game

E3 2015: Bethesda

Posted by Matt Birchler
15 Jun 2015 — 2 min read

I’m going to try and write one of these for each major press conference this week at E3. First up was Bethesda, who hosted their first ever E3 press conference. How’d they do?

Doom

[embed height="315" width="560"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7g6BfvU6A8[/embed]

The game looks pretty stunning. As any Doom game worth its salt, it’s a technical marvel. Bethesda has also said that not only will the game look amazing, but it will run at 1080p 60fps on both the PS4 and Xbox One.

That said, the gameplay they showed was very 1999. From what they showed, this is a very classic Doom game. The 30-40+ year olds in the audience were excited, but even I, someone who was just a little too young to have played the original Doom, thought the gameplay looked old fashioned. It’s gory, straightforward shooting in a world that is moving on from this style.

There’s something to be said for having a simple shooter that is simple fun, but I don’t think that’s enough for today’s gaming market.

Fallout 4

[embed height="315" width="560"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj06B-QQJTM[/embed]

Crafting looks elaborate, and could be quite fun. It’s Minecraft-esque, but that’s fine. There also appears to be some tower defense gameplay to deal with, but they said that this is optional, which I really appreciate.

[embed height="315" width="560"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2CCmkm0s9o[/embed]

The gameplay demo looks very much the same as Fallout 3. That’s not the worst news, since Fallout 3 still holds up pretty well and was one of my favorite games in the past decade.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends

[embed height="315" width="560"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7VQa-sOlz4[/embed]

We didn’t get a whole lot of info on this game, but it’s going to take a pretty special game to steal people away from Hearthstone.

Dishonored 2

[embed height="315" width="560"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnsDyv-TtJg[/embed]

No gameplay here either, but the first Dishonored was a great game, and one that too few people played. This CG trailer evokes fond memories for those of us who enjoyed the original.

This looks like a "holiday 2016” release, so we have a while to wait.

Fallout Shelter

[embed height="315" width="560"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY4jCjufLG8[/embed]

I just downloaded the game and will report back with my impressions.

Battlecry

[embed height="315" width="560"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAcL5yk8uo[/embed]

I’m not sure what to think of this one yet either. They didn’t show much, but this looks like just another team-based arena shooter. If that’s your thing, you may like this, but they didn’t show anything that got me excited.