E3 2016: Bethesda Conference round-up

By Gemma @Juicy Game Reviews / TheGebs24

Bethesda at E3 2016 - Telling us what we should get excited about

We all had our predictions of what the Bethesda E3 2016 Conference was going to bring. At E3 2015 Bethesda knocked the ball out of the park with the long awaited announcement of Fallout 4. It rapidly became one of the most anticipated Video Game releases ever! A year has now passed since that moment which brings us to E3 2016. Most of us were talking about a new Elder Scrolls Game but when I awake this morning a part of me felt disappointed that the Elder Scrolls game we’d all hoped for was not announced. Should we be disappointed in Bethesda? Hell no! Having now watched the full Bethesda showdown I am packed full of anticipation for the new games: Prey, Dishonoured 2, Skyrim Special Edition and Quake. Let us not forget the new Fallout 4 DLC and Vault-Tec Workshop functions, Fallout Shelter and Bethesda’s VR development.

Arcane Studios smashed it
Prey and Dishonoured 2 are on their way! The team behind the original Dishonoured game are developing the Prey reboot on PS4, Xbox One and PC. It looks stunning. From what we saw we awake as Morgan on Monday March 15th 2032. The new Prey takes place on a Space Station that becomes overrun with an Alien infestation. Arcane confessed that our protagonist will use “wits, weapons and mind bending abilities” to counteract the alien infestation. It all sounds very intriguing and I’m excited to see how Prey’s development unfolds for the rest of the year.

We can expect to see a release for Dishonoured 2 on November 11th 2016 but what can we expect to see in the gameplay? Arcane showed a lengthy gameplay trailer. There’s a large emphasis on stealth and two players to choose from. It seemed like  choice  is a large feature of Dishonoured 2. Out of the entire Bethesda E3 conference I was the least excited about Dishonoured 2. It didn’t look overly stunning and the gameplay seemed too familiar.

Prey 2 is set for a 2017 release - This gives a whole new meaning to pink eye!

Elder Scrolls VI….Not!
I’d be lying if I said I was not disappointed with the lack of a new Elder Scrolls game. When you think about it logically though there was never going to be an announcement of Elder Scrolls VI. The time difference between each major Bethesda games is immense. There was four (five for the PS3 release) years between Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Oblivion and a five year gap between Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Skyrim. You might be saying ‘five years have passed since Skyrim was released so surely that means Elder Scrolls VI should have been announced right?’ Wrong. We are locked in to a gaming culture of HD remasters which is exactly what happened here. Instead we are getting Skyrim Special Edition on the PS4, Xbox One and PC. This caused a divide in the gaming world. I’ve been reading comments on Youtube and Twitter that indicate Skyrim Special Edition was not the HD remake fans were asking for. What do I think about it? Initially I felt deflated as I had my hopes set for Elder Scrolls VI but I’m warming to the idea of exploring Skyrim all over again so I definitely be picking up a copy on October 26th.  

Skyrim Special Edition on PS4, Xbox One and PC - Will you be picking it up?

Doom & Quake Champions
I will never get enough of Doom updates. Where you one of the people that grew up playing the original on Shareware? I was and I loved it. Overall I’ve been incredibly impressed with the new Doom game as it dives back in to the core of brutality. So what can we expect from the ID team in the upcoming months? The first DLC pack drops very soon: Unto the Evil and includes new armour packs, guns, a new demon and three new maps! I didn’t expect an update this quickly considering Doom was released only last month. ID knows how to treat the fans well. If you are yet to play the new Doom be sure to download the first level from the campaign completely FREE on the PS4, Xbox One and PC (for a limited time). I also envy the lucky people at E3 who will have a chance to try Doom in VR!

There was not a great amount of detail about the upcoming Quake Champions (PC only) but it seemed more about diverting people’s attention to Quakecon in August. I’m certain there will be a lot of die hard fans of the original PC version that will snap Quake Champions up in a heartbeat. Not me though.

Fallout 4 & Fallout Shelter
Fallout 4 will be seeing a whole heap of new additions. Contraptions, Workshop and Vault-Tec will add extra creative dimensions to the Wasteland experience. Nuka World peaked my interest the most with a display of elaborate buildings and new grounds to explore a little bit like Far Harbour. So what do I think to this? I’m not the kind of Fallout player that gets excited about building in Fallout 4. In fact it completely turns me off. I hate doing it in the game as it stands so I will not be purchasing the three additional build content. Nuka-World on the other hand is more the direction I want to take my Fallout 4 ventures. The core elements of Fallout, for me, are not routed in building, yet are more about roaming. Nuke-World looked like an eclectic market of craziness. I cannot wait to explore it.

Fallout Shelter seemed to hold quite a bit of air time at E3 2016. Not only is it coming to PC in July but there’s a while new heap of features to get you jumping inside your Vault Suit. Now dwellers will be able to visit popular Fallout 4 locations like Red Rocket and take on new enemies. Seeing Fallout Shelter at E3 again made me realise that I need to get back on it and join over 50,000 million other players online.

The Bethesda E3 2016 Conference was my most anticipated alongside Sony’s (which is yet to come). Overall I’m really happy with the pickings; in particular with Prey in 2017. Bring it on Bethesda, bring it on!

​By Gemma @Juicy Game Reviews / TheGebs24

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