Bethesda didn’t have a particularly earth-shattering conference this year, but they definitely made a solid showing with a few surprise announcements. While there were no new IPs, we got announcements for two reboots, and plenty of the sequels we’ve been salivating over since E3 2015. Let’s take a quick look at what happened this year for those who couldn’t catch the conference.
Bethesda opens strong with Quake Champions
They opened strong with this one, and nobody really called it. It’s easy to forget that Bethesda owns the rights to Quake, but the company made sure to remind us during their E3 2016 conference. The studio announced Quake Legends with not much more than a trailer, revealing close to nothing in the way of details, apart from telling us that the game will feature characters with unique abilities. Whether it sticks true to its classic Quake roots or instead tries to compete with Overwatch is yet to be seen.
More info on Elder Scrolls Legends
We heard about this last year, and nobody quite knew what to make of it. The game is a online CCG much like Hearthstone, and is – big surprise – themed around the Elder Scrolls franchise. Bethesda took this opportunity to show off a bit of gameplay to those who haven’t seen it before, and they also confirmed that there’s a single player story mode to explore. Not huge, but nice for people who were following the project.
Prey finally brought back from the dead
This was arguably the biggest moment of the night, depending on who you ask. Prey was an outstanding and underrated game that came out years ago, and actually already had a sequel in the works for a while. Prey 2 ended up being canned, but Bethesda decided to bring it back in a total reboot. The game, simply called Prey, looks like it’s going to be an intense psychological horror experience with themes almost similar to SOMA. We’ll see what they do with the franchise going forward.
Fallout 4 brings Nuka World and more
Want more Fallout 4? Far Harbor not enough for you? Fear not, because you’ve got a whole lot more coming. Contraptions workshop and Vault-Tec workshop are both on their way, being followed up by Nuka World – Fallout 4’s next significant DLC package. The DLC will be bringing us the ability to make Rube Goldberg machines, design our very own vaults, and more. We’ll see more details soon, for sure.
Skyrim remastered for new consoles
We didn’t get an announcement for a new Fallout or Elder Scrolls game this year, but we did get the announcement for the remastered version of Skyrim for next gen consoles. You’ll be getting exactly what you expect – much, MUCH prettier textures than you’d be able to find in Skyrim currently, save for heavy retexture mods. If you’re a console gamer, you’re going to want to look into this.
One Tamriel makes Elder Scrolls online more exploration-friendly
If you played ESO and thought it betrayed the theme of freedom that made The Elder Scrolls so special, One Tamriel is an update that is really going to appeal to you. One Tamriel is going to be making the content of the game scale to your level, so you’ll be able to go anywhere and do anything in the game whenever you feel like. As soon as you step out of the tutorial area, you’re free to go explore the world in true Elder Scrolls fashion. This is a dream come true for series fans, and really revitalizes the MMO.
Bethesda VR lets you experience Fallout 4 in a new way
We didn’t really see this coming, and we won’t be complaining about it. Bethesda announced that they’re going to be dabbling with virtual reality, including releasing Fallout 4 for the HTC Vive, letting gamers play the game in full virtual reality. If you have a virtual reality headset this is going to be pretty huge for you, and if you were on the fence about getting a headset this might just convince you to take the leap. Solid news either way.
Bethesda lets you play a DOOM demo for free
DOOM is an absolutely amazing game – take our word for it. If you still have doubts, though, Bethesda is letting you exercise your right as an informed consumer to go ahead and try the game out yourself before you buy it. The first level of DOOM is available for free to anyone who wants to test it out before they buy. This is absolutely massive, as games stopped doing this quite a long time ago – companies who follow Bethesda’s lead here would be showing an exemplary dedication to and respect for their fans.
Dishonored 2 gets an amazing gameplay trailer
Dishonored 2 got announced back during E3 2015, and everyone who had played the first game was losing their minds about how good the sequel looked. Dishonored is a franchise about using cool abilities in creative ways to navigate through a town and take on assassination targets – the twist being that you can go through the game without harming a hair on anybody’s head. The addition of a new playable character makes the game even more appealing, especially since she comes with an array of brand new powers. This game is looking amazing.
Overall, Bethesda brought their A game to the conference. While we all wanted to see a tease for the rumored Fallout: New Orleans or Elder Scrolls: Valenwood titles, we probably won’t hear about either of those until E3 2017. It was still a good year for Bethesda fans, as both Dishonored 2 and Prey were being whispered about by a select group of very excited gamers. Hopefully we continue to get some extra news leaked out about Bethesda’s latest titles as the weekend progresses.
