their lesson with the rather severe PR backlash they received from fans, but that doesn’t mean their greed won’t rear its ugly head again.
As such, with great caution and hope, we can look forward to the official reveal of what Respawn has in store for us. According to a recent EA earnings call, Respawn’s game should be releasing sometime in the fiscal year of 2020 (April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020), so maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see a release date at E3 this year.
Star Wars: Battlefront III
For anyone that has played Star Wars: Battlefront II, you know that the story dropped off like a rock at the end of the game, making it very clear that a DLC was intended. Unfortunately, it seems as though EA is moving on from its defeat with Battlefront II like a train heading towards denial.
During the aforementioned earnings call, EA stated that they haven’t “decided timing for the next Battlefront yet.” As such, the company is definitely working on it and will likely make the official announcement at E3, but no release date.
It is hard to say what Battlefront III will look like after the fiasco with Battlefront II; EA is a company with a reputation for not listening to fans and making almost all of their decisions on what their focus groups say. Battlefront III might be a significantly improved continuation of Battlefront II’s story, or an entirely new one that will leave Battlefront II in the dust.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 3
All the information we have on this game is a possible leak from a comic book listing on Amazon, where they mentioned the game by name and promptly took the description down. The listing remains if you would like to take a look. EA responded to the leak, stating that “no announcement regarding [Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 3] has been made at this time.”
A statement that is just this side of confirming EA is working on the title. With the rising popularity of Plants vs. Zombies, EA is sure to bring that announcement to E3 in hopes of reaching a wider audience. This may or may not work, depending on how they market the game and what the gameplay will actually entail.
Since the beginning, Plants vs. Zombies has been a top-down strategy game done in real time with relatively short matches. Garden Warfare 3 likely won’t be any different, but EA might add a tweak or two to make it more interesting to older audiences.
Mirror’s Edge 3
Mirror’s Edge 3 has not been officially announced nor has it been leaked or rumored by anyone. That said, we do know that another Mirror’s Edge game will be based entirely on the success of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.
It has been a few years and Catalyst may not have done as well as larger titles at the time, but fans very much hope that the game did well enough. Catalyst is, after all, one of the only games with a female protagonist besides Tomb Raider. She’s not sexy, she’s badass and willing to do her own ass-kicking, as it were.
In addition, the Mirror’s Edge series is in much need of a gameplay update, with even better first-person platforming and climbing. It would be nice as well, to see more challenging combat and more options therein to take down enemies.
Fans of the series are hoping to see more of the world Mirror’s Edge set up, and of course, more room to explore that world and interact with it via world-building side quests. More importantly, fans want a multiplayer mode of some kind for Mirror’s Edge 3. Not everyone agrees on what such a mode should look like, but some ideas are arena based and others on designing your own level to climb around in.
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EA E3 2018: What to Expect and Why