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EA's open-world 'Star Wars' game is no more
Remember EA's open-world Star Wars game that promised bounty hunting across the series' universe? Anyone? No? Doesn't matter, it's been scrapped. EA Vancouver has cancelled the project, reports Kotaku, which it inherited in 2017 after shutting down its subsidiary -- and the title's original developer -- Visceral Games (of Dead Space fame).
'Uncharted' creative director Amy Hennig is going indie
Amy Hennig, former writer and creative director of the Uncharted series for PlayStation's Naughty Dog studio, is striking out on her own. After EA shut down Visceral Games she left the company in January to start her "own little independent studio," according to GamesIndustry.biz. "I would love to have a little company of about six to eight people, 15 at the most, and then do smaller projects," she told journalists gathered at Barcelona's Gamelab.
The original 'Dead Space' is free... on EA Origin
Beloved horror survival game Dead Space is now available completely free on PC. The 2008 sci-fi hit is the newest addition to EA's "On the House" offering, and as long as you grab it directly from Origin it's yours without charge, to play and keep forever. That said, it's not clear how long the promotion will run for, so you should probably download it sooner rather than later.
EA shuts down the studio behind 'Dead Space'
So much for hopes of a Dead Space sequel in the near future. EA is shutting down Visceral Games, the studio behind the Dead Space series, Battlefield Hardline and The Godfather. According to EA, the closure is the result of a decision to "pivot" Visceral's Star Wars title. It was intended as a linear, story-driven adventure (not surprising given the involvement of Uncharted director Amy Hennig), but player feedback led EA to decide that a it should be a "broader" game with "more variety and player agency." This included changing "central elements," EA added. To put it another way: the publisher wanted a game that was more, well, EA-like.
Here's everything we saw at EA's E3 'Play' event
Today, video game juggernaut Electronic Arts kicked off this year's Electronics Entertainment Expo with a show all its own. If you weren't a member of the press or one of the lucky few fans that were let into the event to experience it firsthand, don't worry: We've collected all the trailers that made their debut on The Novo theater's stage and put them in one handy spot for you. Want a look at the new multiplayer trailer for October's Titanfall 2? Look no further. How about FIFA 17's intriguing single-player story mode? We've got your back there as well, with a few other bits like a new glimpse at Battlefield 1's World War I action. Join us below, won't you?
Playdate's Xbox 360 Halloween Horror: 'Dead Space' and 'Condemned'
Today on Playdate, we're facing our fears. Not of things that go bump in the night, but of industrial mining spaceships and rabid hobos. It's all in the name of good fun though! We're taking a trip back to check out some of the Xbox 360's best horror games this Halloween week with Dead Space and Condemned: Criminal Origins. Join myself and Sean Buckley for the scream-fest starting at 6PM Eastern / 3PM Pacific for two hours of survival horror here on this post, the Engadget Gaming homepage or Twitch.tv/joystiq if you'd like to make fun of Tim's shrill shouts of terror.
Playdate: Engadget plays the 'Battlefield: Hardline' beta on PS4! (update: game over!)
Welcome, ladygeeks and gentlenerds, to the new era of gaming. The one where you get to watch, and comment, as other people livestream gameplay from next-gen consoles. Because games! They're fun!
TUAW's Daily App: Dead Space
Dead Space is already known as a high-quality title on both consoles and PC, and the sequel just arrived this week to play through. (Though I'm a fan of the series and was even able to play a few preview builds of the game, I haven't had time to play the actual game because of Macworld Expo this week.) But along with the full title, EA has also had its Iron Monkey Studio create and release a Dead Space iOS tie-in, and it's a pretty solid experience. Rather than just rehash the console series, the game is an all-new experience in the Dead Space universe, sporting a pretty impressive recreation of the original game's limb-severing mechanics and horror-based sci-fi setting. You play as a character named "Vandal," a member of the freaky Church of Unitology in the series, who is working on a little sabotage when things go horribly wrong and the series trademark Necromorph baddies start to appear. Just like the full game, the controls are excellent, and while the graphics don't quite scale to the same resolution, they're more than serviceable. The iOS game does a really amazing job of recreating the feel of the full experience. It's not quite as inventive or polished as the full release, but the story especially does a nice job of carrying you right through the game. The game sells for US$6.99 on the iPhone and $9.99 on the iPad, which is quite cheap when you consider what the console versions cost. I should probably say as well that this is definitely a mature game -- while the player death animations aren't quite as gory or detailed as what I've seen in the full title, there are still lots of limbs everywhere and scary moments to experience. The game also offers some microtransactions for power-up items, though the experience is still full-featured without them. And sadly, there's no Game Center integration at all -- this is very much a standalone title. Still, it's an excellent download for fans of the series, and even those who haven't played Dead Space but are still interested in the horror genre should get a kick out of it.
