Hey. I’m going to write about E3! EA kicked of the press conference lineup with a relatively sterile, unexciting, but acceptable show.

Battlefield games make for great openers to a conference. The destruction, explosions and haven’t lost their ability to leave me impressed, and I must admit I drooled a tiny bit when I saw a pile of snow roll down the roof of a collapsing house. But there really didn’t seem to be much substance here. There was limited multiplayer footage, no campaign footage, and I feel like I didn’t really get to see anything new. It looks like a Battlefield game. They did dedicate some time to ensure that viewers knew there was no loot boxes or a season pass, which I do appreciate. Especially in light of the Battlefront controversy, I think this is something they needed to get out in front of. Most of my more casual gaming friends were aware of the fiasco that was the BF2 lootboxes, and when public perception is in the dumps even to the most casual of fans, you know you’ve fucked up. No season pass definitely makes me wonder what the content they sell will take the form of, but I am optimistic about the future and success of BFV. Speaking of lootboxes, the Battlefront content shown wasn’t enough to make me want to play that game, and until it’s on EA Access, I likely won’t touch it. Oh, and I guess there is another Star Wars game in the works that we’ll see next year?? After checking my Facebook messenger chats after this segment, the only message I saw was “lol battlefield had battle royale.” – So I guess that’s where people are at with the franchise.

Unravel 2 is out. This was the first “AND IT’S OUT TODAY!” from recent E3s, and it’s unfortunate it was wasted on such a low-profile game. That said, I love that EA gave as much time to Unravel as they did. The first game was so close to being good, but the platforming lacked the tight controls that make platformers so satisfying. The second game, while maintaining the beautiful art style of the first, seems more mechanically complex and varied. Made for local coop (but still allowing single player), the two person grappling mechanics reminded me of a more fleshed out Lara Croft and the Guardian of Osiris. The game looked fun, and for $20 it seems like it would make an enjoyable afternoon for me and my roommate. EA moved into another EA Originals project, Sea of Solitude. As the clearly nervous lady on stage spilled her heart to the audience, warm colours filled an abstract world. The game, about loneliness, has a unique and alluring aesthetic. While it was never explained exactly what the game was, I am certainly curious to hear more. I love that EA scouts out independent studios with unique and ambitious games. It really does make EA more likeable, and the more backing that creative indies can get, the better.

Yup. Mobile C&C was the only game that got a positive response from my friends. I was impressed by this showing. While the “esports at a press conference” shtick was only barely made better by the fantastic StarCraft personalities they included, the game looked fun. Much like Clash Royale distilled the core of RTS into an accessible game, C&C Rivals appeared to do the same. I can certainly see myself playing a short-form mobile strategy game, but I need to see how it is monetized first. While Clash Royale was a fantastic game, it was marred by abusive microtransactions and matchmaking. I saw an overwhelmingly negative reaction to this game on twitter during the show, which I was surprised by. I get people have great love and nostalgia for the older C&C games, but do people really want a new PC RTS? Without dramatic changes I’m not sure a classic base building RTS really has a place in the todays market. If anything StarCraft has proven that: accessible coop, fantastic campaigns, fun multiplayer (and all FREE) but still a slowly declining player base indicate that RTS just aren’t what people want to play. I really hope this game turns out well, because a competitive game that I could play a match of here or there would be a welcome addition to my installed apps.

EA closed with Anthem. This game should be an amazing showcase game at a press conference – huge, intricate environments, Bioware writing and budget, mechs… But boy did it show poorly. Repeating concept art montages were the backdrop to nonspecific story blabbering began the presentation. There was no in-game story content displayed, leaving me to wonder how Bioware intends to deal with the story. Will Anthem have a dialogue wheel? Will it have a linear, Destiny-esque story? When they finally got around to showing gameplay, it appeared to be a Destiny-like shooter with more mobility. The HUD literally had a “Destroy 6 items” indicator on the top right. I’m sure that Anthem will be a fine game at worst, but boy, this presentation was boring and drab, and I can’t help but feel like a huge opportunity to showcase an exciting game was squandered.

Perhaps it says volumes about the quality of the press conference that the most exciting thing to me was the talk of an improved EA/Origin Access service (a fantastic subscription, especially for Xbox users). It wasn’t bad, but there was so little gameplay and information. If this continues for the other press conferences, the identity and relevance of E3 will continue to be questioned – Why did we need these conferences, and what value does they really have over smaller, independent streams?

Aidan

@aiomon