Five Games No One Wants To See at Bethesda’s E3 2015 Conference

Today Bethesda announced that for the first time in the history of the company, they will be holding their very own press conference at E3 2015. The publishing giants join Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, EA, and Ubisoft, who every year host a live presentation detailing the games that will emerge in the year to come.

Many see this move as confirmation that Fallout 4 will soon be announced, given the amount of time that has passed since its wildly successful predecessor Fallout: New Vegas. With Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls Online long out of the way, a Fallout-related revelation seems likely. There is also excitement surrounding the possibility of sequels to Dishonored, The Evil Within, and even Wolfenstein: The New Order—a title that we reviewed last year and thoroughly enjoyed. There does stand, however, the possibility that Bethesda will announce games that no one is looking forward to playing in the form of sequels to their less successful releases. 

Here’s a list of games that no one wants to see at Bethesda’s E3 2015 conference. 

 

Brink 2

Brink was a huge disappointment. While the game had features that put it way ahead of its time—notably the parkour and first person shooter mechanics—it was ultimately unsuccessful despite rave reviews from the enthusiast press.

The community surrounding Brink dwindled into nothing upon the game’s release, and it subsequently flopped. In the end, Brink was just too incomplete and unpolished. Had the game been given extra time to bake, the sales figures would have been much sweeter. There’s neither the fan base nor the general interest in seeing a sequel and the game’s legacy stands as a reminder that Bethesda’s publishing instincts are less savvy than their developing ones. 

 

Wet 2

Starring Eliza Dushku as a smart, savvy heroine named Rubi Malone, Wet wasn’t very well received by either the press or by gamers in general. This wasn’t due to the fact (as popularly believed) that it starred a female protagonist (ahem, Tomb Raider’s success would like to have a word with you) but because it was janky, with unpolished visuals leaving much to be desired. 

The game itself wasn’t particularly original and borrowed most of its elements from other, more successful games, which left it feeling like a mess of cliches. To top it off, Rubi wasn’t very likable as a character, making it hard for players to relate to her. Let’s hope any plans for Wet 2 are all washed up.

 

Hunted 2

Developed by InXile, Hunted: The Demon’s Forge felt like a throwaway effort by its devs—a quick cash in to keep the studio afloat. Fortunately, the studio did remain afloat and they would later go on to make the great Wasteland 2. Unfortunately, that does not make the reality of Hunted go away. 

The game was a co-op experience that allowed two players to make their way through an epic fantasy storyline, slaying monsters together along the way. Despite being an enjoyable co-op experience at its core, the game did too little to stand out and made too many mistakes—levels were too long, the gaps between checkpoints were a major pain in the ass, and the main quest felt like a cliched pulp fantasy D&D slog from beginning to end. Hunted? more like Punted, out my living room window. 

 

Rage 2

Like so many of id Software’s games, Rage was clearly just a vehicle for the studio’s engine--in this case, the id Tech 5 engine--and it showed. The title lacked originality from top to bottom. Thumbing through the screenshots, you could demonstrably point out every element they stole from other series.

Being a tech demo wouldn’t be enough to damn the title, but its developers never even bothered to weave the game around a solid narrative. Note to the developers: hiring actor John Goodman to voice a minor character does not good storytelling make.

Ultimately Rage failed even as a shooter, because it just wasn’t much fun. News of a sequel would be a waste of Bethesda’s resources and likely would send fans into a… very unpleasant emotional state. 

 

Rogue Warrior 2

Literally one of the worst games ever made, Rogue Warrior is a stain on Bethesda’s long and storied list of game releases. The game starred actor Mickey Rourke giving the phoned-in performance of a lifetime as former US Navy SEAL Richard Marcinko, who wrote a book about his experiences in war. 

Despite having a healthy batch of source material to draw upon, the game had the flimsiest of storylines, and in a market awash with constant jingoistic Call of Duty sequels, that’s saying something. A Navy SEAL is sent on a mission into North Korea to disrupt ballistic missile launchers. Enthralling. Couple that with shoddy controls, endless glitches, and foul language spoken at a frequency generally employed by 12 year old boys, and you get Rogue Warrior. Critics everywhere cited it as one of the worst games of 2009. We cite it as one of the worst games of all time.