It’s here! It’s finally here! After years of leaks, rumors, and flat out false announcements, Bethesda has not only officially announced Fallout 4, but they have graced us with a trailer. Fallout is a post-apocalyptic franchise draped in a retro 50’s science fiction aesthetic. Think wastelands and jazz music. Think mutants and slicked back hair. Think Mad Max meets Mad Men.
Aside from the return of series regular, Dogmeat, the most notable thing about this trailer right off the bat is the constant switching back and forth between the destroyed wasteland and the pre-war Leave it to Beaver styled suburbs. Could this mean playable pre-war flashbacks, is the tutorial going to take place before the bombs drop, or is this simply going to be another simulation similar to Fallout 3’s Pleasant Lane? We can also see that the rumors of this one taking place in Boston are correct and a possible hint of customizable Power Armor.
Aside from that, everything feels a bit… safe. We see many of the modern staples of the series without anything that really shakes things up. Dogmeat, power armor, retro stylings, robots, a song from The Ink Spots, and Ron Perlman‘s series catchphrase of, “War… war never changes,” are all present and accounted for. This is a first trailer though, and I’m sure we’ll see some new features as we move closer to release. Also, the graphics are… alright. They’re certainly not the most realistic or detailed, especially compared to recent titles like The Witcher 3 or Bloodborne, but these are all in-game graphics rather than pre-rendered cinematics. Besides, the Fallout franchise has never been about that, and I’m personally fine with it.
Check out the trailer below. There is no release date yet, but I’m sure we’ll see more at Bethesda’s E3 Press Conference in the coming weeks.
