Here's a Rundown of Everything At The Microsoft/Bethesda E3 Showcase [13/06/2021]

Many of us were expecting a good showcase from the mega power that is Xbox, especially since its acquisition of Bethesda. What we were not expecting was a showcase that went on for so damn long, with nothing but back to back game trailers, many of which began to blend together. Regardless, I hope you’re comfortable with a nice tall glass of water because Xbox and Bethesda’s joint showcase showed trailers for 30 different games, 27 of which are available on Xbox’s death sentence to physical media, Game Pass. There are a lot of games to talk about, so let’s try to get through them with our posture straight the entire time, preferably.

Despite all the trailers only really showing NASA-inspired hard sci-fi spaceships some of the concept art that dropped hints at a much bigger universe being out there.

Starfield

First, the master of broken dreams himself, Todd Howard, finally gave us our first real look at Starfield and a release date of 11/11/22. Well, actually the Washington Post did, a couple of hours early but everyone at the show just pretended that never happened. The teaser doesn’t reveal much other than a focus on space travel and the name of an organization- Constellation- but considering Starfield has been little more than a name for the past few years, just the confirmation that it exists is better than nothing. Since then Howard has been stoking the flames of excitement in interviews and yep, as many guessed, Starfield is, “Skyrim in space.”

Pictured: GSC Game World finding out just how much money Microsoft is willing to give them for their super-niche-survival-horror game based on Tarkovsky film.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl

In what was easily the most compelling trailer of the show, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (actually the 4th in the franchise) effectively showed both gameplay and story, cutting between a group of Russian men huddled by a campfire and various gameplay segments. Spin-its included using bolts to detect explosive singularities and more typical first-person shooter moments. The long-awaited quintessential “Euro-jank” game is releasing on the 28th of April next year. However, by capturing the tone of Andrei Tarkovsky’s classic S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 set a very high bar that many of the following reveals couldn’t quite match.

Back 4 Blood

Turtle Rock Studios’ long-gestating Back 4 Blood was shown at yet another showcase, this time highlighting more of the Left 4 Dead-style gameplay, and revealing a human vs. zombie PVP mode. If you’ve spent any time with the versus modes in the original Left 4 Dead games, the similarities are apparent almost immediately, even down to the Special zombies, known as “Ridden”, which is to be expected considering this is being developed by the same team. Despite looking good overall, it’s also going to be fighting off a ton of other four-player co-op horde games in the near future, including several others shown in this showcase.

I have to say, if you want to save money on your fancy CGI trailer having it be a slow pan around a still diorama scene is pretty smart.

Contraband

Contraband by Avalanche Studios is a cooperative open-world...something.  The teaser trailer sets up a pretty stylish, 70’s vibe, but it didn’t really leave a lasting impression about what the game might actually be about. Or...anything at all about the game other than the fact it is both cooperative, open-world and, with a name like Contraband, may likely be about heisting or running illegal goods. There is certainly a pedigree here as the game is coming from the Just Cause team at Avalanche and will be running on the same engine. No date was given and the fact that this entire trailer was a CGI mood piece has us thinking it is a ways off.

Extremely cheap sounding Jack Sparrow: Take me the horizon!
Me: Sorry mate, Forza was the second last game shown. You might be waiting a while.

Sea of Thieves Gets Even More Pirates

Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones have come to Sea of Thieves. Surprisingly, you won’t have to wait very long for a crossover more inevitable than Thanos’ hand and the infinity stones; the update arrives June 22nd. Being touted as an original story-driven adventure, it showcases new weapons, enemies, and an impersonator trying his absolute damnedest to not be Johnny Depp.

The Yakuza Series Finds A Home On Game Pass

It was announced that Yakuza: Like A Dragon is coming to Games Pass. Meaning that as of today, you can play every single mainline Yakuza game on Xbox Game Pass, including both Kiwami games, The Song of Life, and the entirety of The Remastered Collection. The value from these games alone, considering the difficulty that Yakuza games have had getting to the west in previous years, only adds more strength to Game Pass.

