The Bethesda press conference starts with Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb. I’ve loved watching them since they used to be the hosts of X-Play and even before that with earlier Tech TV. Of course, it takes a little time for the main event to kick off so they show off the trailer for Fallout 4 Far Harbor. It definitely feels like Lovecraft meets Bioshock with the general atmosphere, architecture and the creepy aquatic like enemies. They follow it up with a trailer of Fallout 4\’s settlement building. A tribute to an oft times frustrating game aspect. They follow up with a snippet on Fallout Shelter and on the mods available on Xbox. It is noted the Mods will arrive on PS4 by the end of the month. They also express their love for Doom’s snap maps, which I can’t fault.
Morgan mentions how she is in the beta for Elder Scrolls Legends. It was announced at PAX East and is currently in closed beta at the moment. It’s the strategy card game built on the lore of the ES franchise. They switch gears again to Elder Scrolls Online. 2 Years plus and running strong. The constant updates with new content have brought it from a shaky MMO to 2015s MMO of the Year.
We take a quick flash back to earlier in the day when Adam and Morgan were outside with a cosplayer dressed as the Keeper from the Evil Within. It’s impressive enough to show off, and Adam mentions since he first beat the game he has replayed the game several times since because of his survival horror love. We switch over to the Dishonored 2 trailer from last year. Clockwork robots that give anything from Doctor Who a run for their money vs Emily Kaldwin. The fight is on. They mention the current date for the game is set as November 11th of this year. Morgan like to point out she will play as Emily since this time around they give you the option to play as either Emily or the Returning Corvo. There are comments made about how there are significantly less visible rats scampering around, though there are new Blood Flies of some kind that appear to take their place. With all of the blood in the streets of what appears to be a whaling town, it is likely there is an ample number of them.
We get to the show proper now. It is interesting as it goes through what is visually an old boot sequence with some associated command prompts. I see commander Keen somewhere in that header. Okay, so a new Quake multiplayer is getting a premier. Characters with unique abilities. Some really interesting designs. This takes us back. Tim Willits comes out to tell us about it. With the growing strength of E-sports leagues, we are reminded that Quake pretty much started it all 20 years ago. August in Dallas Texas we have Quakecon coming up where there are said to be several big announcements or trailers planned. The Quake game is specifically called Quake Champions. Each character will be wholly individual with appearances and powers which the trailer really showcased.
Now is Bethesda’s E3 Showcase. We start with Elder Scrolls Online which had come to consoles last year. Fallout Shelter was released to millions of downloads. Fallout 4 has received GOTY awards. Xbox One has mods, which is out for a console with PS4 on the way. Doom just released completely faithful to it’s iconic legacy. Snap map has been twisted to make amazing maps so far.
Now, we switch back to Elder Scrolls Legends. It’s shown that the story is being told by a moth priest with the trailer we see. The game is a strategy card game, relying on a two lane setup. The game will have both single and multiplayer play. It will be released in full before the end of the year. We are taken to Bethesda Studios and are treated to what we will be seeing in the future of Fallout 4. Elevators, track kits, conveyor belts, and contraptions in general. Even a bigger surprise is the idea that you can build your own vault, and even experiment on the hapless residents that will be residing within. All by July. Nuka world is also shown as the next full expansion that will also be released in August. Fallout Shelter will also be getting a big expansion with new characters, revised battle system and new content in about every regard. This will also be in July. That includes a new PC release for the game now as well.
Now, we have the announcement of the Skyrim Special Edition. New shaders for water and snow. Updated textures. Totally overhauled art assets. Anyone with the complete collection will be eligible for a free upgrade, while consoles it will be a new release. It was also shown that like with Fallout 4, the use of mods should be available to the console versions. Bethesda has truly unified their gaming perspective and brought a real universal experience across the board.
Dishonored developers Arkane Studios have a new game to announce. We see a man with a recurring series of events in his life. And, a left eye that turns awfully bloodshot, as well as experimentation being done to him. It starts to show shadowy tendrils spreading on this man’s arms. We start to see crazy shadows begin to move, looking like whispy Roachmen. It seems a little surreal, but it turns out we are on a space station. Now, it is stated this is the new Prey game that has been rumored. The station seems to be called Telos 1. It is said you will have mind bending abilities though what this entails isn’t entirely elaborated upon. It will be available next year and Quakecon will have more information.
