E3 2017: EA Conference Review and Impressions

E3 2017: Microsoft Conference Review and Impressions

There’s no doubt Bethesda is a powerhouse developer. I can’t even count the hours I’ve spent playing games in the ELDER SCROLLS and FALLOUT series. I don’t think I want to know. And don’t forget the likes of DISHONORED, DOOM, and WOLFENSTEIN. What I’m trying to say is that Bethesda is amazing. That said, this year’s E3 presentation was just meh. Understandably so considering how much they threw at us last year. They deserve a bit of a rest.

Things kicked off with some VR love in the form of DOOM VFR and FALLOUT 4 VR. They both looked cool, but there’s no scenario where I want to visit hell in VR. Sounds way too intense for my feeble mind. I appreciate that it exists, but damn, it looks insane. Ok, maybe I want to try it. As for VR at home, I’m not 100% sold yet so I have a feeling I won’t be playing either of these games anytime soon. I’m ok with that.

There was a healthy amount of MORROWIND love since that game just released and it looks like there will be an insane amount of additional content and support for many years to come. Bethesda also introduced CREATION CLUB, which kind of just looks like mods for money. You use credits to get new content and it’s landing summer 2017 with support for FALLOUT 4 and SKYRIM. I’m not clear on how this differs from all the free mods out there other than it not being free.

ELDER SCROLLS got some more love with a new card game coming to Android and iPhone on 6/29/17 called THE ELDER SCROLLS LEGENDS. Meh. And SKYRIM is coming to Nintendo Switch with the ability to dress like Link and wield the Master Sword. Cool, but not enough to get me to double dip.

More DISHONORED 2 DLC is on the way in the form of a new story campaign called DISHONORED: DEATH OF THE OUTSIDER coming 9/15/17.

We get another look at QUAKE CHAMPIONS which is in BETA. And THE EVIL WITHIN 2 is officially coming on 10/13/17 just in time for the Halloween season. I never played the original, but it has a pretty dedicated following so I’m not surprised to see a sequel.

And finally we get a pretty substantial look at WOLFENSTEIN 2: THE NEW COLOSSUS which was hands-down the highlight of the show. The game looks completely insane. I played the original and its meaty standalone DLC. They were both amazing games so needless to say I’m very excited about this sequel. What Bethesda had on display for this game was definitely impressive.

And that’s about it. The majority of the conference looked back at what they’ve accomplished. It did a great job reminding us why Bethesda is awesome, but did little else to get me excited about what they have in store for us in 2017 and beyond. But that’s ok, every year can’t knock my socks off. Bethesda still ranks as one of the top dogs in my book.