7 Things We Loved About Fallout 4’s E3 Showing

It's just as well that Bethesda formally announced the existence of Fallout 4 prior to E3; had they withheld everything until the annual event, our brains would have exploded from not being able to digest all of the new gameplay features, let alone the reveal itself. One week on, and we've finally had time to absorb every little morsel of information blasted into our eyes by the building-sized conference screen, and boy, is there a lot to get excited for. Like all long-awaited sequels, hype generally becomes their worst enemy, their eventual gameplay reveal never quite living up to the expectations of fans and critics alike. Not to worry though, Bethesda knows exactly what they're doing. Fallout 4 looks absolutely brilliant, it's out this year, and it has a Christmas list's worth of new stuff. There's so much to talk about in regards to the game that this list could quite easily have been triple the size it is now, but we've cherry-picked the seven greatest additions that caught our eyes the most. Enjoy! 7) The New And Improved Pip-Boy It may not look all that different in comparison to Fallout 3's Pip-Boy at first glance, but the aesthetic differences are actually pretty huge - you only need to Google what the version from that game looked like to get an idea of what we mean. Aside from the visual changes though, Fallout 4's oversized smart watch has received various software upgrades, of which we're sure there are more to come. So far though, it looks like all of the cute little Vault Boy images are now fully animated rather than static, and there's even several awesomely 50s themed games to play on it. Above all else, the screen itself looks far cleaner (and devoid of clutter), and there looks to be some usability improvements thrown in for good measure, too - like the button shortcuts to certain parts of the device, as seen above. 6) Dogmeat's New Mechanics Everyone's a sucker for a cute and loyal companion in video games, and nothing quite plucks the heart strings more than a dog. Dogmeat's returning for Fallout 4, but this time around the canine looks far more integral to the overall gameplay experience. Bethesda's Todd Howard has stated since the company's E3 gameplay reveal that Dogmeat is flagged as an 'essential NPC' - that means he can't be killed by hostiles or die from any other means. With that in mind, it looks like the developer wants the player to become attached to Dogmeat from the get go. That's hardly surprising, either. With Fallout 4, we'll be able to point out items we want him to retrieve for us because, you know, why expend energy doing it yourself when an animal is more than happy to do it for you. 5) The Building/Crafting System This one is definitely the biggest change being introduced in Fallout 4. The implementation of a fully customizable building system is going to add a trash heap's worth of replayability to a game that is bound to already have hundreds of hours worth already. The finer details aren't clear yet, but from what we saw at the E3 reveal, it looks like certain 'hotspots' will enable the player to build, renovate and customize whole settlements to their liking - in turn enticing wandering travellers and traders to set up shop, too. To be honest, the possibilities of such a mechanic are ridiculous to the point that it could even be a standalone game by itself. 4) Flying Power Armor, Complete With Minigun Everyone loves power armor - it's essentially the equivalent of a tank on legs. Fallout 3 did a brilliant job of teasing the player with the promise of finally getting their hands on their own suit when they met the Brotherood Of Steel, and it seems that Bethesda is well aware of how much the fans love its badass factor. The dial's getting turned up to 11 in Fallout 4, though. Not only will we now be able to fully customize our own personal suit of power armor, but we're also getting the ability to attach a jet pack to it. Yeah, that's right, a freaking jet pack. Now you'll be able unleash death upon the hostile inhabitants of the Wasteland from above, and the feature looks set to be far more than just a gimmick. You only need to take a look at those speedometers and gauges to see that. 3) Mods Are Coming To Consoles This is a pretty huge announcement that you might have missed if you didn't watch Microsoft's E3 conference. Todd Howard returned to the stage for the Xbox One briefing to announce that the console will receive full mod support in 2016, following the release of the Creation Kit for PC players. Any mods created by the PC community will be available for download to the console, finally removing one of the biggest advantages PC gamers have over the console market. Mods have always been credited with extending the lifespan of any game they're available for, and now that they're going to be accessible to a wider audience, the result can, surely, only be a good thing. 2) The Return Of V.A.T.S. There was a difference of opinion on whether V.A.T.S. would return for Fallout 4 - with many wondering if the turn-based throwback was really an essential part of the experience. After all, the entire mechanic was introduced as a compromise of sorts for those who played the original two Fallout games. The greatest part of the V.A.T.S. system was that it was never an essential part of gameplay. Sure, you could use it whenever you wanted to if you wanted to introduce a slower pace to combat, but it was entirely optional - so if you wanted to charge in, all guns blazing, that was a perfectly sound strategy, too. We're glad Bethesda understood the brilliant sense of duality the system introduced, and even happier that it's returning for Fallout 4. From what we got to see at E3, the mechanic looks largely unchanged from Fallout 3, and that's fine by us. 1) The Pre-War Intro And so we arrive at the greatest part of Fallout 4's E3 reveal. We were shown new customization options, a tantalizing building system and excellent refinements to all of the existing elements last seen in Fallout 3, but it's the opening 10 minutes of the game's story that really blew us away. Fallout 4 will mark the first time ever in the series where the player will actually get to experience what America was like before it was utterly annihilated by the 'Great War' between China and the U.S. and boy, does it look great. The new approach will do wonders as an introduction to new players who are unfamiliar to the series, but at the same time reward long-time fans with a look at the world before shit went down. Not only that, but the decision should make for a far more relatable narrative. Yeah, we'll eventually be emerging from a vault into the wasteland like we always do, but this time around, the protagonist has experienced both walks of life. Normality and utter devastation.