I remember when I was younger I thought Battlefield games were the most realistic military simulations ever… Anyway check this out.

Battlefield 2042

DICE showed off another trailer for Battlefield 2042, complete with more wingsuits, more of the large-scale battles and huge maps fans have come to love the series for. While it was recently announced that 2042 has trimmed the fat of the campaign and Battle Royale mode, the multiplayer we’ve seen looks chaotic and very solid, and the weather effects are genuinely out of this world. The game’s politics, however, is still up in the air, because why wouldn’t they be?

We didn’t mention it but 12 Minutes is yet another piece of “time-loop” media.

SO HOT RIGHT NOW.

12 Minutes

Annapurna Interactive have a history of publishing some of the most unique indie games on the market, from Kentucky Route Zero to Sayonara Wild Hearts. The indie publisher continued this trend by briefly sharing a quick trailer for 12 Minutes. The long-in-development interactive thriller now boasts the star power of Daisy Ridley, James Mcavoy and the World’s Best Green Goblin, Willem Dafoe. It is releasing August 19th 2021.

Psychonauts 2

Psychonauts 2 was my reminder to drink some water, stretch my legs, and get excited for something that I know I’ll like. Double Fine’s most well-regarded child psychic was shown off with a colourful and comedic trailer that pumped some much-needed energy into the very direct, if not rushed, trailer-focused showcase. Come August, we can all play through the game that has been eagerly awaited for nearly two decades. Now for fans to cry in anticipation of Psychonauts 3 releasing in 2042.

Fallout 76 Takes Us Back to Pittsburgh

The game I swear to all of my friends is good now- I promise! Just give it a try!- Fallout 76 announced a trailer for its next major update, Steel Reign. This expansion seems to have major consequences for the Brotherhood of Steel in the Fallout universe based on your decisions - how far we’ve come from no NPCs. There was also a quick teaser that showed off the Pitt, a location from Fallout 3’s DLC that we’ll likely be exploring very soon as well.

The Elder Scrolls Online Still Exists

Genuinely, I forget this game exists outside of my one Twitter mutual who occasionally tweets about it. Bethesda showed off a trailer that announced it’s joining the family of game’s optimized for the Xbox Series X|S, and I hope that makes my one Twitter mutual very happy. Honestly, this section was where the lack of an audience was most felt. This is usually at this point at E3 where that one woman on the ESO dev team shouts the house down and it was a bit sad not to have her there.

The more of this game I see, the more I kind of like the Gang Beast folks should contact a lawyer or something…

Party Animals

While I’m ashamed to admit I absolutely thought this was Gang Beasts 2 for almost the full duration of the trailer, I will say that this console port of Party Animals (which is totally legally distinct from Gang Beasts) looks every bit as zany as the PC original. Also, good on the Honest Trailer Voice guy for still earning that paycheck.

Hades is Coming to Game Pass...Thank Nyx

If you have not played Hades, despite literally everyone on the planet saying just how amazing Hades is, you too can join the Zagreus Simp Club when it comes to Game Pass August 13th. It will also drop on PlayStation the same day but that tidbit was never going to be mentioned here.

What do we call games like this. Limbo-likes, Limbside games or maybe Inbos?

Somerville

Things aren’t looking great for Bostains the trailer for the indie title Somerville. This moody teaser was cold and haunting, nailed a mix of Signs and The Last of Us with a few classical music stringers really making it. This game is notable as it is the result of the formation of a new studio, after a messy split between the two founders of Playdead(Inside and Limbo). We won’t be playing it until 2022, but it definitely left a few hooks to keep us intrigued until we hear more about it.

That extra year in development has really added a sorely need sheen to this game.

