FIFA for Nintendo Switch Details Revealed by EA
As part of EA Play today, EA revealed the first details for FIFA 18 on Nintendo Switch, which will launch on September 29.
On Switch, FIFA will include FIFA Ultimate Team, including squad building challenges and both online and offline seasons. A Career Mode will also be included. Local seasons will be playable across two Switch consoles.
FIFA 18 for Switch will also include Kick-Off mode, Women’s International Cup, online tournaments, skill games, and more. According to EA, it will output at 1080p resolution when docked and 720p in handheld mode.
EA Vancouver and EA Romania developed the Switch version. As previously revealed, FIFA 18 for Switch will not include The Journey campaign mode and is not built on EA’s Frostbite engine.
FIFA 18 – 5 Features That Will Actually Make a Difference
More than perhaps any genre, sports games are released alongside a barrage of developer-speak, seemingly to cover up the fact that changes are often so minute (which isn’t to say unmeaningful) that they’d mean practically nothing to anyone without a degree in “making iterative sports titles”.
FIFA 18 is no different. At a preview event last week, we were given a 40-minute walkthrough of jargon and bluster. Crucially, however, I then got to play several matches of the game’s exhibition and Journey modes, giving us an actual point of comparison with last year’s entry. With that in mind, here are a few features that will actually make a difference in this year’s FIFA.
Battlefront 2 DLC Will Be Free Instead of Season Pass
On stage at EA Play today, EA announced that rather than offering a traditional season pass, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 will instead offer multiple themed content “seasons” as free DLC.
Seasons will be free content updates post-launch, and the first will be released in December with content based on The Last Jedi. The set will include Finn and Captain Phasma as heroes, as well as new planet Crait and a space map above the planet D’Qar. Content in future seasons will include additional planets, heroes, vehicles, modes, and weapons.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was unveiled at Star Wars Celebration in April and is set to launch on November 17. EA said in the past that Battlefront 2 won’t offer a Season Pass, but today marks the first time the publisher has detailed its post-launch plans.
NBA Live 18 Officially Revealed
At EA Play today, EA officially unveiled NBA Live 18.
A new mode called The One will have you select between The Streets, which sees you playing 5-on-5 matches on real-world courts like Venice Beach, or The League, which involves playing in the NBA. Players will be able to upgrade gear including shoes and more.
A free demo for NBA Live 18 will be released in August, and progress from the game will carry over to the final game.
Last year, NBA Live took a year off on consoles, though a new mobile version was released. For our thoughts on the last console version of NBA Live, read IGN’s NBA Live 16 review.
BioWare Reveals New Project, Anthem
During EA’s EA Play conference today, BioWare revealed its newest game: Anthem.
Details were slim, but a teaser shown during the conference included the line, “the wall protects us from what lies beyond.”
According to the teaser, details are set to be revealed at Microsoft’s E3 conference, which will take place tomorrow at 2:00 PM Pacific Time. Watch the trailer below:
BioWare has been teasing its new project since E3 2014, when it teased “a completely new IP” in production at BioWare Edmonton, describing it as “a world that “feels real, and is alive alive and is constantly changing.”
Need for Speed Payback Looks Like The Fast and Furious Game I Always Wanted
EA showed off a new gameplay demo of Need for Speed Payback during its E3-adjacent EA Play showcase, giving off serious The Fast and the Furious vibes as part of the reveal.
In the gameplay preview, EA demoed a Need for Speed Payback mission called "Highway Heist," which showcased the player driver chasing down a truck along a desert highway. After knocking out other drivers pursuing them, the player caught up to the truck, as Jess, riding along in the car, jumped onto the truck. Though the truck was already damaged, she hopped inside the main cabin of the truck and drove a high-end car out the back, planning to escape before a helicopter comes to confront her.
The heist sequence failed to include an absurd number of harpoons, but the entire mission feels reminiscent of more than a few notable moments from the blockbuster Universal Pictures Fast and Furious franchise. The truck heist harkens back all the way to the original The Fast and the Furious, as Dom, Letty, and their crew robbed a truck full of DVD players in the franchise's opening sequence, as well as the subsequent heists in that first film. The Payback demo also blended elements from the train robbery sequence in Fast Five, as Dom, Brian, Mia, and their friend Vince are involved with the stealing of three cars.
A Way Out Is Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Dev’s New Game
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons creator Josef Fares revealed his new game A Way Out today during EA Play.
A Way Out is a co-op adventure game due out in early 2018. Published by EA, the game is the first project from Hazelight Studios and centers around two inmates, Leo and Vincent, as they attempt to break out of prison.
The game was actually teased way back in 2014 as part of the announcement of Hazelight’s formation.
Fares’ previous game, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, was released in 2013 and used the novel concept of controlling two characters with a single controller. For more, read our Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons review.
First Details on Battlefield 1: In the Name of the Tsar DLC
At EA Play today, EA shared the first details on Battlefield 1’s upcoming expansion, In the Name of the Tsar, which is available as part of Battlefield 1's Premium Pass.
In the Name of the Tsar will include six new maps as well as new vehicles, a new mode called Supply Drop, and 11 new weapons. You’ll play as the Russian Army, including the Women’s Battalion of Death, which is the first time in series history that will offer a playable female character.
EA also announced monthly updates for Battlefield 1 including new maps and events. Two additional maps will launch this summer. Premium Pass owners will have two additional maps from They Shall Not Pass coming: Nivelle Nights in June, and Prise de Tahure in July, both of which feature night maps.
Madden NFL 18 Offers New Longshot Campaign Mode
At EA Play today, EA revealed a new campaign mode for Madden NFL 18 called Longshot.
Taking cues from shows like Friday Night Lights, the mode follows a young football player as he rises through the ranks, and stars Moonlight and Luke Cage actor Mahershala Ali. On Twitter, Scott Porter, who played Jason Street in Friday Night Lights, confirmed that he will also appear in Longshot.
Madden NFL 18 is the first in the series to use EA’s ubiquitous Frostbite engine and will launch on August 25. This year, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the cover athlete. Madden NFL 18 is available for pre-order.
Adam West Remembered
Actors and filmmakers who worked with (or were fans of) Adam West have taken to social media to remember the late Batman star, who died on Friday at the age of 88 after a battle with leukemia.
Burt Ward, who starred alongside West's Batman as Robin in the 1960s Batman TV series, shared a few words about West. "I am devastated at the loss of one my very dearest friends. Adam and I had a special friendship for more than 50 years," Ward said in a statement. "This is a terribly unexpected loss of my lifelong friend. I will forever miss him. There are several fine actors who have portrayed Batman in films. In my eyes, there was only one real Batman that is and always will be Adam West. He was truly the Bright Night."