Steam has long been at the top of the games digital distribution scene. That being said, EA is one of the biggest names in the gaming industry, and while they could have chosen to sell their games via Steam, their decision to maximize their profits by making use of the in-house Origin has been a great idea, considering how quickly Origin has matured into becoming a strong challenger to Steam. Launched back in 2011, EA’s Origin is an online gaming, digital distribution, and digital rights management (DRM) platform that allows users to purchase games primarily developed by Electronic Arts, and download them with the Origin client. Origin also provides its users with Origin Access, a premium membership where the members get unlimited access to the games in the Vault Games, and it can be availed for $4.99/month or $29.99/year. While Origin’s game library is filled with some great titles, we bring to you the 15 best games on Origin that you should definitely check out:
1. Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2
Plants vs. Zombies has been one of EA’s top-selling titles for a long time. While the original gameplay had a 2D lawn in which there were plants on one end and zombies on the other, the user had to pot various plants and grow them, and the objective of the game was to kill all the zombies. Now, with the Garden Warfare series, EA has taken a spin at it, making it a third person shooter. While the objective still remains the same, to kill all the zombies, the newly enhanced gameplay gives it a different feel altogether.
Garden Warfare takes all the characters from the original Plants vs. Zombies and models them in a 3D universe where the player controls the characters and shoots the enemies in a third person shooter format. While Garden Warfare was the start of this, Garden Warfare 2 was definitely the step in the right direction for a sequel. The gameplay has improved a lot, and while the concept and graphics are quite childish, it is definitely a game for all ages.
Buy: ($19.99)
2. The Witcher 3
While Witcher 3 is a product of the team behind Projekt RED, before its launch, Electronic Arts had acquired the rights to the Witcher franchise, thus making it one of those rare games in which EA played no role on the development end, and yet was made available on the Origin Store. Set in a world created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher combines spectacular action with an intriguing storyline.
You are a Witcher, a warrior who has been trained to fight since childhood, subjected to mutations and trials that have transformed you. While the first two editions of the series engage the user into combat from the get-go, Witcher 3 is an exception to that, appealing to the user from an entirely different standpoint. Beautiful graphics, epic fights and over 100 hours of gameplay whilst maintaining the entire randomness of a wild, open and exhilarating fantasy roleplaying experience helped in making Witcher 3 the all-time highest Game of The Year award holder with 251 GOTY awards. If that isn’t enough to make you want to give it a try, I don’t know what is.
Buy: ($39.99)
3. The Sims 4
Sims, as the name suggests, is a simulator, in which the user is responsible for creating, managing, and controlling the lives of tiny computerized people who dwell in miniature homes. Launched back in 2000, the original Sims was built on the concept of controlling lives, rather than controlling a city (which was the concept of SimCity). Ever since then, the series hasn’t ever turned back, with the Sims franchise growing as big as one could imagine. And rightly so, considering it’s a proper mean of escaping one’s life and living someone else’s while having full control on almost everything around you.
The Sims 4 is the latest edition in the Sims franchise. The whole point of a simulator is how close the game is to the reality and The Sims 4 gets as real as it can be. Enriched with realistic emotions, natural behavior, truly expressive and highly customizable characters, The Sims 4 is the most polished and enjoyable titles of the Sims series. While being launched in the fall of 2014, multiple DLCs and expansion packs have been released for the game, making it one of the most loved games ever.
Buy: ($39.99)
4. Mass Effect Trilogy
Mass Effect is one of the gaming’s most acclaimed franchises till date and the initial story line-up of the first three parts are available in a packed premium set on EA’s Origin. The series is one of the best sci-fi shooters of all time, comparable to the likes of Halo, except that the way Mass Effect’s storyline is developed is totally different. As Commander Shepard, you rise to become the galaxy’s most elite soldier and lead an all-out war to stop an ancient and ruthless enemy: the Reapers.
As compared to the aforementioned Halo and other sci-fi shooters, Mass Effect attempts to bring a tell-tale sort of gameplay interaction to their storyline. Depending upon the player’s responses to each conversation and task, the story changes its pace and direction. But it’s not just the story that sells, the entire heart pounding action gameplay of the Mass Effect series is what keeps the player engrossed for hours and hours. With over 75 hours of content and more than 300 awards, the Mass Effect Trilogy is easily one of the first recommendations for any FPS lover.
Buy: ($29.99)
5. Battlefield 1
Once considered the only worthy contender to challenge the highly esteemed Call of Duty franchise, and now regarded above it, the Battlefield franchise is now bigger than ever. Primarily known for their massive multiplayer, with the introduction of Battlefield 1, EA has shown us the true potential of the Frostbite Engine, bagging in multiple storylines and a super expansive online multiplayer of up to 64 players.
