EA play 2020 discussion thread (in the order of appearance)

[FakeSympathy]

Apex Legends: Lost Treasures
An online co-op PVE event, and bunch of limited-time events. Nothing too new. Also coming to Steam and Switch and plans for cross-play. The presenter seemed....unenergetic

Sims 4
It was another attempt at diversity and social acceptance pandering. There really was nothing new. Kinda wish they didn't include this, tbh. Also coming to Steam. Btw, the game looks seriously outdated

Command & Conquer remastered, plus a bunch of other EA games coming to Steam
Doesn't look too exciting. Most of these games are the ones that came out years ago, and something that everyone probably played on other platforms.

EA Originals (aka indie games)
This....was actually kinda nice. Like, holt shit these indie games looks pretty good, and I am glad that EA are supporting them without meddling in the development.

• Hazelight: Created by the same guy who did Brothers and A way out, this game is about young girl's imagination, as she is trying to cope with her parents' divorce. It could be emotional.
• Lost and Random: A creepy adventure game that is reminiscent of Alice: The madness returns. Also has that Tim Burton theme going on
• Rocket Arena: Think of every arena/hero shooter you ever thought of, and just have rockets. All the heroes and abilities that are centered around rockets. That's it. I mean it's colorful and looks nice, but not my cup of tea

Star Wars Squadrons:
They kinda dragged on until the gameplay reveal, but there it was! For a singleplayer, you'll get to experience both Empire and the Rebel side. It looks like the gameplay will be more in-dept than the starfighter fights in BFII, including different ship types and flgiht tactics. For the multiplayer, the cosmetics and the upgrades will the gameplay-unlock only. The one mode I ma excited for is the fleet-battle, which is a multi-staged attack/defend mode

Madden/Fifa 21
Nothing new here. Moving on

Other projects tease
Something about Dragon Age, Battlefield, and other bunch of unnamed projects. Nothing too much to see

Skate 4?
No gameplay, but glad that it was still announced. They didn't even say it was skate 4. But everyone's jumping on board with the idea

Overall
Definitely weaker than the previous year, but I feel EA has been doing that for a long time. SW was the only one that got my attention. I was hoping for Anthem 2.0 or Mass Effect Remastered annoucement, but I guess we can't always have nice things

 

[SupahEwok]

Star Wars Squadrons:
1) seems 100% first person, no third person (I'd had my doubts earlier)
2) has, at minimum, power management between engines, shields, and weapons, and shield forward/back placement, and possibly simulates individual components damage?
3) has customizable "components", which include alternate weapons; the torpedoes, bombs, super duper lasers, etc
4) the flight model is more arcadey than X-Wing/Tie Fighter, or even Ace Combat. it's very fast paced, frantic, and looks fun.

I'm going to do my version of pre-ordering, which is waiting until the game releases, waiting a couple more days to see if it's a buggy mess, and then buying. At $40, I don't think it's a full AAA release, so I expect a very truncated campaign (5-6 hours, maybe), but the mechanics seem as if they've been done right enough to make it worth playing, and the multiplayer may have some tail. It is unfortunately class-based and symmetrical, and has what feels like a rather bizarre inclusion of a "support" class fighter that seems to cast heals and buffs, but that is the unfortunate state of big publisher multiplayer these days. We'll never get something like was had in X-Wing vs Tie Fighter today because big money games are just made too detailed these days to support going really big (I'm being charitable and not blaming the limitations of consoles; I have the feeling that at the graphics fidelity this game has, very little could handle asymmetrical, 40 human dogfights with a dozen capital ships flying all around).

Overall, I accept that this appears to be a genuine good faith effort at revitalizing the old X-Wing series, and does as well a job as could be done under the corporate behemoth of EA as it could have. I had bet against anything like this happening, and am happy to have been proven wrong.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I've said before that I have no interest in Star Wars Squadrons, but I'm going to tentatively withdraw that statement. Still, the

rather bizarre inclusion of a "support" class fighter

feels confusing and tacked-on. Is this going to be another MMO situation where nobody plays healer?

 

[gorfias]

Squadron might be fun but I haven't put much into Battlefield 2. Fallen Order? I'm having a blast with that.
Sports 2021... OK.
Skate 4??!?!? Makes me want to break out my copy of 3 for PS3. I'm interested. Amazing Gen 8 has skipped this title to date.

 

[BrawlMan]

I just watched Max's reaction and that was enough for me. I like the Tim Burton game and that's it. We don't need another Overwatch, Fortnite, and Splatoon clone. Got enough of those already. Wake me up when they have actual footage of Skate 4. Squadron won't have a 3rd person view because of the VR, and I did not like Fallen Order.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

It is unfortunately class-based and symmetrical, and has what feels like a rather bizarre inclusion of a "support" class fighter that seems to cast heals and buffs, but that is the unfortunate state of big publisher multiplayer these days.

I had the same feeling about their Battlefront 2. All I really wanted was a fun pew pew shooting with solid gun mechanics, but what I got was a more ability focused game, a hero shooter I guess.

OT: What a big resounding meh. Not a single thing I'm interested in. I wonder if this is a Coronavirus thing or if EA is taking a long hard look at itself.