Both the publishing arm and developments studios of Bethesda have had sound track records in recent memory. Churning out plenty of critically acclaimed games, it is unsurprising that most of their press conferences stuck to their roots. Wait… What?! You’re telling me the new Fallout is an always online survival game? Pardon me, B.J. Blaskowitz isn’t the playable character in the new Wolfenstein? Prey is getting a rogue-like mode?

I don’t generally enjoy single player FPS campaigns. I find them stressful and repetitive. I did, however, like Rage 1. It was manageable enough that I never got stressed, and damn did the guns feel good. Open world garbage aside, it was a good shooter. Rage 2 has a very different tone, but if it retains any of the gun mechanics, I’ll definitely be looking to give it a try. The combat arenas showcased in the press conference reminded me of Doom (2016), but the guns looked to shoot much as in a Call of Duty. The action was fast paced and exciting, and the environments looked varied. The textures looked a little bland and drab, but it’s hard to tell if they will look that way in game (being on stream and all). It’s cool to see a forgotten franchise get a second chance, and I really hope this game is good. The Bethesda first person franchises continued to surprise with a Doom (2016) sequel set on a hellish earth, a procedurally generated rogue-like mode for Prey and a Wolfenstein game featuring B.J. Blazkowicz’s twin daughters. While I didn’t play Doom or Wolfenstein, people seem to love those games, so I have no doubt that they were on the list at some point... But I am surprised to see both so soon, especially as the Wolfenstein games feel like critical darlings but poor performers. I feel like there is a piece missing here. Perhaps Wolfenstein is a smaller game, the Far Cry: Blood Dragon of the franchise.

It was a small part of the show, but apparently Elder Scrolls: Legends is getting a full visual overhaul. This is absolutely massive for that game. I want to talk more about this in a later post, but the mechanics and card design of ESL are top notch, and when the game came out it was my favourite online CCG. An increasingly overwhelming storefront and barely functional interface really hurt the game, and I think that an improved form of ESL could do VERY well, and be very good. The complexity, skill and good design are there, but almost everything around the edges is falling apart. I also want to write more about MMOs in the near future but let me say this now – Elder Scrolls Online is the best MMO right now, and you should play it. Especially since it’s on Game Pass now. And it’s getting a consistent stream of very high-quality content.

Fallout 76 is the game I never wanted. It is a game that I could hear almost anything about and still not touch. I hate survival games. They seem so disrespectful of the players time. Too complicated to zone out and watch a movie, but simple enough to be boring, they demand that players do insane amounts of work to progress. They feel like MMOs without the addictive * beep * as you level up. I just have no interest in them, and with plenty of them coming out (including the recent State of Decay 2), I feel like Fallout 76 would have to do a lot for me to care. I go to BGS games for the story, the writing. It’s frustrating to me as a Bethesda fan to get this out of a franchise I adore. Todd Howard is a great presenter, and perhaps I’ll come around on 76, but with the next BGS project being considered a “next generation” title, and Elder Scrolls 6 coming after that, it seems as though the game I want from BGS is far away indeed. But the game did look good and was presented in a fun way at the show. So maybe I’m just being a downer.

Whatever, at least I can play Skyrim on my fridge.

Aidan (@aiomon)

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