Join me as I dribble words about the things that make me happy onto the virtual page. Chock with geeky news, reviews, and ill-formed opinions, all for your reading displeasure.
Unlike many an RPG, Bethesda has revealed that Fallout 4 won't include a level cap. On top of that, the game allows you to freely wander the wasteland after the final credits roll, allowing players to carry on their adventure almost indefinitely.
The dev took to Twitter to deliver the following message to its followers: "To our fans who've asked: Fallout 4 doesn't end when the main story is over and there is no level cap. You can keep playing and leveling."
This is a welcome change, especially for those of us who remember the release of Fallout 3, which was met with criticism after it was revealed players couldn't continue their game past the ending. This was later rectified with a DLC expansion, but at the time it was major sticking point for a lot of players.
It's good to see Bethesda have learnt from that lesson and are giving players what they want in Fallout 4 - a developer adding requested features to their games instead of ignoring them completely? Who'd have thunk it?
Ahead of the release of Fallout 4, PC players will be able to get their hands on a very special Fallout collection. Dubbed the Fallout Anthology, this limited edition release bundles together all four games in the main series, as well as a copy of spin-off Fallout: Tactics.
All this RPG goodness will come packaged inside a mini-nuke, and will run you about £39.99 / €49.99 / AU$99.95. Oh, and the nuke makes bomb noises. Yes, really. The explosive package comes to Europe on October 2nd and the US on September 29th.
Pete Hines, VP of PR and marketing at Bethesda, confirmed that the anthology will be available to order soon, but warned prospective purchasers that the collection will only be available in very limited quantities.
Interestingly, the mini-nuke includes an extra space for a copy of Fallout 4, meaning wasteland warriors can keep their games all in one place when the hotly-anticipated sequel drops this November.
The apocalypse is coming and it looks glorious. Fallout 4 game director Todd Howard clambered on stage at E3 to give the world its first in-depth look at the latest game in the series. Unlike the slightly underwhelming reveal trailer that came out over a week ago, this demo fizzled like a freshly opened bottle of Nuka Cola, showing off the game's gorgeous new graphics engine, improved character models and, in a first for a Bethesda game, a fully-voiced player character.
As many speculated, the game has been in development since work wrapped up on Fallout 3 way back in 2009. Beginning on a picture perfect Saturday morning, the game opens before the fateful day the bombs fell and the USA became an irradiated ruin.
You play as one half of a happy couple living an idyllic life in '50s suburbia. After picking if you want to start your adventure as a male or female, you can customise your character. This is done in real-time as your character admires their reflection in the mirror - no sliders, or values, you literally just pull and prod your protag's face until you've moulded a character to your liking.
Once that's done, the player character is summoned to the front door by the tinkling of the doorbell. Standing on the doorstep is a Vault-Tec representative who collects the player's information --stats, name, etc.-- before our character unceremoniously slams the door in his face.
With that out of the way, our character swings by the kitchen for a quick tête-à-tête with robo-butler Codsworth. Surprisingly, the shiny robo-servant calls out our character's name - that's right, Bethesda Game Studios actually recorded dialogue for the world's 1000 most popular names.
To avoid spoiling the remainder of the game's opening chapters, the demo spool's ahead at this point, rejoining the action as our hero emerges from the Vault 200 years after the bombs have fallen. The world is very much changed, with spindly trees and twisted wreckage stretching off in every direction. The nuke hasn't erased every trace of our hero's past, though, as he quickly spots Codsworth hovering among the wreckage. As you'd expect after spending 200 years in hiberation, the player character is little confused. Luckily Codsworth is on hand to fill him in on what's been happening while he was tucked up underground.
Different dialogue options are assigned to different face buttons. According to Howard, if you get tired of chatting you can simply walk away or, if you're feeling particularly murderous, pull a pistol and start shooting. Your character may be voiced this time around, but Howard was keen to stress that player choice is still paramount.
The trailer goes on to show off a new canine companion who players can issue orders to, as well as a brief slice of combat. We see the player character employ VATs to splatter some unsuspecting mole rats as well as a brief bit of real-time gunplay. The footage ends with a quick montage of different environments, showing off some of the gruesome sights players will be able to explore during their travels through Fallout 4's version of Boston.
