8

Jul

2015

Take it Or Leave It – E3 2015 – Electronic Arts

Posted By Jeremy Harrison on Wednesday July 8, 2015 at 2:34 am
To Conventions, Star Wars, Take It Or Leave It, Video Games

Welcome to Take It Or Leave It, E3 2015 edition! It’s that time of the year again, when gamers come together and learn about the titles that will be leaving their wallets aching and hollow over the next year. Here, I will go over each of the major showcases with brief descriptions and reviews of what was announced, in typical Take It Or Leave It style.

Next up on the list is good ol’ EA. With last year’s promises of more to see about the next Mass Effect title as well as additional information on Star Wars: Battlefront, there was good reason to be excited for this. On the other hand, with promises as vague as those, there was reason to be skeptical as well. . .

EA’s Briefing

While their games lineup was undoubtedly solid, there wasn’t a whole lot in terms of actual surprises or gameplay from the biggest titles. Their show seemed to severely lack what makes these briefings so enjoyable to watch, and that says a lot when you have three different long-awaited sequels to talk about. Do yourself a favor and save some time by just looking up the trailers online, there’s no reason to sit through all of the talking in between here.

Verdict: Leave It

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Finally, we have a name to give this one. . . but not much more. A typical CG trailer shows some beautiful scenery, a man in some gorgeous looking N7 armor, some slight teases about the tech and characters we’ll see in the game, and that’s just about it. Oh, and a “Holiday 2016” release window, so that’s very little information for a game coming in a year and a half, especially since we’ve known about this game officially for about a year and a half already. Still, it’s Mass Effect, just about every fan of sci-fi is going to at least be a little interested in it.

Verdict: Probably Take It

Need For Speed

After a few games and a movie not doing so well, it’s time to go for the old “Just reboot it!” strategy. Overlapping stories, different styles of play, and the biggest world the NFS series has seen so far are talked about. The best bit of information here? The customization is inspired by the classic Underground titles. About damn time! This one is set to release November 6th.

Verdict: Take It

Star Wars: The Old Republic

This game is still alive? I’m actually pretty surprised by that. Anyway, all of the subscribers to the game can look forward to a new story expansion, titled “Knights of the Fallen Empire,” to come just in time for Halloween. In it, you end up further into the future, discovering that a whole new faction has arrived and whooped everyone else’s collective asses. Sounds like an interesting bit of story for sure, and I’d guess now would be a good time to go back and give this game a shot, given that it’s mostly free to play now.

Verdict: Probably Take It

Unravel

Oh boy, another cute looking but probably really challenging puzzle / platformer game. Sarcastic comments aside, you use the yarn that you’re made of to navigate obstacles, cross gaps. . . the usual sort of objectives you’d find in a game like this. Will it do enough to separate itself from the Little Big Planets, Limbos, or any other game of this kind popping up all over the place lately? It’s hard to tell right now.

Verdict: Unsure

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

I feel like I’ve covered this one already earlier. We get some details on the overall plot this time around though. Apparently, the zombies have pretty much taken over, and the plants are now on the offense to take it back, as opposed to always playing defense throughout the series. Some new classes were shown, like the zombies having a sniper class this time, as well as a new game mode in which you play as zombies defending their factory against attacking waves of plants. Solo and cooperative play are now possibilities too, along with the traditional competitive multiplayer. Data from the last game can be transferred too, hopefully meaning keeping your previous hard-earned rewards.

Verdict: Probably Take It

Sports, Sports, More Sports

I’m just going to cover all of the sports in one go here, because there isn’t much to talk about them separately for. The next FIFA title is coming this year of course, despite all recent controversy, and will finally include womens’ teams. NBA Live will allow you to scan your face into the game via an app, and might work better than when 2K’s last basketball game tried it (hopefully not, that mess was hilarious.) New golf game this year too, everything you’d expect from a sports franchise that releases fully priced updates every year.

Verdict: I Don’t Get Sports

Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes

EA has stepped into the dark abyss that is mobile gaming, and is dragging the Star Wars and Despicable Me franchises along with it. Galaxy of Heroes will be a collectible card game releasing in the near future, and a FarmVille clone based around the Minions movie will come some time after that. Knowing how mobile games and EA like to do things, it’s safe to say these will be “free” titles, in that sure you can “play” these without spending a penny on them. . . as long as you enjoy being severely crippled in how much you can play and what you can do.