STACK #202 Aug 2021

GAMING FEATURE

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COME OUT AND PLAY WITH EA!

Lost in Random (September 10) The EA Originals programme has given us some top gameplay from the likes of the Unravel games, A Way Out and the recent It Takes Two , and they’re set to be joined by this latest effort from Sweden’s Zoink!. The first thing that strikes you about Lost in Random is the unique art style – with a hand-painted meets Claymation kind of vibe, as well as a real gothic, Tim Burton-esque influence. One of just eight games to feature in this year’s Tribeca Film Festival’s Games Spotlight, as protagonist Even you and your sentient dice buddy Dicey set out to break the curse of Random, experiencing unique combat systems along the way. Dead Space (2023) The final mic-drop of proceedings came in the form of a teaser for the much-anticipated return of this classic EA sci-fi horror franchise. Coming exclusively to new-gen consoles and PC, the 2008 original is being completely rebuilt by Motive Studios using EA’s Frostbite engine, promising upgrades to the game’s story, characters and gameplay mechanics, with input from hardcore fans. If you’ve never had the pleasure, Dead Space is the tale of Isaac Clarke, an engineer who’s assigned to repair massive starship the USG Ishimura. The only problem is that something’s gone horribly awry, as the ship’s crew has been slaughtered, and infected by some form of alien virus. Oh yeah, and Isaac’s partner is lost somewhere on board... Isaac must battle alien necromorphs and his dwindling sanity in order to survive.

Having sidestepped E3 this year in favour of presenting their own big show, the 2021 mix of EA Play Live had som e hot updates up its sleeve, plus a couple of pleasant surprises. Words Amy Flower

Hosted by WWE champ Xavier Woods (aka Austin Creed), we received news covering the gamut from indies to sports, and shooters to a sci-fi classic. Here’s our pick of the ones to really watch.

GRID Legends (2022) First up came the welcome announcement of a new instalment in Codemasters’ classic

GRID series. Taking a leaf from its sibling F1 2021 , GRID Legends is set to introduce a full-on story mode on top of all the wild vehicular action. This will add an extra layer of competition, with top-notch actors signing on for live action sequences, including Sex Education ’s Ncuti Gatwa. This footage is being created using the same cutting edge virtual environment tech that they use in making The Mandalorian . Beyond the story, we’re promised cool hooning locations like Moscow and London, as well as a greater range of vehicles than ever, including touring cars, muscle cars, open wheelers, trucks, electric vehicles, hypercars, drift monsters and more, plus there’ll be modes where they can all be raced against each other - witnessing a big rig ploughing through an open wheeler is carnage in the extreme!

Battlefield 2042 (October 22)

It's this year’s big one for shooter lovers, and a whole new mode was unveiled that’s set to pay big time service to fans. Named Battlefield Portal , this community- driven mode is set to “change the rules of war”, by presenting collisions of

FIFA 22 (October 1) The EA Sports staple soccer series is set to unleash a whole reality upgrade this year with its first truly new-gen outing, via what EA are calling ‘HyperMotion’. We already got a taste of this recently in a new reveal, but two new Ultimate Team Heroes were unveiled to join the likes of Milito, Gomez, Keane and Australia’s Tim Cahill, in Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Lars Ricken.

different eras via reimagined content from Battlefield 1942 , Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 , plus all seven maps from the new release’s main campaign. Players will be able to create their own battles and share them, with power over several variables in order to create truly unique scenarios. Portal is set to be available when Battlefield 2042 launches.

38 AUGUST 2021

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