Tech Olive

This year at E3, EA hosted a pre-event press keynote that brought us plenty of new information. While the gameplay we saw from the event was all performed on a PS3, we’ll talk about the games that are coming to the PC. EA announced details of a new Need for Speed game, more info on Dead Space 2, news of Bad Company 2‘s upcoming expansion, and Medal of Honor‘s upcoming beta. Hit the break for all the tasty details.

First on EA’s agenda was to announce their plans for a new Need for Speed game. While it’s not yet confirmed for release on PC, it’s safe to assume that the title will hit PC given the NFS franchise’s great past with the platform. The new game is titled Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Not to be confused with the legendary Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit title that was released back in 1998, the upcoming game will be a reboot of sorts for the series with a strong focus on multiplayer features. It’s not only a chance for the new dev Criterion Games (the studio behind the Burnout series) to prove their worth, but also an attempt to return the NFS series to its roots. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit will be releasing on November 16th. If you’re interested, have a quick look at the game’s reveal trailer.

EA touched briefly on Dead Space 2 with a new trailer, which showcases not only some of the game’s new enemies, but also takes place in one of the cities that is infested by these terrible creatures. Unfortunately, the game seems to wear its “horror” genre stripes by using cheap and annoying jump-out-and-scream-at-you scare tactics. Issac still dominates the screen, but perhaps not as badly as we saw in the previous title. Judging by the trailer, Dead Space 2 features great lighting and environments like the previous game. It is planned for a January 25th, 2011 release date.

Unsurprisingly, EA showcased their upcoming reboot of the Medal of Honor series. Instead of doing much talking, EA surprised viewers with an awesome live, 24-player demonstration of the game’s alpha-build multiplayer on the stage. Of course, the 24 players consisted of EA-employed testers, but it was still a cool surprise nonetheless. The game’s multiplayer is being developed by EA DICE (Battlefield veterans) while the game’s singleplayer will be developed by EA Los Angeles. With Medal of Honor set to release on October 12, the beta (which was recently denied by EA) will hit all platforms on June 21st.

In another semi-related note, EA also announced what they call the “Gun Club,” which is essentially a rewards program for gamers to earn points (points-earning methods were not explained in much detail) which they can then spend on special, in-game items and other bonuses that were also left quite vague. One perk that was detailed, however, was that any Bad Company 2 VIPs that pre-order Medal of Honor through Gun Club will receive access to the game’s beta four days early on June 17th. It’s worth noting that “VIP” status in BC2 is only possible for console players, so this offer may not be extended to PC gamers.

Vietnam; a new expansion for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was announced through some trailer footage. We were given a painfully small amount of information on this expansion, but because it’s being referred to as an expansion and not just DLC, it’s safe to assume that it will either bring a ton of new multiplayer content or have some singleplayer additions packaged with it. Those that played through BC2‘s campaign might remember the start of the game being set in 1944. Perhaps we’ll see something similar to the gameplay experienced there. No matter the case, its release is scheduled this Winter for all platforms.

UPDATE: We have a little bit more details about the Vietnam expansion. It will be a downloadable game with four new maps. You get to play as either the U.S. Marines or North Vietnamese Army. There are expected to be specific weapons and vehicles from the Vietnam War era, as well as new achievements. Pricing has not yet been revealed.

EA then talked about what they call “EA Partners,” which is a pet name they gave to the partnerships they have with other developers. They were proud to announce their two newest partners; Insomniac Games and Respawn Entertainment. However, no upcoming titles from these partnerships were mentioned. Though, EA did go into detail about two games that were coming up from EA partners Crytek and Bioware.

Cevat Yerli (Crytek CEO and Founder) took the stage to talk about Crysis 2. As many gamers know by now, the game is set in New York City. The demo we were shown showcased Grand Central Station, and Cevat went as far as saying that Crysis 2 has the most intelligent enemies in any FPS ever. A bold claim indeed. A new feature that was only mentioned in passing was a new “Intelligent Tactical Mode” setting for the Nano Suit to go along side the typical Stealth, Armor, etc. modes of the suit. From the sound of it, this setting would work as an auto-pilot for the suit’s current mode.

As the display wrapped up, we were shown a sterioscopic 3D trailer which all but confirmed the inclusion of 3D technology in the new Crysis title. However, there was no appearance of the “Pinger invasion” we were warned about in a previous trailer.

To wrap it up, Bioware’s Star Wars: The Old Republic took the stage with a tasty new trailer that might as well be referred to as a short film!