EA at E3 2017: all of the latest news and biggest games

Turn 10 Studios announced Forza Motorsport 7 today during Microsoft’s E3 press conference, and it’s primed to be the best-looking and most feature-dense entry in the series. The game was tailor-made to take advantage of the new Xbox One X’s added horsepower, which should render the game in 4K resolution and 60 frames per second.

This also the first full Forza Motorsport game to hit PC. (The series has tested the Windows 10 water with Forza Motorsport 6: Apex and Forza Horizon 3.) And if you want the cars, the tracks, the raindrops on the windshield to look their absolute, pixel-perfect best, the Windows 10 version — with the help of some top of the line GPU — will be the best choice.

Star Wars: Battlefront got more than its fair share of hype when it launched two years ago. The prospect of a multiplayer game set in the world of the original Star Wars trilogy, from the developer behind the Battlefield series, seemed too good to be true. As it turned out, it kinda was.  

While the early-release Battle of Hoth was exciting, over time the clunkiness of the flying missions, the simplistic weapons and skills options, and the total lack of a single-player campaign hampered the game’s staying power. Now it’s time for the sequel, and judging from the push here at E3, the sole purpose of Star Wars: Battlefront II is to address the many concerns of fans and gamers. (How much so? Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, mentioned the “constructive” negative feedback the game had received during his opening remarks at the company’s big press event, EA Play.)

Electronic Arts kicked off E3 2017 with a brand new Madden NFL story mode starring Mahershala Ali and ended with a very, very long look at Star Wars Battlefront II's multiplayer. In between was A Way Out, a split-screen prison break game from the creators of Brothers, a very fast and furious new Need for Speed, and a tease of Bioware’s new sci-fi franchise, Anthem, which we should learn more about tomorrow.

There were, alas, no Sims this year.

Electronic Arts’ E3 press conference today was light on announcements, but delivered a large chunk of multiplayer gameplay from its upcoming Star Wars title, Battlefront II. It will introduce a single-player storyline where its predecessor did not, but expect the game’s multiplayer to expand as well.

The time around, players will be able to select characters spanning the entire franchise, from Episode I: The Phantom Menace to Episode VII: The Force Awakens. In the gameplay segment shown on-stage, EA demonstrated the destructive power of Darth Maul, clones, droids, and a handful of quirky vehicles.

The first of many E3 2017 press conferences has drawn to a tepid conclusion. Electronic Arts kicked off the year’s biggest week in gaming news with a handful of announcements on new games, as well as footage from the highly anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront II. Though it ended with a strange, lengthy multiplayer match and an ad for a mobile game.

The conference was light on announcements, but tried its best to make gameplay center stage. These are the five moments it really succeeded.

One of the most anticipated elements of Star Wars: Battlefront II is its single-player storyline, but judging from the latest trailer it may be the multiplayer mode that gets hardcore fans most excited. First shown here at E3 in Los Angeles, the new trailer demonstrates just how expansive it will be, pulling in characters, locations, and vehicles that cover the entire 40-year history of the saga. It even has those Phantom Menace battle droids. (Look, nothing’s perfect.)

The original Star Wars: Battlefront kept things limited to the original trilogy of movies, though a battle from Rogue One did eventually make an appearance in the final installation of the game’s DLC expansion. It provided for a level of familiarity and authenticity, particularly important given that Disney and Lucasfilm were trying to revive a fanbase that was still recovering from the much-maligned prequels. For the second iteration of Battlefront, however, that restriction in eras has been lifted, with everyone from Darth Maul to Rey and Kylo Ren appearing as playable characters.

EA and the creator behind Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Josef Fares, will release a new game called A Way Out that can only be played in split-screen. Fares, the game’s writer and director, announced the game on-stage today at EA’s E3 press conference.

A Way Out is a story-driven, co-op prison break game that will feature exploration, driving, action, and more, Fares said on stage. “I wanted to make another game that pushed the boundaries on how to tell stories without compromising on gameplay.” Players will either control Vincent or Leo. Both characters have stories that will play out simultaneously on-screen; even if one character is in a cut-scene, players can still control the other.

Years ago, Casey Hudson, the executive producer on the original Mass Effect trilogy, founded a new team at BioWare Edmonton to begin work on an entirely new franchise. According to a recent report at Kotaku, the project was codenamed Dylan “because Hudson and team wanted to make the Bob Dylan of video games—one that would be referenced for years to come.”

Now we know the game’s official title: Anthem.

Last year, the Need for Speed series took some time off to discover itself. Apparently it spent most of the break binging the Fast and Furious films on loop. The similarities to the blockbuster franchise were evident in the first teaser, but the extended gameplay demo is somehow less subtle.

I’m not complaining. Despite its early fascination with full-motion video, the Need for Speed series has struggle to stick a decent story. Fast and the Furious built a name for itself on lovable melodrama, though it’s recently wobbled, overemphasizing CGI-soaked action set pieces. Hopefully Payback can land somewhere in the middle.

EA is scheduled to formally show off a new look at Star Wars: Battlefront II later today, but we now have a close look at what the gameplay will look like, thanks to a leaked gameplay video that surfaced earlier this morning.

The 12-minute video shows off Darth Maul, Rey, and Boba Fett in action in the Naboo palace and its surrounding streets from The Phantom Menace, running through hallways as they destroy droids and clone troopers.