Bethesda's E3 Press Recap: Skyrim Special Edition, Quake: Champions, Dishonored 2, and More!
Bethesda brought a whole host of games at E3 2016. See what's coming from the house that Elder Scrolls built.
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We're at E3 this week, covering the year's biggest gaming event. Be sure to check out all our coverage on our E3 2016 hub!
Bethesda Softworks hosted its BE3 press conference on Sunday evening, which included looks at their titles for later 2016 and beyond!
Here's a summary of what the team had on tap. If you'd like to watch the entire presser, including the pre-show (how well do you think you know your Bethesda trivia?), you can do so here:
The Elder Scrolls: Legends
Bethesda showed off a first look at their Elder Scrolls-themed card game. Kat describes it as a low-rent version of Hearthstone, which was probably inevitable. Blizzard casts a heck of a shadow over that genre. I admit to being a total ignoramus with CCGs; all I know is that it looks like fun than Triple Triad. But the Elder Scrolls trappings seem to be strong with it, so that should rope in the hardcore fans.
Quake: Champions
Having successfully resurrected DOOM, it looks like Quake is next.
Champions looks to be a PC-exclusive, multiplayer-only arena shooter — so a successor to Quake III more than the next Quake proper. Or maybe that's how they're positioning their shooters: DOOM will be centered around single-player, Quake around competitive play. It's also a pretty naked big for eSports, which only makes sense. Everyone wants a taste of that sweet, sweet eSports pie.
Fallout 4
Bethesda's monster will apparently continue to steamroll the planet with monthly updates throughout the summer. Contraptions, which debuts next week, looks to include a huge pile of mechanical additions for custom bases. Vault-Tec, which appears in July, is kind of like an XCOM ant farm view for bases. And August's Nuka-World has an amusement park theme, but I don't know if it's a new chunk of land to explore or some kind of custom building element. Who knows!
Additionally, Fallout Shelter will be receiving a dweller quest feature and will be launching on PC next month.
Skyrim Special Edition
Yeah, no surprise there. It even includes mods for consoles.
Prey
All those rumors about Prey II were only partially correct: Instead of creating a sequel, Bethesda and Arkane are just rebooting the series. Which consists of one game. I think this may be some sort of reboot first!
DOOM
id is really reaching back into the series' history for inspiration, offering a free one-level "shareware" demo of the game this week, launching new multiplayer maps, and expanding the custom map feature with new options that include the freedom to make proper single-player experiences. Makes a guy wanna go download some .wads, you know?
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Dark Brotherhood expansion certainly does feature a lot of gore! The big announcement for the game, though, is "One Tamriel": The inevitable destruction of barriers to convenience and accessibility that every MMO eventually undergoes if it wants to survive. One Tamriel will make it far easier for players to link up with friends, and to venture freely anywhere in the world right from the outset. We've seen World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI do this, but according to Bethesda this is the first time any MMO has done this simultaneously across multiple platforms.
Bethesda VR
No one is safe from the scourge of virtual reality! Bethesda is showing off DOOM and Fallout 4 in VR this week at the show, and the latter title will be launching for Vive VR in 2017.
Dishonored II
And finally, more details on the sequel to Dishonored. It looks pretty nice, and isn't it nice to see Harvey Smith's career has rebounded from Deus Ex: Invisible War? Dishonored II does that "play as a male or female character" thing people want from Zelda and takes place in a new, sunnier city than the original. Expect much more detailed hands-on impressions later this week... unless this is one of those games that only E3 Judges are allowed to play under embargo. I hate when they do that.
We're at E3 this week, covering the year's biggest gaming event. Be sure to check out all our coverage on our E3 2016 hub!