Fallout 4 Rumors – Enough Already

The Fallout series has been a popular one for quite some time now, and unlike the normal trend for games has grown in acclaim even though it has changed hands a few times. I fell in love with the franchise’s rough charm and post apocalyptic setting with Fallout 2, which I played through many times on the PC. I then went truly head over heels with the releases of Fallout 3 (Thrreeeeeee-Daaawwg!) and Fallout : New Vegas. These rumors surrounding Fallout 4 have been painfully circulating the internet even before the planned Fallout MMO by Interplay fell through thanks to a court battle and Bethesda ensuring the IP was theirs outright for a cool $2 million.

For a while, it’s seemed Fallout 4 may turn into Half-Life 3 or, god forbid, Duke Nukem Forever. No, this article doesn’t confirm Half-Life 3, just like it doesn’t confirm Fallout 4. We Fallout fans are a hopeful, eager bunch, clutching at anything we can in the hope that something turns out to be real, so thanks to a baseless forum post that many sites have picked up and posted as news, the rumor mill has started once again. We all know Bethesda have said if the news doesn’t come from them it’s probably fake, but it doesn’t stop our curiosity.

These supposed Fallout 4 leaked details include a new leveling system, no mutants, a 2015 E3 appearance and a 2015 release date. Instead of just swiping away this nonsense again, I made the choice to follow the rumor this time like a squirrel stacking nuts, going on a little hunt that turned into days roaming the desert and a bunch of peyote. After turning up nothing, I decided to return home and search the internet. My search would only turn up several articles on this rumor from sites that regularly post unsupported crap – including one that stated Bethesda had in fact put the franchise into other hands. No link to the supposed official Reddit leaker (or anything else that counts as a source) could be found, but the internet is a big place, so I managed to grab this piece of stupidity info – remember – it’s just continued speculation coming from no official source.

According to all these ‘news articles’, the Redditor had this to say about Fallout 4 – Because, you know, a forum post from some random person on Reddit is obviously the most reliable source of information possible, way more reliable than say… Bethesda’s official website, Fallout’s dedicated website, or Bethesda marketer Pete Hines on Twitter. You can find his response to Fallout rumors a few months back in one of our reports. Okay, maybe it is turning into a Half-Life 3 situation. Anyway, I digress. Here’s the ‘source’ that has been used as news.

“First and foremost, the game will take place in Boston, and be kind of a direct sequal to Fallout 3 with a few groups returning. From what it sounds like, ‘The Institute’ is pretty much the downtown DC or New Vegas of this game. Boston is going to be unlike anything we’ve seen in a Fallout game before, with buildings more on par with cybperpunk and retro-futurism.

Androids play a big part in this game. The Railroad from Fallout 3 is a faction. The enemies of The Railrod is ‘The Plantation’ – a group who force Androids to farm so that humans can get food. The Institute is highly advanced and probably built their own GECK to start a farm. Due to complaints about using Super Mutants and The Brotherhood Of Steel in Fallout 3 excessively and going against the lore too much, Bethesda has decided to avoid using these groups. Bethesda wants to make a new ‘race’ (think Ghoul, Super Mutant) which will be central to Boston. Bethesda is currently looking at Lovecraftian fiction since Boston is around ‘Lovecraft country’.

Bethesda has no plants to reinvent the leveling up system to make it more like Skyrim and want to make Fallout 4 more distinct than Skyrim since of the complaints that Oblivion and Fallout 3 were too similar. Bethesda is thinking about introducing a system, similar to Skyrim, where your skills can level up if you perform certain tasks.”

Wow. OK. So aside from this ‘statement’ coming across as something he dreamed up in an opium fueled state, it contradicts itself several times. I can’t believe this has been passed off as news. It’s gotta stop. Firstly, ‘The Plantation’ sound exactly like ‘The Commonwealth’ who were looking for their escaped Android in Fallout 3. So why would their name change on a whim? Next, complaints about overuse of Super Mutants and The Brotherhood of Steel. What? I neither heard or could find these apparent complaints, particularly not on a scale large enough to effect the development of a game. They are both crucial to the lore of the Fallout universe. He then goes on to state a new race could be coming and implies it will be a blend of Ghoul/Super Mutant. Put. The. Crack. Pipe. Down.

The claims about the leveling system – they have no plans to reinvent it to make it more like Skyrim, because apparently Oblivion and Fallout 3 leveling were too similar; They are introducing a new system, similar to Skyrim, where your skills can level up if you perform certain tasks. There are a lot of holes here, aside from the large cavity in the Redditor’s head. Although changing the leveling to a ‘grow as you go’ system harkens to the game’s actual roots (Wasteland), he directly contradicts himself. If they want to keep the leveling system distinct, they would want to be leaving it alone, as Fallout has remained true to itself for a long time and is nothing like Skyrim in terms of character development. The same goes for Oblivion. Comparing anything in Fallout 3 and Oblivion besides the fact they are open world is ridiculous. They are two totally different universes with deep, rich lore, which, I’d like to point out again in the case of Fallout, revolves heavily around Super Mutants, The Brotherhood of Steel and Ghouls.

Oh and as for the ‘things we haven’t seen in a Fallout game before – buildings moving towards cyberpunk and no mutants’ part (paraphrased) – Give me a break. The franchise is plenty cyberpunk , with some cool mash-ups on the theme thrown in. Yeah, I could see a game set in an untouched part of the world where there are no mutants, but Fallout already is retro-futuristic in setting with heavy cyberpunk influences.

If my thoughts on this resurfaced rumor aren’t clear yet, I’ll summarise it here. It’s absolute rubbish, shouldn’t be reported as ‘news’ and the guy who came up with this nonsense needs to get off the acid and actually play the Fallout games that are available now. I will happily eat my words if an announcement surfaces at E3 next year, as I love the series. Don’t expect it to be released the same year it is announced at E3 though. Until then? Enough of this rumor mongering bullshit. Particularly when it is passed off as news.

Unless you enjoy indulging the attention seeking ‘fans’ that drive these rumors, I urge you to check Bethesda’s official channels when they resurface with some other made up nonsense. They will, around the holidays. Given how highly anticipated the game is, it wouldn’t be logical for them to keep quiet on it, or any new features. I look forward to the day we at Attack of the Fanboy can share the good news of a confirmed, real Fallout 4 for you guys. Until that day comes, enjoy wandering the wasteland.