EA’s Gamescon conference kicked off proceedings this morning with the Need For Speed reboot taking the stage first. Car Culture Icon, which is a first for the franchise. These icons will entice you try and play their way and encourage you to emulate their greatest racing achievements,
Speed Icon - Magnus Walker collects and restores classic Porsche 911s. He is known for his high speed driving and will push you to enhance your reputation through adrenaline-fuelled driving.
Style Icon - Ken Block is notorious for his style of aggressive driving, as he showcases in his phenomenal YouTube GYMKHANA series. Earn his recognition by mastering the art of precision sliding and jumping through corners and on the streets.
Build Icon - Nakai-san is the founder of RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF (RWB), a world renowned tuning and customizing company. Focus on creating that perfect customized ride as you look to impress him.
Crew Icon - Risky Devil are an infamous drift crew. These guys are the kings of close proximity driving and control. Ride in packs, inches away from wiping each other out as you get to grips with precise control and wild drift trains.
Outlaw Icon - Morohoshi-san doesn’t care how people categorize him, he just does what he wants. He’s often seen on the night streets rolling around in his customized ride. Risk it all as you mess with and escape from the cops to grab his attention.
Live FMV will also be mixed with gameplay offering the player a new immersive experience. That bloke from the film Goal is in it. Your customized car will feature in the live action sequences via CGI I assume. A new trailer was also showcased:
Strangely no actual gameplay footage was shown and with the game releasing on the 5th of November 2015 I found that very strange.
Next up was Mirrors Edge: Catalyst, the footage on show here was as smooth as I expected it to be. You start on a rooftop, freerunning, sliding through ventilation ducts and jumping your way across skyscrapers. A helicopter roars overhead and security guards are harassing another freerunner to your left but you continue forward. Not sure if you can interact with them. You enter a building kicking through doors and sliding through ducts. Next you enter Elysiums main laboratory building. Another runner appears he/she is dressed up like Splinter Cell’s Sam Fisher.
The research labs are not being used for agricultural research but it looks like some kind of human experimentation. You enter a computer room but the other runner has beaten you to it and now it all kicks off. There's a dead body on the floor and three people enter they spot the other runner and attack and subdue him. During the battle a phone is knocked out of the unidentified runners pocket and slide towards you and you pick it up. You're spotted and an extended action sequence takes place which sees you attacking several security guards while leaping through windows and over railings. It end with a helicopter bearing down on you with all guns blazing. I love what I saw in this trailer and I am sold February 2016 can’t come soon enough.
Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare 2 makes an appearance now. Announced today Backyard Battleground, an all new dynamic hub in Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2. This interactive environment connects players to every map and mode, and brings to life all new ways to experience the Plants vs. Zombies universe through solo and social play. As soon as the game starts, players will be immersed in a wild playground with dynamic events and tons to discover and do. They can invite up to three friends into their Backyard Battleground to do almost anything they want – take on daily quests, complete missions for Crazy Dave and Dr. Zomboss, interact with some of their favorite Plants vs. Zombies characters, ignite an all-out war by crossing over enemy lines and much more. The Backyard Battleground is an immersive hub unlike anything that has been in a Plants vs. Zombies game before.
Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 is partnering with BioWare on an intergalactic pre-order*. Fans who pre-order the game will get access to a new Grass Effect Z7-Mech when they start Garden Warfare 2.
Next up is Unravel. This is a game I have been keeping an eye on since E3. Even though Martin Sahlin looked nervous as hell and at one point I even thought he was going to cry. I will let the onstage demo do all the talking here:
Now the biggie of EA’s conference and the game that received the biggest applause Star Wars: Battlefront. We have been hearing snippets about it all week but now its official. Fighter Squadron mode pits you allowing you to take part in hectic 20-player aerial dogfights, piloting X-Wings, TIE fighters, Millennium Falcon and Slave 1. I can’t really do the trailer justice and your better off just watching it below:
In Fighter Squadron you’ll jump into the iconic ships of the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. Behind the sticks of X-wings, A-wings, TIE fighters, and TIE Interceptors you’ll engage in aerial battles with up to 20 players. AI-controlled ships join the battles, giving players an intense, action-packed experience.
Your team’s objective is to destroy more fighters than the other team. If your team reaches the score limit of 200 kills or has the most kills when the time limit is over, your side wins!
But there’s more than dogfights to worry about. As transport shuttles are being utilized by both the Rebels and Imperials, your job will be to either attack the other team’s shuttle or keep yours out of harm’s way. Expect intense fights over the transport shuttles and earn bonus points if you “take care” of them as your objective directs.
When you hit the cockpit, you’ll use several offensive and defensive tactics. Your ship’s laser cannons will rough up enemy targets and missiles will do a great deal of damage.
“Use your lock-on when you’re on the tail of a foe,” Forsman advises. “Then, fire off a missile when the time is right and hope for a deadly hit. Just remember to keep an eye on the cool-down period for your arsenal during your fights.”
Each side also has a unique ship ability: Imperial ships can get from A to B in just a few, ahem, parsecs with their speed boost and the Rebels can activate a shield for when the going gets tough. Chased or outnumbered? Both sides can hit one of the evasive maneuver buttons to quickly shake off enemies.
If you want to give yourself and your team an edge, look for powerups located in key areas of the map. Often placed low and by challenging flight paths, these pickups are a bit tricky to reach but with bonuses like ship repairs or shorter missile cooldown they’re definitely worth the trip.
Then there’s that special powerup, the one that gives you a few minutes piloting the galaxy’s most coveted starfighters.“For the Rebels, the Hero starfighter is the Millennium Falcon. The Imperial team will get to pilot Slave-1, made famous by Jango and Boba Fett,” Peter Forsman explains.
