Sorta of back from hiatus, and new screenshots for Elder Scrolls Skyrim!

Sorta back from a LONG Hiatus, and there great news for CRPG gamers. I will try to cover some of them. But first Gamereactor UK has several high definition screenshots for the upcoming Elder Scrolls game Skyrim, which is set in a country supposedly to be the Tamrielian equivalent of Iceland, under attack by dragon gods. Here is a screenshot for the future of Elder Scrolls NPC heads:

This. Finally, an Elder Scrolls game that no longer has bloated heads of Oblivion. Progress is good Bethesda Softworks. Progress.

E3 Gametrailers Walkthrough video: Rift: Planes of Telara

Here's a Gametrailers video of a walk-through in the MMORPG Rift: Planes of Telara:

Right now it's looking to be a World of Warcraft inspired clone with better graphics and scaled dungeon instances. What really does intrigue me is the random, dynamic rift events that happen around the world of Telera and your job is to push them back.


That sounds like it could be awesome.

E3 Gametrailers Hunted: The Demon's Forge interview

Gametrailers has an interview with one inXile president Matt Findley on Hunted: Demon's Forge:

Honestly, the game doesn't seem to be anywhere near "Dungeon-crawly". Where are the items and gear that you pick up in dungeon crawling? Is it just the burly warrior and elf vixen all that they have? You can't wield a variety of weapons in the game? It kind of feels like this is going to be one generic, linear hack-and-slash.

Tera Online E3 trailer

Here is the E3 trailer for the action-MMORPG hybrid Tera Online:






This "action" MMORPG is starting to look like it would be awesome and fun to play.

Gametrailers E3 Deus Ex: Human Revolution interview

Gametrailers an interview with the game's director:

So, it's a reboot instead of a sequel? Interesting.

Joystiq Dungeon Siege 3 preview

Joystiq has a preview of Dungeon Siege 3, which oddly is being published by Square-Enix and developed by Obsidian Studios; the game is taking a somewhat different route with the gameplay:

As someone who's predominately a console gamer, I wasn't particularly familiar with the Dungeon Siege franchise before I sat down for a peek at the third iteration deep within the recesses of Square-Enix's E3 booth. I knew it owed a lot to Diablo, but little else. Within the first seconds of seeing Dungeon Siege III, however, I knew that Obsidian's new take on the series had been designed with someone like me in mind.

The most obvious cue? The perspective, which has gone from the zoomed out view the series is most associated with, to a more traditional third-person action perspective right over the shoulder. The classic view is still available with just a button press, but most of the demo I saw zooms in tight on the lead character.

The message is pretty clear: This is the new face of Dungeon Siege, and it's doing its darndest to win me over.

Despite the change of perspective in gameplay, I'm hoping that controlling a party is still in the game, because that is what made the series different from any other hack-and-slash games. That, and hot red-headed farmgirls with swords.

E3 2010: Gothic 4: Arcania

Here is a E3 2010 trailer of Gothic 4: Arcania:






There is also a Gamespot interview with Brian Cook from Dreamcatcher Interactive to talk about Arcania:

As long as they keep the free-roaming, action-consequence based gameplay and faction-alignment from the previous Gothic games, then I look forward for the release date. What scares me a little is that the game is also developed for consoles and might suffer as a port.