Here we go again. Another year has passed us by and E3 2019 has given us plenty to talk about. Bethesda were third out of the traps to showcase what they had to offer the gaming masses this year. Understandably, you may have missed the briefing, as it was broadcast in the UK at 01:30am. But never fear, dear readers, as right here you will find plenty of reasons to be hyped about what Bethesda had to show. 9 in fact.
1) Doom Eternal
Arguably what everyone has been waiting for, and we were kept waiting until the very end, yet it looks just as bloody crazy as you’d expect.
Earth is being consumed by demons, and you are the fastest and strongest demon slayer in existence. This latest adventure will take you to brand new locations for the franchise, as well as continually throwing new stuff at you as you play through the campaign. We were treated to plenty of gameplay footage, as it was promised we would “go deep” with Doom Eternal.
I can’t help but feel others could have learned something here (*cough* Xbox *cough* Gears 5 *cough*), but never mind.
That wasn’t all for Doom Eternal, however, No, a brand new Battlemode was announced. A quick trailer showed us that two demons, who are playable, must take down a “fully-loaded” demonslayer. Each demon has a unique skill set, with different moves and abilities meaning strategy is the key to success.
We’ve been promised more at Quakecon in July. In the meantime, if you want to be part of the Doom fanclub, head over to slayersclub.bethesda.net and check it out.
The game will be released on November 22nd, and a fancy Collector’s Edition will be available, complete with a wearable helmet if you have money to burn. Although a RRP wasn’t revealed, you can bet it won’t be cheap.
2) Deathloop
Now here’s a game that grabbed my attention, and one I’m most excited about.
Deathloop is a new FPS action game being developed by Arkane Lyon. The trailer featured two assassins locked in a constant, looping battle, resurrecting each time they are killed. It’s been promised the player can approach situations in “any way they want”, but we will have to wait and see just exactly what this means.
With games such as Dishononored and Prey in the developer’s back catalogue, this is surely going to be something special.
3) Fallout 76
Bethesda made it clear from the very start, the theme of their presentation was community. We heard from some of the talented folks who work at Bethesda about how they love gaming and the same from gamers themselves. This positioned Bethesda well, as they opened with Fallout 76, amid reassurances that fans are being listened to. They have clearly been putting everything into turning the game’s critics round, and thanked the community for their feedback since launch.
A “game-changing” expansion to Fallout 76, in the form “Wastelanders” was announced. This will be free to download for all existing players, and will see human NPCs return to the game’s environments with all new stories and goals, as well as full dialogue trees. Some may argue this should have been the case at launch, but Bethesda seem to have been listening, so better late than never.
That wasn’t all though, a brand new game mode, “Nuclear Winter”, was also announced. Yes, it’s everyone’s new favourite way to play – a battle royale mode is coming to Fallout 76. This will support up to 52 players, and is set in the fiery Vault 51 which will plunge players in a battle to become the overseer.
All in all, as salvage jobs go, Bethesda seem to be making all the right moves with Fallout 76.
4) Ghostwire Tokyo
There’s not an awful lot of information on this one, however a brand new game from Tango Gameworks was announced, Ghostwire Tokyo.
It’s an action/adventure game, and a departure from the normal survival horror tone the studio has struck in the past with The Evil Within. That, however, is not to say the game does not look creepy as hell, as people start to vanish and are replaced with ghostly figures, who roam the streets of Tokyo.
This is definitely one to keep an eye on.
5) Orion
Bethesda began this reveal with a trip down memory lane, recalling technology they have pioneered in the past, such as the FPS genre, VR headsets and console game mods. Their latest bit of Kit, Orion, is a group of patented technologies that enhance gaming performance on streaming platforms, such as Google Stadia and Xbox’s Project xCloud.
Streaming will be faster, with reduced latency and the games will take up less bandwidth. This means, according to Bethesda, content will cost less to stream and quality will not be compromised when settings are dialled up to the max. We were then treated to a very brief tech demo, of 2016’s Doom running on a mobile device with no noticeable lag or distortion. Pretty impressive stuff, and it certainly seems the industry is heading in the direction of “play anywhere, at anytime”.
Who knows, owning games may soon become a thing of the past.
6) The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr
In one of the community interview segments, one gamer in particular had been asking for more dragons and Bethesda did not disappoint. Zenimax Online took to the stage to outline what was next for MMORPG, revealing “Dragonhold” and “Scalebreaker”.
Fans we treated to an epic cinematic battle revealing “Dragonhold” as the last DLC pack in the The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr’s “Year of the Dragon”. More details around it were promised at Quakecon in July. “Scalebreaker” is dungeon based DLC which is launching in August.
That wasn’t all Zenimax had to reveal however – more on that later.
7) Wolfenstein
The bloodthirsty devs at Machinegames had not one, but two announcements for us this year at E3.
Firstly, Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot, a VR game where you hack Nazi war machines and use them against their former masters, is coming in July.
And secondly, the next main game in the series, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, is launching on July 26th. It’s set in the ’80s, two decades after “The New Colossus”, and if the trailer made one thing very clear, it’s that there are still a lot of Nazis to be killed.
8) Rage 2
Despite only recently being released, Rage 2 is getting an expansion, “Rise of the Ghosts”. It’s coming this week and will include a new story with new enemies, vehicles, cheats and a pilotable mech. Nice.
9) Commander Keen
Sold as a “playable Saturday morning cartoon”, Commander Keen is actually a re-imagining of a ’90s PC game originally released by id Software. This iteration, headed up by Zenimax Online, will be a free to play mobile game, starring Billy and Billie.
The game will boast a story mode with classic and new tales as well as a head to head battle mode. You’ll be using household items to build weapons and defeat alien enemies, following in the footsteps of your famous father. It will launch this summer, and despite not being the project many hoped for, looks like a lot of fun nonetheless.
So, that’s pretty much the lot, bar a few other mobile games which I won’t insult you with by going into here. Plenty to digest there though, I’m sure you’ll agree. But what do you think about Bethesda’s offering this year? As always, let us know below.
