As expected, Bethesda Softworks has revealed Fallout 4, the next instalment of its beloved post-apocalyptic game franchise. The last game in the series was 2010’s Fallout: New Vegas, so this sequel’s arrival has five years of pent-up fan expectations to live up to.
It looks like you’re a Vault-dweller from Vault 111 based on this trailer, and I’d say the world looks a little brighter and generally more vivid in color than in previous Fallout game worlds.
As a longtime fan of the series, I’m happy to share a bit of history for those who might not be as familiar. The original Fallout, and its sequel Fallout 2, were also action RPGs, but they featured a third-person perspective with a turn-based combat system. Both featured early examples of so-called “open world” gameplay, letting you roam a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, battling mutants, bandits and more, levelling your character, and doing drugs, among other things.
The Fallout series had a Tactics instalment that introduced real-time combat in 2001, and then made the leap to consoles and action RPG with Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel in 2004. Fallout 3 was considered a watershed moment for the series, nabbing reviews in the mid- to high 90s from a wide range of review websites. New Vegas in 2010 was quite similar to Fallout 3 in gameplay, graphics and mechanics, and in fact doesn’t count as a direct sequel (hence Fallout 4).
I’m super-pumped to return to the wasteland, but also nervous about just how much of my time will be sucked away with this new sequel. Fallout’s open-world nature and engaging, omnipresent side quests mean the game can occupy you for weeks, if not longer.