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Ever since Bethesda first revealed its newest game in the Fallout series, it's been difficult to get a sense of what Fallout 76 is all about. While the concept of an online experience is in fact, it also comes into conflict with the series' typical brand of role-playing. Though Fallout 76 does not really matter, it does not help you to discover it.
With the pivot to multiplayer, Fallout 76 focuses on more exploration and survival in West Virginia's Appalachia, with all its regional oddities and newfound horrors coming in large doses. Recently, we played three hours of the game ahead of the game's upcoming October beta, and spoke with developers from Bethesda Game Studios about the particular challenges of making a different kind of Fallout.
Set only 25 years after the bombs dropped – making it the game in the series' timeline – Fallout 76 gives itself plenty of distance from previous games to the wildly devastated wilderness. In traditional fashion, you leave the safe confines of the Vault to venture out into the wasteland – bringing with it a sense of determination, and also naivety that can come from living in somewhat comfortable isolation. After a quick introduction, you create your character, get accustomed to the new controls and systems, and venture out to the surface. However, what sets this game apart from the others is that you're one of many survivors. And it's every Vault Dweller for themselves.
During the first hour, I got my bearings by taking a tour around the immediate area. Fallout 76 has the familiar RPG mechanics and sense of exploration that is known for, but has more than one amusement park vibe – with several key attractions and localities highlighted on the map, such as Greenbrier Resort and the Top of the World ski-slope. While exploring Fallout's take on West Virginia, which was several times larger than the Commonwealth of Fallout 4, I got the feeling that I was experiencing the greatest hits of all things Fallout. First came the feral ghouls, the Super Mutants, and references to the Brotherhood of Steel and Enclave.
Still, the new location in West Virginia feels totally different from Fallout 4's Capital Wasteland and the Mojave from New Vegas, which quickly introduces its own brand of local and strange monsters that reside there. Along with weird monsters like enlarged ticks, three-headed possums, and even Mole Men, there are other monsters that reference West Virginian urban legends. This includes the headless, hulking Monster Graff and the enigmatic Mothman, the latter of which is revered by the host cabal of Scorched, heavily irradiated humans who eventually evolve into ghouls of sound mind.
For the most part, fight and general movement handle similarly to Fallout 4. However, the new mechanics and survival systems play a role in the development of the game. In 76, much of the tutorial happens in a trial by fire in the open world, where you will have to follow the early stages of the quests closely in the process of learning the new mechanics, all while fighting off enemies and scavenging resources. While I appreciated the fact that I was going to be more flexible, I thought it would be a bit more detailed – it was mostly unprepared as I was scrambling to find any weapon I could get my hands on.
With the new online focus, some returning mechanics have seen some changes. For instance, Fallout's iconic V.A.T.S .– allowing you to target enemies and fire off precisely-aimed shots – now operates in real-time. It acts more like a real-time lock-on – with your weapon's hit-rate on the enemy's movement or their surroundings. This style of V.A.T.S. definitely took some getting used to. Mostly to the fact that enemies move around often, and combined with the awkward focus of the V.A.T.S. camera, it was jarring to actually use it during a fight. Because of this, I mostly stuck with standard aiming and shooting, which felt more reliable during commitments. While you can upgrade V.A.T.S. it should be used more effectively, it should be used sparingly.
Fallout 76's survival mechanics in the fallout 4's more challenging Survival mode. In addition to keeping your character well on a regular basis, you will also be able to avoid these diseases and other conditions – such as contracting the oddly named but still troubling Rad Worms. Some enemies and locations even carry specific diseases. These illnesses range from your maximum health, action points, and the general damage resistance for your character, to even increasing your susceptibility to radiation.
With a large emphasis on survival, you can get your hands on your hands. Nothing really lasts too long in Fallout 76 – so the buffs from Bobbleheads and skill magazines just last a short time – so you'll inevitably be discarded for something new. As you're scavenging through the open world, you'll find junk items, scraps, and crafting plans that can be turned into new gear and building materials for your constructions. Some of these materials can create weird weapons like the Heated Pitchfork or Ski-Sword – a single ski sharpened to form a blade. But over time, weapons and armor will eventually be broken down into other materials. Moreover, cooking and chem stations now have a greater importance, allowing you to prepare meals and craft support items.
Character growth is still the core part of Fallout 76, and it offers an impressive amount of variety and flexibility. After leveling up, you can get into the categories of the special system. Eventually, you will acquire a pack of Perk Cards that can offer special buffs in their assigned categories. For example, the Gladiator perk card is a strength card, while Lead Belly can decrease the radiation from drinking water. The more points you have in the category, the more Perk Cards you can slot in, giving you a whole suite of added buffs. At any time, you can get your own set of Perk Cards to read your character, to be better prepared for different challenges.