The Call of Duty franchise was heavily criticized for bringing on nonsensical futuristic features to their titles, instead of sticking to the realistic warfare that made them famous. And this exactly what EA took advantage of, building the Battlefield 1 around the World War environment, and building around 6 different war stories, each with its own unique style of gameplay. Battlefield 1 is the biggest success in the franchise, and the multiplayer of this game is beyond words. It is, truly, one of the best FPS games ever made.
Buy: ($59.99)
6. Titanfall 2
Imagine yourself being a highly trained fighter, and you’ve been given control of a big mechanized fighting robot, like a Transformer, and you have to fight enemies alike. Sounds interesting? Well, that’s the concept that Titanfall is built upon. Titanfall is Respawn Entertainment’s crown jewel, and the franchise has grown to appeal to gamers on a very large scale.
When the first concept of Titanfall was showcased, what everyone expected was something beyond the initial presentation. While the first edition of Titanfall was focused only on their 6v6 multiplayer, it was Titanfall 2 that brought about a campaign mode, that instantly reminded the fan base what they actually wanted from the game. Titanfall 2 builds along the same multiplayer concept of its predecessor while bringing an interesting storyline to it, and enhanced gameplay. It’s not often when we sequels actually improve upon their previous editions, but Titanfall 2 is surely one such exception.
Buy: ($39.99)
7. Crysis 3
Launched back in 2013, Crysis 3 is the latest iteration the highly successful Crysis franchise, a franchise that completely redefined the way we perceived the concept of sci-fi shooters. Based on one of the most advanced and powerful gaming engines – CryEngine3, Crysis 3 builds upon the storyline of its predecessors, where the main player wears a high-tech nanosuit and has to square off against his enemies in an intense environment.
Brought to you by the same team that built the first Far Cry in 2004, Germany’s Crytek has pioneered into developing a masterpiece for the gaming fans. The graphics on this game were way ahead of its time, considering that Crysis 3 was launched back in 2013, and it still manages to bottleneck many GPUs of this generation. Players take control of Prophet as he progresses through New York City to defeat the Ceph, a technologically advanced alien race. The game with its splendid graphics, an interactive storyline, and insane action gives the user a breathtaking experience.
Buy: ($19.99)
8. Dead Space Trilogy
Dead Space is a survival-horror franchise, that is built around the protagonist – Isaac Clarke and how he takes up the fight to protect the human race from the mysterious Markers and its Necrospawn. Visceral Games’ highly modified Godfather engine handily renders everything in glistening, crystalline clarity giving users the perfect mix of supreme graphics and an engaging gameplay. The story behind Dead Space takes place hundreds of years in the future, during a time when mankind has exhausted all of the natural resources on Earth. Apparently, in this dire time, humanity has mastered space travel, and a process known as planet cracking has been developed to combat this drought.
Each and every title in this franchise has something great to offer of its own while maintaining a uniform storyline, which makes it a must play.
Buy: ($19.99/game)
9. Dragon Age: Inquisition
Role-playing games are a genre enjoyed by a majority of gamers, and if you ask them their favorite games, the top answers in most cases will undoubtedly be the Dragon Age series. Starting with Dragon Age: Origins, continuing with Dragon Age 2 and finally leading up to the Dragon Age: Inquisition, the entire franchise has always and always been a best-seller. The series focuses on the continent of Thedas and tells stories spanning multiple nations and various time periods.
In Dragon Age: Inquisition, you are the Inquisitor, tasked with saving the world from itself. But the road ahead is paved with difficult decisions. Thedas is a land of strife where factions constantly war with each other. It is your job to hold together a team of champion warriors and lead them to victory. With over 90 hours of gameplay, Dragon Age: Inquisition is one of the most expansive RPGs filled with a gorgeous and interactive open-world.
Buy: ($19.99)
10. Mirror’s Edge
Launched back in 2009, EA’s Mirror’s Edge quickly became one of their best selling and widely acclaimed games, simply because of the genre it was based on and how beautifully everything was implemented. Parkour games is not a genre that most game developers usually prefer to venture out on, simply because of the precision that’s required in that. But Mirror’s Edge was the exception to that, having pioneered the genre with its own spin at it.
In Mirror’s Edge, there’s a nebulous government attempting to squash the resistance networks of which you’re a part. You play as Faith, a remarkably athletic runner caught in an ill-defined web of conspiracy and betrayal, and it seems your only way out is to run your ass off. The best part? It’s all in an immersive first-person mode. While a sequel to the game was released, Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, it couldn’t live up to the name of the original title. If you’ve ever gone running, you sure would know the thrill and joy of matching your steps to the beats of the song that’s stuck in your head. And if you’re into parkour, take my word for it, there isn’t a better game out there for this genre.
