Bethesda at E3 2018 recap

Well, to start, there was a lot of hype going into this conference, and while it started slow, it certainly lived up to the hype in the end. Many games were made official, and a few new ones were made official that we didn’t expect at all. So let’s get started shall we?

To start off with, RAGE 2 got its first gameplay experience trailer, after an awkward yet spirited performance by Andrew WK, which I personally enjoyed because there was a rock keyboard. Anyways, onto the trailer itself.

The game looks like Mad Max and Borderlands had a baby, and it is very graphically pleasing. The gameplay itself reminded me of Bulletstorm (the boomerang), and there was a lot of talking by the protagonist, like Bulletstorm. There was even a bit in the middle where a bandit watched a TV commercial, for the game itself. It looks good, but we’ll see with the final product whether it lives up to the hype. It is set to be released in Spring of 2019.

Next up, DOOM Eternal was teased, and not much was said about it, except that it will be “Hell on Earth”. More will be released at QuakeCon later this year.

Prey recieved a bunch of new updates. Three new modes: New Game+ and Story Mode, both of which are available right now for free, and a paid DLC called Mooncrash. Mooncrash is said to be “infinitely replayable”, check out the trailer. There was also another separate competitive mode called “Typhon Hunter” where 5 humans go againse one mimic. All of this sounds interesting and fun, now I want to go buy the game…

A new game in the Wolfenstein series was announced- Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Set in the 80’s, it features BJ and Anya’s twin daughters! It can be played co-op or solo (but it’s probably a lot more fun co-op) and it’s coming out next year. It looks like it could be a lot of fun, and as a fan of the Wolfenstein series, I’m definitely down to play this one.

The Elder Scrolls series has some changes as well. Elder Scrolls: Legends (something that I keep meaning to pick up and play at some point) is getting a visual overhaul, and is coming out later this year on Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. The Elder Scrolls Online is getting a new paid DLC, and this time it’s a dungeon. It’s called “Wolf Hunter”, and it’s a dungeon based around werewolves, sounds interesting. Something funny, Skyrim: Very Special Edition has a trailer here, and it’s great in all the right ways.

In Fallout news, Fallout Shelter is coming to the PS4 and Switch tonight.

But now the game that everyone has been waiting for: Fallout 76. Will it be a multiplayer, survival, battle royale amalgamation of everyone’s worst fears? Hold your horses, and come take the Country Roads with me.

Set in West Virginia, you are being let out of Vault 76 about 25 years after the bombs dropped. The Vault itself has an American theme, and it looks like an inticing start to the game. Bethesda is staying true to their commitment to make more single player games, but also branching out a bit into the multiplayer realm. You can play Fallout 76 solo like the other games, but you can also team up with friends to do quests, build bases (which are now portable and not tied down to specific locations), defeat giant sloth monsters, and many other things available to you in the game. There will be dedicated servers able to sustain the game “for years to come”, and you won’t have to share the server with hundreds of other people, only dozens. Death does not mean loss of progression, and the game is described by Todd as more of “softcore survival”. Also, the biggest surprise of all (at least for me), there are active nuclear silos that you can use on other players. It’s gonna be so much fun, and I personally can’t wait for this. Luckily, they’re doing a beta test for it, which you can register for at bethesda.net. There is also the Power Armor Edition of the game, which includes a wearable helmet. Check out the gameplay trailer, and see the entire Fallout presentation here.

After this, Bethesda announced a few other things:

The Elder Scrolls: Blades is a new mobile game being developed for Apple and Android devices that is a “full Elder Scrolls experience”. It can be played in landscape and portrait mode, or as Todd called it “meeting mode”, and there is a town building mode where you can even visit your friend’s towns. It looks like it’s worth a try, especially since it’s free.

Starfield, long thought to be only a rumor, was given a really short teaser trailer. It looks to be a sci-fi game, and it’s being developed for “next-gen” consoles, so we probably won’t see it for a while, but it’s good to know that it’s more than just a rumor.

And to wrap up the night, The Elder Scrolls 6 was teased with some landscape shots and theme music, but everyone (myself included) still freaked out about it.

That’s all from the Bethesda conference. A link to the full conference is here, and a full in-depth article on what we know about Fallout 76 will be coming soon. If you want to keep up to date on Bethesda’s latest developments, follow Silver Soul Gaming on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks to Gamespot’s YouTube channel for providing the RAGE 2 trailer, Bethesda conference, and Fallout videos, and to Bethesda’s YouTube channel for the DOOM Eternal trailer, Alexa commercial, and Mooncrash trailer.

-V