In keeping with the game's focus on pioneering, the building mechanics of Fallout 4 also return. Now known as the C.A.M.P. system, you have in your possession a mobile construction device that allows you to create a building at any time – it does not overlap with existing structures. You have to reinvent yourself to build whatever you like, whether it's subtle safe-houses for you to stash supplies, or even larger mega-structures that house turrets and a dedicated place to relax. If you ever want to pack up and move elsewhere, you can save your structure as a blueprint and dismantle it. This can be in your hand if your chosen spot becomes too popular with other players.
The biggest point of contention with Fallout 76's online is the lack of NPCs and slimmed down story, now serve to highlight the focus on moment-to-moment commitments with enemies and other players. This lack of traditional interactions and storytelling is more important in the world. While you are certainly free to play solo and other players – and we definitely took the opportunity to strike out on our own .
Watch Fallout 76's First 20 Minutes Of Gameplay
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Having said that, I could not help but feel intrigued by the re-focus here. Lore and smaller doses of the story are still surprisingly ample, but told passively through the environment and journals scattered about. While there are no active NPC characters to find – with exception to roaming robots that can offer you trades – you'll eventually stumble across the bodies of long-dead survivors who have had a notable presence in the world. In their possession are known holotapes known Survivor Stories, detailing the last moments of their lives in the irradiated wilderness.
These stories were told in the Appalachia, which had some poignant and heartfelt moments to them – which was reassuring given the fragmented nature of the storytelling in 76. Speaking with design director Emil Paglliarulo, he elaborated on their refocus to make Fallout more about engaging with others players.
"We're starting off with the premise where the other people are seeing you from the vault," he said. "We've had a chance to have a game that's set twenty-five years after the bombs fell, it's always been two-hundred something years after. We have never been able to tell the truth before, but we have never been able to do this – we have been used to doing it a certain way – and now the lore-heavy stuff comes from holo-tapes, which now has its own tab in the Pip-Boy, and it's been really interesting for us. people that you do [learn about] are dead already, and it's almost like a ghost story. We did not expect that. "
Whether you want to play solo or within a group, player interaction is a big part of the game. Encountering another person after rounding up the corner or reaching the end of a dungeon creates some genuinely tense feelings – not knowing what intentions the other player in front of you has. To communicate with others, Fallout 76 features a variety of in-game emotes to use and proximity based voice-chat. During our session, however, we used Xbox Live 's chat client to stay in constant communication with our group.
When playing in groups, communication is important, and the emotes and proximity are a great way to get your point across. This is especially vital when grouping up for some of the more active quests that you face with some odd obstacles, such as finding the keys to an armory in a makeshift town built out of a destroyed aircraft, or finding out a mob of unruly golfer feral ghouls "at a ritzy resort that's still maintained by protectotrons. This can lead to some humorous and even tense moments when players are scrambling to rely on their team's special skills to progress further.
Once you reach level 5, Fallout 76's PvP systems open up. When you encounter another player that's over level 5, you can fire your weapon and let them know your intentions. If they return fire, then you'll both engage in a duel, with the loser dropping their current haul of junk items – no caps or gear is lost after a defeat. When shooting at a player who has not done it in the past It's possible to kill another player who is not in the idea of fighting, and appropriately enough, this backhanded approach to a murderer, painting a massive target on your back for all players in the world to see.
Our group of level 5 explorers tried to take a level-58 player in power armor in similar fashion, but it did not go easily to a high-powered Tesla Rifle. While it does not allow for PvP commitments, it does not allow for PvP commitments. However, if you wish to avoid PvP, or if a player is too much, you can easily block them. So far, the system in place is a thoughtful way to overcome the potential harassment that can often spring up with this type of game.
To get started, the developers launched a nuke, which obliterates specific areas of the map. We all had a front row seat to the explosion, and then proceeded to jump into the ensuing fallout – with its heavy radiation promptly killing us off one-by-one. Fallout 76, activating a nuke can lead to new events in the irradiated areas, revealing rare materials and dangerous enemies to fight. It also highlights the more dynamic nature of Fallout 76, with many of its narrative keys informed by the player's decisions in the world.
The scale of Fallout 76 The location of West Virginia – and all its oddities – was exciting to dive into, which felt like falling back after Fallout 4's Commonwealth. However, much like previous Fallout games, there were a number of odd bugs and a large frame-rate dips that occurred throughout. This was especially noticeable during larger fire fights against large groups of enemies, which brought performance down to a slog. The developers we spoke to, however, assured that the performance will be improved in time for its November 14 launch.
76 certainly is not like other Fallout games. After our three hours, I got the impression that Bethesda is taking a risky approach to the game in its core gameplay. With its heavy focus on survival gameplay and the online experience, I suspect that this will be a rather polarizing entry. The mechanics were somewhat overwhelming to get a handle on, I can not deny that I was exploring the wide map and engaging in the mysterious, post-apocalyptic take on West Virginia. Fallout 76 looks like it can flourish in the long-term, and I'm interested in what it's all about in its off-kilter and ever-changing setting.
