EA's 2009 Schedule

How comes I seem to be talking about EA so much lately? Anyway, here's some details on their current plans for this year and the beginning of next.

Next month, the massive publisher will be announcing the next Need for Speed - proving the rumours of the series' cancellation very wrong. Whilst details remain slim until then, it seems the game will see a return to proper racing for the series, with a reduction in big named stars (makign it cheaper too), after the criticisms directed at Undercover about its unneccessary flamboyance and pretty crappy racing. Expect to see more on the game soon.

We've already mentioned the new Medal of Honor game, but EA has another shooter in the works too. Aimed for a Q4 2009 release is Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (working title) from DICE, the people behind the brilliant Mirror's Edge and all the other Battlefield games - so you know it's going to be good. The game is supposedly to be set in Russia, and features the same cast as the original game.

On top of these and the new sports titles inevievitably out at the end of the year, there's also the Jack Black-infused action game Brutal Legend which they picked up when Activision dropped it last year. That should be out sometime in the summer. EA have also got a PSN title, "3 on 3 NHL Arcade" featuring bobble-headed players in a spin-off from the main hockey games. Oh and the trophy list should be up here on TWP any time now.

Whilst there is still more coming from EA this year, we also know a little bit about next year's lineup too. There's no ETA on the next game from the Dead Space people, EA Redwood Shores, which is based on Dante's Inferno, and goes by the same name. There's also plans for a Dead Space 2, although when that will make it out no-one knows. Also in the planning stage is Mirror's Edge 2, which may well follow a slightly different gameplay style that its predeccessor.

And that's just PS3; remember there are sequels to The Sims and MySims coming to the PC and Nintendo consoles respectively, as well as an expansion to Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 on the way.

Exclusives

Okay so we've teased you a little this week, first with the Red Alert 3 news on Monday and then the Mercs 2 song yesterday, but tomorrow and Friday we have a whole host of exclusive content planned, including what Hitman developer IO is up to now, details on the upcoming Ubisoft game I Am Alive, and even more from EA. So pop back soon!

Sustained Imagery

At the end of last week, rumours began circulating around the internet that EA had cancelled the Need for Speed racing series. After lacklustre sales and reviews (65 on Metacritic) of the most recent game, Undercover, EA had apparently finally realised that particularly in the current economic situation, the public aren’t willing to spend £40 on a game that has only a small list of enhancements over its precursor every year, and due to the short development time allocated to the annual refreshes, reviewers were ripping into uninspiring and buggy games.

EA have since denied these rumours, and claim that the series will continue, but the rumour could very easily have been an official press release. Undercover has been slated across the board, and although it is seen as a step up from last year’s horrendous ProStreet, it just shows a lack of real progression in the series, a problem that is currently affecting all of EA’s annually updated properties, such as the Sports games. I’m not saying that these games should move to a Burnout-inspired business model – supporting a game long after release, and putting in a decent-length development period. But clearly something does need to be done, as these solid sales bases are what have supported the company’s recent attempts with new intellectual property, such as Dead Space and Mirrors Edge.

My solution lies in a platform that already exists, and a concept that has already been tried. A couple of years back, Tomb Raider: Anniversary was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace as DLC for those who owned the Tomb Raider: Legend disk. The download contained the enhancements made to the Legend engine for the sequel, as well as the actual game content. Although obviously this would not be possible for sequels where the engine has been significantly reworked, but for franchises such as FIFA or NBA where quite minor tweaks make up the yearly releases, a downloadable version would make sense, and if appropriately priced (say £20) it might even increase sales. I’m not saying that the downloads would replace the disk outright, but right now, EAs annual updates simply are not selling as well as they used to at retail, as the public does not see the value in buying a barely enhanced game for full price every year. But will EA take the risk, in order to reap the rewards later?

What Are I Playing

Its been a long time since I blogged here, and although you will likely be hearing much much more from us here in the near future, I thought I’d just update you on what I’ve been playing lately. Although the Wanderer is surviving the credit crunch having spent all his money using illegal means, I’ve taken to new tactics.

Pre-owned games, obviously. I am such a CheapAssGamer (oh snap!). In the past weeks and months I’ve added a significant number of said games to my collection, namely Army of Two, Need for Speed Carbon, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, SingStar, Rainbow Six Vegas and Warhawk, many of which you will see us talk about in the soonness.

