It was hard to get comfortable at the Bethesda press conference in Los Angeles this year because Bethesda could not pick a tone. After Pete Hines ripped apart Walmart Canada for leaking Rage 2 and Andrew WK came out to sing a song that left everyone glued to their seats, the people at Bethesda finally landed on the theme of an open mic night at a comedy club. Every game announcement came with one or two bad jokes but luckily for Bethesda, their announcements were big enough to keep everyone tuned in.
From Rage 2 to Fallout 76 the hits just kept on coming.
RAGE 2
Unlike the original Rage, that seemed to be completely devoid of personality, Rage 2 features a very angry protagonist. You could even say he is full of… rage? As you can tell from the trailer, that was not my joke and not the best way to describe the gameplay that was shown.
In the sequel to Rage, you play as a man named Walker, the last Ranger of the Wasteland. Walker will apparently travel seamlessly around an open world map that looks a lot like the original Rage, the wasteland from Mad Max, and earlier Borderlands games. While the overall plot still remains a mystery, a heavy emphasis was placed on high-tech weapons and super-hero body slams.
If you played the original play Rage you already know this, but newcomers should not expect to spend a lot of time hiding behind cover. Instead, running and gunning was the most common gameplay aspect we were shown. Who we will be gunning down remains unclear, but we do know that they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Expect to cut down everything from humans in body armour to two-story tall monsters.
The Elder Scrolls Legends
This is not a new game by any definition, but fans of this card game will be happy to hear that it will be relaunched with overhauled visuals for the PC, phone, and tablet platforms. On top of that, Bethesda also announced that it will be coming to the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year.
If you are already playing this game and want to move platforms you are in luck. Bethesda also stated that any progress from the current versions can migrate over to the consoles by using the login information players are already using to get into the game on the PC, phone, or tablet.
Elder Scrolls Online Summerset
The segment that Bethesda set aside to discuss the Elder Scrolls Online was kind of hard to track. People who play this game will be quick to note that the Summerset DLC was released last week, but this is what Bethesda wanted to talk about. After the press conference was done, I found a recap on the North American Bethesda twitter account, and what they were trying to say was that Elder Scrolls Online has “18 major game updates. 8 DLC game packs. 2 Chapters. And we’re not stopping there. There’s always new horizons to discover and new adventures to be had. The Elder Scrolls Online is only getting bigger and better, and we can’t wait to share it with you.”
What Bethesda is continuing with is more DLC, and the name of the next two DLC packs are Wolfhunter and Murkmire; although, not much was discussed about either pack. Wolfhunter will take you down into dungeons to fight werewolves, and all we know of Murkmire is that you are going back to the Black Marsh to visit the Argonians again.
Neither DLC was given an exact date, but it was implied that both will be playable at some point this year.
DOOM Eternal
Fans of the Doom franchise are probably going to be really disappointed about what Bethesda had to say about the next game in the franchise. The good news is that there is another in the franchise and they are calling it Doom Eternal. In this game the Doom Marine is supposed to be more powerful, demons will appear in greater numbers, and the idea of Hell on Earth might be literal. The bad news is that any specific details will be held back for this year’s QuakeCon in Dallas, Texas.
QUAKE CHAMPIONS
Quake Champions was the next game to be brought out for display, and at this point, dear reader, you know about as much as I do. The developer on hand made vague references to new features that will allow new players to get into the game easier, but he didn’t actually mention what those features would be.
Although, there is a chance that he didn’t say anything because he wants you to find out for yourself. The big news about Quake Champions is that you can download a free-to-play version that is available for this week at quake.com, and players who join in on the free week can continue to play at no cost once the event ends.
PREY: Moon Crash
Fans of Prey will be pleased to hear that a free update is coming for the 2017 edition of Prey. The new content will include a story mode, a new game plus mode, and a very difficult survival mode.
A piece of DLC called Moon Crash is also coming, and it is apparently so dynamic that each run of the DLC will be unique. The people at Bethesda described it as infinitely playable, and the trailer that was shown indicated that you will be timed on each run. Also, a new game mode called Typhon Hunter is coming to Prey as well. In this mode, five players can quickly hide around a map by taking on the shapes of various in-game objects as mimics. At the same time, a 6th player runs around trying to find the other five. Think of it as the Prey version of the Prop Hunt mode you can play in G-Mod, Call of Duty, and other games.
