Fallout 4 got unveiled today. Didn't you hear? If not, you should likely get out from underneath that rock and get as excited as the rest of us. The first entry in the series in 5 years (Fallout: New Vegas initially released in October 2010), Fallout 4 is currently confirmed to be releasing on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, with little in the way of details available at this current time. What we do know is that more details, as well as what will likely be a hefty chunk of gameplay, will be released at Bethesda's E3 conference later in June.
For now, the trailer is more than enough to whet out Vault dwelling appetites. Here's why.
1) It's confirmed to be set in Boston
Do you remember that leak that happened way back in the tail-end of 2013? The one where the new game was alleged to be set in Boston, opening with a classic "War. War never changes" speech? Turns out that was at least partially true. We're heading over to Boston - also known as the Commonwealth - in Fallout 4.
This is certainly an exciting prospect, having spent the majority of our time in the previous 2 Fallout entries in Washinton DC and Nevada. The Commonwealth is a rich, unexplored location in Fallout lore, a "war-ravaged quagmire of violence and despair” as referenced in Fallout 3. We know from the trailer that we can expect to see a good mixture of ruins and bombastic bastions of humanity in equal measure, and that we'll be visiting a number of real landmarks in the area, including Scollay Square.
2) We might get to play before the apocalpse
Now this is one of the more alluring concepts shown off in the reveal trailer, for sure. In Fallout lore, the collapse of humanity in the United States took place in a single day. Struck by nuclear war, those humans that were unfortunate enough to miss out on a spot in one of the vaults were either decimated or horribly injured and disfugured by the resulting fallout. There was no time to prepare, no time to hide and certainly no place to run. October 23rd 2077 was the day the world ended.
For such a monumental occurance in the game's history, there is surprisingly little record of it in any of the games - we never really see it. Flashes of pre-war footage in the trailer certainly lends a lot of weight to the theory that early segments of the game will allow players to experience the collapse first-hand. As an idea, it's brilliant. It'll allow us to understand the severity of the post-apocalyptic world we're exploring more acutely, and bring in an effective emotional hook from the get-go.
This, of course, ties in with the third point.
3) The main character has a voice
Whether this is just for the trailer or not is currently unknown, but it would be a strange choice if it were. Giving the player controlled character a voice brings forth a plethora of options in terms of storytelling that Fallout games couldn't even have dreamt of previously. Previously, the watelander we took control of was nothing more than a conduit for player experiences - with no personality, no goals (apart from those which were forced upon us by major plot lines) and no real depth.
This could even lead to Mass Effect-esque dialogue options. Who knows? There's a lot of potential here, and it was most certainly a very deliberate choice here by Bethesda to present our new main character with a voice from the get-go. He comes from Vault 111, and it appears there's a little more to him this time around.
4) The trailer is all In-Game Footage
As announced by Bethesda and reported on numerous times since the reveal, everything shown in the reveal trailer is in-game footage. This much was clear, to be honest, there was a notable jankiness to some of the running animations and character movements throughout that were unmistakeably Bethesda games. It was gorgeous, certainly, and it acted to show viewers that this is the Fallout you know and love, but on next-gen consoles with all of the technical pushes that it entails.
When we see gameplay at E3, expect beautiful draw distances, a consistant frame rate and an impressively huge world to explore. It's gonna look good.
5) Dog
Because dog.
Every game is better with man's best friend. Hopefully he isn't as accident prone as Dogmeat was.
It was a clever move to show off the trailer ahead of E3. Bethesda were able to control the message before a real leak occured (because let's be honest, Fallout 4 was going to be leaked before E3), and they owned the day today. They're going to own the day again at E3.
Look forward to more.
All images courtesy of Gamespot