‘Fallout 4’ Reveal At E3 2015 May Have Just Broken November
The debut trailer of Fallout 4 set the stage for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC role-playing game’s E3 reveal. That finally happened Sunday night with new gameplay footage from Bethesda Softworks along with details that fans have been begging for from the Game Director himself, Todd Howard.
Design of Fallout 4 began after the release of Fallout 3 in 2009 and even during the development of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which hit in 2011. Things really ramped up over the last four years as the studio churned out an incredible amount of concept art designs for the title down to the individual control panels and turned that into a game using the all new Creation Engine.
The game starts in the past as players sculpt a couple’s look to create either a male or female character. Yes, that means you can play as a female, which has always been an option in the series. More impressive though was how the faces were sculpted in real-time using the cursor to drag and manipulate the character’s facial features.
The player emerges from Vault 111 some 200 years after the nuclear attack. He or she is the last survivor of the Vault. How is not explained, as Bethesda is avoiding spoilers. The game can be played in first or third-person with dynamic conversations. The player will eventually run into the dog seen in the trailer, Dogmeat, and have it join him. Dogmeat can be issued contextual commands to move to different spots or to pick up items.
If the trailer didn’t give it away, Bethesda finally confirmed it. Fallout 4 is set in Boston. Bethesda didn’t give an idea on how large the game world is, but did say it is the largest they’ve created yet.
Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition #BE3 pic.twitter.com/4t1yNOHoe7
— Bethesda Softworks (@Bethblog) June 15, 2015
The new Pip-boy has been upgraded with the ability to do more than just look at player stats. It also plays games like a Donkey Kong-like game called Red Menace and the Missile Command-ish Atomic Command. The Pip-boy functionality will be extended to an iPhone and Android second screen app that connects with the console or PC. Bethesda is going a step further by including a real-life Pip-boy model that will allow you to drop your phone into it and having your very own Fallout experience.
Over 50 base weapons and over 700 mods. You can even modify your own power armor. #Fallout4 #BE3 pic.twitter.com/Pveaii94on — Bethesda Softworks (@Bethblog) June 15, 2015
One of the new features of Fallout 4 is the ability to build. Players will be able to gather and breakdown resources. This can start with simple shelter all the way to a settlement with power generators, a power grid, the ability to trade, and setup defenses. There will be large areas in the game where players can start building, but it is completely optional. The crafting system extends to weapons and armor. Players can take different objects that the game world is populated with and begin modifying weapons and power armor into something completely new. There are over 50 base weapons and 700 mods available.
Our most dynamic world ever — powered by the new Creation Engine #Fallout4 #BE3 pic.twitter.com/SWQSWu17Ci — BethesdaGameStudios (@BethesdaStudios) June 15, 2015
Todd Howard said that they’ve spent a lot of time on the weapons in the game because of the importance of combat. The V.A.T.S. system does return to allow players to pause time and target specific areas of an enemy.
Fallout 4 is coming out November 10, 2015. But, you can check out the iPhone, iPad and Android game, Fallout Shelter from iTunes right now and Google Play soon. It’s a Vault management game that is completely free and without some of the hooks that free-to-play games have become despised over.
In all, it was an incredibly impressive reveal for a game that has built up high expectations. We’ve already seen many games pushed from a 2015 release to next year. Some were for more development time, but it’s clear the holiday season is over-crowded with titles like Star Wars: Battlefront, Halo 5: Guardians, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, among others.
Fallout 4‘s addition will only complicate the buying decision of gamers. Not only is it a highly anticipated game, but it is one that offers an enormous amount of playtime, which may push out other titles.
[Images via Bethesda Livestream, Bethesda]