Halo: Infinite

Halo marked the halfway point of the showcase (yes, we are only halfway there, take a walk if you need to) with a pretty serious mic drop; the multiplayer portion of Infinite will be an entirely separate free-to-play client from the main campaign. While this raises a few questions about the length of the campaign in relation to the price of the game itself, the trailer shown for the multiplayer definitely nailed the action you expect from a match of Halo, while also talking up the new mobility and combat options afforded by the games grappling hook. There was also a 10-minute multiplayer deep-dive released after the show which seemed very focused on getting diehard fans back onboard after many felt burned by Halo 4 and 5’s competitive modes. Here’s hoping both it and the Campaign can carry their own weight.

Diablo II: Resurrected

One of the few games shown not coming to Game Pass, Diablo II: Resurrected is releasing September 23rd, with a neat graphical bump. It’s definitely a step up from the graphics of the 2000 original, but I can’t help but feel like this looks to be a pretty barebones remastering of the game. Though you can hardly blame ActivisionBlizzard for that decision after everything that went wrong with Warcraft 3: Reforged.

A Plague’s Tale: Requiem

Another teaser distressingly light on actual gameplay, which makes sense considering Asobo Studio just finished mapping the entire planet for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The sequel to the cult hit, A Plague’s Tale: Innocence, did at the very least promise more rat waves, which is good news for those of us who love rats, and absolutely horrible news for those of us that don’t! No release window was given… So we never know when the rat-wave will come for us...

Lets look at this nice scenic seen and not, you know, the ratking to end all ratkings that was also in the trailer.

Far Cry 6 

Calling a spade a spade here, Ubisoft absolutely flooded E3 with Far Cry 6 content in the hopes that we all forget the rampant allegations of misconduct from the past year, from physical assault to sexual misconduct. Recently, there are reports that such activities have increased, despite what Ubisoft is publicly insisting. So yes, there was another Far Cry 6 trailer, but it’s much more important that Ubisoft be held accountable. The game releases October 7th this year but maybe think twice about picking it up.

Slime Rancher 2

In a win for those of us who like our games cute and slimy, Slime Rancher 2 is arriving to melt our hearts in 2022. The bright and joyful environments and slime designs definitely add a variety in tone that the showcase desperately needed. Besides, everyone loves a slime!

Shredders

I don’t know who is still begging for snowboarding games in this day and age, but if for some reason it seems like a lot of people have a strong desire to...shred? Is that still the correct term? If you still want to shred, the honestly titled Shredders is on its way to scratch that particular itch. Can Shredders survive in a post STEEP climate?  The developers “have a good feeling about December”, so we should find out then.

Atomic Heart

There is a lot going on in the trailer for Atomic Heart and after a few slower trailers it was quite the shot of adrenaline. There is an old woman with a ladle and a very unhinged aura, crash test dummies that seem to know martial arts, quite possibly the most hypnotizing Russian synth-pop song I’ve ever heard and an apple-unicycle-robot. If you only see one trailer from this event, this is the one for the music alone. The soviet sim FPS is dropping sometime late this year.

I’m going to go ahead and guess bad things happen in this place.

Replaced

Continuing the theme of trailers with excellent background music is Replaced. Boasting a gorgeous art style and set to a cyberpunk-esque backdrop this eye-catching indie was one of the highlights of the show. It’s also the latest games in the showcase set to release in 2022, at some point.

Grounded

Obsidian Entertainment’s backyard adventure game, Grounded, next update is called the Shroom and Doom update. It adds very neat things like sitting(a highly requested feature apparently), pets and an even more giant spider than those previously in the game. While they were quick to remind viewers of the game’s Arachnophobia mode, this horrific new enemy ensures I will not be playing Grounded anytime in the near future.

Among Us

The trailer for the next update to Among Us was not sus in any way(I did it Editor I said the line are you happy?*). The update promises 15 player lobbies with three impostors and a new hide-and-go-seek game mode all coming soon when it arrives on Game Pass.

*Editor’s Note: I’m pissed! Now I can’t caption an image with a sus joke.

