Thoughts of : Bethesda's E3 2018 Press Conference

Bethesda had a press conference while I was distracted with some other stuff so I need to rewatch the whole thing again just to make sure I don’t get anything wrong like release dates. Honestly I don’t expect much from Bethesda since their latest release pretty much went under my radar but nevertheless it is interesting to see what they come up with for this year’s E3, with that out of the way let’s look at the games. By the way these games are randomly listed and not according to the airing time during the conference.

1. Elder Scrolls Games (Legends, Online, Blades, VI)

While some of these games I have no interest to it but I feel at least talking about it is important.

Elder Scrolls Legends will have a relaunch with big visual overhaul and some ports. I don’t play ESL but I do play some CCG like Shadowverse so let’s just see if it will work or not since at the time of writing there are lots of competition in it like GWENT and Hearthstone.

Elder Scrolls Online, the game gets a new expansion with new DLC for dungeons and story DLC. To be honest I am quite interested in it and my brother said that should he have the money he would play ESO immediately especially when he said some things about the lore of Elder Scrolls but sadly the announcement is only said in words and not visual but this is an old game (to a certain standard) so I’m not surprised.

Elder Scrolls Blades, this splits my stance on Bethesda because on one hand Fallout had a mobile game called Fallout Shelter so I think it’s a given that Elder Scrolls are going to get a game on the mobile platform but on the other hand it’s a mobile game and I am quite selective when it comes to mobile games, I know this game will get more ports along the way but if the gameplay is still the same then why bother changing your opinion?. Looked cool but as mobile games go at least for me, first impressions usually is a trap to pull you in and then many will quit for many reasons here and there. Not to bash, but that’s the reality.

Elder Scrolls VI, no subtitle yet like Skyrim or Morrowind or other places along with no trailers for the game means one thing, the game will stay in development for at least until 2020 according to my prediction. I could be wrong though so don’t take it as a certainty. Take your time Bethesda, make it work.

2. Fallout Games (Shelter, 76)

Not much to say about Fallout shelter than the fact that new ports are going to happen, I played Fallout Shelter and I quit after 2 weeks because the waiting game is getting too long for me. If you like it, good but if you don’t like it, it’s okay.

Fallout 76, the game that became a cigarette meme in my country. This game looks cool but I think it’s made with the same engine as Fallout 4 even though the environment looks better than Fallout 4, although I might be wrong about it so I better cross my fingers now. Fallout 76 can be played solo (but not offline need I remind you) according to Todd Howard but I think playing solo will be a lot harder especially now that this game is, to quote Todd Howard himself : “Softcore Survival”. 

Multiplayer in this game has dedicated servers and beta test is coming soon which is good for them since this is going to be a mainly online game. My only concern is that all that was shown during the press conference looked too good to be true thus susceptible to graphical downgrades, so I suggest to temper your expectations at least until the beta is up to play. 

One thing that absolutely caught my attention is that Fallout 76 features a Giant Angry Sloth and that people, is very cool but I digress.

The release date for Fallout 76 is November 14^th 2018 which to my memory is the same month as the release of both Battlefield V and Call of Duty Black Ops 4.

3. Wolfenstein Games (New Colossus, Youngblood, Cyber Pilot)

Wolfenstein 2 the New Colossus is getting a Switch port at June 29 which is cool, I guess?

Wolfenstein Youngblood on the other hand takes a new perspective from the previous protagonist B.J. Blaskowicz to his twin daughters. The game can be played solo or co-op but since there are no gameplay footage the only info available is that the game will be available next year. I do hope that this game has couch co-op since Bethesda is still dedicated to single player games just like they said last year.

Wolfenstein Cyber Pilot, the only info I can get is that this game will be on VR and the story is about the some guy that can hack Nazi robots here and there so I assume the gameplay will be the same as DOOM VFR although the difference is that you hijack robots with different weapons attached to them. Pretty cool but I can’t wait to see at least gameplay trailers

4. Prey

It’s nice to see single player games getting the love these days unlike “other” companies out there. Prey got an NG+ mode and a story mode along with survival mode in a free update, and Prey gets a fresh DLC that offers new way to play the game.

Mooncrash is basically a rogue-like mode expansion which to me speaks on a different language, but I’m not one to hate.

PVP mode is going to be added this summer to the game in a form of a hide-and-seek mode and that people, is a chance to learn how to jumpscare people should you be interested in trying to be the ghost in a haunted house of some fair or outright scare people on Halloween.

Also Prey VR is announced and to be honest that gives off the wrong vibe at least for me, like those haunted house VR experiences designed with mainly jumpscares. Cool I guess?

5. Starfield

The game that was supposed to be shown at E3 last year but delayed due to leaks according to some sources, nevertheless the first thing I can think of about this game is basically “Fallout in Space”. No gameplay footage, no pre rendered trailer, just logo reveal. Can’t wait to know more.

6. Quake Champions

Definitely not my bread and butter type of games so I don’t really pay attention that much but this game is supposed to get a full release this year so I’m not going to say much at the moment. at least it's free forever if you get it this week so get it before it ends!

7. Rage 2

The moment I see the trailer one thing definitely screamed in my head : “Super-powered Mad-Max”. The difference this time is that this game is mainly an FPS game and the world is not as sandy as Mad-Max, and this game looks cool with less risk of getting a graphical downgrade with the various environment like forests, deserts and some other stuffs.

The game is supposed to be released on spring 2019 but fingers crossed if there would be a delay

8. DOOM Eternal.

The only thing shown here is a pre-rendered trailer with no release dates to boot. After watching the trailer it looked like a reboot of DOOM 2 Hell on Earth which is a good game by the way but other than that I got nothing.

One thing I can say about Bethesda’s E3 Press Conference is that the developers present there looked a lot more sincere and honest especially Todd Howard himself. There are some awkward joke moments but I don’t really mind. What I can call the best part of the entire press conference is when Todd shows the audience a joke trailer of Skyrim ports all around the house like the fridge and I was about to write this down as a serious trailer but when Todd Howard said that he had to do this I immediately abandoned the idea, another one is when Todd said that “sometimes it just doesn’t work” marking a joke about what he said before when Fallout 4 was still new. It’s kind of nice when developers admit their mistakes and make a joke about it out of sincerity and not just like what Andrew Wilson did on last year’s E3 about Star Wars Battlefront 1 or EA’s press conference this year when talking about Battlefront 2.

If I want to give it a score I think it’s around 7/10 due to noticeable sincerity coupled with some interesting game reveals.

Thank you for reading! If you have any feedbacks for future content, comments, or spot any typos please leave it at the comment section as I always appreciate them!