Dishonored 2, Prey, Fallout 4 VR - all the news from Bethesda E3 2016
Bethesda makes another confident bid for a top third-party publisher slot with a deep dive on Dishonored 2, a brand new take on Prey from Arkane, and even a virtual reality foray.
Dishonored 2, Prey, Fallout 4 VR - all the news from Bethesda E3 2016
The heart and highlight of Bethesda's E3 2016 presentation was a detailed look at Dishonored 2.
A gameplay footage reveal panned slowly through many different locations, showing off the new city's increased verticality, decadent interiors and wind turbines.
Arkane's Harvey Smith said the developer had to build a custom game engine to bring the city to life, and to create features like interruptible real-time cutscenes, NPCs with their own schedules, and more.
As second video showed us an early section of the game from Emily's perspective. She walked along talking with Corvo, but a planned ceremony to honour her mother was interrupted by a mysterious assailant. The video then skipped on to footage of climbing, again from Emily's perspective.
Finally, we got to see Emily tackling a mission; you can check the video out above. Her Mesmerise and Domino powers were one of the highlights. We have more details on Emily's new powers in the pull article in case the excitement of watching the video renders your unable to comprehend spoken words.
In case three videos weren't enough for you, Bethesda then gave us a rad new Dishonored 2 trailer. Good times. Hopefully we'll have that for you soon.
Dishonored 2 launches in November. Pre-orders come with a free copy of Dishonored: Definitive Edition for a limited time. There will be a very special edition with a replica of Corvo's mask.
Prey reboot from Arkane's Austin team
Arkane co-creative director Raphael Colantonio came on stage - but not for Dishonored 2. He confessed he's been leading the Austin Arkane studio on a new project, Prey.
A first-person immersive sim with a psychological twist, it seems to be a reboot of Human Head's troubled Prey IP. The game is set in 2032, and you’ll play as a man who represents “a key experiment meant to alter humanity forever”. Aliens invade the space station you’re on, and you must survive using all the tools available to you.
It's launching for PC, PS4 and Xbox One next year, and there'll be more info at QuakeCon.
Fallout 4 DLC, Fallout Shelter, Skyrim Special Edition
While there's no word on a new game from Bethesda Game Studios yet, that's because it's still busy with Fallout 4. A pre-recorded segment from Todd Howard introduced the Contraptions Workshop DLC, launching next week on June 21, which allows players to build all sorts of weird devices.
Another Workshop DLC pack follows in July, giving players a bunch of Vault-Tec assets with which to lay out their own fault. Finally, a more substantial pack called Nuka World Amusement Park is scheduled for August.
Fallout 4 is coming to virtual reality via the HTC Vive in 2017, apparently. Bit of a turn up for the books.
If you still have any money left, there's a new Fallout Pip-Boy replica on pre-order. It's $350 and a lot better than the one that came with the special edition. Dang.
The last bit of Fallout news is that a major update is coming to Fallout Shelter, which is coming to PC in July. There was a video and we expect that to turn up shortly.
In other Bethesda Game Studios news, yes: The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition is a thing. Skyrim comes to PS4 and Xbox One on October 28, looking a lot shinier than when we last saw it on consoles.
It will also be available on PC, and will be a free upgrade to those who own the original and all DLC packs.
Quake Champions - PC exclusive hero shooter
Bethesda kicked things off with a long-rumoured reveal: Quake Champions. Id Software director Tim Willits came on stage to introduce Quake, a competitive, arena-style shooter for PC.
"Whether you're new to Quake or have ben fragging for 20 years, Quake Champions will give you the challenge you expect from id multiplayer games," Willits said.
Willits said the game will be focused on speed and performance, with graphics running at 120 Hz with an unlocked frame-rate. There's a cast of different characters with varying attributes, so that all players can find a style to suit them.
Sounds a bit hero-shooter, doesn't it? Perhaps Overwatch (and Battleborn and Paragon I guess) has some new competition. Also, I doubt Battlecry will ever surface now.
Bethesda has plans for an eSports league, and will share more information at QuakeCon this year.
DOOM
Id Software confirmed a new DOOM DLC pack is incoming, along with a ton of free content. Called Unto The Evil, the first DLC pack will deliver multiplayer maps, a new gun and armour, and a new playable demon called the Harvester.
For those of you who haven't tried it, you'll be able to download and play the first level of DOOM for free this week only on PC, PS4, Xbox One.
DOOM is also going VR, apparently, but no date was provided.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends
Bethesda's Pete Hines took the stage next to talk about the publisher's free-to-play card battler.
As well as the usual modes like arena and battle, there's a story mode is presented form the perspective Moth Priest named Kellen, although goodness knows how you spell it. A new trailer was released to highlight that.
Hines announced the game will be coming to mobile devices this year. Nice. It's currently in beta on PC.
The Elder Scrolls Online
Bethesda hinted at new content on the way to its MMORPG, celebrated recent content updates, and confirmed Japanese release in September.
The Dark Brotherhood DLC comes to The Elder Scrolls Online on PS4 and Xbox One next Tuesday, and we got a new launch trailer for the console release.
A major update is coming in northern autumn called One Tamriel, which will remove all content restrictions; no matter what your member level or alliances, you'll be able to enjoy all content.
Wrapping up
You can watch a full replay of the conference above.
Bethesda's E3 2016 conference kicked off with a pre-pre-show hosted by Bethesda's Gary Steinman and Matt Grandstaff, full of fan created content, trivia, and Bethesda in-jokes. As is right and proper for E3 streams, it was exquisitely painful.
Later the actual pre-show began, hosted by Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb. You didn't miss much from this: there was a bit of chat about Fallout 4: Far Harbor, a Fallout 4 settlement crafting montage, talk about the latest Fallout Shelter update, Fallout mod support, DOOM SnapMap and The Elder Scrolls: Legends, and a repeat of last year's Dishonored 2 trailer.
Sometime during the whole affair, a bit of a tease for a new Wolfenstein dropped - possibly.
The show concluded with a performance from rowdy pop-punkers Blink 182 for some reason.
Don't want to miss a E3 thing? Bookmark this page for all the game announcements, trailers and news from E3 2016.