E3 2018 - Bethesda Overview

Pre-Show

The Bethesda showcase opened with a pre-show that starts fifteen minutes before the actual event. Anne Lewis, Community Manager, and Abigail Tyson, Content Manager for Bethesda, host the pre-show from an empty movie theatre. They spend their time recapping the year of 2017 for the game developer, as well as highlighting big moments from past E3 showcases. A montage begins showing different games announced at E3 including Fallout 4 and The Evil Within 2.

After the montage, Anne and Abigail return to discuss the dedication that Bethesda puts into the games they create. Another montage begins, showing the work that went into setting up for the Bethesda conference. It took a lot of physical work to get everything in place.

More games that were announced at past E3’s also include Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus which was announced last E3 and went on to win Best Action Game at The Game Awards in 2017. Anne and Abigail then threw to another montage to present the various feats that Bethesda reached in the previous year. This includes all of the games they released along with their partnership with the Nintendo Switch and VR games such as DOOM and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Anne and Abigail then foreshadow another new game announcement, but move to discuss Rage 2 which was leaked earlier this week. The preview includes live-action individuals dressed very similar to “Mad Max” characters in various different locations including a forest, a desert, and a barren landscape. After this, a gameplay-style trailer begins showing cutscenes that will be in Rage 2. “Insanity rules” in this game, according to the trailer, illustrating that playing outside of the box is encouraged in this title which looks to be in a battle royale style. Plenty of large enemies, different maps, vehicles, weapons, and of course anarchy.

The pair move to discuss Fallout 76, a much anticipated title that was teased earlier this week as well. The teaser trailer for the game begins, showing an old radio which starts to play a 50’s style version of John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads”, a song that references the state of West Virginia. We see a room in a very 50’s style full of regalia from the Fallout world such as Nuka-Cola bottles and a Vault Boy. This home is a shelter, Vault 76, after a celebration for Reclamation Day. The camera then settles on a vault-dweller’s back, the man wearing a typical vault outfit with the number 76 on the back. This is where the teaser ends, and Anne and Abigail close out the pre-show.

Opening

After an ESRB rating screen, a thirty second timer begins to count down. A female voice joins in to audibly countdown from ten, and when the time reaches zero the screen reads “This is Bethesda”. A video begins to play showing various individuals carrying out their daily activities. Getting ready for their day, walking the dog, driving, and all of these different people work at Bethesda. The video transitions to inside various Bethesda offices from all over the world, employees working and playing together. It ends on a receptionist answering phones who turns to the camera and tells it to start the show.

Game footage of titles such as Rage 2, Fallout 76, Prey, DOOM, and others begins to play. Global Senior Vice-President for Bethesda, Pete Hines, takes the stage once the video ends. This is the fourth annual E3 for Bethesda and the theme for this year is “create”, something all of their studios embrace. He goes on to discuss games announced previously such as: Prey, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, The Evil Within 2, and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, as well as their work on VR for titles such as DOOM and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Rage 2

Mr. Hines references the leak earlier this week from Walmart Canada before having singer Andrew W.K. of “Party Hard” fame along with his band take the stage. The band plays W.K.’s song “Ready to Die”, and occasionally characters from Rage 2 appear on a large screen above and behind the band. When the song ends, Tim Willits, Studio Director for ID Studios, as well as Magnus Nedfors, Game Director for Avalanche Studios take the stage. Their studios have come together to create an amazing world for Rage 2.

A trailer for the game begins, recapping the events in the world after an asteroid hits Earth, causing everything to spiral out of control. Several years into the future, this world is now fight to survive. The protagonist who is speaking throughout the trailer calls himself a “ranger of the wasteland” and announces that he’s finished standing on the sidelines.

Pre-Alpha footage captured in-engine takes over from there, presenting various different maps created for the game. Rage 2 will have a vehicle mode, and gameplay begins as the player takes an armoured vehicle onto the road, chasing down three other vehicles in a high-speed chase. The player’s vehicle comes equipped with roof mounted machine guns, similar a to gatling gun in appearance, taking out as many of the vehicles as possible before reaching a camp of punk-style individuals. The player must clear out the camp, and all of the gameplay is in first person.

In the footage, one of the enemies finds himself stopping to watch an infomercial before kicking the television screen, breaking it before getting back to the fight. When the camp is taken and cleared out, the player enters a large room where he presses a button. This causes a large tower to come down and secure itself to the ground, a watchtower.

There are different abilities in the game such as one that the player acquires known as Shatter. It looks as if it causes a force field around the player, so that they can use it to push enemies away and even jump in the air and land down in a “superhero” landing, causing a shockwave to push those around you back or knock them down. The player is ambushed by a giant mutant creature and that’s where the in-game footage ends, returning to the trailer from the pre-show with Andrew W.K.’s music playing over it. This title is slated for release in Spring of 2019.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends

Christian Van Hoose, Community Manager for this title, takes the stage next to present The Elder Scrolls: Legends. This title will be coming to the Nintendo Switch and is currently a mobile game. It will also come to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later this year. This is a strategy card game that was released the 3rd of May, 2018, and already has been installed on Android phones over one million times, and currently sits fifth in card games listed on the Apple App Store. A trailer for The Elder Scrolls: Legends begins, showing gameplay as well as several different people playing the game on their phones against a black background.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset

Matt Firor - Game Director for The Elder Scrolls Online - takes the stage next. He begins to talk about his daily life, and how he spends his day in the offices where The Elder Scrolls Online is built and worked on, and goes home to join the millions of players in the game online. Clearly he absolutely loves his job if he brings it home with him, playing right along side fans of the game series. He is happy to announce that The Elder Scrolls Online is now at eleven million players and was named MMO of the year in 2017, the third year in a row. Expansions have come to the game as well, including Morrowind and the most recent update - Summerset.

DLC for The Elder Scrolls Online is made every quarter and Bethesda is already working on a plan for the coming year. Next will be Wolfhunter, a dungeon style world with wolves, and a return to Black Marsh in another DLC pack.

Storytelling is an important feature to all Elder Scrolls games, and so are the stories that users have experienced while playing. Mr. Firor’s segment comes to an end with in-game footage of such stories, highlighting the experiences that players can have in The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset.

DOOM Eternal

Ladies and gentlemen, we are getting another DOOM game! A trailer begins showing a Hell on Earth landscape full of demons and destruction, as well as our beloved “DoomGuy” aka the Doom Slayer. Hugo Martin, Creative Director, and Marty Stratton, Executive Producer and Game Director, take the stage to present this sequel title. Their team has been talking with players, reviewing just what people’s demands are for DOOM’s sequel. The Doom Slayer will be stronger, and there will be twice as many demons in DOOM Eternal, but what’s the most interesting change? Welcome to literal Hell on Earth, as it seems we’ve finally left Mars. More features regarding this title will be presented in August of this year at Quakecon in Dallas, Texas.

Quake Champions

Community Manager for Quake Champions, Joshua Boyle, takes the stage next to present this long awaited new Quake title. This game series has been around since 1996 and, according to Mr. Boyle, will always be the “fastest multiplayer shooter” on the market. In addition, the Quake team will also expand the title’s eports footprint with more events and tournaments.

For the week of E3, Quake Champions is available to play on a free trial. If you get in and download the game during the week of E3, you will be able to continue to play after the trial. From the Bethesda website: “ players who participate in the weeklong program won’t just get to try the Free-to-Play version of Quake Champions while in Early Access, but can continue to play for free even after the event concludes on June 17.” So be sure you download it as soon as possible to get this great perk! The presentation is then thrown to a trailer for this title, presenting some of the character models that can be played as well as maps available. All in all, the game looks like an updated Quake title as it should, and presumidly will be just as fun as the original series.

Prey - Mooncrash and Typhon Hunter

Taking the stage are Susan Kat and Ricardo Bare, Production Director and Lead Designer for Arkane Studios, creators of Prey. In a brief pre-recorded introduction, they announce the trailer for Prey’s DLC, Mooncrash, before being attacked by a mimic alien from the title. The trailer shows a simulation resetting over and over again where the player appears to be trying to find the best outcome. Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” plays over the footage. According to the trailer, each play of Prey - Mooncrash will be entirely different. This title is available right now.

On the stage, Mrs. Kat and Mr. Bare announce an additional mode for the game, Prey Typhon Hunter. In this mode, players will be allowed to be the alien creatures within the game. Remember, the aliens can mimic anything around them virtually, which means that the player can too now. Typhon Hunter is expected to be released sometime this summer while there doesn’t appear to be a release date for Mooncrash.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Jerk Gustafsson and Jens Matthies, Executive Producer and Creative Director for Machine Games take the stage next to talk on Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus and how this title won Best Action Game at The Game Awards last year. Together, they also announced that Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus will be coming to the Nintendo Switch.

They begin to discuss a new project in the Wolfenstein world which will leap ahead in time to the 1980’s: Wolfenstein: Youngblood. This title will have new protagonists who are the twin daughters of BJ Blazkowicz, the game’s original protagonist. His two girls have grown up in a world their father fought to protect from the Nazis. Since they’re twins, this title will be a co-op experience as well as allowing solo play.

The trailer for the game begins, showing Blazkowicz’s daughters training for their future roles as protectors against the Nazis just as their father did. Together, they look like they will be just as much of an unstoppable force as their father before them.

After the trailer, Pete Hines takes the stage again to recap as well as discuss VR for games in the future, such as Prey and Wolfenstein. Both of these experiences are available to try at the Bethesda E3 booth.

Fallout 76?

Todd Howard, game director for Bethesda, is introduced and takes the stage. He talks first about how long he’s been with Bethesda, twenty-five years. He moves to discussing the past E3 events, such as when the conference moved to Atlanta and when it wasn’t open to the public. He continued to talk about how E3 has become a “week of entertainment”, but also that people are here for one thing. Where Skyrim is going next.

