It’s that time again, your favorite time of the week. This week the Shack staff gathers ’round our virtual meeting table to discuss one of many upcoming digital gaming events. EA Play 2020 was recently announced as a digital event, and we thought it high time to sit down and look deep within ourselves to figure out exactly what we want from EA Play in 2020.
Question: What do you want to see from EA Play 2020?
Skate 4 – Asif Khan, Better than the rest of the Shack staff at THPS
Where was Skate 4 at E3 2020? That is the question, folks. EA Play 2020 better give us Skate 4 or we riot. By riot, I mean sit at home in quarantine. Give us Skate 4, you cowards!
Respawn’s next Star Wars game – Ozzie Mejia
Having recently finished Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, I am hungry for whatever Respawn brings to the franchise next. Obviously, my hope is whatever’s next for Cal Kestis and crew. I’ve even outlined a full-blown wishlist for the Fallen Order sequel. Fallen Order was an epic adventure in itself and I walked away from it thinking that Cal’s journey has only just begun. All of those characters have stories to tell and I look forward to Respawn eventually telling them.
Of course, Respawn could also move on to a different corner of the Star Wars universe and assemble a different type of game. Maybe they have a different genre in mind, something more akin to Knights of the Old Republic, Rogue Squadron, Republic Commando, or a genre that Star Wars hasn’t even touched yet. Whatever it is, Respawn’s history with Titanfall, Apex Legends, and Fallen Order leaves me with full faith that they can do even more for the Star Wars franchise and I hope they get another chance at EA Play.
Skate 4 Confirmed – Blake Morse, Reviews Editor
C’mon EA!!! Enough already! Give it to us! We all want it! Why are you doing this to our feelings? We just want Skate 4! Is that so much to ask? What did we do to you to make you forsake us like this? With games like Session and Skater XL coming to the forefront this summer it would make sense for you to get some skin in the game. And what all the microtransactions you could put in it to get folks buying those exclusive boards. You LOVE microtransactions! How could you turn down such an opportunity?!?!? But for real, please, can I have Skate 4?
Next-generation Strike – Chris Jarrard, Mark for explosions
If the people who mattered value my opinion, I would suggest that EA prepare to show off a new game in the long-dormant Strike series. Once a staple of the 16-bit and 32-bit eras, the Strike game excelled at letting me blow things up from helicopters, stealth bombers, and motorcycles. I would love to get a new Strike game made with AAA production values. Avalanche Studios released Renegade Ops nearly a decade ago, which has been the closest thing to scratching my Strike itch in the years since development halted on the Strike series.
Honorable mentions go to Fight Night, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Def Jam fighting, and NCAA Football. I would appreciate modern interpretations of these PS2-era classics, again with AAA production values and preferably without trading cards, loot drops, and all the other awful stuff that currently infects the EA portfolio circa 2020. And while I still have your attention, I might as well dream for more Road Rash, Crusader, Mutant League Football/Hockey, PC ports for UFC and NHL releases, and maybe a little Freedom Fighters. Please EA, I’ve named like fifteen different things in your back catalogue that would be great. Please don’t let me down. Also, I know that you will 100% let me down.
Burnout 3: Takedown Remaster – Sam Chandler, Guides Editor
This is one of my biggest pipedreams. Burnout 3: Takedown is the pinnacle entry in the series. It managed to expand upon the second game with more modes, better graphics, and a killer soundtrack that helped shape my taste in music.
While some may think of Paradise as the high point, they would be wrong. Paradise lacked the focus and attention to detail displayed in the earlier entries. Each track in Takedown is iconic. I’m fairly certain I remember every inch of every road, right down to the amount of boost, acceleration, and brake I needed to drift perfectly around each corner. Not everything needs to be an open-world, and Paradise suffered because of it.
The only other remaster I would accept would be Burnout Revenge. It had the same qualities of Takedown, albeit with slightly more complexity due to being able to knock into civilian cars. I could take or leave that addition.
I’ll be incredibly disappointed if EA never brings back a quality Burnout game,
Lamar Jackson in all his MVP glory – Donovan Erskine, Intern
Being born and raised in Maryland, I’ve been a die-hard Ravens fan for my entire life. We’ve spent the majority of our 24 year history as the underdog, usually playing second fiddle to the Steelers or the Patriots. Thanks to the great chosen one, Lamar Jackson, I’ve gotten to see my team thrust into the limelight, becoming one of the hottest teams in the league. Jackson recently confirmed in an interview that he’ll be donning the cover of EA Sports’ Madden 21, making him the first Baltimore Raven to grace the Madden cover since Ray Lewis was on the cover of Madden 2005.
I’d love to see a Madden 21 showcase during EA play that spotlights the Baltimore Ravens new look offense, along with league MVP Lamar Jackson. Jackson is one of the most unique players in the league today. Hopefully, this is reflected in Madden 21 with some signature animations and abilities.
Something related to Mass Effect – Brittany Vincent, Senior Editor
I don’t know what I want at this point out of Mass Effect, but I’d like to see something. EA Play seems as good of a place to reveal something for the next game as any, even if it’s just news that an additional Mass Effect entry is still going to happen. Really, anything at all to wipe the horrendous excrement stain that was Mass Effect Andromeda from my memory. More than the worst Mass Effect of the series, it was one of the worst sci-fi RPGs I’ve ever played in my entire life – and yes, I know it’s been “fixed” since I reviewed it – but my problems were with far more than just the bugs and glitches that plagued my playthrough. There was something inherently wrong with Andromeda, and I’m hoping any future installments can help me move beyond that pile of actual trash and start healing. I have a Renegade star tattoo, for crying out loud. Andromeda has moved me to want to remove it. I don’t want to do that, so I need redemption for the series.
