Month: June 2018

Bethesda’s E3 2018 press conference kicked off on Sunday, June 10 at 6:30pm PT in Los Angeles with tons of teasers, news, announcements, and trailers for new and returning games. Major highlights included tons of new Fallout 76 gameplay details, brief teasers for next-gen titles like The Elder Scrolls VI, exciting new content for Wolfenstein and Prey, and more.

Below you’ll find a breakdown of all the major announcements from Bethesda’s E3 2018 press conference and where to watch all the new trailers and gameplay demos shown off.

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During the Rage 2 portion of Bethesda’s Showcase at E3 2018, a $119.99 Collector’s Edition was revealed that comes with far more than just a fancy steelbook case. The highlight of the Ruckus Edition, which rivals Bethesda’s Pip Boy Edition of Fallout 4, is a disturbing wall-mounted talking head of a character known as Ruckus the Crusher. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so we’ll let Ruckus’ mugshot do the talking.

In addition to that special item, the Collector’s Edition of Rage 2 (which is now available for pre-order at Best Buy on PS4 and Xbox One) will also include the following:

• Standard game
• Steelbook
• Monster Truck
• Collector’s Edition poster
• Deluxe Edition content
• BFG
• Weapon and Armor
• Exclusive mission: Cult of the Dead
• ‘Wasteland Wizard’ Cheat Codes

Bethesda’s Rage 2 presentation also included a glimpse at some scripted gameplay that shows off new powers for the game’s lead character, including a ground pound and a handy looking quick dash. The iconic Wingstick from the first game makes an appearance as well, and is used to carry off an enemy launched by a grenade blast while continuously chopping away at their health.

Only recently announced, Rage 2 is currently scheduled to release sometime in 2019. For more news from Bethesda, and the rest of the publishers and developers at E3, head over to our E3 hub for everything we’ve covered so far.

In a surprising announcement, Dontnod and Square Enix revealed a new addition to the Life Is Strange universe at E3 2018: A free, standalone game called The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. While not officially a part of the upcoming Life Is Strange 2–more news will be shared on that in the coming months–Captain Spirit remains in the same timeline and universe as the one inhabited by Life Is Strange protagonists Max and Chloe, and some story elements and player choices will carry over in Life Is Strange 2.

Life Is Strange’s co-directors Raoul Barbet and Michel Koch walked us through a short demo of The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit at E3. They started off by explaining that Life Is Strange does not encompass a single set of characters like Max and Chloe. Captain Spirit follows a new character, a 10-year old child named Chris, and this shift certainly changes our expectations for what to expect in Life Is Strange 2. And although the game is only a couple of hours long, Dontnod is hoping that players will feel encouraged to replay Captain Spirit multiple times to find out more about Chris, his situation, and what that might mean for Life Is Strange 2.

The game begins in the same way as the trailer: A Sufjan Stevens song (Death With Dignity) plays over scenes of a snow-covered house amongst a forest, and we’re introduced to Chris. He’s playing with his toys, and it’s apparent that he has a very vivid imagination, creating and narrating a fabricated scenario. At one point we’re led to believe that he’s about to move his toy spaceship with some kind of psychic force, but a quick cutaway shows that this too, is part of his imagination.

Chris has an alter ego for himself–a superhero with a variety of powers called Captain Spirit–and the game revolves around Chris’ Saturday morning as he spends time role-playing and completing superhero quests. A handy objective menu keeps track of these tasks, which includes things like constructing a costume (which can change depending on choices you make), vanquishing a water beast (a broken water heater), and exploring new planets in his spaceship (treehouse). Interacting with the world as Chris is very similar to Life Is Strange–there are numerous objects you can interact with as you move around the home. Some interactions depict Chris having fun, some interactions have references to Life Is Strange, and the majority of them reveal something more about Chris’ personality, his imagination, and his life situation.

But you can also interact with specific objects as Captain Spirit, using your imaginative superpowers to overcome fear, defeat monsters, and perform heroic deeds. Chris might be afraid of the dark, but Captain Spirit isn’t scared of that at all. It’s a charming idea, and the hand-drawn UI aesthetic layered over the more muted 3D world gives makes the experience quite adorable, if a bit bittersweet. There were a few occasions where Chris’ imagination gets wild and the entire 3D world shifts represent the intensity of his imagination.