You might want to check on your local JRPG-nerd. Make sure they aren’t hyperventilating still or forgotten to eat for a few day.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes/Rising

Despite having names I will absolutely forget by the time this paragraph is done, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes- what mouthfuls- looked absolutely stunning, the 2D animations popping with both charm and sheer fluidity. Shame we won’t be seeing them until 2022 and 2023, respectively. But hey, the Suikoden fans that Kickstarted Yoshitaka Murayama’s spiritual successor to the beloved JRPG are pretty used to waiting already.

Even in gif form with a mangled bitrate, The Ascent is really pretty.

The Ascent

Coming July 29th, the Ascent is- you guessed it- a four-player co-operative action-RPG game, this time boasting an isometric perspective. While Microsoft is positioning it as a Series X|S graphical showcase, it hard to be very excited for it when it’s not even the last game of its kind in this article! It is dropping on the 29th of July.

Age of Empires IV

Following the recent return of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, fans of the military strategy genre will be getting Age of Empires IV on October 28th. There will be mining and large-scale battles, which I assume are positives! (I have not played the Age of Empire games but I am happy AoE fans are happy, they’ve had it rough for a while.)

The Outer Worlds 2

This game nowhere near done according the Obsidian.

This is the point at which everyone dreaming of a Fallout: New Vegas sequel cry out in pain.

Announced with a tongue firmly planted in its cheek, I see what the trailer for Outer Worlds 2 was going for, trying to lampshade all of the other teaser trailers shown and their different tropes. While humorous, it still, you know, did all of the things it was trying to take the piss out of the other developers for doing. The Outer Worlds was a fine game and felt like it could really improve with a sequel, (especially now Obsidian has that Microsoft money). However, the trailer itself definitely felt a little too full of itself.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Next month, console players can fly across a to-scale geo-mapped world in one of the best looking simulator games ever (and it’s on Game Pass… naturally). It’s also getting an expansion, complete with a somewhat unbelievable crossover with the upcoming movie Top Gun: Maverick. Which makes sense and is also something I never would have predicted.

Can someone tell video game trailer to stop looking like real video? It' is freaking me out.

Forza Horizon 5

There was, surprisingly, a lot of time spent on Forza Horizon 5 and its trek to Mexico. A cool seven minutes was set aside to discuss features like beautiful art decorating the world by Mexican artists, a custom race/mode designer that seems to be Halo’s Forge dialled to 11, and...a Battle Royale mode (which as ridiculous as it sounds was surprisingly competent when added for Horizon 4 two years ago). Low-hanging fruit aside, everything on display looked gorgeous, and come November 9th, we can all ride up and down active volcanos to our heart’s content.

Redfall

The final game in the Microsoft/Bethesda spectacle was teased at the top of the show by Pete Hines wearing a t-shirt with bloody teeth and the phrase “Bite Back” on it. It turns out this is the tagline for Arkane Austin’s new game, Redfall, which is a four-player FPS sim set in the titular island-town of Redfall, dealing with a pretty nasty vampire takeover.

Despite E3 positively overflowing with other games of a similar ilk, Redfall’s instantly charming cast of characters helped it stand out amongst the crowd. Arkane Studios have a strong record of well-designed worlds, characters and emergent gameplay, so I’m very excited to see a game from them where they let their hair down and have fun in a somewhat campy setup.

I would already die for this whole cast but I’d doubly die for that happy robot fella.

That was everything shown. There was just so much content shown back to back, it was almost overwhelming. Outside of the generous amount of time spent on heavy hitters like Halo and Forza, many of the trailers seemed to flash by, one after another, another immediately taking its place of the previous trailer causing many of them to be forgotten soon after.

It’s quite a shame, because between all the time lovingly spent on franchises Microsoft knows will sell, there were a lot of games that looked really good with only maybe 30 to 90 seconds of time spent on them. With Phil Spencer has stated that Xbox wants to publish a major game “every three quarters” there’s hope these new IPs and indies won’t get lost amongst the headline games that got pushed so much harder at the show.