Video game publisher Bethesda is a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, predominantly known for its open-world RPG games. Such as the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series.
These AAA titles are almost certainly Microsoft's main motivation behind their $7.5 Billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media. The eye-watering amount of money is a clear intention of Microsoft's pursuit to attract consumers to their cross-platform Game Pass service. Microsoft's faith in ZeniMax Media and Bethesda is a testament to the excellent game's that the company has published over the years,
It's not just RPG game's that Bethesda publishes though. The company has released numerous fantastic games that fall under many of gaming's different genres.
10 The Evil Within
The Evil Within was developed by Tango Gameworks and released in 2014. The game had many similarities to Resident Evil 4. Indicative of the creator of the Resident Evil series, Shinji Mikami, directing the game.
The Evil Within was praised for its excellent horror atmosphere but criticized for having a lackluster and unnecessarily convoluted story. The game was successful commercially though and received a sequel three years later.
9 Prey
Although the name may suggest that Bethesda was hopping on the trend of remastering old games, Prey is not a remake of the 2006 Prey released by 2K Games. Instead, it is a re-telling and re-creation of the original.
Prey is a first-person shooter but differentiates itself from others in the genre by dabbling in other genres too. Whereas most FPS titles are all-action gunfights, Prey implements stealth and Bethesda's trademark RPG elements into the game. Furthermore, Prey featured a surprisingly large open-world for players to explore. Something that is uncommon in FPS titles.
8 The Evil Within 2
Bethesda again teamed up with Tango Gameworks to make The Evil Within 2. The second game also struggled to create a compelling narrative, with numerous characters who were seemingly devoid of a personality. But it did improve on its predecessor in numerous other ways.
The most notable improvement was the game's larger open-world to explore, with numerous side quests available. Despite the increase in size, Tango Gameworks still ensured that every area had the same wonderfully atmospheric setting.
7 Wolfenstein: The New Order
After the release of Wolfenstein in 2009, Bethesda received Wolfenstein's publishing rights from Activision. Bethesda's first game in the series released in 2014 Wolfenstein: The New Order.
Wolfenstein: The New Order takes place in an alternative timeline where the Nazis were victorious in WW2. The game breathed some much-needed life back into the Wolfenstein series after Activision's 2009 Wolfenstein failed to impress.
6 Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
Bethesda once again teamed up with MachieneGames to release Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, a stand-alone expansion to its predecessor. As the opposing title suggests, The Old Blood is a prequel to The New Order.
MachineGames didn't try to fix what wasn't broken and kept the gameplay similar to The New Order. There were a few notable changes in The Old Blood though, most notably the increased focus on fast-paced action gameplay. The change of pacing bought the series back to its roots and differentiated it from its predecessor.
5 Dishonored 2
Following the success of the original Dishonored, Bethesda released a sequel four years later. Dishonored 2 gave the first game's protagonist Corvo Attano a voice and made Emily Kaldwin, now an adult, a playable character.
Arkane Studios bought back the stealth gameplay from the first game, but drastically changed the game's Chaos system. Furthermore, Dishonored 2 was significantly more difficult than the first game, as many felt that the first game had difficulty issues. Even though there were difficulty settings, approaching the game with a focus on stealth made the first game too easy for many.
Dishonored 2 improved this, with smarter and more observant AI in the lower difficulty settings.
4 Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Bethesda's third Wolfenstein game The New Colossus is a direct sequel to The New Order. William Blazkowicz returns to fight Nazis once again in his best adventure yet.
MachineGames perfected the formula that they had created with Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus deservedly won multiple end of year awards. Awards included IGN's Best Shooter and The Game Awards' Best Action Game.
Interestingly, Bethesda's Prey was also nominated for both of the aforementioned awards.
3 Doom
The most influential FPS series of all time received another reboot in 2016. The game could've been responsible for the Doom series going stale if it flopped. But id Software and Bethesda were able to create an excellent game that strapped a rocket to the series and fired it back to the forefront of the gaming industry.
Doom didn't try to appeal to modern audiences by adding RPG elements or an overbearing story. Instead, id Software provided players with the non-stop action-pact gameplay that the series is known for.
2 Doom Eternal
The success of the aforementioned Doom encouraged fans that a new game would soon arrive. A sequel did indeed follow at the start of 2020, with id Software and Bethesda again teaming up to create Doom Eternal.
Doom Eternal didn't try to reinvent the wheel and again kept to the series' traditional action gameplay. The game did lean into a more story-heavy narrative than the previous title, but it didn't deter from the gameplay.
An expansion was released on the 20th of October 2020, The Ancient Gods - Part One. The DLC gave players the chance to slay some more demons just in time for Halloween.
1 Dishonored
Arkadia Studios was relatively unknown before the release of Dishonored. The company had just two main console releases to its name, Arx Fatalis, and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic that released in 2002 and 2006 respectively.
Arx Fatalis was admired by Bethesda though, and the company reached out to Arkadia Studios to create Dishonored. Bethesda's punt was a great one, as Dishonored was a surprise hit in 2012. The game offered some of the best stealth gameplay available on the Xbox 360 and PS3, and Arkadia Studios have since worked on numerous other projects with Bethesda.
Dishonored won the BAFTA for Best Game in 2013. Beating other critically acclaimed titles like Far Cry 3 and Journey.