Grave Gamer News & Views — fallout 4

Bethesda Announces Fallout 4

It’s finally confirmed. Bethesda Softworks officially announced the long awaited sequel to 2008′s popular post-apocalyptic hit – Fallout 4.

Focusing on a new Vault dweller, emerged from Vault 111, the rumored setting of The Commonwealth, or Fallout’s irradiated version of Boston, is confirmed as our new wasteland. Fallout 3 fans may recall a mission in that game concerning androids run amok, having escaped from “The Institute” – i.e. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology – which served as our first lowdown of The Commonwealth.

Besides a percolating trailer, there’s not much more to go on. Obviously, Bethesda is building off of the gameplay foundation found in Fallout 3, a title which reimagined the series as a massively open-world, first-person RPG. What’s changed (except war, because war never changes) won’t begin to be revealed until Bethesda shows off gameplay on June 14 during E3.

Fallout 4 is being developed for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

dubiousdick:

SOURCE: https://twitter.com/BethesdaStudios/status/605744940006670337

More info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma-vC83EczQ

…Probably an Elder Scrolls Online expansion.

Fallout 4… LIVES!

No hoax this time, wastelanders. Thanks to leaked casting call documents, the next Fallout has been outed.

If you’re still mending the radiation burns that whole TheSurvivor2299 debacle gave you, your Skully-worthy wall of skepticism is understandable. Here’s the facts: Kotaku was sent the documents in question, which include dialogue scripts and character bios.

Unsurprisingly, the docs are not labeled “FALLOUT 4 BY BETHESDA” in neon red ink. The project is actually referred to as “The Institute.” But evidence stacks to the sky in favor of its true identity; there’s numerous references to locations either shown or named in previous Fallout’s, the casting director for “The Institute” happens to be the same person that cast for Dishonored and Skyrim, and in one monologue, the franchise infamous line “War… War never changes” is uttered.

A lot of info gathered in the documents also pieces together rumblings spanning the year since Fallout 4 rumors began to kick up. You might recall news of Bethesda’s dev team doing some location scouting at Boston’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology some time back. MIT – already having played a small part in Fallout 3, though called, wouldntchaknowit?, The Institute – features as a setting for a mission.

The Commonwealth, which is the name bequeathed to the remnants of Massachusetts in series lore, was also rumored way back as the mused over setting for the next Fallout. The Commonwealth, of course, is name checked along with other series specific settings.

It’s all a pretty goddamn convincing argument for the existence of Fallout 4 (or, rather, whatever it will eventually be called). Of course Bethesda denied to comment on the leak, and until then, I cannot in good journalistic conscience say Fallout 4 is official.

The fuck am I saying? Journalists have no consciences! Fallout 4 is happening, folks. Crack open a dusty Nuka-Cola and celebrate. (In the event this is another great yank on our chain, please place your blame solely on Kotaku. See what I mean about the no conscience bit?)

Bethesda: “We Showed Three Games at E3” and None of Them Were Fallout 4

Skyrim had itself a long reign but the team behind the lauded, fantasy RPG time sink have officially ended DLC support for it and have moved on to their next project.

Given their great success in reintroducing the world to the post-apocalyptic wastelands of the Fallout universe (and reusing a Ron Pearlman soundbite that is just positively burned into gamers’ skulls), it’s no leap in logic for fans to expect Fallout 4 is next up off the bench…

However, Kotaku insists you’re stretching reason extremely thin if you believe Bethesda had a closed doors presentation for the game at last week’s E3.  The rumor began its life in the words of one journalist claiming he saw one surprise Bethesda failed to announce at the most publicized industry event of the year.  Microseconds later, Fallout 4 was name dropped hard enough to break the floor.

As they invariably do, the rumor grew bigger and bolder until certain sites were reporting specific details about the game including which consoles it was coming to (basically everything without a Nintendo logo on it), when it was coming out (October…of 2015), and a completion estimate of 55%.  A teaser trailer clocking in at nearly over half a minute was also purported to be shown; gravelly Pearlman voice-over and all.

If members of the press really got see a forty-five minute presentation on one of the biggest franchises in gaming…Where were all the headlines?  Well, whether Fallout 4 is in production or not, this “Easter egg” E3 presentation probably didn’t happen.  Skeptical?  Here’s what Bethesda shot Kotaku’s way:

“We showed three games at E3 - Wolfenstein: The New Order, The Elder Scrolls Online and The Evil Within. We did not show any of our games behind closed doors.”

I know what you’re thinking.  “We live in a world where they swore to us Steve Carrell wouldn’t be back for The Office finale."  I know.  I know.  But food for thought: for all intents and purposes, E3 serves as a monolithic, flashing billboard meant to advertise to gamers the world over and permeate in consumers’ heads until buyin’ season kicks off.  Why wouldn’t Bethesda want to take advantage of that platform to stir Fallout fans into a frenzy?

[If Fallout 4 is announced next week, the correct answer to that question is, "Because they’re goddamned liars.  When can I pre-order?”]

Is The Commonwealth to Be Fallout 4’s New Wasteland?

Bethesda’s open-world RPG formula has had the good fortune of going from popular in Fallout 3 to insanely fucking popular with the release of Skyrim.  While a return to the Fallout franchise has not been made official by the company, it’s probably a safe bet that Bethesda is already pouring resources and development time into a successor considering their upward acclaim from title to title.

With that in mind, we can sink our teeth into this irradiated slice of a rumor.  Speaking through the information laden avenues of Reddit, an anonymous user that “may or may not” be affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claims Bethesda is scouting the Boston region, researching the locale with the intention of using the city as a backdrop for Fallout 4.

The proverbial Pip-Boy fits given that The Commonwealth – Fallout’s apocalyptic version of the greater Massachusetts area – has already been referenced in series lore.  Specifically in Fallout 3, a Blade Runner-esque subplot involving androids escaped from a place called “The Institute” (need I mention MIT?) serves as one of the more prominent mentions of The Commonwealth.

What’s the most important information we can glean from this rumor?  That there are even rumors circulating in the first place, which equates to the first shaky steps in seeing this franchise continue.  If this rumor be fact, that means pre-production has commenced…unfortunately that also probably means we won’t see Fallout 4 until the next console cycle.  That’s the industry, kids.  It never changes.