Video game giant Electronic Arts took the stage at E3 to announce a bevy of upcoming titles. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Criterion games will “take the game back to its roots” with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit “for a connected generation.” You play through a full career as a racer and a cop. There’s a big online element now called “Autolog” that shows you what your friends have accomplished in the game and lets you jump in for quick head-to-head challenges online where one of you plays the cop and the other plays the bad guy. If you played Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit when it came out back in 1998, you’ll feel right at home with this one.
Dead Space 2
Promised to be “a truly epic sequel,” Dead Space 2 takes place in a fully thriving city called The Sprawl with a wide variety of environments. Might want to play this game with the lights on unless your couch is covered in plastic; it looks pretty creepy. It’s due out in January 2011. EA showed a demo and said “find out how it ends tomorrow at the Sony show.” Interesting.
Medal of Honor
For the first time, Medal of Honor is leaving World War II and picking up the battle in Afghanistan. DICE is building the multiplayer aspect, EA is building the single-player part. EA demonstrated a live 24-player gaming session called “Team Assault,” a deathmatch-type mode where teams try to hit a certain number of target points in close-quarters combat. It’s due out October 12th, 2010 but a multiplayer beta test goes live on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on June 21st if you can’t wait that long.
Gun Club
A rewards program for gamers. Members receive early access to news, events, downloadable content, and beta programs. Join at GunClub.EA.com for access to the aforementioned Medal of Honor beta.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam
Expansion pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 coming “Winter 2010.”
EA Sports MMA
Intuitive controls, different fighting styles, rings and rule-sets from around the world, live broadcasts of online multiplayer fights–called EA Sports Live Broadcast. You create your own fighter using your own face, if you want, and then record yourself making trash talking hype videos. If chosen for promotion, your character will fight live online with two actual broadcasters calling the event.