EA E3 2019 Recap: Best of EA at E3 2019
All the announcements from EA Play 2019
The EA E3 2019 presentation is in the books, with EA Play happening all this weekend ahead of all the E3 2019 madness. If you missed the show, no worries - we've got a summary of all the highlights just for you, with the biggest announcements first. Without further ado, let's get right into the gaming goods that EA had to show, then be to check out all the other E3 2019 games still in store for the E3 2019 schedule.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order gameplay looks like Sekiro with lightsabers
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is easily EA's biggest game at E3 2019, and developer Respawn brought nearly 15 minutes of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order gameplay to show off during EA Play. We got to see hero Cal Kestis wield all kinds of Force powers like push, pull, Force Flip (AKA double-jumping), and the ability to slow down time or even temporarily freeze an enemy in stasis. The actual lightsaber combat has some unique twists: when you aren't insta-killing Stormtroopers, it looks like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has a Sekiro-style posture system, where breaking an enemy's stance can be just as impactful as whittling down their health bar.
Your adorable buddy droid BD-01 rides Cal's back and helps him out constantly, with the ability to provide health boosts, scan enemies for extra info, and hack doors so you can progress. The platforming elements look like classic Uncharted, with Cal shimmying up structures and wall-running to cross chasms. Using his Force powers, Cal can do some pretty twisted things - like slowing time and Force-pulling a Stormtrooper into the path of his own laser shot - but Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order won't have a Dark Side or Sith options in the story.
Fallen Order is a canon Star Wars story, so we got to see Cal team up with Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker's character from Star Wars: Rogue One), and the demo ended with a fight against a KX-series security droid, the same model as Alan Tudyk's K-2SO in Rogue One. Cal also fought some gigantic spiders, and a sizzle reel showed off a man-versus-machine battle against an AT-ST. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order launches on November 15, and we'll get to see more of it at the Microsoft Xbox E3 2019 presentation tomorrow, June 9.
Apex Legends debuts Wattson and brings back the L-Star
Right now, the Apex Legends Legendary Hunt event is a chance to earn some slick new skins, including a gold-trimmed Bloodhound outfit, and there's a Double XP weekend happening now through June 9. But enough about right now - we want the next batch of new stuff, like Apex Legends' Wattson, the tenth Legend in the game who's coming with the start of Season 2. This electricity-focused engineer can set up fences that zap enemies, and her Interception Pylon ultimate will shoot down incoming grenades and the blasts from Gibraltar's Bombardments while active, along with reducing Wattson's fence cooldown. Thanks to her passive, Wattson can also instantly get a full ult charge whenever she uses an Ultimate Accelerant.
Season 2 will also introduce the L-Star rifle, a carryover from Titanfall 2, which is so strong that it can only be found in Care Packages. We'll also get two new hop-up mods, including one that will reportedly buff the Mozambique after all this time, finally making it "usable." We already knew that Apex Legends Season 2 features daily and weekly challenges that stack, and that it'll get rid of badges and stat trackers so you can get better rewards (like a regal-looking Caustic skin that was shown off). But it looks like there might be some big things in store, too: a brief clip showed Legends flying past the gigantic eye of some huge creature in Kings Canyon. We should find out what this monstrous event will be in the coming weeks.
FIFA 20 shows off Volta mode, the spiritual successor to FIFA Street
FIFA 20 is confirmed with a ton of new features, the most exciting of which is FIFA 20 Volta Football, a new mode that's basically the reincarnation of FIFA Street and lets men and women play together for the first time. Volta's urban vision of the beautiful game takes place all over the world, including rooftops in Tokyo, a London cage, or an underpass in Amsterdam. You can play 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5, with the option to forego goalkeepers and play with or against the pros. Other FIFA 20 improvements include a new ball physics system, a focus on 1v1 faceoffs with more time and space for the dribbler, and reduced AI defensive support to highlight player skill. FIFA 20 launches on September 27, but EA Access subscribers will be able to try it on September 19.
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The Sims 4: Island Living expansion is a tropical getaway for your Sims
Your Sims deserve a vacation - how about a tropical trip to The Sims 4: Island Living expansion, featuring mermaids, beachwear, and all manner of fun in the sun. The new mermaid type lets you give your Sim a fishtail, but any Sim can now jump in the water and enjoy activities like riding jet skis, swimming with dolphins, or snorkeling across a coral reef. The Conservationist job incentivizes you to clean up trash off the beach, and you can even befriend elemental spirits who watch over the island. As for interior decorating, you can trick out your pad with all kinds of lounge chairs, tikis, and cool Polynesian-style furniture. The Sims 4: Island Living hits PC on June 21 and will be coming to consoles on July 16. EA has also partnered with It Gets Better to add a variety of Pride items to The Sims 4, starting June 18, as well as Moschino clothing items. And the next game pack will be Realm of Magic, which we'll hear more about later this year.
Battlefield 5 is getting more maps and unveils Chapter 5
Battlefield 5 is wrapping up its Chapter 4 batch of content with three more maps, including Marita, featuring a German invasion of Greece full of vertical gameplay created by the hilly terrain, which is coming in July. There's also Al-Sandan, a map in the North African desert setting seen in the Under No Flag mission in the single-player War Story. It focuses on air- and land-vehicle combat, and will debut on June 27.
We got a closer look at plans for Battlefield 5 Chapter 5, which focuses on WW2's Pacific Theater between American and Japanese forces, with conflicts taking place on Iwo Jima. It'll also feature new amphibious units, and will be launching this fall. Some quality-of-life changes coming to Battlefield 5 include an increase of the max rank from 50 to 500, and private servers which will be available for testing sometime this September.
Madden NFL 20 hypes up RPOs
Madden NFL 20 put a huge focus on RPOs (run-pass options) being added to your playbook this year, as well as the Scenario Engine which creates dynamic challenges to help your player and their ratings improve in the single-player mode, now called Face of the Franchise. Superstar X-Factor abilities are being added for the best players in the league, with constant updates based on real-world stats. There will also be a brief Madden 20 closed beta from June 15 - 17.
Be sure to follow the GamesRadar E3 2019 hub for all of our exclusive coverage out of the show.
Lucas Sullivan is the former US Managing Editor of 12DOVE. Lucas spent seven years working for GR, starting as an Associate Editor in 2012 before climbing the ranks. He left us in 2019 to pursue a career path on the other side of the fence, joining 2K Games as a Global Content Manager. Lucas doesn't get to write about games like Borderlands and Mafia anymore, but he does get to help make and market them.
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