With all the news coming out of E3, a special edition of the Whiterun Times is called for! Read on for the latest on Dawnguard, Elder Scrolls Online and Dishonored.
Dawnguard
Dawnguard is the first expansion DLC for last year's Game of the Year, Skyrim. The Bethesda team desired to make something new for the game rather than just more of the same. The idea was from an internal Bethesda "GameJam." The team agreed they would expand upon the vampire storyline in Skyrim. There are two sides to this DLC. Players choose between becoming a vampire or one of the vampire hunters, called the Dawnguard.
Vampires can turn into bats, which is described as a dodging move, rip people apart or suck their blood to kill them. Vampires can also summon gargoyles. Vampires can learn a new shout that lets you rip the soul out of someone and keep it as your undead minion. All these moves add to the new vampiric abilities in your skill tree.
Members of the Dawnguard are equipped with crossbows. Crossbow abilities are integrated as part of the archery skill tree. They do more damage than your average bow but are slower to reload. The Dawnguard side of the DLC concentrates on crafting and exploring. There are rumors of players controlling their own armored troll!
Dawnguard DLC also includes new dragon bone weapons that are above Daedric level. It also features the inclusion of werewolves. A new perk tree was added for the werewolves. Players unlock new abilities by mauling.
Dawnguard offers 10 -20 hours of new content. It will be released as a timed exclusive available June 26 for XBox 360 for $20.
The Elder Scrolls Online
A short demo of the Elder Scrolls Online was shown at E3. No audio or video was allowed.
The game has been in the works for the past 5 years by Zenimax online. It's designed to be a socially connected MMO. This was the development teams' main focus however players can meet organically during dungeon exploration. The game touts up to 100 players pvp. The early rendering looks a little choppy but that could be the screen they were using. What was presented was a beautiful world that was much more colorful than Skyrim. ESO environments include jungles, deserts, forests, mountains.
The story will take place about a thousand years before Skyrim. It has Alliances, the Ebonheart Pact, the Daggerfall Covenent, and the Aldomeri Dominion. Cyrodiil is at the center of the map with the alliances surrounding it.
The game features all the typical races seen in Elder Scrolls games. The main story is based upon an undead theme where the player must get their soul back. ESO offers a huge world to explore. In typical Bethesda fashion there are dozens upon dozens of dungeons to explore. Standard group dungeons for the heroic level. Dungeons contain puzzle rooms as well. There are also public dungeons. They are designed to be more challenging so you can make new friends. Every class can participate in one way or another. There are no exclusions.
With characters and combat they wanted to give the game an action feel. In real time the game includes blocking, sneaking, and various other moves associated with action games. The art shown was said to be temporary. Just some simple health and stamina bars for now. There is a single key block. No toolbar here.
The demo featured one character fighting 3 enemies. The game uses the same character builds for the enemies as well. Creatures work together against you. Players may work together with friends too though as a balance to this. Players receive extra loot if they use the combat system effectively. There are rewards for helping other characters.
During exploration all NPCs will be voiced. An example quest pitted the player against werewolves. The game uses glowing gold for quest givers and other side missions you need to do. During the demo they fought an Alessian Wraith. As part of this quest they traveled back in time. The game features lots of looting and presents you with many choices. Each choice has a benefit and consequence. A compass helps to navigate you. Based upon who wins Cyrodiil, you could become emperor of the city. As emperor you can siege and hold territories.
We expect more info on this title coming soon. The launch is set for 2013 on PC and Mac. The last feature emphasized was how players can play at their own pace and do what they want to do.
Dishonored
Another brief E3 demo was for Dishonored by Arcane Studios.
Featured at E3 was a live demo. The game is first person with stealth, action and depth. The game is about player creativity and choice. Dishonored is supposed to feel like you are authoring your own experience. You acquire all sorts of supernatural powers and play the role of a bodyguard accused of murder.
Dishonored takes place in an alternate industrial revolution world run completely on whale oil. The goal is to have the game look like a painting. The art style very much reflects this vision. Every play through will be a little different. You can choose to play more stealthy or more brutally. The demo showed off all the powers and weapons. Weapons are accessed via a center wheel you pull up. While taking cover you can lean out around corners. Use a creepy voice called "to heart" to help find different powers in the various rooms your explore.
This game looks pretty slick and also a little weird. Players can take possession of a fish to assist with the mission. The fish was used to swim underwater to get to another area of the area we're trying to infiltrate. At the highest level of possession power, you can possess people and even your targets. People vomit after you possess and leave them. Over all looks like smooth gameplay, variety of attacks and powers.
