E3 2015: Bethesda Conference - Roundup (Doom, Fallout 4, and others)
This year's E3 kicked off with a conference hosted by Bethesda Softworks, which took place on Sunday. We saw a whole slew of new material from Fallout 4 and Doom. What's more, the company announced Dishonored 2...
The news circulating in the past few weeks have suggested that this year's E3 will be exceptionally exciting – it's been a while since so many companies scheduled separate conferences while promising to present a host of anticipated games. The first event only confirmed these expectations. Bethesda Softworks, which kicked off its presentation on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. PT / 9:30 p.m. ET (after a dozen minutes of introduction), and wrapped up almost one and a half hour later didn't have a long list of titles to showcase, but it rocked anyway. The event started with an earthquake in the form of a load of material from Doom, and then – after a few minutes of relative calm accompanied by titles such as Dishonored 2, BattleCry and The Elder Scrolls Legends – reached its grand finale, showering us with a variety of information and videos from Fallout 4.
Those of you who haven't seen the event unravel live, really missed out... But you can catch up thanks to our summary below (or you can watch the replay). The topics covered at the conference are show in chronological order (as they were presented).
Doom
We've waited a long time for any solid stuff from the fourth installment of Doom, but it was worth it considering the wealth of materials Bethesda prepared for us at the conference. First of all, we saw two long gameplay videos from the solo campaign, one from the beginning of the game (in the base on Mars), and the second from Hell-based levels – both were equally charged with old-school action and uncompromising carnage. In addition, we saw a new trailer to the classic arena multiplayer mode and a new feature in the form of Doom SnapMap – editor of maps and gameplay modes for Doom, available both on PC and console. All the videos can be found below. The title will launch on PC, XOne and PS4 in spring 2016.
Bethesda.net
The next piece of information was less exciting. It turned out that Bethesda Softworks is following in the footsteps of the industry powerhouses and intends to develop a platform for the games they publish, available on PC and console. Luckily, this won’t be another "launcher" or channel of distribution, but a source of information about these titles and – more importantly – related fanart (taken e.g. from the aforementioned Doom SnapMap). At least that's the official version for now – perhaps it will change with the release of further information about the platform.
BattleCry
After a long absence the developers from Battlecry Studios once again stepped into the limelight to show a new playable faction from their debut work and announce the start of signups for BattleCry beta-tests. Those who sign up before June 18 can count on priority access and special bonuses. The final version will launch by the end of 2015.
Dishonored 2
As recent rumors had suggested, the conference saw an official announcement by Arkane Studios of Dishonored 2. Unfortunately, we weren’t shown much – only an impressive CGI trailer (which you can see below) and a handful of information. The game will take place in Karnaca, the empire's colony located in the south. Most importantly, we will have two playable characters to choose from – the already known Corvo, and Emily, the daughter of the Empress murdered in the previous installment. Both characters will reportedly be associated with completely different play styles. Oh, and there won't be a multiplayer mode. Dishonored 2 is slated for a spring 2016 release for PC, Xone and PS4.
Dishonored: Definitive Edition
Here's another rumor confirmed – the first part of Dishonored will receive a remastered edition including all the released add-ons. It will launch for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 (but not on PC, apparently) and is scheduled to debut in August 2015. There's no information about the extent in which the Definitive Edition will be changed relative to the original. Graphic material from the new version hasn’t been presented either.
The Elder Scrolls Online
It was the least specific part of the conference – a two-minute trailer was shown, designed to give a taste of what’s to come in The Elder Scrolls Online in the near future. Most likely, we will see two new locations (Orsinium and the alternative version of Imperial City overrun by demons), and the implementation of the Dark Brotherhood, but in what form – and when – we’re yet to find out.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends
The first of the two completely new productions from Bethesda, which previously hadn't been announced. The Elder Scrolls Legends is an attempt to have a share of the mobile pie. According to early announcements, this title stands for a strategy card game using the free-to-play model, and is being designed for iPads (and PC). It’s scheduled for a release later this year. Details about the game are rather scarce so far, but at least a stylish CGI trailer was published:
Fallout Shelter
And here is the second new game – a mobile mixture of The Sims, SimCity and This War of Mine inspired by the classic oldie Little Computer People. As the titles suggests, we are going to manage a fallout shelter and take care of every survivor of a nuclear holocaust individually. Our duties will include acquisition and distribution of resources, development of the complex, multiplying the population, prevention of crises (such as fires and attacks of plunderers), and other similar activities. The game has already come to App Store. Fallout Shelter is available for free, without the annoying elements characteristic of free-to-play productions such as the renewal of energy (although it includes optional micropayments). As for an Android version, we only know that it might appear one day.
Fallout 4
And we've finally reached the most anticipated moment. Materials from Fallout 4 were aplenty. To start off, we were shown... the very beginning of the game – an idyllic reality minutes before the nuclear disaster, which supported the character creation process in an immersion-based manner typical of Bethesda (customizing our appearance in front of a bathroom mirror, etc.). Then we saw a snapshot showing an escape in the direction of a shelter and soon we landed in a postapocalyptic world as the only survivor of Vault 111 – 200 years later, although in the body of the same character who hasn't even aged. We'll probably learn how this was possible in the course of the game. And this will happen relatively soon – Todd Howard has confirmed the rumor about the release date of Fallout 4, scheduling it for November 10, 2015.
The presented videos featured a variety of interesting stuff – combat mechanics resembling straight-up shooters (though not without the V.A.T.S. system), a new, more natural model of conducting dialogues (at last including an audio of the lines uttered by our hero), a dog used to collect items, as well as an incredibly complex crafting system, covering both versatile modification of weapons and the impressive power armor that we will use from time to time to wreak havoc, and reconstruction of the town in which our adventure starts. In the latter we will be able to erect virtually everything. Moreover, we'll see how the renovated houses are repopulated by settlers (including merchants with unique assortments), and we will have to provide defense against attacks by bandits. Todd Howard boasts that Fallout 4 required the creation of "the most ambitious and the most detailed" world in the studio’s portfolio so far. The graphics look quite good, too, contrary to what the first trailer might have suggested.
There's also an icing on the cake – a collector's edition dubbed as Fallout 4: Pip-Boy Edition. Its main special feature will be... You guessed it, a functional Pip-Boy! We will be able to use it as a second screen for managing our character. Although Todd Howard remained skeptical about this type of experimentation, he also commented charmingly: "As far as stupid gimmicks go, this is the best f*****g one I've ever seen.” Those who can't afford the collector's edition will be able to download only the application behind Pip-Boy and install it on their mobile device equipped with Android or iOS (the app will be made available once the game is released).
