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'Fallout Shelter' arrives on Windows 10 and Xbox One next week
Mobile games have been making their way to consoles at a semi-regular clip lately. Most recently it was Square Enix Montreal's series of Go titles moving to PlayStation 4, and now Fallout Shelter is making its way to Xbox One and Windows 10. Now, it was already available on Steam, but this version offers Play Anywhere features like cloud-sync and shared achievements between the platforms. So, it's a little different.
Exploring what made the 'Doom' and 'Titanfall 2' campaigns tick
The new Doom was almost one of my favorite games last year. While it was edged out at the last minute, there's no denying how refreshing the game was. Developer id's laser-focus on speed, making the player throw caution to the wind and tossing modern shooter conventions out the window was incredibly exciting. Titanfall 2 on the other hand took a major complaint levied at its predecessor and delivered one of the most unique shooter campaigns we've seen in an awful long time. As Mark Brown of YouTube channel Game Maker's Toolkit points out, the story modes put fun ahead of everything else.
Bethesda paves the way for 'Fallout 4' mods on PlayStation 4
Almost a year after Fallout 4 hit store shelves (and following some consternation from Sony), mod support is finally available for the game's PlayStation 4 version -- thanks to an update to the game's Creation Kit mod toolset*. Now remember, this doesn't mean you replace the towering Deathclaw enemies with "Macho Man" Randy Savage, as unlike the Xbox One version, the one on PS4 only plays nicely with mods created from pre-existing game assets. A post on Bethesda.net reminds as much, saying that these mods are plugins only, and that no archives are permitted. Is that going to limit your creativity? Pop down in the comments and let us know. * A previous version of this post wrongly stated that mods were already available. It has been updated to reflect that correction.
'Skyrim Special Edition' audio took a step backward
As a rule, remasters of classic video games are supposed to be clear steps forward in audiovisual quality. However, Bethesda didn't get that memo before launching Skyrim Special Edition. PC and Xbox One owners have noticed that their version of Skyrim is using highly compressed audio that's noticeably worse than in the original release. You're fine if you have the PS4 version (or are willing to modify your PC copy), but it's a rude surprise for everyone else.
'Skyrim,' 'Fallout 4' to offer user mods and PS4 Pro support
Bethesda and Sony have kissed and made up. Who benefits from that corporate make-out session? You, because mod support is en route for Fallout 4 and Skyrim Special Edition, according to a post on Bethesda.net. Skyrim mods will show up first, but there isn't a timetable for when that will actually happen.
'Fallout 4' immortalizes a player's late brother
Games have paid tribute to late celebrities and fans in the past, but rarely like this. When Reddit user NoohjXLVII (aka Andy) posted about the tragic losses of his father and his brother, as well as using Fallout 4 as a coping mechanism, Bethesda responded by including his brother as a character in Fallout's Nuka World add-on. Run into Evan at the southernmost part of Nuka World's map and you'll meet the recreation of a man who Andy says was just as generous in real-life as he is in-game -- the virtual Evan will gladly give you whatever he can. He's not a perfect physical match, but he captures the "essence" of the person.
Play Doom's premium maps for free (if your friends bought them)
Id and Bethesda want to make sure that the action never stops in the new Doom's multiplayer. That's regardless of whether or not you're buying the recently announced premium map pack, "Unto Evil." With PartyPlay, so long as someone in your party has bought the add-on, everyone can keep playing together and vice versa.
Someone turned 'Fallout: New Vegas' into an interactive video
If you have a soft spot for Choose Your Own Adventure stories but wish they were set in your favorite video game universes... well, you'd better clear your schedule. Many A True Nerd has turned Bethesda's Fallout: New Vegas into an interactive video (a Choose Your Own Apocalypse, as it's called) that you play solely through YouTube. As you might imagine, it boils down the action role-playing game's experience into simple this-or-that choices -- the route you take and the people you befriend determine whether or not you'll make it to New Vegas in one piece.
'Doom' open beta kicks off April 15th
You won't have to pre-order a game to get a taste of Doom's multiplayer mode before the ultra-violent first-person shooter arrives on May 13th. Bethesda and id Software have revealed that the open beta for the game will run April 15th through the 17th on the PS4, Xbox One and Windows PCs. As with the closed test, you're getting a sliver of the full online experience: you'll have two maps (Heatwave and Infernal), two game modes (Team Deathmatch and Warpath) and one demon to invoke.
Man sues Bethesda over his 'Fallout 4' addiction
There's little doubt that Fallout 4's gameplay is involving when you can spend dozens of hours on the main storyline alone. However, one Russian man is convinced that it's too involving. RT says that he's suing Bethesda for 500,000 rubles ($7,030) for failing to warn that Fallout 4 would "become so addictive." Supposedly, the man went on a 3-week gaming marathon that cost him his health, job and wife. Had he known how alluring it was, he says, he would have either waited until the holidays to buy the game or avoided it entirely. We've reached out to Bethesda to both confirm the lawsuit and get its take on the claims.
Sign up to try 'Doom' on PS4, XB1 or Steam this weekend
So you didn't buy Wolfenstein: The New Order, but you still want early access to the new Doom game? Run, don't walk to the sign-up page and get your information in (those who bought Wolfenstein last year should just search for the download on their respective gaming platforms), because this weekend it's taking testers for the test version on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam. The website is (predictably) crushed by gamers seeking a return to demon-filled corridors of their youth, but with access promised "first-come, first-serve" it's time to give that F5 key or auto-refresh script a workout. Good luck, but if you don't get in then maybe this quick taste of some multiplayer footage will help.Update (12/4): And...that's it, registration is closed. If you got in, we'll see you online!
