"War. War never changes."
And if things go as planned, neither will the Fallout franchise. Bethesda Softworks release the first trailer for the long-awaited title Fallout 3.
I admit it: I’m a late arrival to the Fallout party. I hadn’t actually played the original game until this year. For some reason, I resisted the urgings of many gamers who told me how fantastic the futuristic role-playing game was. Finally, after years of dodging it, I picked up Fallout. And what a treat it was. Leader designer Tim Cain and the folks at Interplay created a true classic by combining rich RPG gameplay with sly cultural references, witty humor, and one of the all-time greatest game worlds – a post-apocalyptic United States, nearly a century after The Great War, that’s filled with sci-fi pulp novel allusions, Cold War paranoia, and retro-futuristic culture.
Fans of the original Fallout and its hallowed sequel Fallout 2 had been waiting for years for Interplay to make a third Fallout title (besides the sub-par Fallout Tactics and the dreadful Brotherhood of Steel). But the Fallout 3 project, codenamed Van Buren, was derailed years ago when Interplay filed for bankruptcy and was forced to sell off its Fallout IP to Bethesda Softworks (developer of the Elder Scrolls series).
But Bethesda has apparently picked up the baton and continued running with the project. Over the last month or so, the company has released several concept art images on the official Fallout 3 site. And now the first Fallout 3 trailer is on the site, and while it’s short and doesn’t feature any gameplay, it definitely got my post-apocalyptic heart rate going.
What do we know about Fallout 3 so far? Well, first and foremost, the animation in the new trailer is from the in-game engine rather than separately rendered footage, according to Bethesda’s Peter Hines (read VoodooExtreme for more). Second, the voice belongs to actor Ron Perlman, who provided the memorable narration for the first two Fallout games. Third, the game will apparently take place on the East Coast of the U.S. rather than Southern California. Fourth, actor Liam Neeson will provide voice acting for the new game and play the role of the player’s father.
Oh, and fifth: Fallout 3 is scheduled to arrive in the fall of 2008. Yes, it’s a long time to wait. But hopefully the design team behind Oblivion, one of the best PC games in recent years, will be able to do the Fallout franchise right and make one hell of a trilogy with the new game.
In the meantime, here are some of the concept art images to whet your appetite.
Comments (6)
Wow, it's about time someone finally came out with the next installment of Fallout. I remember playing Fallout for the first time about a decade ago, and found it very enjoyable, but with Interplay going out of business, I'm sure most people feared the series would be forgotten to the sands of time. Kudos to Bethesda for taking the steps to revive a long-time favorite. The concept art screen shots look gorgeous too!
Posted by Xiaofeng | June 5, 2007 11:24 PM
Posted on June 5, 2007 23:24
Woah, great news indeed.
I stumbled upon Fallout back around 2000. What a rush. It was a well designed game with great voice acting and awesome storyline. Its RPG game play was very intuative as well. I loved the opening, cut scenes, and the music. Everything just seamlessly fit in perfectly.
Fallout 2 was good too. But it is very difficult to follow the footstep of the original.
One can easily see its influence on other games and the fanatical following by the fan sites on the web.
I will certainly look forward to it.
Posted by Jerry | June 6, 2007 12:57 AM
Posted on June 6, 2007 00:57
I still havent seen the "Teaser trailer" but i loved the original Fallout and Fallout 2. They are still among my most favorite RPGs. The SPECIAL system simply rocked. I dont know what Bethesda is going to use, or how will they modify the amazing system created by BlackIsle (i grade them as King of RPGs..hehe).
I am kind of worried (Bethesda is making the game)!!! Problem is even though i loved Morrowind, i did not actually like Oblivion (way too easy and meant as a casual RPG). I hope Bethesda does not make Fallout 3 as simple and casual.
Now i am off to watching the trailer at earliest :)
Posted by Nameless One | June 6, 2007 8:20 AM
Posted on June 6, 2007 08:20
F**k yeah.....yeeeeaaaah, first of all I must do a couple of back flips out of pure joy... I was (am) a huge fan of the original two, it completely satisfied my dominant-hoarding-control-freak nature, secondly game play wise it was one of the best designs as far as striking the balance between complex and fun RPG.
As Nameless One mentioned, It is developed by Bethesda... I did not like Morrorwind or Oblivion, I simply couldn't get into neither of games and fount them not interesting. I hope some of the original game designers are working on this current game, as they may be able to preserve some of the original game whether it is the atmosphere, art or basically the whole world in general. I am praying to all gaming gods, please don't let them make this game into real-time strategy combat, that would ruin the game, let us at least choose the option of turn-based.
The trailer looked good in HD, but there was something missing, after the famous "war, war never changes" it was over. The artwork looks stunning and stays true to first 2 games,let's hope they bring that kind of style to finished game. And I'd love some hi-res wallpapers:D
Fall 08 is the release date. please let my current HW handle it!:D
Posted by Harold the mutant | June 6, 2007 9:12 PM
Posted on June 6, 2007 21:12
I might cry when it comes out
Posted by coldmast | June 7, 2007 8:50 PM
Posted on June 7, 2007 20:50
Fallout and Fallout2 are by far, in my opinion, the best RPGs ever. They gave players an RPG game that for once didn't take place in a Dungeon, or have mythical creatures... the stereotypical RPG of today. You can only play so many games where your character's home was destroyed and you must fight dragons, or other retarded creatures to find that one boss who was responsible for it all. And Fallout 3 looks to be a completely different genre of RPG. First person RPG is something unheard of, but completely awesome to imagine.
Posted by Josh | November 24, 2007 8:49 PM
Posted on November 24, 2007 20:49