EA’s press conference starts with a blast with the Army of
Two: Devil’s Cartel, powered by Frosbyte engine 2.0 and as loud as it gets with
Dubstep, explosions and crazy destruction system.
Julian Beak, Executive Producer comes in to present more of
the game, and as all visceral games, we should expect a lot of action. The game
is set in Mexico, with a lot of co-op of course, and intense gunplay modes.
The gameplay demo starts off, and will feature one of Army o
Two’s new feature: Overkill. Of course, at heart of the game is coordinating
your attack in style, flanking the enemy together, and give ammo to each other.
The two new operative are pinned downed against berserker with mini-gun, which
forces them to use Overkill to do crazy damage.
We also see the comeback of Battlefield loved slow-motion
breach action, as the two agents make their way to a helicopter. The team
splits as one player mans up the mini-gun on the helicopter to give protection
to the one on the ground. Things are pretty hectic right now, as the entire
area is filled with bullets, transformers on fire and more dead than you count.
After wreaking havoc, the helicopter gets attacked by a
Cartel air force, which drops them down. As the other player runs to save his
mate, the action goes into slow motion and they both shoot the helicopter’s
pilot to the head, ending the demo.
Peter Moore (COO of EA) enters the scene with Jens Vwe Intat
(EA Europe GM), as they greet everyone before they get stopped by Dean
Richards, GM of NHL, dressed in his whole Hockey suit and starts to talk about
his game: NHL 13.
The multi-award hockey game is coming for one more round,
and they are bringing more teams, as the European leagues are being added to
the game. With a new connected surface, up to 750 players can play in their own
season from their house as GM, coach or player.
Of course True Performance Skating will come back, to add
explosiveness, top-end speed, momentum with realistic movement and finally
additional skating moves to have more creativity in the game. This engine has
made NHL a faster, sweeter and more fluid hockey game than ever. You will be
able to try the game next week, as the demo drops on PSN and Xbox on August
21st.
Next stop with EA is off course their brand new reboot of their
driving game, Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Adding Takedown Challenges,
different classes of cars, drift challenges in an open-world environment, and
of course high-octane races, the game now being done by Criterion Games is
really good.
Matt Webster enters to introduce its game, and explains how
they are trying to add more life to this old franchise. Their first step is to
make this open-world game a full open experience, as you can unlock cars not by
going through levels, but by grabbing the set of wheels found in the streets of
Fairhaven.
With Autolog’s comeback, introduced by Need for Speed: The
Run, players will have something called cloudcompete, which is a cross platform
competition between all players, whether they are playing on Xbox 360, Playstation
3, iOS, Vita and more.
Hamish Young enters the stage to show us how you can compete
against a friend and take his car via an Autolog challenge. As you wait for the
challenge to load, a nifty update screen shows you all of your friends progress
then transition to the race as if nothing happened.
In the race, you will gain points for literally everything,
from speeding, ramming a rival, and even new ways of doing a takedown such as
drift takedown. Of course, what’s Most Wanted without the cops? The police
force will be stronger, faster and more aggressive than ever before, as they
now race Ferraris, Camaros and other supercars.
Now Patrick Soderlund comes in from the backstage, talking
about Battlefield 3’s success. We all know how big the game is growing, but
we’re not here to hear praise; we are here to hear about Medal of Honor:
Warfighter.
Also built with the groundbreaking Frostbite engine,
Warfighter is more than an entertaining blockbuster, but a full-on immersion in
the world of the best of the best elite forces of the world. Greg Goodrich
enters to talks about how Battlelog will implement your own nation, to raise
your flag high in the air, as you battle through the world’s best special
operatives.
The new trailer for the game how EA’s team learned from the
Close Quarter DLC of Battlefield 3. People love close encounter action and we
can deny it. Small areas, heavy weaponry, and a mix of Seals, SAS, Spetsnaz and
more forces’ known tactics and weaponry. Things will be brutal in October!
EA’s CEO is now talking about Origin, their game platform,
as they are expanding the store, to work on more platforms, including Smart
TVs, Android and yes, finally, on Mac. Apple users will finally be able to play
some of the biggest titles like Battlefield 3, FIFA 13 or the upcoming Crysis
3.
Jordan Edelstein enters to talk about the comeback of the
biggest simulation game of the past two decades, which is SimCity. In SimCity,
you can now create a specialized city, reflecting the decisions you make, and
the impact it does to your citizens.
All this couldn’t happen if it wasn’t for the GlassBox
Engine, as it simulates a real gameplay, with more details and more realism.
Online-wise, the game will power the SimCity world, to
connect players together. This brand new feature will make your city take part
of the world’s plan, as you work hand in hand to make the earth a safer and
cleaner environment, or destroy as you try to gather more
simeloneans
but burn
the ozone layer.
Patrick Bach, executive producer of Dice enters, to talk
more about Battlefield 3, and of course the new DLC. Premium brought so much
extra content, that more than 1.4 million players have bought the DLC. It was
also the opportunity to show off a bit more about Armored Kill.
So what about Crysis 3? Do you think EA would skip showcase their first 2013
shooter? Rasmus Hojengaard, Director of Crytek enters the stage to discuss
about their prized baby, and their nanonsuit warrior Prophet. The Urban
Rainforest of New York City is the home of a new multiplayer
Hunter is a new multiplayer mode added to Crysis. It will
feature a 7v2 game, where seven players fight against each other’s, and two
other will be operatives. The hunt is short, and because you are a fully
unlocked nanosuit agent, your powers will make you the deadliest hunter of
history.
Jesse Abney is now coming to talk about Dead Space 3. Weapon
crafting coming to the bench, as you can now create your own tool of terror,
like a combo of
The gameplay video starts, and Isaac is struggling to
survive his aircraft crashing in the middle of the space.
As he rushes to get
his suit, he gets expulsed outside of the ship, and is making his way to try to
reduce the damage on the ship. It’s too late sadly, and the ship explodes, and
Isaac will have to het pack his way through debris to reach the escape capsule
where his partner is located. The game will be out oin February 8th.
And of course Andrew Wilson had to drop in to talk about
FIFA 13. FIFA Ultimate team is now the core of the FIFA 13 Ultimate Team, and
you can tell things are working before, because billions of coins are being
spent during the FIFA 12 Season. Of course, coins unlock more, as you can go
through the current season’s best matches.
David Rutter comes in to pitch in some more about the game: It’s
all about remove predictive gameplay, and adding more drama in the game. Rewards,
and engaging challenges will immerse gamers. Head to Head season will expand
even more, and as of now, one billion gamer are playing this mode. Head to Head
season will also be available for co-op, as you tackle through the season with
your friend. It’s all about teamwork in football, after all.
Match Day will bring the minute-by-minute things that are
happening throughout the world, with even the match’s commentary changing
depending of what happens in real life. Let’s say Rooney was injured this week,
and he didn’t make it to the match, then inside the game, if your own team is
Manchester United, you won’t be able to play with him, and the commentator will
actually mention that.
So this is it for Electronic Arts’ Gamescom press
conference, make sure to visit our Gamescom hub for the latest news as they
come.
Ozimandus has been reviewing games and gadgets since 2003. He's not afraid of speaking his mind, and loves to share his love of everything geeky.