Fallout 76: Bethesda announces new addition to the Fallout universe
By Devin Shea
After teasing something new regarding the “Fallout” universe, Bethesda Game Studios released a trailer for their new addition, “Fallout 76.”
Just yesterday Bethesda Game Studio teased fans with a gif of a “please standby” screen indicating that something big was coming and it was in the Fallout universe. While fans were hoping for a new installment or maybe even a remastering of an old game, we found out this morning after a livestream what Bethesda has up their sleeves and based on reports, the reactions are conflicting. Take a look at Fallout 76.
The trailer opens on a room with a cover of John Denver’s “Country Roads” playing. The song intro starts similarly to every Ink Spots song ever made but takes a turn to a different style than in previous Fallout games. The radio console displays a date of October 27th, 2102, which means it is set earlier than the other Fallout games. You can tell the room is in a shelter thanks to blinds which display the day cycle. There is special Vault 76 Vault Boy poster on the wall which reads “Vault-tec salutes America 1776-2076.”
The vault has been well taken care of with a working vault television to boot letting the residents of Vault 76 know that when the fallout has settled, they will need to rebuild society. A party has been set with decorations and confetti and a banner proclaiming Reclaimation Day! But the vault is silent and there is no one, save one person in a Vault 76 jumpsuit complete with a Pip-Boy and the ending statement, “In Vault 76, our future begins.”
Image courtesy of Bethesda Game Studios
So what does that all mean? Well, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Vault 76. It was mentioned in both Fallout 3 and on a terminal in Fallout 4. Quoted directly from the Nukapedia page:
“The Vault-Tec terminal in the Citadel lists Vault 76 as a “control” vault, with 500 occupants. The vault was designed to open 20 years after a nuclear war, and was among the seventeen known control vaults, meaning that it was used as a baseline to compare to experimental vaults. It is also mentioned in one of the alien captive recorded logs (no.13) recorded by Giles Wolstencroft, a Vault-Tec official who was abducted while inspecting the vault’s construction site. In Fallout 4, the newsreader in the prologue mentions Vault 76 debuting in 2076 in honor of America’s tercentenary when discussing Vault-Tec’s plans to expand.”
Image courtesy of Bethesda Game Studios
According to Kotaku, this will be an “online game of some sort” that is being developed by Bethesda Game Studio in Maryland and at the former Battlecry office in Austin, which indicates it being a multiplayer installment. It will be released on PS4, Xbox One and PC. As for the reaction, fans are torn. While we are excited for a new addition to the Fallout universe, this seems like a glorified and more developed Fallout Shelter. While I personally enjoyed Fallout Shelter, I won’t be shelling out $60 to build specialty vaults when the season pass of Fallout 4 allows you to do the same time.
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While we won’t know anything for sure about Fallout 76 until the Bethesda panel at E3 next week, we can speculate until the cows come home. Come back for updates on Fallout 76 after the panel which streams at Sunday, June 10, at 6:30 p.m. PT.
(Featured image courtesy of Bethesda)