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Electronic Arts has been pulling away from "official" E3 events in recent years and this year was no different. They decided to kickoff E3 even a day earlier by having their EA Play event on Saturday June 10th in Hollywood, California which is a good 7 miles away from where E3 is being held in the Los Angeles Convention Center.

I wasn't looking forward to anything in particular from EA. They have driven most of the franchises I loved into the ground so I was honestly just hoping to be surprised by something interesting.

Madden 18

EA's bringing a story mode to Madden, like they've done for FIFA, called "Longshot". You look to play as a quarterback trying to make the NFL and battle through all the melodrama that you would expect from a Hollywood film. I am not a big fan of Madden so I really can't say anything other than this doesn't make me want to play Madden any more than I did previously.

Battlefield 1 DLC

While I did enjoy Battlefield 1 I have fallen off it pretty hard. This DLC does look very nice but I have so many other games that are taking up my time I don't see myself going back.

FIFA 18

The last FIFA I bought and played was FIFA 16. I am a big fan of football (aka soccer) but I got pretty burned out after FIFA 16 because it felt like more of the same. FIFA 17 added a story mode called "The Journey" which did catch my attention but when reviews were fairly lukewarm I decided to pass on it. FIFA 18 looks to be doubling down on this story mode and so I'll probably just end up waiting for lukewarm reviews and passing on it again. But who knows? I would love to be proven wrong this time around and play me some more footy.

Need for Speed: Payback

EA, I just want Burnout Paradise again. You don't need to make these ludicrously complex story modes to try to give these drivers meaning. I just want to cruise around a city knocking off various challenges. It is amazing how EA still does not get this and keeps trying to drive Need for Speed into the ground. But I guess with the success of The Fast and the Furious franchise EA thinks they gotta capitalize on it. Just look at this trailer and tell me this wasn't influenced by The Fast and the Furious.

A Way Out

A co-op only game from the creator of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. I never had a chance to play Brothers but I heard nothing but positive things and the trailer and gameplay for this look interesting. You play a pair of prisoners who are trying to escape from the jail they are being held. It looks like an excellent mix of story and gameplay.

Anthem

A teaser trailer for Bioware's new IP that showcased absolutely nothing of substance. Looks like we just have to wait for the Microsoft conference to actually see what Anthem is.

NBA Live 18

I've never played an NBA game by EA and nothing shown here got me excited.

Star Wars Battlefront 2

The first Battlefront was far too shallow for me. Coming from games like Battlefield, Counter-Strike, Heroes of the Storm and hell even the original Battlefront I was expecting something deep and strategic. A game that I wanted to play over and over again because it was fun not just because of the Star Wars veneer. Unfortunately, Star War Battlefront 1 was not that. After an hour of playing it I was already bored with the modes and lack of variety and strategy.

EA said and showed all the right things during the hype videos for Star Wars Battlefront 2 so I can only hope that the gameplay does become more enjoyable and varied but I will definitely be waiting for the reviews for this game. The thing I am most excited for however is the story mode which is something that was skipped the first time around. The concept of playing an Imperial solider in a single-player game mode is genius and the cutscenes they showed gives me hope for the writing.

Conclusion

Since EA showed only two things that I was remotely interested in (A Way Out and Star Wars Battlefront 2) I'd have to say EA had a bad showing. But I can understand if some other gamers think that this was absolutely amazing which to me is a quintessential representation of how EA is perceived nowadays. They are a very polarizing publishers that casts such a wide net that they can easily piss you off or make you love them. EA has been pissing me off for many a years now so I am not holding my breath that things are going to change any time soon.