Bethesda Conference Blowout

Bethesda had their first conference last year, and it was easily one of the most impressive. But that was largely due to the presence of Doom and the hype for Fallout 4. Now, can they match up?

Dishonoured 2 is likely to be the core here, alongside Elder Scrolls Online. It feels like the right time to announce both Wolfenstein 2 and Evil Within 2, which have both seen rumours swirling.

And speaking of rumors, on the outlandish side, we might be seeing a new version of Prey 2 (with less rocket pack powered bounty hunting) and supposedly an Elder Scrolls Remaster? Now. Everyone seems to think this is Skyrim. And to be fair, they’re probably right, that makes the most logical sense. But I’d really love a touched up Oblivion. It’d be an excellent revisit to one of the best games of the modern gaming era.

Oh and maybe Bethesda will remember that they promised us an Elder Scrolls card game. Because they seem to have forgotten that in the Fallout Shelter hype.

Also Blink 182 are supposed to be here. For reasons which have not yet become apparent.

Here we go. An old school boot up disk check sequence shows off each of Bethesda’s games with release dates. But also hides a sneaky tease, in the Wolfenstein section, The New Colossus is listed, but with no release date. That’ll be Wolfenstein 2 then. And the reason it’s not at this conference is because Id are working on:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa-6fQyNkZo&w=560&h=315]

Quake. Huh. Well I suppose since the Doom Multiplayer didn’t land so well, time to win players back. Full Title is Quake Champions. PC only, designed for everyone to play. Reassurance that the game will be 120hz with Unlocked framerates.

Unique and “Badass” Characters for playing. Designed for Esports from the ground up. Bethesda will be supporting competitive tournaments beyond their own Quake-Con.  Where more will be unveiled.

All of Bethesda staff are wearing rainbow pins, which is a nice touch.

Now for Pete Hines.

Recap of the year behind us, Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout Shelter, Fallout 4 and finally Doom.

Straight into Elder Scrolls Legends. They remembered! Story is from perspective of the keepers of the elder scrolls, A moth Priest called Kellen. Nice that the game will have a full campaign, they seem to be throwing their weight behind it. And the main twist on the Card Formula seems to be two lanes to battle.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2e6zkrX1Yo&w=560&h=315]
Legends coming to PC, Mac, IPhone and Android this year.

Now to Todd Howard to see the new Fallout DLC.

Contraptions for Fallout 4 launch next week, elevators and other little mechanical additions to settlements, Followed by a build your own Vault expansion. Where you can play Fallout Shelter in your Fallout.

And a new expansion seemingly set in a Nuka Cola theme park. Neat.

Fallout Shelter gets a load of new content and characters, coming to PC in 2016 also.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF2Qw9BI6Rg&w=560&h=315]

And Skyrim Special Edition is confirmed. Immediate graphical overhaul with confirmation of mods on consoles. I wished for Oblivion, but I’m not surprised. On PC too, which is interesting. If you own the original and all the expansions, this will be a free upgrade. Kudos, that’s a smart move.

Now to Arkane Studios.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q38yi0NmAm0&w=560&h=315]

And now, a first person game set in the future. Trailer shows the same event repeating,. It’s actually a monstrous evil facility where a character named Morgan is being experimented on. Also there are monsters. Well, looks like Prey is real. And it’s just straight up Space Horror.
Space Station designed to elevate humanity but then aliens have invaded to hunt the humans. And it’ll release next year.

Following that, we’re going back to Doom, thanking the fans, and talking about updates for SnapMap. New modes and map skins throughout the year.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLi1rdhz908&w=560&h=315]

First Premium DLC pack. 3 New maps for Multiplayer, New Mode, Weapons and gear.

Now we’re going to talk about ShareWare. Anyone on PC, Xbox or PS4 can, for this week, play Doom’s first level for free.

Zenimax Online Studios means we’re going to move onto Elder Scrolls Online. Highlight reel of all the best parts of the game, since the PC launch.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU8CPK2pGW0&w=560&h=315]

June 23rd, game launches in Japan. Dark Brotherhood DLC is available this week. Set in Oblivion’s Dark Brotherhood sanctuary, which makes a lot of sense. Easily one of the best parts of that game, might as well play off it.
“One Tamriel” announced. The game will level to you, so all content restrictions and level caps are removed. Anyone can go anywhere from the moment the tutorial ends.
That actually sounds really great. I like just exploring in MMO’s.

Ah, Blink 182 are playing the aftershow. And BethesdaVR is up with two games.

Virtual Tour of hell in Doom.

Fallout 4 is also in VR. Released in 2017 on the HTC Vive.

One more thing, Which is Dishonoured because you haven’t shown us it yet.

Harvey Smith, creative director, takes the stage. Time to see Gameplay for the first time.

Graphically looks on par with dishonoured, but the bright Mediterranean sun and theming allows for a much more varied art style in Karnaca.
Custom Game engine, The Void Engine, designed around Dishonoured’s distinct art style of a Panting in motion. Lots of backstory will be present in incidental details, as the developers want to tell you the world’s history through that.

Starts and ends in Dunwall, but spend most of the game in Karnaca

Corvo and Emily being discussed as characters, what would Emily be like as a character following the events of the first game? Emily is Empress, but mentored by Corvo. Someone is murdering the Empire’s enemies, and  when an otherworldly foe takes the throne, the player must choose between Emily or Corvo to take it back.

Both characters are fully voiced and acted, with equal weight in the story.

Mission design is being showcased in a gameplay session. Area called the Dust District, ravaged by storms. Choose between Street Gang, Religious Cult, or Neither in order to complete your missions.
The game really looks stunning, with vertical space being utilised even more than in the original game. Storms and Weather allow for stealth based gameplay to change on the fly. Wind powers many of the machines, so turning off windmills allows movement around the city.

Game Skips ahead past a surprisingly clunky looking combat sequence.

So Emily can Mesmerise foes, allowing her to sneak past with no repercussions. Emily can pull objects, as well as enemies using her own skills. Both characters have fully upgradeable skill trees.

Domino power connects enemies so they share status effects.
Shadow Walk is a power that allows Emily to take on a spectral, ghostlike form.

Next mission is called “A Crack in a Slab”, takes place inside a ruined manor wracked by supernatural events, but with the capability to move back in time within the manor to when it was still guarded and whole. A puzzle mission based around using the timelines to plan out your moves and then execute. Very promising if this is the level of depth in each of the missions.

November 11th release.
Special Edition with Corvo’s mask and Emily’s ring.

Preorder for Dishonoured Definitive Edition.

Gameplay trailer Launch, Embedded below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNFtACeifcU&w=560&h=315]

Now obviously it was going to be hard to match up to last years showcase, but I feel that Bethesda has done a very respectable job. Dishonoured 2 especially looks great, Prey looks properly horrific and I’ll take a crack at more Fallout DLC any day. Quake Champions needs gameplay to matter at all, especially in a post Overwatch world.Doom multiplayer isn’t too much of a draw for me. ESO is just going to keep on rolling, but One Tamriel is an idea I want to keep an eye on. The Card Game is not for me, and may have to work a little harder to define itself against stuff like Heathstone and Gwent.
Skyrim Special Edition is just a license to print money, so can’t really fault that. Commitment to mods on console is good too.