EA Play Round-up | E3 2019

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Kicking off proceedings as they have done for the past few years, EA brought the big guns (and lightsabers) to its EA Play showcase. Read on for our full rundown of the highlights of the show.

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by James Michael Parry

​​@james_parry

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The Force awakens

First up was the hotly anticipated Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, announced at last year’s show, and we got our first look at gameplay with an unedited demo.

​The first thing that struck us was how this gameplay wasn’t choreographed to the nth degree, the player got hit multiple times - as you might expect when you’re a lone jedi taking on fierce new purge troopers, despatched by the Emperor to wipe out the jedi post Order 66.

The gameplay itself takes your character Cal Kestis (portrayed by Gotham’s Cameron Monaghan) as he infiltrates an imperial refinery on Kashyyyk, employing a variety of force powers, some familiar; others which feel a bit different.

Anyone who’s spent time with The Force Unleashed will feel at home with the double jump and force push abilities, but we also see Cal freeze a single enemy in place and sidestep frozen blaster fire to fling his lightsaber into them.

There’s some close combat here as well, which developers Respawn claim is all fully interactive, rather than the QTE cutscene approach from TFU, though it’s not immediately clear how you’ll control it.

A few familiar faces turn up

Just look at this little guy: can anyone say plushy?

There’s Respawn touches sprinkled into what we’ve seen so far, in particular the team’s signature - wall-running. There’s also been a focus on story, which will hopefully prove more popular than DICE’s attempts with Star Wars Battlefront II, which sees Cal attempt to gather the straggling survivors of the purge, including Rogue One’s Sol Gerrera and Chewbacca, to fight back against the Empire.

We’re told we’ll see more at the Xbox conference, but you’ll be able to get your hands on the game on 15 November.

Reaching the Apex

The smash hit Apex Legends may have made a big splash when it flew onto the scene back in February, but we’ve been waiting to see how the free-to-play battle royale title would evolve. Our answer comes in the form of a new character, skins and ranked play for season 2, beginning at the end of June.

Introducing Wattson

We’re introduced to Wattson, a support character whose abilities have a whiff of Fortnite’s base-building to them - or perhaps a fairer comparison might be Gears of War 3’s Horde 2.0 - as you build up to 12 electric pylons (WATTson, geddit?) and create electric fences which let your allies through but stop enemies in their tracks.

With Wattson’s introduction, the game is making a play for the lore-building heights of Overwatch, which frequently fleshes out its world with the introduction of each new character. It seems young Wattson is a child of the arena, referred to as the “kid sister” of the other legends she grew up around while her father was building it.

Another new aspect is ranked play, something which is a mainstay for many other free-to-play titles but has so far been absent in Apex, but few details were given about what exactly that might entail.

What got fewer details still was the large eye of a beast glimpsed at the very end of the trailer, and Respawn encourage us all to keep an eye out in the next month for more details on what that might be and how it might change up the landscape

The pylons are safe for allies but will cause trouble for enemies

Battlefield V goes forth​

Despite not knocking socks off when it was first released, Battlefield V is undoubtedly an excellent game, and shows no signs of slowing down as it enters its fourth chapter: Defying the Odds.

Players will drop into a host of new maps, many of which focus on close-quarters city fighting which has apparently been a response to player feedback. Provence is a not-so-quiet coastal town in France, Lofoten Islands is a more spread out fishing village, Marita is a mountainside town in oft-forgotten Greece, dominated by control of a single stretch of road and Al Sundan is a vast, wide battlefield which promises all-out warfare by land and sky on the broadest possible scale.

New maps will be either fast or focused on close quarters

Going underground

​In October, we’re going deeper with Operation Underground - a reimagined version of the popular Operation Metro map first seen in Battlefield 3. The map combines the long sightlines of parallel tracks with close-knit corridors to create the sort of exciting gameplay the series is known for.

Fifa, Madden and more…

Volta Football is the newest mode to be added into the Fifa franchise, leaning on the nostalgia many players have for 2012’s Fifa Street, but brought up to date with the latest enhancements the series has to offer.

You’ll be able to tour the world on the streets, from a rooftop in Tokyo, a cage in London and an underpass in Amsterdam. Featuring smaller teams and the ability to bounce the ball off walls to go past opponents, Volta is a more intimate, raw experience which - according to Man United and England legend Rio Ferdinand - leaves you nowhere to hide.

Take it to the streets with Volta Football in Fifa 20

Players can create their own teams or play with household names in a variety of team matches, from 3v3 and 4v4 (with or without keepers) to 5v5. Volta Football will not be available on the Nintendo Switch version of the game.​

​There’s innovation in the main game as well, with a reworked free kick and penalty mechanic, strafe dribbling and controlled finishing to give you more clinical control of the ball at those crucial moments on goal.

(AMERICAN) FOOTBALL!

Madden (undoubtedly our most anticipated game of the entirety of E3…) recapped its upcoming innovations which include a new career mode which re-introduces playable college football and lets you take a player all the way to the NFL.

Series fans will also be happy to hear Pro Bowl is back, plus there are expanded playbooks, dynamic scenarios which tweak the gameplay for unique challenges and ultimate missions.

Suns out guns out for The Sims

Finally, The Sims 4 has more content for you to live vicariously through. The next expansion is called Island Living and sends your sims on a jet ski-powered holiday to a sandy paradise, available 21 June.

There’ll be plenty of islandware to chill in as the sun beats down on your Sims. You’ll also be able to send them into the open water for the first time for a spot of paddling, snorkeling and the aforementioned jet skis.

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Did you check out EA Play? What are you most excited about? Leave your thoughts in the comments.