by Jeremy Rogers Electronic Arts started their Gamescom 2017 conference of “pushing boundaries” and “advancing the state of art in games” off with a FIFA 18 montage. All of the footage shown aside from some insert shots of some text seemed to be rendered in the Frostbite 3 graphics engine. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ETKAYRzvjs[/embed] Next was a demonstration of a new game mode for the highly anticipated Star Wars Battlefront 2, Star Fighter Assault. Fans have been voicing their desire to have space combat since the remake of the early 2000s shooter series was announced. Fans were disappointed at the game mode’s absence in the 2015 reboot, but they can rest assured that the mode will return in the 2017 sequel. Just like the main game, there will be different classes of star ships to pilot in the inevitable dogfights to come. Another similarity to the main game that players and fans know well are hero characters. Some examples shown in the trailer and gameplay were Darth Maul, Yoda, Poe Dameron, Han Solo and Chewbacca, and Boba Fett as playable hero characters with their own special ships to play during the new mode. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqIJ_WdR_DQ[/embed] Next in the presentation was a new live action trailer for the Need for Speed Payback. BMW put their new 2018 BMW M5 sport sedan front and center as it sped through streets full of practically homicidal police officers. This marks the first time BMW has globally revealed a car through a video game. To wrap up the Need for Speed Payback segment, a pre-rendered cutscene showing off the might of the highly aggressive police force was shown. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf2qDAEZc2w[/embed] Next was a video showing all the progress made so far in the ongoing development of The Sims 4. Simmers since The Sims 2 have enjoyed having pets as a part of their simulated families. Players of the newest game have had to live without pets since the game came out in 2014. Dogs and cats are being added to the game in a new expansion pack on November 10. They also brought on Jiffpom, a dog with over 80 thousand Twitter followers, to help commemorate the announcement. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpNb28IQTsM[/embed] Next was the section of the show devoted to EA Originals, where EA showed off one of their indie titles that they are helping to support. Fe announced that it would be coming to all major consoles and PC. The creative director of Zoinks Studios came to the stage to talk about some of the inspirations for the game. After talking about a childhood of unbounded exploration of a forest and how that inspired him to make Fe, Andreas Beijer started to sound a lot like Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri talking about his inspiration for his most memorable games. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYX3CjSgE4c[/embed] The conference was capped off with several announcements for Battlefield 1. The first announcement was a new competitive mode that seems to be going after the streaming crowd; this new mode that will be “as fun to watch as it is to play” will center around 5v5 matches called Incursions. It is going to be the game’s first online mode designed from the ground up to be a competitive experience. Another announcement was a new edition of Battlefield 1 that comes with the season pass called Battlefield 1 Revolution. The whole conference ended with one final, fun reveal: a demonstration of one of the maps in the new expansion pack releasing next month In the Name of the Tzar.
Source: Gamescom Image: VGN
