Take it Or Leave It – E3 2014 – EA

Welcome to Take It Or Leave It, where each week I pick out new comics and tell you if they’re worth the price and you should take them, or if you should just leave them on the shelf. Nope! This time, we’re looking at the big press conferences of E3 2014, ranking not only the shows themselves, but also the best, worst, and generally weirdest of the games that were shown during them.

Next up in line is Electronic Arts, who had some big shoes to fill after having announced the long awaited next installment in the Star Wars: Battlefront series last year. Did they hold up okay?

EA Press Conference Probably the weakest of the bunch here, EA’s showing overall was rather disappointing. They had very little or nothing to show for most of the games that people were there to see, and it showed. Replacing trailers or gameplay with buzzword filled interviews and vague developer diaries, it was clear that they messed up in announcing some games far too soon. Add that on to their usual parade of promoting the sports titles as if the minor tweaks made each year are worth the $60 price tag, and gamers were left relatively bored, which is something that should be avoided at all costs at one of the biggest gaming events of the year. Verdict: Leave It

Star Wars: Battlefront Opening up with one of the most anticipated games in a long time seems like a no brainer, right? Well it would be, if they had something solid to show us. What should’ve been more information about the game itself following last year’s reveal teaser, was instead video footage of the developers going to Lucas Archives, talking about making it feel as authentic as possible, and showing a couple high-res models. I severely doubt that the game will continue to look as good as the little scraps we were shown when the game is actually making some real progress. The video ends with a message saying we’ll see more next year . . . because waiting for the game hasn’t been hard enough, apparently. Verdict: Take It (it’s still better than hearing it was canceled again)

Dragon Age: Inquisition Dragon Age is back and looking absolutely gorgeous. While not a whole lot was said about the title, we did see some interesting and entertaining gameplay. However, we also got a look at some of the potential partners that players will be able to have in their party, and even though we were told their stories were fascinating, the ones they talked about just sounded so . . . cheesy and typical, especially for a game centered on fantasy. I couldn’t help thinking the mage shown stole her wardrobe from Maleficent too. You might as well just bring a neon sign with you saying “I’m going to betray someone!!” if you’re going that far. Verdict: Unsure

Mass Effect 4 Another big title and another that was revealed in the form of commentary and pretty pictures. Being developed by a different team while the original Mass Effect developers are off making something entirely new, we are promised new worlds, new characters, and a returned true sense of exploration. Well, I sure hope we’d get that much at least. You kind of need new characters when the old ones’ stories are done and over with after all. Verdict: Unsure

The Sims 4 One of the select few non-sports games that they really got into detail about, the big addition this time around is that players can now determine a Sim’s personality and emotions. Make them hot headed, emotionally fragile, potentially insane and everything in between. Their emotions will change different aspects of the game, as well, including how they interact with and react to each other. Another great addition is the ability to share creations with other players, meaning downloading expertly crafted homes and characters is easier than ever . . . and then screwing with it all in creative ways, because that’s just the kind of thing we all do when playing this anyway. Verdict: Take It

EA Sports UFC One of the biggest (and strangest) draws to this game is the addition of Bruce Lee himself to the usual roster of UFC fighters. A full match featuring him punching the hell out of another fighter was shown, along with some of the abilities in the game, such as smaller fighters being able to hop off of the cage walls for a stylized kick to their opponent’s face. I’m not much of a UFC fan myself, so my judgement on this may not be the best . . . though it was fun to watch the game being played for sure. Verdict: Unsure

NHL 15 Continuing the barrage of sports games, EA then covered hockey. The trailer shown was very typical for sports though, using gameplay in slow motion and dramatic camera angles to show just how much detail goes into these games. Aside from the polygonal eye candy, not a whole lot was said on what makes this year’s game any better than the previous ones. Then again, it’s not like people will suddenly be interested in hockey because another realistic game came out about it. Verdict: Maybe Take It?

Untitled Criterion Project Criterion Games, the people behind the classic Burnout series and the more recent Need for Speed titles, interrupted the sports simulation lineup to talk about their next game . . . which doesn’t have a name yet. What they were willing to say, however, is that it’s an entirely first person game focusing on vehicles in every shape and form. Dune buggies, planes, helicopters, boats, and even wing suits were shown during this video. One question remains: What is it, exactly? It was set up to look like a racing game, including the mention of how cool it is to watch things crash, but there was zero racing actually happening. Still, Criterion are good developers, and first person vehicle driving is always fun. They still managed to catch my interest for this. Verdict: Probably Take It

PGA Tour And we’re back to the sports simulation – now with golf! What do you do with a golf game after losing the Tiger Woods license and building it on the same engine as Battlefield? Why, throw in some “extreme fantasy” courses, of course! We were given an example of one of these courses, as one golf ball released sparks when hit, then panning out to a course full of explosions and a crashing battleship. Maybe some fans of the old Hot Shots Golf will be tempted to get this when craziness like that is involved. Verdict: Maybe Take It

Madden NFL 15 Sadly, no extreme fantasy environments to see here. Another football game, another full-priced sequel of minor tweaks. This time, the “big” improvements are in how tackling and defense works (which, from what I’ve gathered of long time Madden fans, has taken them far too long to work on). In case you couldn’t tell, I don’t personally care much for these games, but if you have last year’s installment, there probably won’t be many reasons to move up this time around. Verdict: Leave It

Dawngate EA is hopping on the MOBA bandwagon (that’s Multi-user Online Battle Arena, or in easier terms, games that are like League of Legends or DotA) with Dawngate. From what I’ve seen, it looks a lot like its already successful counterparts so far in terms of maps and art style. Honestly though, I don’t understand this genre enough to really point out much that separates it from the others. Verdict: Unsure

Mirror’s Edge Everyone’s favorite free running lady, Faith, is making a comeback. Unfortunately, that’s still about all we know about this one. We got to see her character design, and watch her beat up a couple of bad guys, but that’s about it. EA also put an odd amount of emphasis on there being a meaning behind her eye tattoo (aside from it being the game’s logo?), so maybe this will tell some kind of origin story or something? Verdict: Unsure

FIFA 15 And of course, we can’t forget about soccer / futbol. EA emphasized that the players will convey emotions better, along with other many small details like jerseys getting dirty and turf getting torn by players sliding in it or digging their shoes in. With the surprising spike in popularity that FIFA 14 got, it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out again. Still, this doesn’t quite fit my tastes, so I’m not the best source of an opinion on it. Verdict: Unsure

Battlefield: Hardline Battlefield has gone “cops & robbers” on us, and EA had a lot to say about it despite all of the leaks. It seems like it still plays out a bit too much like Battlefield 4 with a different look, but it still has some interesting aspects . . . though I can’t say I’ve ever heard of the LAPD or any high end criminals in the last century or so using a crossbow, but hey – gotta love video game logic, right? The environmental destruction is as entertaining as ever, and the necessity of teamwork and communication remains. Besides, using a tazer on someone or arresting them is more unique and fun to watch than the overdone knife kills. Hopefully, this will start a trend of well established franchises trying new things more often. Oh, and there’s a closed beta on the PC and PS4 versions of the game that might still have some room left on them for signups. Verdict: Take It

Jeremy Harrison has been into gaming and just about everything nerdy or out of the norm for as long as he can remember. He likes to keep an open mind about things, but also has a strangely high amount of fun getting into a rant or good debate. . . which is probably why he was recruited to this site in the first place. You can Email Jeremy or follow Jeremy on Twitter @NightmareAsylum or Facebook