Here is a challenge. Watch these trailers and demos and don’t have a tear in your eye when you’re done. We’ll have a chat after. Oh set aside about 30 minutes or so. Good luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qoBSRDGB9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAcL5yk8uo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InxJ59Netms
There, there. Need a tissue? I probably don’t even need to say anything they explain a lot on their own. But I will, and you will probably hate me for it. Not everyone is a game lover. Not everyone who is a game lover is a Bethesda Studio lover. But one thing can be said. They know how to make games and they know how to entertain. After the way Witcher 3 has been robbing me of my life and time I was a bit worried that it created a mountain that most developers couldn’t climb, let alone effortlessly leap over. I should have never lost faith in Bethesda. They know what we want and they know how to deliver it.
I was honestly expecting more of the same with Fallout. Post apocalyptic setting? Check. VATS? Check. Dog? Check. Vault Boy Perks? Check. Then they turned around and showed Minecraft level building mechanics. Fortification building for a tower defense type rush from raiders. Gun and armor modification and custom building. A game that knows thousands of common names so it can call your character by name. New command system for your pets. Brand new engine with full physics and lighting simulation.
They have been working on this game for 7 years and it shows. The biggest complaint I am seeing from people online, yeah you know who you are, is that the graphics look dated. You know what? With everything they are delivering it can look like N64 Goldeneye for all I care. Graphics matter but they often don’t make or break a game. Needless to say this game is at the top of my fall list.
They also showed some other games. Mostly all gameplay too, as you can tell. One that really intrigued me that I wasn’t expecting was Fallout: Shelter. It’s a mobile platform game, out now for the Apple app store. Free and no pay walls with time etc. Just micro-transaction’s for loot. You build a vault and help the people survive inside. (looks similar to base building part of Xcom for you strategy fans) It looked stylish and fun and had the Fallout humor fans love. If you have an Apple device go here to download it: Fallout Shelter. Android version info to follow soon after.
They also showed the CG trailer, which you saw above, for Dishonored 2. One of my favorite games of 2012. Which is saying something because that was a good fall for games. It was unique because very few games let you play without killing anyone, which I did thank you very much, but also without being seen by anyone if you are truly hardcore, I couldn’t quite pull that one off.
Dishonored also had hundreds of different ways you could experience the game between level progression and choices and skill building. You could be a silent invisible assassin. Or a brute who goes in gun blazing freezing time setting traps and letting people kill themselves with their own arrows by turning them around on themselves midair. Or a melee master of quick death and dismemberment. It was a great game, actually the only game I could compare it to is the Deus Ex series. That is really good company to be in. Having been only CGI I can’t really speak too much about what I’m excited about specifically, aside from saying the first one was good and I expect no less from the sequel.
Doom was an unexpected surprise for me. It wasn’t really on my radar. I played Doom way back in the day on a friend’s computer and I liked it. I played Doom 3 back in the day and loved it. I played the Xbox Arcade Doom Classic in coop and loved it. For some reason I just wasn’t excited for this one. That changed tonight. They added some new features like double jump and climbing up objects. Melee finishers for weakened enemies looked slick, as you could tell if you watched the video. It looked pretty and looked like it played smooth. I am definitely excited for the new feature Snapmap. You can build your own singleplayer, coop and multiplayer maps and rule sets on the fly with a snap building feature kind of like Halo’s forge but looks simpler to use, yet with more sophisticated options.
2016 is already looking good with this lineup and this is only ONE publisher. I haven’t even talked about Elder scrolls Legends, their card game coming next year or Elder Scrolls Online’s new expansions coming out this fall. I didn’t touch on Battlecry since that was the only game I really didn’t click with but it may be good and interest some of you. This week we are gonna have a few round ups of the press briefings on Monday and Tuesday. E3 officially starts on Tuesday the 16th but I think Bethesda came out swinging and now everyone else has to play catch up. Join us and feel free to comment on anything that gets you excited this week! Visit our Facebook page for some discussion since we don’t have forums up yet here.
Ritterific
I’ll admit, I didn’t watch all of (so much to take in!), but what I did watch was awesome! I watched the Doom and Dishonored 2 stuff. I agree, Doom looks absolutely amazing! These guys definitely brought their A-game. I’m also loving all the E3 coverage, since I have to work and can’t watch it live. Keep it up!