One of the most delightful concepts of the modern video game industry is that of 'timed DLC', where one platform gets access to a game's post-launch expansions before all the others. Fortunately, that's not something that will happen with Fallout 4. Bethesda’s head of marketing Pete Hines has confirmed over Twitter that all DLC will drop on all platforms simultaneously.
Bethesda has released a new Beth Blog about Fallout 4's new revamped perk system that's based on the player's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. level.
In the new "You Are S.P.E.C.I.A.L." video, the focus is on Endurance, to help players better understand how to resist the harmful effects of radiation and other dangers of the Wasteland.
Somehow managing to survive the nuclear apocalypse without growing six extra heads or any extraneous tentacles, your loyal canine companion Dogmeat will return in the upcoming Fallout 4. In this video interview with Bethesda's Todd Howard, we get a closer look at the lovable mutt, who it turns out is modelled on lead level designer Joel Burgess' own German Shepard.
I have to say I'm a big fan of these animated shorts that Bethesda is releasing to explain Fallout 4's S.P.E.C.I.A.L character statistics. Last week's covered the Strength stat, while this week's looks at Perception. They're incredibly flavourful, and actually amusing. Not something you can usually say about pre-release marketing.
Bethesda announced a Season Pass for highly anticipated RPG Fallout 4 last week, simultaneously admitting that they didn't actually know what was going into it. This irritated some of the studio's fans, but the firm's marketing head Pete Hines has defended its actions. "Yes, I think letting folks know our thoughts on it and how it fits into our post-launch plans is a good approach," he responded on Twitter, when asked whether the premature announcement was a responsible move.
Over the last couple of weeks Bethesda has released a few developer sessions that were recorded on the live stage at E3 earlier this year, the latest example being two videos of game director Todd Howard discussing Fallout 4. The first covers the studio's general approach to keeping players occupied and engage in an open world, while the second covers customisation, crafting and modding.
Fallout 4 may only be a couple of months away, but developer Bethesda hasn't quite decided on the exact system requirements they'll put out for the post-apocalyptic RPG. In a tweeted response to a fan query, head of marketing Pete Hines said that the studio is "not going to give out incomplete or inaccurate info before we know. That'd be irresponsible."
With the behemoth that is Fallout 4 looming ever closer on the horizon, Bethesda has started talking about what players can expect from its post-launch content. Which means they've announced the inevitable Season Pass. They don't actually know what's going in it yet, but still. The Season Pass will cost you $30, but you'll also get "regular free updates" adding new features and mechanics.
This might not be a total surprise, considering that Fallout 4 has a voiced protagonist for the first time in the history of the post-apocalyptic series, but Bethesda's hotly anticipated RPG has a lot of recorded dialogue. In fact, according to a tweet from the studio, it contains more voice recording than Fallout 3 and Skyrim combined.
Indie developer Christopher Bischoff has re-imagined Fallout 4 as an isometric, top-down RPG in the classic style, and it looks really, really good. I mean, I'm as excited for the first-person version as anyone, but this makes me feel a nostalgic desire to return to Fallout 2. Bischoff's studio The Brotherhood has just released point-and-click isometric horror Stasis, which he says was directly inspired by the early Fallout games.
It sounds like Fallout 4 should keep players occupied for a good long while – according to an interview with OXM reported by Gamepur, the game will feature 275 separate XP levels, one for each perk.
Bethesda tends to go quiet for long periods after it releases a flagship title, such as in 2011/12 when it released Skyrim and then went almost a year with no new releases as a publisher or developer. That's something that the company wants to change. Talking to MCV, marketing head Pete Hines says that the ultimate aim is for them to release “three or four big titles a year.”
Bethesda won't be spilling the beans on anything else regarding Fallout 4's story, as the post-nuclear RPG gears up for release this November. “I would be stunned if we said anything else about the story ever again (before launch),” the company's marketing head Pete Hines told IGN. “We’re going to let everybody experience that in the game as much as possible. But there are certain trade-offs you have to make to build some amount of awareness to what the game is offering, so you’re willing to make some sacrifices.”
A lot of people love crafting elements in their games, but a lot of people would rather stick their fingers in a toaster than be forced to scrape together ingredients every time they want to get a better weapon. Fortunately, Bethesda says both these groups will be catered to in Fallout 4; though crafting is a prominent feature, you won't be forced into using it.
Fallout 4 might be on the horizon, but you shouldn't expect to see an entry in Bethesda's other flagship open world RPG series for quite some time yet. The company's PR and marketing head Pete Hines explained as much in a chat with Dualshockers during Gamescom, saying that it would be a “very long time” until we see anything regarding The Elder Scrolls 6.
Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas both approached their end-game in a very similar way; once you hit the hard level cap that was the end of your character development (unless a new expansion arrived to bump it up) and once you completed the main story, there was no more adventuring in the wilderness. The credits rolled, and you were done.
As you would expect from a Bethesda RPG, Fallout 4 will be heavily moddable, to the extent that the developer is actually bringing fan-made mods to consoles for the first time. However, reators will have to wait a while before getting their hands on the mod tools. Speaking to IGN, Bethesda's Pete Hines confirmed that they won't be available from launch, as the team focuses on getting the core game whipped into shape first.
I distinctly remember trying to create a wise-cracking, fast-talking character in Fallout: New Vegas that could talk his way out of anything, before I ultimately got bored and started whacking people with chainsaws and throwing frag grenades at them. Fallout 4's improved combat will probably also tempt me towards acts of horrifying brutality, but at least this time Bethesda says they're giving less homicidal players a chance to avoid conflict.
Bethesda's open world games take a lot of work and conceptual planning, so it's no surprise to hear that the developer had pegged which area of America it wanted to set Fallout 4 in before the game had even entered development. “Pre-Skyrim," revealed the company's VP of marketing Pete Hines, when asked about the genesis of the game's setting by Gamespot. "The ideas for Fallout 4 started right after Fallout 3 and have gotten worked on and been percolated since 2008… We’re talking about its infancy, we’re talking about jotting some stuff down, we’re talking about, ‘I want to do it in Massachusetts, and have it be about this, this, and this.”