Bethesda finally let the cat out the vault with new details finally released about the next instalment in the post-apocalyptic series.
During their display at E3 this year, Todd Howard spilt the radbeans about the upcoming Fallout 76.
In a departure from previous entries, Fallout 76 is an online-only survival game set in the hills of West Virginia, just a few years after the Great War. A nuclear missile exchange between the USA and China which lasted all of a few hours, completely Fubar’d everyone’s front yard and left the world a ruined desolate irradiated mud hole. This makes it chronologically the earliest entry in the series, with previous Bethesda games taking place over 200 years after the bombs fell.
Luckily you are one of the few people that manage to take refuge from the apocalypse in a cosy nuke-proof underground vault. For those of you familiar with the Fallout series, you’ll be aware of the fact that most of the vaults designed by Vault-Tec were actually horrific sociological experiments masquerading as underground fallout shelters.
However, this is not the case for the titular Vault 76 which was designed to be a “control vault” which means that it did exactly what it said on the giant lead plated tin. In the event of nuclear annihilation, the control vaults were designed to open after a designated time and the residents were to spread out across the land to repopulate and repair the world, no sneaky cryogenics or clones screaming “Gary!” here.
Fallout 76 will have you emerging from the vault after a 25 year wait tasked with restoring the world to its former glory. Gameplay will revolve around base building, crafting and exploring with some light survival aspects. Players will be able to construct their new bastion of humanity across 6 unique districts that in total is said to be 4 times bigger than Fallout 4.
You will be able to be build anywhere on the map with ability to pack up your base and move it anywhere down these country roads using the C.A.M.P system (which stands for construction and assembly mobile platform in case you didn’t know). Is anyone else thinking tree fort with turrets and a password to get in?
As the bombs have only just dropped there will still be a plethora of NPCs wandering around the wasteland wondering what the heck went wrong while they were in the bathroom. Buildings will still mostly be intact, from the brick towers of downtown to the creaky barns and farmhouses in the more rural areas. Trees will still be in bloom, non-mutated animals will still roam and the world will generally be a bit brighter than the brown and grey landscape of previous games.
However, As you wander out from the vault for the first time, shielding your eyes from the glare of the sun, you won’t be alone as you were before. The majority of the humans you will encounter will be other players with whom you can band together (pun intended you can actually play instruments together!) in order to do quests and build together. Fear not even if you’re the biggest introvert going, all of Fallout 76 can be done solo if you so choose.
In order to keep that survival tone in the game, Todd Howard has stated that it will be limited to 12-13 people per server so as not to saturate the experience and turn it into a Fortnite Battle Royale.
With an online game comes the inevitable PVP and Bethesda have promised there will be something for the more blood thirsty of players. Each base you lovingly create will be subject to attack from other players and even more worrying, there are nukes….that’s right! Dotted across the wasteland are silos containing unused nuclear warheads that, if you can find the launch codes, can be fired at other players, NPCs, or that one Brahmin that looked at you funny.
Now imagine the scene, you’ve spent a hard day farming the irradiated remains of Virginia, you gaze out across the haven you have built, you smile to yourself in satisfaction at the fruits of your hard work….until BOOM! Elitexsniperx69420 wipes out all you own with a 20 kiloton ordinance to the face…I can almost smell the rage quit from here.
Unlike other survival games like DayZ or State of Decay 2, the penalty for death in Fallout 76 is comparatively light with no loss of progress or many other penalties as it were, this appears to have been done to appeal to the broader spectrum of Fallout fans that may not be familiar with the survival genre. So when a giant Deathclaw comes along, guts you like a fish and wrecks your newly built conservatory with southern exposure and a lovely chaise lounge, you may be glad dying doesnt have much of a sting…
In a delightful bit of listening to the fans, Bethesda have decided to hold a beta prior to release, which Mr. Howard lovingly referred to as a “Break it Early Test Application.” The date of which has yet to be released but with a full release date of November 14th we can assume we wont have to wait long.
I’ve no doubt that the new direction of the game will be a polarising issue with fans but have a little faith, this is Bethesda….and Beth never changes…
What did you make of Fallout 76? Let us know in the comments, or over on Facebook & Twitter!
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