A gag commercial with actor/comedian Keegan Michael Key begins. He settles down on the couch to play Skyrim through his Alexia. The commercial also claims you can play with your beeper/pager, and your smart-fridge! Presenting Skyrim: The Very Special Edition.

Fallout 76!

Fallout 76 will be a prequel to all of the previous games, and will also be four times the size of Fallout 4. The game is set in West Virginia this time around, and you are one of the first to emerge from a fault to see just what has become of the world. The trailer begins by showing a person in power armor watching an atomic bomb fall. It transitions to a television that says “Please Stand By” before a speech begins. This is the trailer that was shown without sound during the pre-show, and the voice over is talking about the vault and it’s dwellers while an old fifties-style version of John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” begins to play. A montage of the various new parts of Fallout 76 starts, showing the landscape of West Virginia, showing possibly the same power armor mashed into the ground as if it’s now part of the earth around it. The voice over resumes, stating that, once the vaults can be opened again, you will be responsible to rebuild. “In Vault 76, our future begins.”

Vault 76 was built to celebrate the Tricentennial of the United States and is the first vault to be opened. 76 is intended to be opened on Reclamation Day, and that day has finally come. The Overseer of the vault hopes that everyone had a lovely night at the party, but it’s time to leave. Time to start to rebuild. A gameplay trailer shows the player walking through the vault, exploring, before finally reaching the front door. As the door rolls open, we are treated to a beautiful cinematic of the West Virginia trees in fall colors.

The Overseer sends you on missions to six distinct regions in this world. Not only do we get a new world to explore, we also get new creatures to face-off against. The graphics look very impressive and the new creatures very imaginative. Bethesda has always wanted to tell the story of the first people to step from the first vault, this special vault. Each of these characters will be a unique person, a player, as Fallout 76 will be entirely online.

Don’t worry, though, the game doesn’t have to be played with others, one can experience this solo as well. Bethesda has always wanted to try this kind of world, though, and has taken the opportunity to explore and experiment in Fallout 76. They wanted to allow players to share experiences rather than just recap them to one another later. Mr. Howard considers76 to be a “softcore survival” game. Progression will be saved and allowed to follow your character from system to system too, and this will be a wide open world where the players decide the rules and who is good or evil.

Training videos, in a sense, created by Vault Tec begin to play on screen, showing the various new experiences in Fallout 76. These videos are intended to acclimate those stepping out of Vault 76, those who are intended to rebuild. The best way to survive is to team up, as there’s always strength in numbers, but it won’t be required for the game. Players will be able to build wherever they want and even move it to wherever they want.

There will also be six different nuclear weapon sites on the map for the players to do with what they will. Seek them out, send them toward your enemies… do whatever you want! And afterward, dressed properly of course (power armor), you will get to sit back and watch the mushroom cloud before going to loot what you just destroyed.

Bethesda has planned dedicated servers for this game in order to keep it running for years to come. There will be a beta, or Break-It Early Test Application, presented by Vault Tec as well. Lastly, there will be a massive collectors edition that includes: a map of the world that glows in the dark, figures to go on the map, and a Power Helmet! Fallout 76 will be released the 14th of November, 2018.

The Elder Scrolls: Blades

Following Fallout 76 is the announcement of another mobile game for The Elder Scrolls series, The Elder Scrolls: Blades. This is a “pure Elder Scrolls game”, an MMORPG with a mobile experience. It will be in first person and the combat style will follow your fingers movements on the screen. There will also be procedurally generated and hand-crafted dungeons as well as character creation. The game can even be played in portrait mode. Why? Because meetings, according to Mr. Howard.

There are several modes of play, such as: The Abyss, The Arena, and The Town. The Abyss is an endless dungeon, and The Town is where the main story lies. You will also be able to build your own town, visit the towns of your friends, and even level your town up. Blades will exists on every platform possible, from mobile to PC to console, and even VR. The Elder Scrolls: Blades will be available this Fall for free and can be pre-ordered on the Apple App and Google Play stores as well as available at Bethesda’s booth at E3.

Starfield

Bethesda has been working on a new next-gen single player game in an “all new epic franchise”. This is their first new franchise in twenty years and will take place in space. The trailer begins, opening on a planet being viewed from space, then pans down to a satellite or something similar. A wormhole or something of the sort appears, causing the screen and the satellite to warp and then vanish. This is Starfield and is expected hopefully sometime in 2019.

Elder Scrolls VI

Lastly, we have a special announcement with a very brief teaser for Elder Scrolls IV, a game many have been waiting for. The teaser opens on a sweeping shot through a mountainous wilderness, everything absolutely beautiful as one would expect from Bethesda. The next installment for The Elder Scrolls is finally coming, but what it is or when to expect it remains to be seen.

Todd Howard then passes the conference back to Mr. Hines after thanking everyone for coming. Mr. Hines then recaps the entire conference, bringing it to a close. Clearly, Bethesda has a lot planned for the future, and we are definitely looking forward to it all.