Summary
- The Elder Scrolls & Fallout remain Bethesda's RPG staples, with slow starts but engaging experiences.
- The Elder Scrolls Online offers a single-player feel with faster pacing, diverse quests, and creation options.
- Doom (2016) captures the essence of classic shooters, focusing on fast-paced demon-slaying gameplay.
Most people think of Bethesda as an RPG studio, and they wouldn’t be wrong. After acquisitions decades ago, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout are their two biggest RPG franchises. It’s what fans seemingly want from them and nothing else, which shows how engrossing those games are. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was released in 2011, and countless people are still playing it.
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As good as that game is, no one can deny that it starts slowly. That’s the thing with Bethesda-made and published games. Many of them are slow burns, but for those who wish to have fun right away, from the gameplay setup to the story, these examples won’t let anyone down. They will be ranked best on their vibes and overall quality.
7 The Elder Scrolls Online
The Forgotten Sequel
The Elder Scrolls Online
- Released
- April 4, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Genre(s)
- MMORPG
There’s a pretty good The Elder Scrolls game out there that many haven’t played. The Elder Scrolls Online isn’t a typical MMO and instead feels like another single-player experience that just so happens to be online. It certainly starts much faster than The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, which gives players more time to hack and slash around. There are tons of creation options, quests, and areas to visit. Hopefully, the next mainline game learns a few lessons from the MMO.
6 Doom (2016)
Throw Up The Horns
DOOM
- Released
- May 13, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- FPS
Doom has never been a shooter series interested in a story. The point is to blow demons back to heck with a large assortment of guns. Even though they added a bit more narrative to the 2016 reboot, it never overstayed its welcome.
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It was a return to old-school shooters of the '90s in every way possible, with a few new killer moves to freshen things up. It was a good reminder of the old adage about leaving unbroken things alone and just giving players guns and things to shoot.
5 Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
Pipes Are Preferred Stealth Weapons
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
- Released
- May 5, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Stealth
Wolfenstein: The New Order was another great refresher to an old shooter franchise. It completely rewrote the book by ending World War 2 in favor of the Nazis. They even redid a few songs like “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals, sung in German instead. This gave the game a good what-if scenario to follow.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood was a mini-sequel that got players into the action faster than the first game; while good, it took a while to get used to. Be it a gun or pipe, B.J. Blazkowicz is certainly armed to the teeth in Wolfenstein: The Old Blood as he tries to take down a large Nazi compound.
4 The Evil Within 2
Open-World Horror
The Evil Within 2
- Released
- October 13, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
The Evil Within was a good horror game from the mind of Shinji Mikami, but it took a while for the nightmare to start. The Evil Within 2 does not wait long to rearm Detective Castellanos in another brain-draining horror scenario. The cool thing about the sequel is that there is a semi-open-world environment in the first half, which is not something the genre is known for. That alone makes it engaging from the start, as it gives players a greater sense of exploration. It becomes more linear in the second half, but no one can deny the quicker opening.
3 Indiana Jones And The Great Circle
The Hat Is Back
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Released
- December 9, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is enthralling from the beginning because it gives players a great sense of nostalgia playing Indiana Jones like they were back in the 80s when Harrison Ford was this young. Troy Baker does a great job of capturing his voice almost to an uncanny level. The game begins with a throwback as Indie dreams about getting the Golden Idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The game itself is original, and while not open-world, a few of the set pieces do have side objectives and places to explore like in Vatican City. Someone not into this game from the start is clearly not that big of a fan because it is the ultimate Indie fantasy in game form.
2 Fallout: New Vegas
It’s Hot Out There
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Obsidian was given free rein to make their own Fallout game after Bethesda internally made Fallout 3. For many, some view Fallout: New Vegas as the superior game, and it is not just because players don’t start as slowly in a bunker, going from a toddler to an adult. Players are shot in the desert, left for dead, and then resurrected to find revenge.
That’s all players need to know before they go adventuring in the hot, irradiated wasteland. It’s also a harder game by comparison, but that’s a preference by some. More so than anything, players value the story from the main storyline to all of the factions they can interact with.
1 Hi-Fi Rush
Power To The Rockers
Hi-Fi Rush
- Released
- January 25, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Rated T: Fantasy Violence, Language
- Genre(s)
- Action
The previous Bethesda games are fun to play, but also have serious tones as Bethesda excels at telling more nature narratives or showing graphic content. Hi-Fi Rush, on the other hand, is the epitome of fun thanks to the goofy story and its characters, the cartoony aesthetics, and the rocking rhythmic gameplay. This is one of the all-time great shadow drops in Xbox history, and it instantly became a hit.
It’s even better that it came from Tango Gameworks, the same studio that developed The Evil Within. It just goes to show that all developers have range if they are allowed to experiment.
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