But, you don’t have to do any of this, and the game will end at a certain point. Chris’ father (who is definitely not the world’s greatest dad) has promised to take him out after he finishes watching a basketball game, and you can either spend the interim however you wish: completing superhero objectives, exploring the house normally, or waste it away by playing with toys. A conclusion will eventually happen no matter what you do, but there are more things to interact with than there is time to interact with it, let alone the multiple branching choices that occur.

In a conversation with the co-directors, it came to light that the decision to pivot studio efforts to develop The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit came very shortly after writing for Life Is Strange 2 had begun. This game is very much linked to Life Is Strange 2, and they decided that they wanted to spend more time exploring the character of Chris and his relationship with his father. The decision to make it free also gave them the opportunity to try different design ideas and writing styles in preparation for Life is Strange 2, while being able to create a free, standalone, and accessible entry point to the series for newcomers. “It’s a real gift to the players”, they said.

The Awesome of Adventures of Captain Spirit will be available on June 26, 2018, for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Fallout 76 is the biggest game coming out of Bethesda during E3 2018 and it’s making some dramatic shifts from franchise formula. It’s a multiplayer-focused open-world game with survival elements that is said to be four times larger than any previous Fallout. Since it’s shifting to cooperative and PvP online multiplayer, it’s going to have a beta test period.

No word was given as to when that beta launches, but it’s definitely coming this year since Fallout 76 is set to release on November 14, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Along with a date and beta confirmation, we also got a series of videos, including those showcasing the first gameplay footage from the game. Despite the shift to an online multiplayer game, it does still very much look like Fallout.

Base-building returns from Fallout 4, although the exact ways in which it has been changed are not yet clear. We do know that players can work toward securing nuclear weapons they can then unleash on the map, which features six distinct regions. The exact purpose for doing so is, as with many details, not clear at the moment, though it seems like one rather effective way of dealing with pesky enemies.

Check out all the news to come out of Bethesda’s E3 press conference with our roundup.

E3 2018 is in full swing, which means there are already tons of games to keep track of. Like always, publishers use their press conferences to reveal new games, but some of those announcements also come with a bonus: that the game is available immediately. With all the buzz of E3, those are the games that can be especially hard to keep track of.

To help with that, we’ve compiled all the games announced so far that are playable right now. This includes new games, DLC, and old games released on new platforms. Keep checking back as we update this article with more games as they’re revealed.

Unravel Two

During EA’s press conference on Saturday, Unravel Two was announced. A sequel to 2016 platformer Unravel, the game stars Yarny as well as a companion and can be played solo or co-op. It’s available now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

New Xbox Game Pass Games

As revealed during Microsoft’s press conference, The Division, The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, and Fallout 4 are all available now on Xbox Game Pass. The subscription service, which costs $10 a month, lets you download games instead of buying them individually.

Prey Update And DLC

Bethesda announced during its press conference that 2017’s Prey would be getting new DLC, which is now available. The DLC, called Mooncrash, is set on the moon and costs $20. Additionally, a new update is out now for Prey and adds three new modes. You can read about both the DLC and updates in our full story.

Fallout Shelter On Switch And PS4

Also announced during Bethesda’s press conference is Fallout Shelter for both Nintendo Switch and PS4, and it’s now available for free on both platforms. Fallout Shelter was first announced during E3 2015 and released on iOS the same day.

Make sure to stick around for more E3 2018 news as it comes. Refer to the full livestream schedule for press conference times and live demos as the week continues, and go to our E3 2018 hub for all the biggest news.

During its E3 2018 press conference, Bethesda’s Todd Howard announced that Fallout Shelter will be coming to Nintendo Switch and PS4. The game, which was originally released on mobile during E3 in 2015, will be out tonight on the new platforms. And as with the versions on other platforms, it will be available for free.

According to Howard, Fallout Shelter has been played by over 120 million people, saying that’s “more people than every game we have made combined.” Previously, Fallout Shelter was available on iOS and Android, Xbox One, and PC. The game allows you to establish and lay out your own Vault. You’re charged with managing its inhabitants to grow and expand the Vault while also sending out adventurers into the wasteland to gather supplies (although you don’t actually directly control them).

The new versions will presumably feature all of the updates and improvements that have been made over the past three years, but there was no word about any new content being added.

This was one of many announcements during Bethesda’s E3 2018 conference. In terms of the Fallout franchise, we learned the first real details about Fallout 76, which is an online, multiplayer-focused RPG. The company also made some surprising announcements, including confirmation that both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI are in development. To catch up on everything, be sure to check out our roundup of all the news.