E3 2015: Fallout 4 Can Even Bake A Cake At High Altitudes
Ted Hentschke
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The finale of the Bethesda press conference was predictably Fallout 4, but that doesn’t mean it was without some major surprises. Creative Director Todd Howard took the floor, and after a lengthy concept art montage, we got to see the first real gameplay footage of Fallout 4.
All footage courtesy of GamesHQMedia:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWuwLSFmATI]
Starting before the bombs fall, you play as the lone survivor of vault 111, who emerges 200 years later alone and understandably bewildered. As you can see from the trailer, a lot of detail was spent to make the game feel natural. The recent Fallout games have always had more creative methods of character creation than just a text menu at the start, but this simple interface is a cut above.
After running through all of the mechanics, they were quick to remind us that Fallout hadn’t forgotten what makes it fun: comical bloody dismemberment.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzV1GlDDlv8]
No word yet on if there will be a “wild wasteland” or “stupid” option, but it’s clear right from the start that the game hasn’t forgotten that these games are supposed to be funny. Expect lots of text on still images of the robotic companion Codsworth to crop up on the internet after release.
What most surprised me was the base building and crafting mechanics. While crafting was there before, it didn’t play as big of a part as one might desire from a game world where people make cities out of scrap metal.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOd9mB1OZsA]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unji5X-zl8o]
It was a feast of information, and one that left not a person in the room without a smile on their face. For how tight lipped they have been coming up to now, it was thrilling to see how much was already there. It’s understandable in light of their final announcement of the night: the release date is 11-10-15. That’s right, in just 5 months, we will have Fallout 4. I could not ask for the apocalypse to happen sooner.
Along with that was the announcement of a few tertiary items, like a wearable Pip-Boy that uses your phone as a screen and a mobile game called Fallout Shelter, a basebuilding free-to-play game. Neither announcement was super important, but they kind of knew that. They made that case that for gimmicky fluff, it was some pretty cool gimmicky fluff.
Fallout 4 takes the series to places not seen before, and I couldn’t be happier. There are many thing I love about Fallout 3 and New Vegas, but the series was really in need of some major developments. Fan’s wouldn’t have been pleased with just more of the same, and they went above and beyond in this. They are making a game where you not only experience a world, but contribute to building it. It is a bold vision that the people over at Bethesda are either mad or geniuses to try to pull off.
That’s it for today, folk! Join me again tomorrow as I sell my soul for a spare hour of rest as I cover Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and Sony!
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
