Hey gang,
Remember Fallout 76? Of course you do! It’s the Fallout game Bethesda famously bungled the launch of to a SPECTACULAR degree. Well with a bit of time the big B (now a division of the big M) has tweaked, tuned, and fixed up the game to where it’s in the state most people imagined it would be at launch and SURPRISE! It’s pretty damn good now. The game is loaded up with Ghouls, Mutants, and Monsters prime for the killing. Junk awaits to be scrapped for parts, and guess what baby? Old Doc is HERE for it!
Scorched Ghouls surround the small broom closet I’ve backed myself into. The grunts of the mutated fiends echo through the halls as they scratch and claw at the edges of the door. I blast away with my shotgun, the upgraded explosive ammo creates a small fireball with each hit. As I use my last shell I get ready to run, but what’s this? Over encumbered? Too much junk weighs me down, sapping the action points crucial to sprinting. As I fight my way down ruined corridors wielding a bladed tambourine I see my savior, a tinkerer’s workbench! Scrapping all this junk puts me just two points below max weight. I can now fast travel back home to hoard away my precious materials. Precious, precious materials. That’s life in the Wasteland…
I actually picked up 76 at launch. Despite the bugs, and lack of NPCs I thought it was a pretty fun game then. It definitely needed quite a bit of work, but the map was one of the best in the series. The idea of building/looting with my friends promised to be fun, and it was for a while. There just wasn’t too much else to do. Eventually everyone stopped playing in favor of…jeez whatever we were playing at the time. Who even knows anymore? Over the years since launch in 2018 Bethesda has been slowly improving the game with various content expansions. Adding in everything from NPCs, more quests, and entirely new places to explore. I’ve popped in here and there over the years to see what’s good, but recently I was feeling the pull again so it was back into the wilds of (almost heaven) West Virginia. As luck would have it, after only two weeks back into the game they’ve just dropped a big expansion in The Pitt. Featuring a whole new (ruined) city to explore, and LOTS of high powered enemies, The Pitt is a fun little diversion, and a great way to level up or make those fat stacks of caps.
I’ve dropped into The Pitt a few times to great success, but for me the fun of the game comes from building up your C.A.M.P., and buying crafting plans from other players. Man oh man have I spent some caps on plans. Too many caps. I have a problem. Bethesda has introduced a few new ways to build with multiple slots for C.A.M.P.s as well as the Shelter which can be anything from a Vault of your own to a ruined mine. Shelters are connected to your C.A.M.P., and accessible from a door placed by you. They have also added a few unique prefab buildings to make crafting your home even easier. One of the newest prefabs is the Wildwood Tavern which I scooped up right away, and used to craft my own mini mall type area just outside Wavy Willard’s Water Park in the area I’ve dubbed “Vacationland”.
The group of shops at “Rampageo Place” was a super fun build. After slapping down the prefab I also built a couple of small buildings, and I have to say the prefab saves SO MUCH space in the amount the game allows each C.A.M.P. for building. A big space saver like a prefab affords you plenty of leftover room to put up decorations…sweet sweet decorations. From my wholly built house versus this three building town I was surprised how much I could pack in by using a prefab, and not to toot my own horn I think the results look pretty damn good. I had originally built my C.A.M.P. back at launch, and besides re decorating hadn’t done much so it was interesting seeing how building a whole new area in 2022 compared to building at launch, and let me tell you they’ve really improved that aspect of the game. With the real money atom store Bethesda continually adding new decorations you can purchase. There is a ton of super creative builds out there to explore. With the ability to make your icon on the map public, as well as showing others how much stuff you have for sale in your store there is no shortage of foot traffic. You can check out a tour of my main C.A.M.P Rampageo Rest HERE. I’m also preparing a walkthrough of Rampageo Place so keep an eye on DKTV!
In addition to The Pitt they have also added a whole new season of rewards. Fallout runs their seasons a bit different than other games do, and I think it’s a big help. The season itself is totally free! Fallout 1st Members ( Bethesda’s 76 subscription which nets you an unlimited crafting resources box, a temporary tent shelter you can drop anywhere, 1600 caps a month, and some other fun cosmetics) get access to bonus rewards and bonus XP for the tiers, but beyond that you’re free and clear to do the season at no cost to you. This time around it is loaded up with cosmetics, plans, and currency to help you stay alive in the wasteland, and if you manage to finish the whole thing you get some really cool stuff like the season board as a poster you can hang at your C.A.M.P. Coming in with both daily and weekly challenges will keep you plenty busy in addition to the usual Killing/looting/scrapping that makes up the core gameplay hook. Sitting at a couple weeks in I’m already a bit over halfway through it, and that’s just with my few hours a day/marathon weekend sessions so don’t let time scare you away. You can do it!
Fallout 76 has come a long way, and if you haven’t given the game a chance yet, or you did and dropped out. It may just be time to give it another look, and hey if you’re playing on Playstation keep your eyes open for Rampageo Rest or Rampageo Place on your map I’ve got a ton of plans for sale at lower than average prices! As a matter of fact this month is actually the 25th anniversary of the Fallout series. So not only is there a ton of cool stuff going on both in game and IRL, but 76 is actually on pretty deep discount most places so really…now is the time to get in if you’ve been curious. Until next time, see you out there in the Wasteland Vault Dwellers, and watch out for those Super Mutants! Hack, wack, choppin’ that meat.
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