WorstUsernameEver
But best title ever!
While Bethesda's E3 showcase included plenty of news, including the announcement of a Dishonored sequel (really cool in my book) and a TES card game (much less cool in my book) the crown in their jewel was undoubtedly Fallout 4.
Whatever your reaction to the showcase was, Bethesda can't be accused of not offering info about their game. There's a big post at The Vault that goes over the minutiae with hundreds of captured shots, so I'll limit myself to the cliff notes. Bethesda announced the game will come out on November 10, in both a normal and Pip-boy edition, which comes with a replica of the game's version of the Pip-boy. It'll be possible to plug a phone in the Pip-boy replica and use an app provided by Bethesda for a second screen experience. The app can also be used separately, so that's really only an experience for the hardcore cosplayers.
The game will introduce crafting mechanics that look potentially deeper than ever before in the series. Players will be able to customize weapons, power armors (the protagonist was shown mix and matching pieces of the trust t-51b, a new t-60 model and even the Enclave Power Armor, here called X-01, and even normal armors now come in layers), and even their own settlement, which will be occasionally attacked by raiders.
In keeping with theme of "Fallout 3 with more", combat looks like an improved version of Fallout 3 and New Vegas' shooting, with VATS returning in a slightly altered version. This time, rather than stopping time completely, VATS seem to be a bullet time mode of sorts, and it's possible to build a Critical gauge that can be used at the opportune moment, presumably to inflict massive damage. Aside from that, the mode appears to be the same, and still lets you target different body parts of the enemies.
The Boston setting looks less fresh than it appeared to me in the announcement trailer: the Brotherhood looks poised to return, though, interestingly, they're always framed as enemies in the footage shown. Super mutants appear again. They seem to have been slightly redesigned (they're now greener and less monstrous than in Fallout 3) but they are very likely from the Vault 87 East Coast strain, as the footage with them includes plenty of gore bags and even a Behemoth. Other returning creatures include molerats, Yao Guais, Radscorpions, Deathclaws and Mirelurks. On the other hand, we've already been shown some new creatures (Synths appear to be common enemies) and new settlements.
Speaking of setting, the tutorial appears to be set right before the Great War started. The protagonist (who can be either the husband or the wife of a loving couple) manages to reach the safety of Vault 111, and emerges 200 years later. It's not clear how the protagonist survived 200 years and why he's the sole survivor, Bethesda didn't want to disclose too many details about the plot.
Now, for the real points of contention: the protagonist in Fallout 4 will be voiced. It's still possible to play either a male or female character, but they will have a set voice, and conversations now follow the cinematic presentation that's been popularized by Mass Effect. This means there are plenty of cinematic camera angles and every single line of dialogue is voiced. It also looks like there might be no skills at all in the game. Bethesda has been tight-lipped about the character progression mechanics, but the Pip-boy interface only showed the classic SPECIAL attributes and a Perk tab, and the crafting menus referenced "Ranks" rather than skill levels. We won't know until later, but it looks like Bethesda might have turned the various skills into perk progressions. Admittedly, I am an advocate of coarser skill progression in the Fallout series, but I'm not sure whether I like this solution.
To celebrate this event, Bethesda has also released a tie-in mobile game, titled Fallout Shelter. It's a free-to-play base building kind of game that puts the player in charge of a Vault as its Overseer in charge of the well-being of the inhabitants of the Vault, who all look styled after the franchise's trademark Vault Boy. According to Todd Howard, the game is totally free of paywalls of any kind, though it's possible to buy the loot crates that would be found during normal gameplay with real money. The game is out for iOS, but Pete Hines promised info on an Android version later on.
That's a fairly short summary of the Fallout 4 part of the presentation, but you can watch it yourself in the YouTube video embedded below:
Update: I integrated some info from 13pm's newspost, given we ended up posting at the same time. Apologies for the confusion!
Whatever your reaction to the showcase was, Bethesda can't be accused of not offering info about their game. There's a big post at The Vault that goes over the minutiae with hundreds of captured shots, so I'll limit myself to the cliff notes. Bethesda announced the game will come out on November 10, in both a normal and Pip-boy edition, which comes with a replica of the game's version of the Pip-boy. It'll be possible to plug a phone in the Pip-boy replica and use an app provided by Bethesda for a second screen experience. The app can also be used separately, so that's really only an experience for the hardcore cosplayers.
The game will introduce crafting mechanics that look potentially deeper than ever before in the series. Players will be able to customize weapons, power armors (the protagonist was shown mix and matching pieces of the trust t-51b, a new t-60 model and even the Enclave Power Armor, here called X-01, and even normal armors now come in layers), and even their own settlement, which will be occasionally attacked by raiders.
In keeping with theme of "Fallout 3 with more", combat looks like an improved version of Fallout 3 and New Vegas' shooting, with VATS returning in a slightly altered version. This time, rather than stopping time completely, VATS seem to be a bullet time mode of sorts, and it's possible to build a Critical gauge that can be used at the opportune moment, presumably to inflict massive damage. Aside from that, the mode appears to be the same, and still lets you target different body parts of the enemies.
The Boston setting looks less fresh than it appeared to me in the announcement trailer: the Brotherhood looks poised to return, though, interestingly, they're always framed as enemies in the footage shown. Super mutants appear again. They seem to have been slightly redesigned (they're now greener and less monstrous than in Fallout 3) but they are very likely from the Vault 87 East Coast strain, as the footage with them includes plenty of gore bags and even a Behemoth. Other returning creatures include molerats, Yao Guais, Radscorpions, Deathclaws and Mirelurks. On the other hand, we've already been shown some new creatures (Synths appear to be common enemies) and new settlements.
Speaking of setting, the tutorial appears to be set right before the Great War started. The protagonist (who can be either the husband or the wife of a loving couple) manages to reach the safety of Vault 111, and emerges 200 years later. It's not clear how the protagonist survived 200 years and why he's the sole survivor, Bethesda didn't want to disclose too many details about the plot.
Now, for the real points of contention: the protagonist in Fallout 4 will be voiced. It's still possible to play either a male or female character, but they will have a set voice, and conversations now follow the cinematic presentation that's been popularized by Mass Effect. This means there are plenty of cinematic camera angles and every single line of dialogue is voiced. It also looks like there might be no skills at all in the game. Bethesda has been tight-lipped about the character progression mechanics, but the Pip-boy interface only showed the classic SPECIAL attributes and a Perk tab, and the crafting menus referenced "Ranks" rather than skill levels. We won't know until later, but it looks like Bethesda might have turned the various skills into perk progressions. Admittedly, I am an advocate of coarser skill progression in the Fallout series, but I'm not sure whether I like this solution.
To celebrate this event, Bethesda has also released a tie-in mobile game, titled Fallout Shelter. It's a free-to-play base building kind of game that puts the player in charge of a Vault as its Overseer in charge of the well-being of the inhabitants of the Vault, who all look styled after the franchise's trademark Vault Boy. According to Todd Howard, the game is totally free of paywalls of any kind, though it's possible to buy the loot crates that would be found during normal gameplay with real money. The game is out for iOS, but Pete Hines promised info on an Android version later on.
That's a fairly short summary of the Fallout 4 part of the presentation, but you can watch it yourself in the YouTube video embedded below:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2KApp699WdE?t=1h5m59s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
Update: I integrated some info from 13pm's newspost, given we ended up posting at the same time. Apologies for the confusion!
Last edited:
