E3 2018: Bethesda Press Conference Highlights

Bethesda lifts the curtain on some of its most prolific upcoming games

E3 2018 marks the 4th annual press conference for Bethesda. It’s the second big press conference today and it didn’t take long for Bethesda to get the “party” started. Let’s take a look at the highlights of Bethesda’s E3 2018 press conference.

Step into the boots of Walker the last ranger in Rage 2

Bethesda opened the show with its upcoming open world first-person shooter Rage 2. The official voice of Rage, Andrew W.K., came out and did a live performance on stage. It was quite interesting to say the least!

We found out that Rage 2 is in development by id Software, creators of the first person shooter, and Avalanche Studios, masters of open world gaming. So you know that this is going to be a good game. The trailer shown introduced us to Walker the last Ranger of the wasteland, whom we assume the role of.

Rage 2 takes place in a world where 80 percent of the population has died and is overrun by mutants due to a massive asteroid crashing into the Earth. Your mission is to find the tools and tech needed to crush the Authority’s oppressive rule and end it once and for all.
In the trailer shown, the world looked massive.

It was full of carnage and you could pretty much go anywhere, shoot anything and explode everything. Rage 2 launches Spring 2019 but will be playable on the show floor at E3 2018. Stay tuned to the Best Buy Canada Blog for hands on impressions this week.

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The Elder Scrolls Legends relaunches on PS4, Switch and Xbox One

The award winning free-to-play strategy card game is relaunching with new visuals including a new playmat, new card frames, new menus and much more. Updates such as balance adjustments, bug fixes, and new features will be released frequently.
While a definitive date wasn’t give for the relaunch, we can expect it soon on home consoles.

The Elder Scrolls Online and Prey get new DLC and gameplay modes

It was announced that the Elder Scrolls Online’s next DLC will be werewolf-based and is called Wolfhunter. This DLC introduces two new and challenging group dungeons: Moon Hunter Keep and March of Sacrifices. Available later this year is a story based expansion pack called Murkmire that takes you into the home of the Argonians.

Next inline for DLC was last year’s Prey. Titled Moon Crash, it was interesting to hear that all the enemies and loot will be random every time you play. More over, what interested me even more as a new multiplayer mode for Prey that is set to release later this summer. It’s called Typhon Hunter and pits one player against five others, who get to play as Mimics and can disguise themselves just like the in-game enemies.

Doom Eternal teased

The sequel to Doom, one of my favourite games of 2016, Doom Eternal was teased at the conference tonight. The game picks up right where the last one ended and features twice as many demons than the previous game. While we don’t know much, we do know that we will be battling the forces of Hell. The game will officially be revealed at Quake Con in August.

A brand new adventure awaits—Wolfenstein Youngblood

A brand new co-op game from the same team that brought us Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus called Wolfenstein Youngblood was announced and shown. The game is centred around BJ’s twin daughters Jess and Soph. The game takes place in Paris during the year 1980. Wolfenstein Youngblood releases sometime in 2019.

Wolfenstein Cyberpilot VR announced

A brand new Wolfenstein VR game called Cyberpilot VR is coming. It takes place in Paris 1980. You’re the best hacker in town. Your mission is to aid the French resistance by taking control of powerful Nazi war machines.

You’ll have to ram, gun down, and burn your way through the City. I am looking forward to hearing more about this game and see it in action.

Fallout Shelter comes to PS4 and Switch

Fallout Shelter is celebrating its third birthday with more than 120 million downloads and is available for download now for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. If you’ve never played the game, I’ll give you a little back story on the game.

Fallout Shelter is a post-nuclear strategy and simulation experience that puts you in control of a state-of-the-art underground Vault. If you have yet to play this game, you’ll want to download now—its that much fun!

Fallout 76 unveiled

The wait is finally over. Bethesda spilled the beans on Fallout 76 and boy oh boy is it going to be awesome. The game is a prequel and is four times the size of Fallout 4. Fallout 76 takes place in the hills of West Virginia with six distinctive regions in the year 2102. Its Reclamation Day and you and your fellow Vault Dwellers emerge into a post nuclear America.

One of the most exciting aspects of the game announced was that Fallout 76 is an entirely online game. That means every person you encounter will be a real living human being. You must work together to survive in the most massive world yet.

You can build anywhere and move wherever you want. Just like it would be in a post nuclear era, you will play with dozens and not hundreds or even thousands of players on dedicated servers. Better yet, you can play with your friends and if you happen to die, you will never lose your character.

Fallout 76 launches Nov 14, 2018 and before launch Bethesda will hold a beta that you can sign up to participate in.

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Bethesda 2019 and beyond

To close out the show, Bethesda announced its first new franchise is twenty-five years. Starfield is a next generation single player RPG in a sci-fi setting. Does this mean this is a game for the next PlayStation and Xbox consoles? Only time will tell.

The next chapter in the icon The Elder Scrolls series has been confirmed. The Elder Scrolls VI is in pre-production by the same developers of Skyrim and Fallout 4.

Final thoughts

Bethesda’s press conference had a little bit of everything for Bethesda fans. My personal favourites of the show were Rage 2 and Fallout 76. I was happy to see the continued support for the Switch and I am looking forward to more information on Doom Eternal come August at Quake Con.

Let me know in the comments section below which game you are most interested in from Bethesda’s press conference and why.

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