For years, people have played Bethesda’s “Fallout” series, loving the idea of being alone in the wasteland, searching for settlements and taking on the big adventure to save the world or find your son or father.
“Fallout: New Vegas” was all about revenge; finding the person who left you for dead and getting back at them. “Fallout 3” and “Fallout 4” both focused on finding someone and in turn, helping better the world while you did so. For “Fallout 3,” you were tasked with finding your father and “Fallout 4” saw you searching for your son after the murder of your spouse.
On May 29, 2018, Bethesda launched a livestream. The image on the livestream was the Fallout Vault-Boy bobblehead and the standard “standby” screen associated with the game. Nothing occurred for hours, but fans of the game were enraptured at the prospect of an announcement.
Over the course of the stream, Bethesda peppered in several funny moments, such as a man in a “Skyrim” shirt whispering in the bobblehead’s ear, a woman playing with balloons, and a man wearing a pip-boy on his wrist. Finally, after hours of waiting, “Fallout 76” was announced with a teaser trailer.
The trailer opened with the beginning notes to “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver. The song plays as we see a soldier in power armor staring out into the distance as the nuclear bombs go off. The narrator talks as the scene changes to a man putting on a pip-boy. Its Reclamation Day, and everyone in Vault 76 is going out into the Wasteland to see what there is waiting for them.
“Fallout 76” is making history in the franchise in more than one way. It’s the first multiplayer “Fallout” game, whereas the other games have always been solo only. In “Fallout 4,” you emerge as the sole survivor of your vault, with everyone else having died years ago.
In most of the games, save for “Fallout: New Vegas,” where you’re a courier in the Wasteland and “Fallout 1,” where it’s only 84 years later, you emerge from a vault several hundred years after the bombs fell. Everything your character knew and loved is gone, and the world has started to rebuild.
According to a recent release of information by Game Informer, the game will cater to both the solo player and the player who prefers multiplayer style games. Todd Howard stated “the game is about 80 percent the Fallout you know and love, and the other 20 percent is really different.”
The second way that “Fallout 76” makes history is in the fact that it’s the game with the earliest release time from the vault. Your character leaves the vault a mere 20 years post-apocalypse.
While there is no set story with major NPC’s or non-player characters, some NPC’s still exist in the game. Bethesda announced that they would be similar to quest-givers or merchants, but you as a player won’t have dialogue choices with them.
Another major change is the fact that every “human” you see in the game is a real, living, breathing person behind the screen.
The main “quest,” so to speak, begins when you leave the vault. The vault’s Overseer left before anyone else and has gone missing. You are tasked with trying to find her as you traverse the wastes and set up camp. Bethesda states that the main quest “isn’t something you can blow through.”
It is a multipart campaign that takes part across several places in West Virginia. Quests can be gained through various means and media in the game, and due to the new system, it’s nearly impossible to run past them. Players will be alerted to a quest with a subtle hint to stop and look at whatever they may be nearby.
According to Game Informer, “The world is four times larger than Fallout 4’s play space, and is brought to life with 16 times the graphical fidelity.”
Another major change is how the player’s perks and abilities stack up. Instead of selecting a set amount of points, you gain cards with each level and can choose where to place the points. You can also go back and change these at any time.
“Fallout 76” releases on Nov. 14, 2018. How will you choose to play?
Jeri Hensley
Graphic Designer