The Electronic Entertainment Expo – more commonly known as E3 is back and this means so are our roundup articles! We’ve been doing these for years back in 2018 and 2017. If you’re on the other side of the world like we are this is really the best way to read all about the highlights of E3 2019. This year Bethesda gave us a look at Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, as well as a couple of exciting new IPs in the works and of course The Elder Scrolls.
Doom Eternal
Doom Eternal, the sequel to 2016’s Doom has a release date and a brand new story trailer. Highlighting Doom Slayer in all his glory against the scores of hellspawn intent on stopping his cosmic killing spree. Once change in gameplay of Doom Eternal is the introduction of a multiplayer feature called Battlemode. Battlemode involves one “fully loaded” slayer going up against two demons in a battle of “strategy vs. skill,” according to the trailer.
Doom Eternal will be released on November 22nd 2019 on the Google Stadia, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Wolfenstein: Youngblood was introduced at last year’s E3 and has since been one of our Top 10 upcoming PSVR games to check out.
As previously announced, Wolfenstein: Youngblood is set in the 1980s, two decades after the events of Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. It’s a co-op adventure where you’ll play Jess and Soph Blazkowicz (aka “the Terror Twins”), as they embark on a mission in Nazi-occupied France to find their missing father, BJ. Wolfenstein: Youngblood is playable cooperatively, either with an AI-controlled companion or another person, and Bethesda is offering a “buddy pass” for a friend to play with the deluxe edition of the game.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One on July 26th 2019.
Deathloop
Arkane Lyon stole the stage during Bethesda’s E3 presentation with the announcement of their new IP, Deathloop. Arkane, the studio behind the Dishonored series and Prey, is back with a new game called Deathloop — which is about two assassins known as “The Captain” and “Jules” attempting to kill each other (and their targets) while stuck in a time loop in a mysterious island known as Blackreef. The trailer above gives us a hint at the game’s vibe, and we learned at Bethesda’s E3 press conference that it will combine a “mind-bending story” with the “meticulously designed levels” that Arkane is known for.
There’s a lot going on in the game’s setting — riots, spooky environments with flickering ghosts, supernatural powers, and a rivalry between two protagonists. There’s a time loop — one might call it the titular Deathloop — and one seeks to break the cycle while the other is attempting to preserve it.
Deathloop is being developed at Arkane’s Lyon studio, and unfortunately, we have no idea when it’s coming out — or when we might see more. But it’s a nicely weird-looking project that promises fights, supernatural powers, and a strange new world to explore.
GhostWire: Tokyo
GhostWire: Tokyo is the newest title by Tango Gameworks, the developer behind The Evil Within. Fans of their previous title should note that while GhostWire: Tokyo does indeed seem to have a lot of ghosts, Tango has specifically categorised this game as an action-adventure title.
In GhostWire: Tokyo, players will have to travel through the city, avoiding harmful spirits and possibly getting help from friendly ones. The trailer for the game shows people disappearing and skeleton-like demons taking over. This is the official description:
After strange disappearances hit Tokyo’s population, it’s up to you to uncover the source and purge the city of a strange, new evil. Armed with your own mysterious spectral abilities, you will face down the occult, unravel conspiracy theories and experience urban legends like never before.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Scalebreaker & Dragonhold
The Season of the Dragon continues throughout the rest of 2019 in The Elder Scrolls: Online with two exciting new DLCs: Scalebreaker and Dragonhold.
Scalebreaker, available in August “brings two new dungeons for you and your team to conquer: Moongrave Fane and Lair of Maarselok. Both of these challenging new dungeons are part of the Season of the Dragon storyline, pitting you and your team against Dragons like the ones you faced in Elsweyr. However, not all want to destroy the legendary beasts, and the Halls of Colossus was not the only place that held Dragons.”
Dragonhold, meanwhile will launch in November and “brings with it a whole new zone to explore in Southern Elsweyr called Pellitine, a lawless wasteland impacted by a deadly plague almost 20 years ago. There, you must gather allies (including fan favourite Sai Sahan), reform the ancient Dragonguard order, develop powerful new tools and weapons, and put an end to the dragon menace before it threatens to engulf all of Tamriel.”
Commander Keen
“A classic Saturday morning cartoon in free-to-play, mobile game form,” Bethesda said. Commander Keen is a “modern take” on the very old Id side-scroller, starring both Billy (boy) and Billie (girl), the children of the old-school Commander Keen (and therefore, canonically, the great-grandchildren of one B.J. Blazkowicz).
It’s not a 2D side-scroller but sort of an item-based action puzzle game where you build contraptions to move through levels. It’s got its own theme song. “Soft launch” this summer on iOS and Android.
Orion
Not a game this time but Bethesda‘s very own streaming technology Orion was unveiled at their press conference. Developed by id Software, following “years of research and development,” the Orion technology is designed to reduce the latency, bandwidth and computing power needed to deliver a solid experience for a streaming video game.
Instead of the hardware approach favoured by platforms like Google Stadia and xCloud, id’s technology optimizes game engines themselves for “performance in a cloud environment.” Promising 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, Bethesda’s James Altman puts Orion in the pantheon of the company’s tech firsts, such as the first first-person shooter, mods on consoles and, boldly, the first consumer-ready virtual reality headsets (a claim it famously litigated and won in 2018).
In order to further validate the technology, Bethesda will be inviting select members of its Doom Slayers Club to experience Doom (2016) later this year, and is encouraging those interested to sign up “tonight.” Stay tuned for more on our hands-on experience with Orion.
