The first details on Fallout: New Vegas have leaked online, if a supposed internet tipster is to be believed.
According to a member of the Gamespot forums, the below details are due to appear in the next issue of US mag Game Informer.
We've contacted Bethesda for the official line. Until then, file this strictly under rumour...
UPDATE: Bethesda's given us a standard "no comment" repsonse.
UPDATE 2: Game Informer's executive editor, Andrew Reiner has denied the claim: "Fallout: New Vegas will not be on Game Informer's next cover," he Tweeted.
Similar to Dragon Age: Origins, at character creation the player can select from different background stories. The first few hours of the game are different depending on which background you choose, and you get some unique perks based on your background when the main game begins.
One background story is shown, Chinese Agent. The background story takes place before the bombs fell. The player is part of a team of Crimson Dragoons infilitrating Hoover Dam. You manage to sneak through the Americans' defenses, set explosives, and head to an extraction point, but your escape is cut off by American soldiers in Power Armor. The player and other survivors of the Crimson Dragoons take refuge in a cave in the canyons, where they commit hari kari with cyanide capsules. The player about to do the same when the bombs fall. The background story ends an indeterminate time later, when the player exits the cave, removes his helmet, and sees his ghoulish reflection in the waters of the Colorado River.
The background story segues into character creation. The player can customize the appearance of the ghoul, and you see you start the game with two unique perks. One, similar to the Ghoul Mask in Fallout 3, makes Feral Ghouls non-aggro. The other makes the player immune to radiation sickness and allows the player to discharge accumulated radiation in a blast similar to a Glowing Ghoul, healing the player and any mutants while damaging all non-mutants in range.
By default, the Chinese Agent has the skills Sneak, Small Arms, and Explosives tagged and SPECIAL stats set, although the player can modify their tagged skills and stats if they don't like the template.
One character background option is Lone Wanderer. This selection has no background story or template and is a complete blank slate for players.
The SPECIAL system used will be similar to Fallout 3, but skills will be harder to cap and one character will not be able to become a master of all skills. The article is not very specific because apparently it's something the developers are still tweaking.
Gambling will return, but not as a skill. Your Luck stat will effect gambling results. You can attempt to cheat at cards using your Sneak skill or hack slot machines using your Science skill.
There will be vehicles. The desert of New Vegas dwarfs the Capital Wasteland and you will need transportation to get around and explore it. You will acquire a vehicle several hours into the main quest. You can customize your vehicle with parts bought at shops or won through racing circuits and quests. Vehicles will not be common, but you will encounter road gangs, merchant caravans, and other vehicles in the wastes. The open desert is home to some very large mutant creatures, like giant radscorpions and sandworms, that will attack your vehicle.
New Vegas has a coliseum run by a slaver gang called the Caesar's Legion. You can gamble on and participate in arena fights.
The DA/ToEE style opening vignettes sound great, but the dubious nature of the source and the reported inclusion of vehicles (which would seem a fairly large change for a title that seems to have a very tight development schedule) make me sceptical.
I'm certainly hoping the vehicles bit is BS. Because you can guarantee that vehicles won't just be a means of transport, but there will be vehicular combat as well - and for me that's the low point of any game I've played featuring it. (Examples: Borderlands, Mass Effect).
If this is true then it reads like Bethesda are returning to the roots of the original "Fallout 1&2". While I adore Bethesda's home made games they don't even reach BioWare at the knees in terms of a well written, tight plot - at least they finally figured out how to make human faces that don't require massive beer goggles to stomach.
Obsidian are making this one though, and they are better known for RPGs with strong plots - like NWN2 and KotOR2. And let's not forget they have people from Black Isle, including Chris Avellone, celebrated creator of Planescape: Torment.
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