E3: EA Shows off Anthem, Unravel Two, More at EA Play 2018

EA Play 2018, or EA’s E3 2018 press conference, was a pretty by-the-numbers affair for the company. EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson hit talking point after talking point, and announced that a new, more expensive tier of EA Access for PCs—Origin Access Premier will offer early and day one access to all EA titles for $14.99 per month/$100 a year. He also talked about their new “Play to Give” initiative that will support various charities in the sphere of videogames. In terms of specific titles, Madden is coming to the PC for the first time in over a decade with Madden 19. Both Madden 19 and FIFA 19 received cinematic trailers, as well.

Now, onto the main videogame announcements.

Battlefield V

A longer, multiplayer-centric trailer for Battlefield V was shown, after which the developers took to the stage to reiterate the game’s re-focusing on destruction a la Bad Company 2 and the whole “no premium pass, no loot boxes” course correction. The trailer is far more grim and serious than Battlefield V’s reveal trailer. Also, a battle royale mode, “Royale Reimagined” was teased for a post-launch release window.

Unravel Two

Unravel marked EA’s foray into smaller-scale, indie-centric endeavors. Now, Unravel Two is back, it is playable in co-op and it is out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. Plus, the demo featured a big, scary … grouse.

Star Wars: Battlefront II

A DICE developer took to the stage to share what changes are coming in Star Wars: Battlefront II year two. A new squad system, a new starfighter mode, a new domination-like mode and heroes/maps from The Clone Wars will all be making their way to the game. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and General Grievous are among the new heroes that are set to come to Battlefront II. Also, Count Dooku.

Respawn’s Star Wars

In an in-crowd interview, Vince Zampella of Respawn Games confirmed that you’ll be playing as a Jedi between Episode’s III and IV. The only buzzy thing shared was the game’s title, Jedi: The Fallen Order. It’s due for release come the 2019 holidays.

Sea of Solitude

Cornelia Geppert, writer/creative director at Jo-Mei Games, showed off their new experience, Sea of Solitude, about a little girl whose loneliness, if left unchecked, manifests as a monster.

Command & Conquer: Rivals

Following some fresh announcements, EA slowed the show down to show off the newest entry in the long-running and long-dormant Command & Conquer series. Command & Conquer: Rivals is a competitive, mobile real-time strategy game.

Anthem

Anthem was the big showpiece of EA Play 2018. A new cinematic trailer was shown and then EA Play host and games industry veteran Andrea Rene hosted a Q&A with Bioware to discuss the ins and outs of Anthem. For as hyped-up of a release as it is, little is known about it besides “Destiny with mechs.” Well, it seems to be a lot more than just that. It is a shared-world shooter, yes, but the game’s hub city is single-player and single-player choice/story happens there. The mech suits are called Javelin suits, they are customizable, there are many types and nothing is earned through loot boxes, because there aren’t any. For as multiplayer-forward and “games as service” it seems, the Bioware-expected story seems to be intact. After the developer sit-down, a lengthier gameplay demo was shown, and it seems to be very much a third-person shooter with mechs.