Fallout 76 has had a long and rather turbulent history. Originally released back in 2018, Fallout 76 promised a fully-fledged Fallout experience in a multiplayer setting, but when the game arrived, many fans were disappointed with the lack of hand-crafted quests, character interactions, and the game's bevy of technical issues. But it's been almost six years since Fallout 76 first released, and Bethesda has spent every moment trying to make it an experience that lives up to that original promise. 17 major updates later, Fallout 76 is more than worthy of players' time, and the upcoming expansion, Skyline Valley, is the perfect example of that.
Recently, The Best War Games got the chance to sit down and play around three hours of the Fallout 76 Skyline Valley update. In those three hours, we explored Fallout 76's very first map expansion, started to uncover the secrets behind the long-awaited Vault 63, met some new friendly faces, met plenty of unfriendly ones too, and got a little tease of what's to come in Fallout 76's future. Coming out of the preview, the most resounding feeling is that, despite being almost six years old now, it's clear that Fallout 76 is only just getting started.
Fallout 76: Skyline Valley Is Packed With New Content
The three hours we got to spend diving head-first into Fallout 76's Skyline Valley update wasn't nearly enough time to really get into the weeds of just how much new content is actually on offer here, but it did give a great overview of what fans can expect. For the first time, Fallout 76's map is getting an expansion. Skyline Valley is adding a new area right at the very bottom of the map. The titular piece of land takes players deeper into the Shenandoah, where a mysterious electrical storm is wreaking havoc on the otherwise picturesque valley.
Within Skyline Valley, players will find a heap of new content. Players will encounter a new enemy type named "The Lost," a horde of ghoul-like beings imbued with electrical energy. Players will need to uncover the mystery behind The Lost's origin, a quest that will finally take them to Vault 63, a location that's been teased for years. Vault 63 is no minor point of interest either, with it having its own set of unique NPCs, collectibles, questlines, and even its own underground train network.
Fallout 76's Skyline Valley update is adding 12 new hand-crafted story quests, spread across Vault 63 and the rest of the surrounding valley. According to the developers present at the preview The Best War Games attended, all of this new story content should take players around 20 hours to complete. There's also a brand new public event themed around Skyline Valley's destructive electrical storm, where players are tasked with killing hordes of The Lost to power a generator.
The quest to officially begin Fallout 76's Skyline Valley content unlocks for players at level 25, though they can explore the new southern region at any point.
Fallout 76: Skyline Valley's Real Strength is its Presentation
While it's impressive just how much content is being packed into the free update, it should be noted that the content does still fall into the same MMO-like tropes and conventions that fans have come to expect from the game. Players will still be mowing down waves of the same enemy for the same type of loot, there are still a good few fetch quests, and there's a little bit of Fallout-esque jank overall.
But what sets Fallout 76: Skyline Valley apart from its competition, and its own previous updates, is the extremely high production value on offer. Stepping into Skyline Valley for the first time, it's immediately evident just how much effort and care has gone into creating this new area. Every element of Skyline Valley's presentation is first-class from its visuals and its sound design to the immersive camera shakes that come with each strike of lightning. Each new point of interest naturally encourages exploration with its environmental design, and the content found inside each one feels suitably rewarding.
With Skyline Valley, Fallout 76 truly feels like a mainline Fallout game, and its story and NPCs are the perfect example of that. Inside Vault 63, players will find an array of fully-voiced NPCs, each boasting a distinct personality and an intriguing tie to the origins of the area. One of these NPCs is Hugo Stolz, the overseer of Vault 63, voiced by German actor Thure Riefenstein. Hugo Stolz is a genuinely complex and compelling character, and one that could easily find himself at the top of "Best Fallout Characters" lists very soon.
A Sneak Peak of What's to Come
While the hands-on portion of The Best War Games's Fallout 76: Skyline Valley preview focused solely on the new update and its swathe of new content, Bethesda did take the time to detail some of the studio's future plans for the multiplayer game. One of the biggest new additions in Fallout 76's future – and one that fans just found out about during the Xbox Game Showcase – will be a playable Ghoul.
Currently slated for a 2025 release date, players will be able to turn themselves into these irradiated beings via a unique quest. Upon doing so, players will gain access to an exclusive set of Perk Cards all themed around Ghouls' unique strengths. According to Fallout 76's Creative Director Jonathan Rush, this Ghoul will play "completely differently," tweaking the game's mechanics to better suit the race, such as allowing radiation to heal the player. The ability to play as a Ghoul will unlock at level 50.
During the preview, Bethesda also detailed a new public event that will see players escorting a Blue Ridge Caravan across Appalachia. Titled Milepost Zero, this future update will require players to drop some cash to start the public event, but once the caravan has been successfully escorted, they'll earn it all back and then some. This Milepost Zero update will also add a new cavernous outpost to the game that players can claim for their own. According to Bethesda, this outpost will function fairly similarly to Skyrim's houses, allowing players to place furniture and other cosmetic items around the homely cave.
Based on everything seen during the Fallout 76: Skyline Valley hands-on preview, it's clear that Bethesda is still very much invested in the future of Fallout 76. It seems highly likely that Skyline Valley will just be the first in a long line of new, even bigger, and better expansions for Fallout 76, and this update proves there's never been a better time to try the game.
Fallout 76
- Released
- November 14, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4, welcome you to Fallout 76. Twenty-five years after the bombs fell, you and your fellow Vault Dwellers—chosen from the nation’s best and brightest – emerge into post-nuclear America on Reclamation Day, 2102. Play solo or join together as you explore, quest, build, and triumph against the wasteland’s greatest threats. Explore a vast wasteland, devastated by nuclear war, in this open-world multiplayer addition to the Fallout story. Experience the largest, most dynamic world ever created in the legendary Fallout universe. Expand southward to Skyline Valley – a brand-new region of Appalachia. Investigate the cause of the electric storm circling overhead and unveil the mystery around Vault 63 and its dwellers, including a shocking new Ghoul type – The Lost.
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
- Engine
- Creation
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Fallout
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- How Long To Beat
- 34 Hours
- File Size Xbox Series
- 97 GB (May 2024)
- Metascore
- 53
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
