Returning to a video game that you have been disconnected from for a while always involves a new adaptation process, especially when it is an experience as a service. Controls, pace of play, activities and all the new features (weapons, armor, locations…) that you have missed. Even if you stay informed while not playing, there are always things that slip through the cracks.
My return to Fallout 76 has required a readaptation process at all levels: remembering the controls, where I left my character and what I was doing, new goals, resuming the daily rhythm of the game and doing an investigation of all the new features that arrived in my absence. There are not few, believe me. I have also experienced some moments of authentic discovery, as I have recently recounted.
The problem is not catching up with what has come, but with what will come. It was while I was dead on TikTok that I saw a video (with inaccurate information) that talked about a leak and showed a new area on the Fallout 76 map. Before turning to Google, I asked a couple of well-known veterans and they told me : “If that is already on the Test Server.”
The future of Fallout 76 is called Skyline Valley
You didn’t know, Bethesda announced on May 2, 2024 that the update Skyline Valley was available in the Public Test Server or PTSa tool accessible to all players who own the video game on PC.
This is one of the largest and most important updates in the history of Fallout 76. The nineteenth update, scheduled for June 2024, includes the first map expansion in the open world (not like Expeditions, which are isolated areas) in the almost six years that have passed since the official launch of the video game.
The new area is called Skyline Drive and is inspired by the same area in Virginia in real life. Carl McKevitt, lead designer, was responsible for traveling there to seek inspiration from the actual location. If you use the Fallout 76 interactive mapI’m sure you’ve seen it. It is located in the southern area, between the legend and the sign of West Virginia. Currently, there are a few loose locations and little else.
All of this excited me very much, especially because the area comes with its own history and mysteries to discover. Since I’m playing a new game on PC, separate from my main character on PS5, I installed PTS to explore the new area for a few hours. And don’t be afraid of spoilers: I have no idea what’s happening. I disabled all quests and didn’t read documents. Both my experience and the hour of gameplay that I share is pure exploration.
I have spent around 3-4 hours exploring Skyline Drive in the PTS. It hasn’t been the best experience because my main character didn’t sync Fallout 76 (PC) and I had to venture with a newly created character, at Level 20 and with the standard VATS build. As you see in the video, the fighting was not easy. Luckily, my +500 hours of gaming balanced the scales.
I don’t want to turn this post into a detailed analysis. It doesn’t even come close to first impressions of the update. My advice is that you take all this as the opinion of a fan of the franchise who has spent a few hours exploring, but without wanting to know too much about the story to enjoy it when it comes out. Something like going to the beach and just putting your feet in to test the water.
I’m not going to mess around with mysteries. I really like everything I saw during my first foray into Skyline Drive. The setting is great and different from anything seen so far in Fallout 76. I recently said that this game needed an area similar to the Shining Sea. Although it does not meet the same radioactivity conditions, I did have reminiscences of that constant reddish tone… similar to the green of Fallout 4.
Many locations caught my attention, but three stood out above the rest: the Presidential Cabins at Camp Rapidan, Dark Hollow Mansion, and the Hawkbill Weather Station. Finding signs of Vault 63 and seeing enemies in the form of mutated vault dwellers made me especially excited, because everything indicates that the story revolves around them and the enormous storm that is over the area.
I only have one concern regarding what I saw: the constant red filter of the storm. Although there are different biomes within the new area, they are all bathed in the reddish filter. It will not be a problem with the novelty and for many players who love this type of settings, but experience tells me that it may end up tiring the community. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bethesda ends up removing the storm in a while. Or not.
Despite everything I have explored, I still have a lot to see: hidden areas that do not have a marker on the map, public events, weapons, armor, clothing and all the content that will arrive in the update. I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface and that leaves a good taste in my mouth. I am genuinely interested in exploring Skyline Drive with my main character and in revealing the mysteries of his story. I feel (or want to feel) that it is one of the best updates of Fallout 76. I hope I’m not wrong.
In iGamesNews | I went to buy some Fallout 76 plans and ended up lost in a huge bunker worthy of a Hollywood movie
In iGamesNews | If you’re just starting to play Fallout 76, here are five things you can do to wreak havoc and destruction across Appalachia.
In iGamesNews | There is nothing more insane and fun in Fallout 76 than getting together with other players to unload ammo like there was no tomorrow