But there is one other way to get PS3 games that’s been eating up my money too –The PlayStation Store. And yes, £3.50 games are an impulse buy. All ye readers (yes, all 0.5 of you) know I bought PAIN when I first got my PS3, but since then I’ve downloaded High Velocity Bowling, Calling All Cars, Super Rub a Dub, flow, PixelJunk Eden, Loco Roco Coccorecco, Pixel Junk Monsters, Super Stardust HD and all the DLC for PAIN. Please no-one calculate how much I’ve spent there. Seriously.

But anyways, enough debt gloating, I’m here to give the verdict on some games I’ve been playing. First up: Burnout Paradise. And more specifically – the Bikes Pack. I honestly think the Bike Pack is better than the original game (or at least as good as). Riding around the city once through the day-night cycle is a thing of beauty, and the sense of speed is like nothing else, even Burnout Cars. Oh and it’s unlikely I’ll stop playing anytime soon: trophies arrive on Thursday. I’ll have more to say on Paradise soon.

I’ve also really got into Warhawk. I bought the game pre-owned on my most recent spending spree and invested in a Bluetooth headset at the same time (okay and the Store convinced me to get the add-on packs too), but in my opinion it is money well spent – Warhawk is easily one of the most fun games I’ve ever played. More fun than MotorStorm? Potentially. I think the best bit of the game though has got to be that it never takes itself too seriously. MAG might take the “woah” victory for online gaming come its release next winter, but Warhawk will always have a fun community to play against. Oh, and jetpacks.

Elsewhere, the PAIN Abusement Park expansion is endless hours of fun, and I’m running through Uncharted yet again for some trophies. And in terms of playing with mates offline, PixelJunk Eden is the winner, followed just behind by Army of Two, which I haven’t really played too much of yet.

And it can only get better: Wipeout HD, LittleBigPlanet, Dead Space, Bioshock, Far Cry 2, Fat Princess, Resistance 2 and Mirror’s Edge are all on their way too. Now, to find some money…

FO

Carbonated

I'm gonna be honest and say that driving games are not my forté. Well, by that I mean straight-up racing games. Gran Turismo, Project Gotham Racing, etc etc; I'm rubbish at all of them.

But then there's the other racing games. The ones that are different in their own ways, not just pure simulations of track racing. Burnout's deranged mayhem, Need for Speed's nighttime city runs, Motorstorm's off-road chaos and Ridge Racer's impossible drifts. All of which add up to ultimate fun for those of us who don't really fancy day-long endurance races.

This weekend is a Bank Holiday, so I've been using the extra day off to get some gaming done before I return to revising for exams. Therefore, whilst on socialising travels today, I popped into Blockbusters and picked up Need For Speed: Carbon for PS2 (£3 for a week, pretty cheap). I always used to play round my car-obsessive friends house when Underground and Underground 2 came out, and I got Most Wanted with my PSP in 2005. I've briefly played Most Wanted for PS2 on a hire too, but this was my first play of late 2006's Carbon.

The first thing to mention is that the core gameplay (driving around the streets of a fictional city, looking for events that culminate in boss races) is still perfect. It seems to have taken a turn for the worst in last year's ProStreet, but here in Carbon, the gameplay feels solid, the best it has since Underground 2. The next thing to mention is that the game has returned to a nighttime setting. Thank-frigging-god. How much I hated the sun-drenched streets of Most Wanted, and yearned for underground and very illegal racing to return to its seemingly logical hiding place, namely the night. Plus, you just get a much better sense of speed at night, which makes things more interesting.

Obviously, this being a yearly EA franchise, there's the inevitable gimmick new feature. For Carbon, EA Black Box added 'Canyon Duels'. These are set one of the canyons conveniently located around the main city, and involve you and a big bad boss racing down a treacherous cliffside track and attempting to shove each other off the side. I'll make my point brief: it's surprisingly good. Oh, it can be stupidly difficult from time to time, but overall its a good new addition. Another new addition is the 'Risk'-like map. The city is split up into numerous zones, each of which contain a number of events to compete. It actually gives a much more visual representation of 'winning back your rep' than the other games in the series. And my favourite thing about NFS Carbon? They brought back Drift events! =D

From what I've played (the game reports that I'm 20% of the way through), Carbon does feel like the best Need for Speed game in a long time. Graphics are sharp (for PS2), the UI is normal EA perfection, and the combination of licensed tracks and music made especially for the game is fantastic. But, and here's the bastard truth, that's because it's been the same for so long. Since Underground, its been basic improvements all-round (Yay, Autosculpt! /sarcasm) rather than anything new and exciting. And the kicker: when they did change it in ProStreet, it sucked. Big time.

Overall rating: 9/10

FO

(Note: screenshots from PS3 version of the game)