E3 09 - Bethesda booth tour

At E3, Bethesda invited Totally360 to come check out their latest titles and it looks like they have some great titles on the way. Bethesda is well known for its role playing game roots, however, they are now also trying to establish themselves as a shooter studio as well. With that being said the first title we were shown was a new first person shooter titled “Brink”.

Brink

This new shooter is set in the year 2035 and features something called S.M.A.R.T (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain). Going through this game the controls are really smooth and you won’t have some of the canned animations that other shooters have. In fact it takes some ideas from Mirror’s Edge where you can quickly slide under something or hop over an obstacle to try and achieve your goal. As you play you get some experience points which you can use to upgrade your equipment. You will also get to pick which side you are on whether it be the Resistance or the Security. You will have different classes to pick from which can result in dynamically changing missions. There are of course main objectives that must be done but you can also choose other missions to do if you want. If your commanding officer says that he needs an engineer and you change your class then all of a sudden there are missions generating where your A.I. allies will be supporting you. If you happen to choose a different class then were might be different missions available to you for that specific class.Â

There will also be instances where you will have the opportunity to interrogate an enemy combatant using a tazer gun that you will have. In the demo that I was shown the developers simply shocked the guy until he talked. I’m not aware if there are any other methods of interrogation but it would certainly be cool if there were multiple options.   Finally, there will be some form of co-op, however, they really wouldn’t go into specifics about how that would work.

Point Lookout - New Fallout 3 DLC

The next title shown was the next downloadable content for Fallout 3, Point Lookout. This new content will be a little different from previous downloadable content in that the tone is a little more playful. It is still very much a post apocalyptic world however. The Bethesda rep that was demoing the game for me mentioned that this content is basically a post apocalyptic version of the Beverly Hillbillies. This new content will also bring new enemies with it as well as a higher difficulty. The enemies will be at levels twenty through thirty so it is not really a section of the game that you want to go to if you are just starting. Of course you can go to this new area anytime you choose, however, Bethesda told us that they reccommend players having their character at a minimum of level 15 before attempting this area. Point Lookout is located approximately 40 miles south of the DC area and will feature 3-5 hours of gameplay. There will also be new achievements worth between 100-200 gamerscore. This content is currently set to hit the XBox Live Marketplace on June 23 and will be available for 800 Microsoft points.

Rogue Warrior

Earlier I mentioned that Bethesda was trying to become a studio that is known for more than just great role playing games. Rogue Warrior is the second first person shooter that was on display during my tour. One thing that will immediately stand out is that this shooter is not in the World War II era. Instead Bethesda opted to set it during the Cold War. This title will feature action that is both fast paced as well as some stealth if you choose to utilize it. There are dozens of contextual kill moves that you can use as you progress through the campaign. You can do things such as stab someone in the neck or simply throw them off of a high ledge and many more. There will indeed be online play in the form of 16 player deathmatch. Sadly, there is no co-op in the game so you won’t be experiencing the campaign with a friend unless he is sitting on the couch next to you watching you play. There are also times where you can affect your surroundings to change how the A.I. will react. An example of this would be the ability to shut off the lights in a building and then moving through that building taking out confused enemies using your night vision goggles. The game will feature three different difficulty modes, however, Bethesda has no plans for a demo showing up on Marketplace at this time. “Rogue Warrior” is currently slated to hit store shelves in Fall 2009.