E3 2010: EA’s Bid to Reclaim Shooter Crown

By Drake

Part of the E3 2010 Convention Report Collection

One thing was clear in the EA Press Release at E3 2010: they are coming back to reclaim the shooter crown and set the bar higher than before. However, many question if it be done. Can EA topple the reigning king of the genre, Activision, with its Call of Duty Franchise? Just to give an idea of how different EA’s approaches are, let’s jump back to last year. EA was geared towards more family-oriented games such as The Sims 3 and Charm Girls Club, as well as the sports demographic with the announcement of EA Sports MMA and Fight Night 4. This year, however, we’re introduced to titles such as the return of Medal of Honor, Battlefield 2: Bad Company, Dead Space 2, Crysis 2 (which was rather unexpected, at least to me), and Bulletstorm.

Each of the aforementioned shooter/adventure games is reaching out to different genres in the gaming spectrum. For instance, Medal of Honorreaches out to the gamer yearning for a historically accurate video game, this time set in present-day Afghanistan instead of some generic Middle Eastern country. Dead Space 2 is geared toward fans of the horror and adventure genre with its chilling cutscenes and scary monsters. Crysis 2is for those wanting a story while playing a shooter. Finally, Bulletstorm I seriously can’t find the words to explain this game that my editors would allow me to publish (even though I own the site :P). The game just screams epicness using the unreal engine, with pretty over-the-top guns and an interesting skillshot system. 

All in all, it seems EA is hungry for the crown, and will whatever it takes to take it back, so Activision beware! It also looks to be keeping up its competitive edge in other genres as mentioned during the release with a new Madden NFL 11, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, andStarWars: The Old Republic, which, for the record, is setting itself up to be a phenomenal MMORPG that may even topple World of Warcraft. Hey, we can dream, right? In any case, EA has some great forthcoming titles and I, for one, can’t wait!