E3 2016: Bethesda Wrap Up – Stealthily Make Dragons Quake

Published June 1, 2016

Bethesda blew us away last year in their debut E3 conference with the huge reveal of Fallout 4 and DOOM. This year they’re back, but they have considerably diversified their catalog with a wider variety of games and with Dishonored 2 taking the top of the priority list. Their showing this year can be considered on par and exciting, but not really earth shattering. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some surprises along the way. Here’s the rundown.

Quake Champions

As they so proudly announced, Quake is back. The classic fast paced arena shooter is in development for the new age. Unfortunately we only got a cinematic trailer and some info. For one, the game seems to only be confirmed for PC as of yet and they made a point of mentioning how the game runs at 120hz and has an unlocked framerate. We’ll get more info at QuakeCon, but for now, start preparing those reflexes.

Elder Scrolls Legends

Moving on, we get more glimpses into Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls themed CCG. Lovingly called Hearthscrolls or some variation of that combination, Legends takes a lot of notes from the recent popularity that Hearthstone has achieved. It attempts to put its own spin on it by including a story mode and this featured heavily in the conference with a trailer. The game is still a bit precarious and its success hangs in the air, but it can be quite cool if it holds up.

Fallout 4 DLC & Skyrim Special Edition

Fallout 4 received its first wave of DLC already with some construction based add-ons and then Far Harbor, its more populated expansion. They seem to be continuing this trend with three new DLC packs for the game. Contraptions, which is another pack that includes construction based items and such which is available next week. Then there is Vault-Tec that allows you to build your own Vault and experiment on dwellers which is coming in July. Then there is Nuka World, which looks to be the next big expansion.

Then we got the confirmation that there is indeed a Skyrim remaster. It’s called Skyrim Special Edition and it includes some really strong visual improvements for current-gen consoles. The game will also include console mods much in the same vein as Fallout 4. It will be released on the 28th of October for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Prey

Well, that was a surprise. Prey was released way back in 2006, a solid decade ago. It was a great game and we were all waiting for a sequel, but it never came. It got cancelled, rumoured to be returning and so on and so forth. Now we get another game with the exact same name, but looking nothing like the original did. It has a sci-fi horror vibe going on within the trailer we got. It was just a cinematic trailer and we didn’t get much info besides that Arkane Studios is developing it. You play as a man called Morgan Yu, who is the subject of some experiments and you live on a station called Talos I in the year 2032. Aliens attack and it’s up to you to put the stomp on them.

The Elder Scrolls Online

We then got a massive dump of info for Elder Scrolls Online, Bethesda’s MMO. They announced that all players will now be able to explore freely wherever they are regardless of level, class, affinity and so on. Effectively opening the world to everybody with level scaling. There is also an expansion for the game coming this week that deals with the infamous Dark Brotherhood. All two of you that still play this can cheer. There was a certainly one particular woman that was really excited for this.

DOOM

DOOM released to rave reviews, like the man on stage said. However, the multiplayer was sorely lacking thanks to them outsourcing it to a different company. They seem to take matters into their own hands now with the release of new modes such as Classic Deathmatch, capture the flag and capture and hold. There will also be new SnapMap tools and various tweaks to the multiplayer. They also announced 3 new maps that will be coming soon.

Bethesda VR

Yup, Bethesda are joining the VR revolution and in a big way. They aim to make a couple of their games compatible with VR and they are DOOM and Fallout 4. Pretty ambitious for their first titles and it seems it will only be available on HTC ViVe which is slightly odd. Nothing was shown to us, besides that it exists so if you are one of the millionaires that can afford to get VR, you have the right to be excited.

Dishonored 2

And finally, the big one. Dishonored 2 got a lot of air time with them showing a trailer and some missions that you can play in the game. It looks gorgeous with the Void engine making it all possible. They showcased some of Emily’s powers, but also made it known that you can play as Corvo as well. Seeing is believing, really, and you have to watch the trailers above to get wind of all the new tricks and maneuvers you can pull off. The game releases on the 11th of November on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Thabo’s Take

Besthesda have the luxury of always being able to make me excited. Their franchises have taken hundreds of hours from my life and I don’t regret it one bit. Their conference was strong, but there was a lot of filler stuff that I didn’t really care for. Elder Scrolls Legends, while interesting, doesn’t really do anything for me. Elder Scrolls Online that also took a sizable portion was a yawnfest because I have no interest in it. Skyrim remaster we all expected, but it’s still exciting to see it. Prey and Dishonored 2 really stole the show for me and I’m pretty excited to be stealthy again and blink or tentacle my way around.

Nothing truly remarkable happened like a new Elder Scrolls game, but what we got was more than enough. Their presentation style was also decent with it being more relaxed than other conferences. They just wanted us to be excited for their games and they succeeded in that.

BiPolarBear’s Take

While EA loved to throw around titles and talk about the importance of play, Bethesda actually gave us a look at their games. It’s not like it was all pre-alpha footage either, these were real displays of games and content that we will be getting our hands on in the coming months. While the standout for the Bethesda show was easily Dishonored 2, there was enough shown to satisfy most, if not all, Bethesda fans.

I’m mostly glad that they’ve decided to take another crack at Prey, even if I’m not exactly feeling it at the moment. The one thing that oddly stood out was the Elder Scrolls Online One Tamriel update that feels like it may be pushing the MMO in the direction that Elder Scrolls fans had hoped for when the game came out. All in all, I’m quite happy I woke up at 3 a.m. to see it all go down and I can’t wait to get my hands on these games in the coming months.

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MG Thabo

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Marko has played way too many games, listened to way too many metal albums and is probably taller than you. He is a qualified language and communication practitioner and likes to write about the good things in gaming.