E3 2013: EA press conference recap

Levi Castle

2013’s Electronic Entertainment Expo saw a conference from EA, also known as Electronic Arts. When Peter Moore, EA’s chief operating officer took to the stage on June 10th, cheering was heard all throughout the blue-lit room.

“Everything you’re gonna see in this next hour is brand new code created for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,” Moore said during the Internet premier of E3.

Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, developed by PopCap, was the first game to be shown at the conference. Co-Founder and Studio Director John Vechey talked to the crowd about the game after the first trailer played. The game is a third-person action title, which strays from the top-down strategy of the original hits. Gameplay was then shown, featuring all of the enemy and plant types that fans already know and love, in addition to a couple new ones.

Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall was shown again, but with different footage than Microsoft’s conference. Respawn staff talked in video interviews about how the game does things differently than other shooters.

Ghost Games’ gameplay reveal of Need for Speed: Rivals was up next, showing that the franchise is bringing back the Ferrari to the streets. A race between cops and racers was shown, demoing the new graphics that the next-gen systems will be able to handle. Breaking Bad television show star Aaron Paul went on stage to talk about the game, the film of which is due in 2014. Paul will star in the movie adaption, and mentioned that he himself was a gamer.

Also shown was Bioware’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third installment of the popular RPG series. No gameplay was shown, but a cinematic trailer showed expanse environments and demonic tones.

EA Sports was a large part of the conference, with much of the focus on movement and how EA’s new games map athlete movement to look as fluid and real as possible. NBA LIVE ’14 was then announced, and a trailer was shown to the audience. Madden, FIFA and UFC were also displayed, with special celebrity appearances like rap star Drake.

DICE’s Battlefield 4 was next in the show, with additional info given on Commander mode, a style of gameplay that allows one person from each team to take to the skies and see the battlefield from a different, tactical perspective – and rain down hellfire while doing so. A multiplayer reveal was shown, giving fans their first glimpse of what online matches will be like for the game. Highlights were a collapsing skyscraper and improved visuals.

The conference closed with the reveal of a game that had been rumored for quite some time, and wanted even more. When DICE’s Mirror’s Edge gameplay came on the screen, the crowd went crazy. The sequel to the first game was confirmed, and a trailer featuring protagonist Faith was shown to the cheering audience.