News switches to Doom at this point. Snap maps will be getting new content, and they mention replicating the single player experience though the exact details don’t seem available yet. Classic Deathmatch will be one of three modes added into the game for free here next month. New DLC multiplayer content is being released as we have been seeing. They mention the new Doom was released to universal acclaim, and I would agree. They mention shareware, and how now they simply call it a demo. Well, for the next week they will have the first level of the new Doom available for anyone to download. It will expire after this week, but it’s one hell of an incentive to play. I liked the tagline. Download Doom and fight like hell.
We switch to ESO news again. They are over 7 million users, and they will be opening up to allow for players in Japan June 23rd. A brand new territory to expand into. They also have a montage of big events of the last year, but the funniest part is just a bunch of crabs meandering. That brief levity Bethesda is so great at injecting for great humorous value. They also show off what looks to be amazing Dark Brotherhood DLC content, and if it is at all comparable to Dark Brotherhood material that has come before, it will be an exceptional addition. Now comes a bombshell. One Tamriel. Any character outside of the tutorial can travel anywhere, party up with any players. No level restrictions. A first for MMOs they say, and I can not honestly recall anyone beating them to the punch on this. Unless research proves otherwise, I believe this is correct. All content barriers will be gone. This will be in updates coming in the fall.
It is shown that Fallout 4 will be receiving a port to the HTC Vive. Bethesda is still working diligently on their VR projects, though silently since their prior showings at E3 2012.
Dishonored 2 rounds up this lineup. They say there hasn’t been news since they’ve been in “stealth mode”, and that they love the simple concept of a supernatural assassin traversing a steampunk city. Karnaka is the new location highlighted in the game. Said to be based on southern Europe in particular, the vistas and architecture are made to reflect this. It’s shown the city is built on older iterations of itself with old defunct signage, faded paint and logos that are painted over and buildings that have been built over with time. They really know how to give a history to their setting, and to create a fully believable reality to it all. Their world building was one of the highlights of their work with Dunwall in the first game. The game is set 15 years after the original, though it does start in Dunwall. Emily is now the Empress with Corvo serving her interests. When a series of murders occur of Emily’s opponents, Corvo falls into public scrutiny, though he says he is working to sort out the issues. A brutal incident occurs at the anniversary of Emily’s mother Jessamine Kaldwin’s murder. Emily’s throne is usurped by what was stated to be a Supernatural enemy. The main characters, of which you choose between Emily and Corvo escape to Karnaka to unravel the mysterious conspiracy that has upended events.
Here, we start to see more of the actual gameplay in Dishonored 2. We are treated to two areas, both with Emily to showcase her power set and highlight the many ways in which it is different from Corvo’s. The Dust District is introduced. There are random dust storms that influence stealth and progression which also earns quips from Emily as the level is played. The game is stated to build off of the rivalry of two factions. The Overseers and the Howlers. The way the game is played is again confirmed to be reflected in the endgame scenarios. It is shown there is a much greater reliance on vertical climb, and Emily has a ranged grab called Far Reach that is efficient with this. The society in the game seems to run on wind power, as shutting down a mill also deactivates a wall of light, so quick thinking is always going to be the heart of the game. Other abilities shown are Shadow Walking and Domino. Domino links the effects on one character to all others that are linked. This seriously seems like a gamebreaker in many ways. It’s mentioned that all powers will be fully upgradable in multiple ways.
They mention the game runs on the newly designed Void Engine. They mention they have continuously worked with the lighting to make it appear as a “Painting in Motion”. They state they like to take an interesting concept and build entire areas around what they come up with. The ingenuity they show is a product of this, and it’s appreciated they have no reservations about pushing the envelope. We are treated to the second area now. It’s a derelict mansion. They show a timepiece that belongs to the Outsider, and how it allows passage between the events of two timelines. The effects of such a bizarre setting stem from an occult action taken on the site which is the plot reason for a region where your powers are unable to properly function. It’s interesting to see how this is utilized, as it makes interesting puzzles as most split world situations tend to present. They show a collectors edition available with Corvo’s mask and Emily’s ring. As usual, this will be while supplies last.
They finish by giving everyone free commemorative t-shirts, and live video chatting with all of their development teams around the world. It is definitely a great way to wrap up the event. They do mention that a purchase of a version of Dishonored 2 from the digital store can award a customer with a free copy of Dishonored 1 Definitive Edition. It’s always good to see such an incentive for the fans.
We are treated to several interviews by Adam and Morgan expanding on what we saw tonight with the developers. Partly it’s a repeat of the trailers we saw again, but we get a lot of hints to wait for Quakecon. Now we wrap up as Blink 182 is kicking off their tour for the aftershow. An interesting way to end.
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