Fallout 76: 9 New Features We Can't Wait To Try
Wild and wonderful West Virginia, here we come.
Here we are again.
In just a few months, the cog-shaped door on yet another vault will roll open, denying its residents safe haven from the irradiated wasteland formerly known as the United States of America. As is tradition, you'll emerge from that very same subterranean safehouse, implored to explore the new world in the name of so-called Reclamation Day.
Sounds like the standard setup for a Fallout title, and to an extent, it is, but this is far from a by the numbers RPG as far as Bethesda's concerned.
Joining your former resident of Vault 76 in witnessing sunlight for the first time in two decades will be thousands of cohabitors, and they won't be confined to their own world, either. Some will be kind, approachable and helpful, others... not so much, but regardless of each individual's digital moral compass, the remnants of West Virginia are to be shared among the entirety of Vault 76's population.
Multiplayer in a Bethesda RPG is a bold new direction for the developer, but it's just one of the many firsts that will shake up the status quo that Fallout fans have come to expect of the series over the last decade.
PvP content, a revamped V.A.T.S. system, new enemies, opportunities for emergent gameplay and a refreshing narrative angle are all ready and waiting to be unravelled this November.
9. Nuclear Warfare
The blowing up of Megaton in Fallout 3 at the behest of Allistair Tenpenny, as well as obtaining the iconic Fat Man launcher in each entry, remain some of the most noteworthy events in the series, but even those events are nothing in comparison to what former denizens of Vault 76 will be able to get their radiation-free mitts on.
The former USA didn't manage to get all of its bombs off in its short-lived exchange of nuclear ordnance with China and the USSR - multiple fully-stocked silos remain, waiting to be activated - and, as luck would have it, missile launch codes are scattered throughout the land in fragments, needing only one lucky survivor to find and piece them together to trigger a mushroom cloud-shaped fireworks display.
Exactly how rare said codes will be to happen upon, Bethesda has yet to specify, but considering the power bestowed upon those that obtain a full string of numbers, it's likely that you and a few comrades will need to form scouting parties to get the job done.
On paper, it's a neat activity that encourages friendly competition and exploration and will undoubtedly result in an endless number of highlight and montage videos surfacing on YouTube.