Upcoming Game Releases: Fallout 4

Fallout 4 is an upcoming action role-playing video game, developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game will be the fifth major installment in the Fallout series, and will be released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 10, 2015.

Fallout 4 takes place 200 years after a war over resources that ended in a nuclear holocaust in 2077 – roughly the same time as the events of Fallout 3. The setting is a post-apocalyptic retro-future, covering a region that includes Boston, Massachusetts and other parts of New England known as the Commonwealth. Unlike previous titles, Fallout 4‍ '​s story begins on the day the bombs dropped: October 23, 2077. The player's character (voiced by either Brian T. Delaney or Courtenay Taylor) takes shelter in Vault 111, emerging 200 years later.

Fallout 4‍ '​s gameplay is similar to that of Fallout 3, with a camera that can switch from first- to third-person view, but is supposed to feature a more interesting gameplay, featuring a split-piece armor system, base-building, a dynamic dialogue system, in depth crafting system which implements every lootable object in the game, and much more. Enemies such as mole rats, raiders, super-mutants, deathclaws, and feral ghouls will also return to the series, along with the companion Dogmeat, who is incapable of dying.

Players have the privilege to roam anywhere on the map, or leave a conversation at any time. They also have the ability to customize weapons; the game includes over 50 base guns, which can be crafted with a variety of modifications, such as barrel types and laser focus, with over 700 modifications available. Power Armor has been redesigned to be more like a vehicle than an equipable suit of armor, and can also be modified, adding items such as a jetpack or selecting separate types of armor for each part of the suit. A new feature introduced to the series is the ability to craft and deconstruct settlements and buildings. Players can select some in-game objects and structures, and use them to freely build their own structures. 

In addition, the towns can be powered with working electricity, using a dynamic power line system. Merchants and non-player characters can inhabit players' towns, for which players must provide sustenance by growing food in makeshift patches and building water spouts. Players can build various defenses around their settlements, such as turrets and traps, to defend against random attacks. When players start the game, they are given points to spend on a character progression system called the SPECIAL system. The system represents seven statistics, namely strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck. When players gain enough experience points to elevate to a new level, they can unlock a new ability. When players allocate more points to a stat, more abilities can be unlocked. These perks can also be upgraded to improve the protagonist's efficiency and to further unlock new abilities.

There are about 275 perks available for players to unlock. In the game, players can recruit companions, who stay and accompany players and provide assists. Players can only take one companion at a time. There are 12 recruitable companions, some of whom can be romanced by the player. Fallout 1 & 2 were isometric games but Fallout 4 is not. In the game, players obtain a Pip-Boy, a computerized wristwatch which allows the player to access a menu with statistics, maps, data, and items. Players can also find game cartridges, which can be played on the Pip-Boy. Another returning gameplay feature is the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.), which plays an important part in combat. 

While using V.A.T.S., real-time combat is slowed down, and action is played out from varying camera angles in a computer graphics version of "bullet time". Various actions cost action points, limiting the actions of each combatant during a period of time, and the player can target specific body areas for attacks to inflict specific injuries; head shots can be used for quick kills or blinding, legs can be targeted to slow enemies' movements, and opponents can be disarmed by shooting at their weapons. Unlike in previous games, in which the player had a random chance to inflict a critical hit, they can now be done at will with a button press. However, the option requires a recharge afterwards.