Two of us got to play Fallout 76 at an event held by Bethesda in West Virginia last week, and we've got the footage to prove it! Unfortunately it wasn't the PC version of the game, it was a build on Xbox One, but we still got a few hours of playtime with Bethesda's online Fallout game. It began with us creating a character, leaving Vault 76, and exploring The Forest, one of the six different regions of Fallout 76. You can see 30 minutes of captured footage from our session embedded above or here on YouTube.
The video begins with a brief look at the character creation tools, which are nearly identical to the system from Fallout 4. Next, we do battle with some Scorched, which are crispy, hostile NPCs (a bit like feral ghouls but who use firearms) and visit the Vault 76 Overseer's camp, the first mission in the game, for a look at the crafting system. There's also an excursion into a spooky mine, and a mission to claim a workshop to harvest resources using extractors, and the waves of AI attacks (from molerats) that occur when we set up a communal shop there.
Along the way you can see Fallout 76's version of VATS in action (get a closer look at Fallout 76's VATS here), some leveling up and perk card selections, and lots of completed challenges that result in earning ATOM, Fallout 76's in-game currency that can be spent on cosmetic items. The ATOM store wasn't online during our hands-on session, so unfortunately we didn't get see what items you can buy with ATOM or how much they cost, but we know you'll be able to purchase the ATOM currency with real money, too.
We don't just have video, though: we also have lots of thoughts about what we played. When you're done with the video, you can read about the most surprising things we learned from playing the game, and details on the Fallout 76 beta, which will be the first public opportunity to play it.
