It was a rough year prior to the Electronics and Entertainment Expo for Bethesda but this year it looks like they have righted the ship with what they brought to the USC campus for their theater presentation. There was a lot shown so lets get right into it!
The night started with an Uber drive over to the USC campus and a long line wait prior to getting inside the Shrine Auditorium. Fast forward to getting inside and got some good drinks prior to entering the theater for the presentation. Bethesda had a vast lineup planned for their presentation and it started with Mr. Todd Howard and Fallout 76. The main takeaway from Howard being there was that the criticism for Fallout 76 was deserved and they went off of the fan criticism to develop the project for the better! There was an update announced for Fallout 76, Wastelanders, brings human non-playable characters to the fold as well as a new quest line that allows for real options/consequences!
The Elder Scrolls: Blades was a hit for mobile devices and was announced that it was coming to the Nintendo Switch. It will have full cross-play and cross-progression between the mobile and Switch versions. There will be new jobs, custom jewelry and a new dragon quest line so fans of the series will have quite a lot to look forward to!
Ghostwire: Tokyo is an action/adventure game where you’re tasked with fighting a supernatural evil. There are spirits causing trouble in Tokyo and you’ll have to discover the reason behind it as people are disappearing. As you play, you’ll have to discover if each problem you discover is normal or paranormal and react accordingly.
Commander Keen is the next project from ZeniMax Online Studios and brings the franchise back from the depths of the classic Commander Keen series. You’ll be able to play the mobile game with twin genius characters Billy and Billie and they try and save the galaxy. You’ll be able to play a story mode or a real-time battle mode!
Wolfenstein made a big splash with two games being announced, Cyberpilot and Youngblood. Cyberpilot has you playing in virtual reality as a French Resistance hacker where you’re making Nazi machines turn against said Nazi’s. On the flip side, Youngblood has you playing the role of BJ Blazkowicz’s twin daughters searching Paris for their father who has gone missing. Youngblood has custom weapons, play styles, as well as a co-op mode to allow Nazi killing with a friend!
Deathloop has players going to the island of Blackreef, where you’ll be tasked with breaking the Deathloop. It reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day where you relive moments over and over again but in this instance, you will be trying to kill or be killed. You play in the first person shooter style and it also reminds me of the Dishonored franchise in terms of graphics/play style.
The apple of Bethesda’s eye during the theater presentation was Doom Eternal. You’ll be able to play as the Doom Slayer to take down the various legions of Hell that are trying to attack! The Doom Slayer has all kinds of new abilities and weapons that will make you the ultimate Slayer. One weapon that looks particularly badass is the chainsaw that allows you to hack and slash demons to pieces. You’ll be able to control the play in Heaven or Hell as you progress in the adventure. There is also a multiplayer mode, a Battle mode if you will, that allows players to play two on one. The combination could be two human controlled demons versus one Demon Slayer or any combination of human and computer controlled players. You’ll have to strategize during Battle mode if you want to win.
Lastly, there was the announcement of Project Orion; Bethesda’s answer to streaming that will allow streaming with any game engine. It has 20% faster frame rate as well as 40% lower bandwidth so in theory it will be a better streaming device. It enhances the game engine performance when streaming from the cloud as well as giving more access to more people in more locations with a higher quality. During the presentation, Bethesda wanted viewers to know that Orion could handle Doom and while it was streamed, it was presented very well!
Bethesda looks like it has a lot of games coming out in the near future to be pleased about and things are looking up for the company. I want to thank the company for the cool koozies they gave out during the theater presentation as everyone knows koozies are awesome!