E3 COVERAGE: BETHESDA CONFERENCE

For the second year in the row Bethesda keeps nailing its press conferences at E3 2016. This year was all about Dishonored 2, VR and revitalising of old franchises.

QUAKE CHAMPIONS

Tim Willins announced Quake Champions during the event. They did not show gameplay, but there was an amazing trailer, which looked a lot like the old CGI-intro to Quake 3. The new title is a competitive multiplayer game with fast gameplay. It’s a PC project, so no consoles for now. The developers promise that there’s going to be a bunch of different characters with their unique attributes. More information will be available at the upcoming Quakecon.

20 years ago, Quake set new standards for multiplayer competition and pushed the boundaries for graphics and gameplay. It’s important to all of us at id Software that Quake Champions remains true to the Quake legacy, and delivers the speed and gameplay our longtime fans expect, while also pressing forward by introducing new gameplay opportunities with new Champions and abilities.

Tim Willits, Studio Director, id Software

Skyrim Special Edition

Bethesda is relaunching The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition on October 28th. It’s an old game with new visuals for modern game systems Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. If you own Skyrim and all its add-ons or own Legendary Edition on Steam, you’ll get a free upgrade to Skyrim Special Edition.

There’s a lot of technical additions to the new build:

• Remastered art and effects
• Volumetric God Rays
• Dynamic Depth of Field
• Screen Space Reflections
• New Snow Shaders
• New Water shaders

Plus console versions will also support PC mods (which is absolutely crazy). Remember – the remastered game is launching October 28th!

PREY

Prey is one of the biggest surprises of the show. Arkane Studios is actually hard at work on the remake. The game has a new premise and completely different gameplay. It’s a near-future sci-fi FPS. You awaken aboard a space station in the year 2032 and become the central element of an strange experiment. There’s a page for the game on Steam.

In Prey, you awaken aboard Talos I, a space station orbiting the moon in the year 2032. You are the key subject of an experiment meant to alter humanity forever—but things have gone terribly wrong. The space station has been overrun by hostile aliens and you are now being hunted. As you dig into the dark secrets of Talos I and your own past, you must survive using the tools found on the station, your wits, weapons, and mind-bending abilities.

The project will be available in 2017.

Virtual Reality

Bethesda is taking VR very seriously this year. The company is trying to take VR-space with two of it’s most recent games: DOOM and Fallout 4. These games will be available for HTC VIVE. Most of them are available for a little try at the show floor. The full release will happen in 2017.

DISHONORED 2

Dishonored 2 is the biggest game of Bethesda’s press conference. It’s a beautiful and versatile game, which is created with the help of custom Void Engine. The developers wanted to achieve the effect of the living painting. They surely succeeded, as the game looks absolutely mesmerising. We especially like the lighting. It’s just amazing. You will be able to play as Corvo Attano or Emily Kaldwin. Each character has their own set of abilities.

Dishonored 2 will be available for PS4, Xbox One and PC on November 11, 2016. There’s a collector’s edition for the fans.