If that wasn't enough, Howard also lifted the lid on the game's ludicrously in-depth suite of customisation tools. Players will be able to bolt together their own tools of destruction, build shacks and even fine tune their own Power Armour.
The game's slated to hit consoles and PC this November. Start counting down the days now.
As promised, Bethesda have spilled the beans on Fallout 4. They released a trailer earlier today, which you can admire below.
The trailer, which Bethesda proudly pointed out, was cut together from in-engine footage, shows that there was some truth to the infamous Kotaku leak, after all. The game will take players on a journey through a post-apocalyptic version of Boston, Massachusetts. During the trailer, polygonal recreations of some of the areas most famous landmarks, including the Bunker Hill Monument and the statue of Paul Revere can be seen.
Perhaps the Witcher 3's lush, lively visuals have spoiled me, but I was hoping for a more striking graphical overhaul. The game is clearly running on the same tech that powered Skyrim, itself a souped-up version of the engine that gave us Oblivion and the prior Fallout games, and it shows. It's not an ugly game by any means, boasting a surprisingly fresh colour palette, but anyone hoping for a graphical powerhouse is going to be disappointed.
Still, I don't play Fallout for its eye-candy, I play it for the unique atmosphere, the great writing and the thrill of roaming a wasteland populated with shambling horrors and mewling mutants in search of some shiny new loot.
Interestingly, IGN's Ryan McCaffrey has taken to Twitter to tell the world that Fallout 4 is no spring chicken, having been in development for nigh on four years. This means we might not have to wait long to get our fill of Fallout - McCaffrey reckons the game will be us by the end of the year. It all sounds a little too good to be true, but I've got my fingers crossed.
Can Fallout 4 possibly live up to the hype? Anyone else hoping the dog's a playable character? Let us know below.
It's finally happening, folks: Fallout 4 is upon us! Bethesda began teasing the fourth game in their splatter-filled, post-apocalyptic series yesterday, posting a countdown clock on the Fallout website emblazoned with the words 'Please stand by'. The countdown will end at 3pm here in the UK.
We all knew Fallout 4 was coming - after all, rumours about the follow-up to New Vegas have been swirling away for years, but this will be our first proper glimpse at this elusive new entry. What form the reveal will take is unknown at this point. I'm entertaining the vain hope that we'll be treated to some in-engine footage, maybe even a smidgen of gameplay, but it'll probably be a CGI trailer, or, if Bethesda are feeling really bathetic, a teaser for their E3 conference taking place in a little under a fortnight.
Before Bethesda open the vault doors and let Fallout 4 loose on the world, though, I've decided to travel back in time and pick apart some of the rumours surrounding the game, of which there have been many. The earliest indication we had that Fallout was in development came way back in 2013 when the studio gave us word they were closing up shop in Skyrim and moving onto a new project. A lot of us, myself included, took this to mean the studio was finally ready to start working on Fallout 4 in earnest.
Around about the same time, a leaked document going under the codename The Institute found its way into hands of Kotaku. This tantalising missive, which Kotaku claimed was the real McCoy, revealed that Fallout 4 would take place in Boston, Massachusetts. In the Fallout 'verse this stretch of irradiated wasteland is known as The Commonwealth, and is home to the crumbling remnants of MIT, now known as The Institute.
One of the more interesting titbits in the leaked document relates to the player character, who, for the first time, will have a voice. Historically, Fallout protagonists have been mute, so, if true, this will be quite a (welcome) departure for the series.
Since then, there have been sporadic rumours relating to Fallout 4 - last January the voice actor for Three Dog, one of Fallout 3's major players, teased his involvement in the game - but concrete info on the game has been harder to come by than Nuka Cola bottle caps. Some hardcore Fallout fans, so desperate for a peek at the new instalment, even created an elaborate teaser with the aim of forcing Bethesda to reveal their hand and lift the lid on Fallout 4 early. Sadly, this didn't work.
I'll be back after the announcement airs to share my thoughts. Till then, please stand by.