The best stories in 'Fallout 4' are the ones you can't spoil
A few weeks ago, a malicious person created a new user account on Engadget (a time-consuming process in its own right) and dropped a massive pair of Fallout 4 spoilers in the comments of my Pip-Boy edition write-up. Why? Because some people just want to destroy the fun of others. I absentmindedly read these "comments" and was bummed out because I thought the game I'd been waiting for since 2009 had been ruined. As it turns out, that wasn't the case.
Someone made a giant Rubik's Cube in 'Fallout 4'
It seems there are two types of Fallout 4 gamers: those who want to do nothing but take out bad guys, and a very patient few who painstakingly create some incredible stuff. Case in point, this giant floating Rubik's Cube. User "Theowest" spent a whopping 25 hours gathering and assembling 128 generators, 36 terminals and thousands of wires to create this neon behemoth, but we're not entirely sure whether or not it's a cube that can be "solved." It seems to be missing a top and bottom panel and each square is able to change color. So if you're not a gamer who would make anything like this, then take a second to appreciate its complexity -- right before you get back to kicking bad guy butt.
The freedom to explore most open-world games is a lie
Open-world games aren't going away anytime soon, but more often than not when we play them we're being led around by a breadcrumb trail instead of actually exploring. Sometimes even quite literally. The reasoning for that is because it's much easier for game developers to stick a mini-map or quest directions in the heads up display than it is to integrate means of navigation into the game world itself. It's a topic YouTuber Mark Brown knows well and he's taking it for a spin in developer Bethesda Softworks' sprawling Fallout 4. In his latest entry into his Game Maker's Toolkit series he explains why he's turning off the quest markers in Fallout's irradiated Boston and trying to let his nose lead the way, so to speak.
Fallout 4's greatest asset is its color palette
Of all the ways Fallout 4 outshines earlier entires in the series, the way it uses color is perhaps the most apparent. The game is a vast improvement over its predecessors in one simple way: It's loads more vibrant. In 2008's Fallout 3, nearly everything in the post-nuclear apocalyptic Washington D.C. was a sickly shade of green, a deliberate choice by the developers at Bethesda Softworks to sell an omnipresent feeling of sickness and decay (it still persists in certain places here). B-team developer Obsidian Entertainment's Fallout: New Vegas introduced a bit of chroma to its irradiated Las Vegas landscape in 2010, but it was still primarily a brown game. Bethesda's triumphant return to the Wastes is what shakes the series' palette up the most. As you'll see in the gallery below, the use of vibrant colors and a tightly defined palette serves a couple of purposes here: It differentiates one room or Boston-area landmark from the next and keeps everything in Fallout 4 looking visually fresh.
Fallout 4's Pip-Boy is a glorified smartphone case
"The Pip-Boy is an important part of Fallout and we love it so much we made a real one." Those words, delivered by game director Todd Howard at developer Bethesda Softworks' first-ever E3 media briefing this year, triggered cheers around the world. And thus, the Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition was born: a $120 special edition peripheral bundled with Fallout 4 that aims to mimic the game's wrist-bound menu and stat-tracking system. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the premium version of the game proved insanely popular, prompting Bethesda to apologize when it couldn't make any more units to meet demand. Not bad for a rather awkward looking piece of light brown plastic that sits on your arm and holds your cellphone. But is it actually worth the hype and high price?
The 'Fallout 4' launch trailer has robots, beasts, mutants and more
Fallout 4 is poised to be a massive game (even by Fallout standards) and today's three-minute launch trailer really drives that point home. You want a city of giant, horned, Doom-like monsters? Check. Do you want to build a base? Yep. Is it your dream to be in a post-apocalyptic gang with an android? Got it. Do you love friendly dogs? Oh yes, there's a friendly dog. Fallout 4 launches on November 10th across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC (with DLC incoming).
You can drive cars from 'Fallout 4' in 'Forza Motorsport 6'
Can't wait until November 10th to wander through a desolate nuclear wasteland? That's a little weird, dude -- but if you need something to tide you over until Fallout 4 hits stores, Forza Motorsport 6 may have the ticket: starting today, players will be able to download a Fallout-themed 1956 Ford F100 for free.
Nuka-Cola Quantum available in time for 'Fallout 4'
No one really knows what's in those bottles of Fallout Beer, but they likely won't hit US shores. What will however is Nuka-Cola Quantum. The folks at Fallout developer Bethesda have teamed up with the purveyors of funky fizzy drinks, Jones Soda, to put the "irradiated" refreshment on Target shelves just in time for Fallout 4's launch. Come November 10th, you'll be able to start slugging down what looks like the company's Berry Lemonade (a picture's embedded after the break) in preparation for what we're affectionately calling "Vault Day" here at Engadget. You know, what everyone else is referring to as November 10th, a.k.a. Fallout 4's release date.
'Fallout 4' won't support user mods this fall
One of the biggest surprises from E3 this year was that Fallout 4 would support user mods across PC and Xbox One. That's still in the cards, but it definitely won't happen at launch. Of course, that's because the tools that'd allow you to, say, replace the game's fearsome bear-like enemies the Yao Guai with 3D models of Yogi the Bear don't exist yet according to IGN. Publisher Bethesda Softworks' vice president of marketing Pete Hines says that the team's focus is on making sure the game ships on time. "Our entire focus is on finishing the game," he said. "Nobody cares about mods if the game sucks." Concise! Once Fallout 4 proper is done (and the team likely takes a bit of a break), work on The Creation Kit will begin; it'll take "clearly into next year," according to Hines.