Buy: ($19.99)
11. This War of Mine
This War of Mine is a war survival video game developed and published by 11-bit studios. While most games focus on having the user engrossed to the game by a gameplay that revolves around the user’s style and makes them sort of achievable or winnable, This War of Mine instead is a much more realistic game that revolves around the concept of war that eventually, anyone can be met with the welcoming hand of death, for literally no reason at all.
It is a survival-themed strategy game where the player controls a group of civilian survivors in a makeshift shelter in the besieged, war-torn fictional city of Pogoren, Graznavia. The main goal of the game is to survive the war with the tools and materials the player can gather with the characters they control. It’s game that always keeps the user’s mind filled with the sad concept it is built upon, and questions the act of morality in order to survive.
Buy: ($19.99)
12. The Surge
Tagged as the “Hardcore Action RPG”, The Surge was described as the hybrid of the “Rise of the Robots” and “Souls” series of modern games. Though personally, I’d consider it a mixed bag between the aforementioned two games, “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance” and Deck13’s own “Lords of the Fallen”. So considering I’ve named quite a lot of big titles already, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that The Surge is a carefully and beautifully crafted masterpiece.
The game takes place in a dystopian future where mankind has exhausted the world’s resources, leading to strained social service and environmental diseases. The gameplay involves players using an exoskeleton to battle enemies, which can be customized through the game using modular upgrades. Overall, the game does tend to give the user hints of Titanfall as well. The Surge in itself has its own place in the gaming world. Providing over 40 hours of combat driven gameplay, The Surge is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for an action RPG.
Buy: ($49.99)
Some Great Upcoming Games on Origin in 2017
E3 2017 was a huge success for Electronic Arts where a lot of major titles were announced. Most of these titles are discussed below, which are also available for pre-order:
1. Need For Speed: Payback
Need For Speed – a franchise bigger than any other racing game with over 150 million sales worldwide. After a few failures, the NFS franchise is going back to its roots and then some. By roots, I am referring to the functionality of being able to completely customize and modify your ride to suit your preference, something that was implemented beautifully in Underground 2 and Most Wanted (2005).
To add to that, the game includes a “Heist Mode”, something that has been highly inspired by the Fast and Furious movie series. Set in Fortune Valley, the game gives racers the complete freedom to choose their missions and races, and own the streets. Even though the final game might differ from the one showcased at E3, the game does look promising.
Preorder: ($59.99)
2. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
Star Wars is one of the universe’s most beloved storylines, and to have a video game on that is everyone’s fantasy. That fantasy came true in the fall of 2015 when EA announced Star Wars Battlefront, an action-shooter-RPG, which gave users the ability to control the players from the movie series. But what was missing from the first Titanfall is exactly what was missing from the first Battlefront – a single player mode. And that is exactly what Battlefront 2 brings to the table in 2017 – an immersive and engaging single player mode that everyone truly wanted.
The campaign is set right after Death Star 2 explodes, and ends around the time that Starkiller Base does – a story ambitiously spanning almost 30 years. The players take control of an elite Imperial Commander called Iden Versio, though there will also be segments that have you have you control Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren. Furthermore, the single player is going to have space battles, similar to the ones experienced in the first edition, adding to the truly mesmerizing experience.
Preorder: ($59.99)
3. FIFA 18
Ah, yes, how can we forget about the world’s most famous sport and its most famous simulation game? FIFA – the name behind the lovely sport and the amazing game. As always, coming this fall is the next addition to FIFA, the FIFA 18. Powered by Cristiano Ronaldo, the game improves upon the features that made FIFA 17 a great success, and as always, some new tweaks.
To start off, players will see a sequel to Alex Hunter’s story mode in this year’s game, where he faces the conundrum of which club to choose to play for. Next up, we have the much more realistic player movements, improved stadiums, a better stamina system, improved HUD system, and as always, a much better FIFA Ultimate Team. While more features are expected to come, the game already sounds not just one, but a number of steps in the right direction.
Preorder: ($59.99)
SEE ALSO: 20 Best Indie Games for PC You Should Play
The Best Origin Games You Can Play
Origin is Electronic Arts magic child, and it has proved time and again that it is one of the best platforms for digital game distribution. Furthermore, being the only platform where you can avail all the AAA and AA titles marketed and/or developed by EA, Origin has succeeded in locking down its customers. Add to that Origin Access and you have with yourself a worthy Steam competitor.
Well, these are the 15 best games on Origin you can play. So, check them out and share with us your favourite EA games and what you love about them in the comments section below.
