Bethesda kicked their 2018 E3 press conference off with a bang. First, Pete Hines came out on stage to poke some fun at the recent leak from Walmart of Canada. Then, he brought the band Andrew WK on stage to perform the song that accompanied the recent trailer for Rage 2. After the performance, we got an extended look at the upcoming Rage sequel.
Rage 2
The new trailer tells us that the protagonist of Rage 2 is Walker, “the last Ranger of the wasteland”. We never see the main character but I’m hopeful that since they have a non-gender specific name you will be able to create your own character at the start of the game. Like Shepard in Mass Effect.
Prey
A new free update for Prey is available right now. The update includes three new modes, story mode, new game plus and survival mode. Survival mode seems to be a more difficult version of the main game. There is also a new DLC pack out right now called Mooncrash. Mooncrash is an “infinitely replayable” game mode where the enemies and items are always different. The DLC also brings some new weapons and abilities with it.
That’s not all for Prey though. Later this year, Prey will get more DLC in the form of Typhon Hunter. Typhon Hunter is a multiplayer game type where one player goes up against five other players who are playing as mimics. The mimics can disguise themselves as normal looking objects and it is the goal of the human player to find the mimics. It sounds very similar to the game Prop Hunt. It will also be compatible with virtual reality devices.
Wolfenstein Youngblood
Set decades after Wolfenstein II The New Colossus, Wolfenstein Youngblood follows the story of BJ Blazkowicz’s twin daughters. The game will be playable in co-op but you can still play it single player. Wolfenstein Youngblood will come out at some point in 2019.
Wolfenstein Cyberpilot
The first Wolfenstein game designed for virtual reality will be Wolfenstein Cyberpilot. The game will allow players to play as a hacker who can take control of Nazi robots and turn them against their masters.
Fallout 76
Finally, Bethesda explained what Fallout 76 is. It will be an online, multiplayer game. Although, Todd Howard assured the crowd that you will be able to play the game solo. They are using a new engine to make the game. The new engine is so advanced that you can see weather systems far off in distant cities.
The game takes place in West Virginia as you travel through six distinct regions of the state. The developers also used local legends and lore to design the creatures and enemies that populate the world.
“Every person and character is real.” Todd Howard said this while describing his inspiration for making Fallout 76 multiplayer. The implications of this statement seem drastic. If this is true then that means that there will be no NPC shop keepers or quest givers other than the omnipresent “Overseer”. It is certainly a bold move from Bethesda.
You will only ever be in a world with dozens of other players. They really want this to feel like the apocalypse and not a world with a healthy, thriving population. The base building from Fallout 4 has returned and there is some way to move your base as well.
The game features a photo mode that allows your vault dweller and other players to pose in the pictures. And last but certainly not least, there are multiple nuclear missile sites throughout the map. Players are able to raid the bases and actually fire off missiles that seem to do long term damage to the environment. The game releases on November fourteenth of this year but there will be a beta sometime soon.
Fallout Shelter
Fallout Shelter is being ported to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. It will still be free of charge and is available to play right now.
The Elder Scrolls Blades
The Elder Scrolls Blades is a first person role playing game that can be played on your phone. You can tap on the screen to move or move like a traditional video game. The game features both hand made and procedurally generated dungeons. The game can be played with one hand.
The Elder Scrolls Blades has three modes of play. First up, is The Abyss. This game mode is a rogue like that allows you to see how far you can get in a series of never ending, randomly generated dungeons. Next, is The Arena. The Arena pits you one on one against other players. And lastly there is The Town. This is the hub of The Elder Scrolls Blades. It works like a city building game and the more your city expands, the more NPCs and quests you unlock. The plan is to bring this game to every console possible, including virtual reality. The Elder Scrolls Blades comes out this Fall but you can register for early access right here.
Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI
At the very end of the conference, Todd Howard talked about the next generation of games from Bethesda. The first one that was shown was Starfield. It was just a short teaser trailer that showed a rift forming in space. After that, they showed an even shorter teaser for The Elder Scrolls VI. It was just a panning shot of mountain ranges and then a title card. It is clear that these games are very far off in the future and they did not have much to show.
All in all it was a very solid press conference. A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about my predictions for this press conference. You can check that out right here. Read it and then tell me in the comments how right and great I am. If you like this article and want to stay up to date with all our E3 coverage, just click the links right below this and follow Culture of Gaming on your favorite social media site.
