E3 2009: EA's RPG Offerings are High Levels of Hardcore

If you had told me two years ago that EA would be showing 3 hardcore RPGs at E3, I would have laughed in your face. EA? RPGs? Hardcore? Pfft. What planet are you from?

But since the publisher has decided to put a little more effort into making games for us ("us" meaning "gamers"), their efforts have paid off in spades (at least in reputation). Some of the fruits of their labours include BioWare's two upcoming WRPGs, Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, both of which were shown off during their press conference yesterday. Take a look below.

Dragon Age: Origins



This appears to be one of the bloodiest, one of the most scandalous, and one of the most graphic RPGs of recent memory, and EA makes no apologies for it. In fact, they are releshing in it, as the above trailer so poignantly depicts. And I have to admit, I'm a little intimidated by it.

Dragon Age: Origins will be available for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on October 20, 2009 in North America.

Mass Effect 2



The follow-up to 2007's critically acclaimed science fiction WRPG, Mass Effect 2 looks to be shaping up to outdo its predecessor in every category. Perhaps its only downside is that we have to wait until 2010 to play it.

The above footage really only plays the pre-E3 trailer that we have already seen, which is a little disappointing, but I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about the game as the year presses forward.

Mass Effect 2 will be available for PC and Xbox 360 early next year in North America.

APB (All Points Bulletin)



Finally, EA announced that a strategic parterniship with Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds in order to publisher their upcoming gangs vs. cops MMORPG, APB. Origjnally announced for both Xbox 360 and PC, only the PC version has been confirmed so far. Since it's EA we're talking about, a release on multiple consoles in the future is definitely possible.

Unfortunately, we have no word on a release date other than '2010.'

It should also be noted that EA is publishing BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, though details are still very slim.