Apart from the thrill of taking control over these epic ships (hot tip: try out the cockpit view to fulfill that Boba Fett battle fantasy), Hero starfighters possess better attack and defense abilities. Learn where the pickups are located and you’ll be a Fighter Squadron ace in no time.
Fighter Squadron is designed for all fans who ever wanted to dogfight in the skies with their favorite ships from the Star Wars universe. It’s challenging and the aerial battles will require some skills, but Peter Forsman ensure us that the mode will welcome all players:“The fact that there are AI-controlled enemies that need to be taken down means that players who aren’t ace pilots still can help out their team. Fighter Squadron is definitely for everyone, and you’ll feel right at home if you’re a fan of the Star Wars starfighter battles,” says Forsman. So no matter if you’re an ace or rookie pilot, we hope you’ll enjoy your time in the air when Fighter Squadron launches with Star Wars Battlefront on November 17th.
So what have we learnt from all this information. Ewoks are not playable, you will have to get a really good lock for the torpedoes before they will track a target, there are health, boost and hero pickups during the game, the pickups will be located close to the ground to make them more challenging and rewarding, the Millennium Falcon and Slave 1 are both playable at the same time to allow hero v hero battles but only one will be active for each side at a time and then another trailer dropped:
Totally blown away by what I keep seeing of Star Wars: Battlefront. I cannot wait.
Then it was the turn of FIFA 16 to close the conference. New Ways to Play in its two most popular modes: FIFA Ultimate Team™ (FUT) and Career Mode. FIFA Ultimate Team introduces FUT Draft, a brand new way for fans to test their team building skills and compete with some of the best football players in the world. And this season, Career Mode adds two features most requested by fans: Pre-season Tournaments and Player Training that ensure an even deeper and more authentic career whether fans play as a manager or a pro.
In FIFA Ultimate Team Draft, fans can compete in single player or online in a single knockout string of four games to achieve rewards – the more games won, the better the reward to utilise in your FUT Club. Once fans enter a Draft using virtual coins, FIFA Points, or a Draft Token, they will choose from one of five formations, then a captain, and then go on to fill out the rest of their 23-man squad by selecting a player from a choice of five in each position. Fans will be tested as they choose between picking the best players and creating a team with the right chemistry before they enter their games. See FUT Draft in action as two of England’s top football pundits, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville play the all new mode:
“We are delivering unprecedented depth and innovation to the franchise this season by bringing several new ways to play across Career Mode, Ultimate Team, and through the introduction of twelve Women’s National Teams,” said David Rutter, VP and GM, EA SPORTS FIFA. “We think fans are going to be equally as excited with all the new ways as they have been with the gameplay in FIFA 16. From hands-on gameplay events across the world, we’ve heard resoundingly positive feedback on the balanced and exciting experience we are building in FIFA 16.”
FIFA 16 delivers Innovation Across the Entire Pitch in gameplay highlighted by No Touch Dribbling and Clinical Finishing, two new features sure to provide Moments of Magic in the final third. To balance against attacking players, defenders now move as a unit with new positioning and 25 feature changes to their locomotion, ensuring they stay with attackers and give fans Confidence in Defending. Arguably the most important part of the pitch, the middle of the park is where matches are won and lost, and FIFA 16encourages fans to gain Control in Midfield with Passing with Purpose and Interception Intelligence, two revolutionary features that elevate the battle for possession and balance gameplay. Goalkeepers have also been improved with new save animations and authentic positioning.
Rich and authentic football narrative in FIFA 16 is driven by hours of new commentary, new commentators in German and Russian, and more than 900 new real chants sung in stadiums across the globe. BORRUSSIA-PARK in Mönchengladbach, El Monumental in Buenos Aires, and CenturyLink Field in Seattle make up three of the nine stadiums making their debut in FIFA 16, taking the total to more than 70 stadia in game . And the German Bundesliga gets an authentic presentation package in FIFA 16 synonymous with the league’s television broadcast visuals, including score graphics, team sheets, and player analysis.
FIFA Ultimate Team also adds new broadcast presentation to give fans a unique experience from game-to-game. Dynamic commentary in FUT will now have commentators reacting to the stats and history of your club. FIFA 16 also sees the arrival of Legends Chemistry, which will increase chemistry links between legends and squad players, and eight new FIFA Ultimate Team Legends, only on Xbox.
In Career Mode, Pre-season Tournaments will help managers grow transfer budgets and get their team in good form ahead of competition that counts. Managers will select from three of nine tournaments presented at the start of each season before jumping into their domestic campaign. Player Training will assist in the development of youth and squad players in between matches. Fans will select from more than 30 drills and put up to five players through their paces to improve faster. This opens up new ways to play, especially for those managers looking to develop youth players and transfer them to other clubs.
The all new FIFA Trainer helps all fans Compete at a Higher Level by utilising an optional, ground-breaking in-game training system which uses the context of the game to display controller options to the player. The trainer options will progress as the level of the trainer increases, which can be set to automatic or controlled manually.
FIFA 16 innovates across the entire pitch to deliver a balanced, authentic, and beautiful football experience. Fans who pre-order FIFA 16 can choose from Standard, Deluxe, and Super Deluxe editions. The Super Deluxe edition offers up to 40 FIFA Ultimate Team™ Jumbo Premium Gold Packs, three FIFA Ultimate Team loan players for five games each, and two brand new celebrations from the EA SPORTS Football Clubcatalogue.
So there you have it. Overall I was impressed by Mirror's Edge, Unravel and Star Wars: Battlefront. EA continue to make headway with each new conference and are heading in the right direction.