While no details were given, apparently a VR version of Prey Typhon Hunter will launch around the same time as the flat screen version.
WOLFENSTEIN Youngblood
In Wolfenstein, killing Nazis is a family business… and the business has been passed down to the next generation. Wolfenstein: Youngblood is a game set in a 1980’s version of Paris, France. BJ appears to be out of the picture, so his two twin daughters have taken over his role in the resistance and have seemingly inherited their father’s Southern accent and power armour.
This was the majority of the information we were given, but we can tell you that Youngblood is a co-op focused game. If you decide to, two players can take over the controls of one Blaskowicz daughter each, but if you can’t find anyone the game is still playable in solo mode.
Players will have to wait a while to learn more though. Youngblood is coming at some point in 2019, but if you like you can kill some time replaying Wolfenstein 2 on the Nintendo Switch. That port comes on June 29th of this year.
WOLFENSTEIN CYBERPILOT
Little was discussed about Cyberpilot, but we do know it is a VR-focused experience where you play as a hacker that takes over various Nazi robots and turns them against their masters.
SKYRIM Very Special Edition
It was a joke, but it was a funny joke in a press conference that constantly failed to tell a good joke. Take the two minutes it takes to watch this video, you will certainly get a good laugh from it.
FALLOUT 76
Fallout 76 is set in a section of West Virginia that is apparently four times the size of Fallout 4. You play as one of the few selected to live in Vault 76, the flagship vault, and you apparently start the game on the day that the vault was scheduled to open up. Once you wake up you find that everyone else has already left without you, so you venture out alone into the beautiful West Virginia countryside.
Once outside you’ll discover that Fallout 76 is actually an online multiplayer-focused game that lets you play solo or with teams of up to four players. You will be doing a lot of the common things in a modern Fallout game. Expect a lot of questing, killing, and the crafting system from the last game is back. There are a few new mechanics as well, like multiple nuclear launch sites on the map that can be accessed by anyone in the game. Bethesda was not clear on how dynamic the world of Fallout 76 will be, but a demonstration of the nuclear weapons resulted in a lot of dead players.
For more details on Fallout 76, check out Joe DeClara’s write-up on the game, watch the trailer, keep an eye out for the pre-launch Beta test, and buy the game on November 14th 2018.
FALLOUT SHELTER
The same great Fallout Shelter experience you know and love is coming to the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch for free. It’s also already available on those systems.
THE ELDER SCROLLS BLADES
Perhaps the most impressive announcement of the whole press conference was the announcement of a full sized first-person RPG console experience coming to the world of mobile phones. Specifically, an Elder Scrolls style came called Elder Scrolls Blades. In Blades, combat will be touch-based and will use movements that follow your swiping of the screen. Alternatively, you can attach a game-pad to your phone for a traditional Elder Scrolls experience.
You can also expect all of the mechanics one would find in the console versions of these games. These include a lot of running around, fighting monsters, crawling dungeons, and levelling up.
The game will also include three modes. The Abyss is a roguelike experience that goes on until you die. If PvP is your thing, the Arena has 1v1 battles with other players. Finally, the Town appears to be the closest thing players will get to a story. In Blades you come back to your hometown to find it destroyed, so you use the Elder Scrolls house building mechanics to redesign and rebuild your town from scratch.
Fall is the closest assurance we have to a release date right now, but you are able to pre-order the game on the Apple App Store and the Google Play store. No firm details were given, but it appears that Bethesda wants to bring the game to VR, consoles, and other platforms at a later date.
STARFIELD
A game that Bethesda has apparently spent years working on already, but apparently has nothing to show for it. This quick clip of space shows a station and a planet in a sky full of stars.
ELDER SCROLLS 6
The final game announcement was also a teaser with no details given. We were simply shown another short trailer with a standard medieval kingdom in the distance and the game’s title.
Stay tuned to CGMagazine for all the latest updates from E3 2018. Check out our coverage of the Microsoft Xbox Press Conference.
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