Battlefield 6 – Bill Lavoy, Landscaping Noob
Give me Battlefield 6, and by that I mean a return to modern times and technology. Nothing in the future that I have to take a leap with my imagination to get to. I’m all done with the wars of yesterday. I’m ready to play a proper Battlefield game set during current events. It can be fictional, but I want to believe it and recognize landmarks as I fight through the story mode and multiplayer maps. Give me multiple perspectives and plotlines that aren’t as easy as the good versus the bad. Give me a shooter that I can invest in for a few years. One that I want to invest in for a few years.
Star Wars, Skate 4, Battlefield, & so much more – Josh Hawkins, Guides Guy
There’s a time in my life, where I remember the games that EA creating being fun and easy to sink hundreds of hours into. I’m not sure if it’s just because of how young and naive I was at the time, or if the game’s themselves were actually just that good.
That being said, there’s a lot I’d like to see at EA Play. Not only is Skate 4 on the list — something I’m sure we won’t see for sometime, if ever — but I’d love to see a new Star Wars game that actually better captures the feeling of being a Jedi. Respawn’s Jedi Fallen Order was good, but I never felt like it really captured the same feeling that past jedi-centered games did. Respawn wanted to make the swordfighting aspect of being a Jedi stand out, and they did, but at a cost. The game never fully captures the power of being a Jedi — which makes sense as Cal isn’t a full Jedi when you set off on your journey.
When it comes to other franchises, though, I’d love to see a new Battlefield come that brings back modern combat. Since DICE decided to move back in time to World War 1, I’ve never really felt like it captured the series as well. Sure, the games have looked beautiful and combat has remained brutal, but it hasn’t captured the same feeling that I fell in love with back in Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 3. I remember dedicating hundreds upon hundreds of ours into those games, just enjoying the combat that they brought. In fact, Battlefield was the first big series that I got into when it comes to online gaming, and I’d love to be able to fall in love with that series again.
End of the day, though, I just want to see EA do right by the amazing franchises that they have in their pockets. Mass Effect, Battlefield, Skate, Dead Space, and so many other franchises have been picked up and then slaughtered by lazy development and over-eager greedy suits. Give us great games again, EA. We’ve had enough bad from 2020.
Apex Legends campaign mode – TJ Denzer, News from the Outlands
Respawn is really good at creating stories in their action-packed first-person shooters, as should be evidenced by Titanfall 2 and the recent Stories from the Outlands segments they’ve been doing with their characters like Bloodhound. Even before Respawn was putting more narrative into each character reveal and the procession of world changes in their battle royale game, I wanted to know more about these characters they put together, and now with a character like Loba who clearly has a revenge arc going against Remnant, I just find myself wanting more.
It would be so incredibly cool if Respawn and Electronic Arts were to announce an actual story campaign for Apex Legends. I get the feeling that it would be difficult to pull off, but I also feel it would be so worth it. Plus, it would be a great way for players who aren’t necessarily fans of battle royale to engage with this fantastic world and cast of characters Respawn has put together in Apex Legends. The story has always been implied, sitting outside the blatant context of narration via gameplay changes and out-of-game trailers, videos, and web pages. Do it Respawn and EA. Stop teasing me with implied story and give players some tasty Apex Legends lore and narrative with which they can interact front and center.
More Dragon Age – Greg Burke, Deep in the Mines
I have a lot of fond memories of playing Dragon Age: Origins. The game was one of the best RPGs I played on the Xbox 360. Dragon Age 2 was probably the worst RPG I’ve ever played on the Xbox 360, story and character wise, awful. Just awful. Dragon Age: Inquisition was a step forward in the right direction, but it still lacked something. I’d love for Bioware get their head together and make a big comeback with the series. Abandon Anthem and stick to what you folks did best. RPGs with amazing worlds and stories.
Dead Space- David L. Craddock, Long Reads Editor
To me, EA Play has been the least interesting E3-related event for years. BioWare projects surface once in a blue moon, and… you know, I’m sitting here wracking my brain for recent EA games unrelated to sports that I’ve enjoyed, and nothing springs to mind. The best-case scenario for my tastes would be a revival of Dead Space.
Dead Space 4, a Dead Space remake or reboot–doesn’t matter. Just give me EA Redwood Shores’ brand of action-survival horror, and I’ll be there to suit up alongside Isaac Clarke on day one.
Classic Puck Drop- Steve Tyminski, Contributing Editor
Hear me out on this one but I want to see EA bring us a classic NHL game similar to NHL 94, the greatest hockey game of all time. The NHL series comes out yearly but I would love a classic-feel type game like when there was NHL 94 on the NHL14 release as a special edition. Some of my favorite memories are of my brother and I playing NHL 94 on our Genesis and then Super Nintendo version. There are plenty of fans of the classic hockey games and it would be beneficial, financially, to bring a game back in the NHL 94 style.
What do you think? Do you agree with our choices? What are you wanting out of EA Play 2020? Do you even care about EA games anymore? Let us know in the Chatty thread below!
