When it was originally announced that Fallout 76 is going to be an online game, many had no idea what this actually meant. We were immediately told that it would in fact, not, be an MMO. For me personally, this is absolutely fine, as I don’t see the Fallout universe benefiting from an MMO style game. At this year’s Bethesda E3, Todd Howard gave us a detailed (and humorous) presentation on what exactly Fallout 76 will entail in regard to its online components.
It’s been made clear right away that Fallout 76 will be entirely online, but the ability to play solo is still there. We haven’t got confirmation as to whether or not this means Fallout 76 can be played offline. With this being a very trending question for gamers, I’m sure Bethesda will make an official statement very soon regarding the concerns. As for the actual online component, it appears that players will dropped into a game filled with dozens of other vault dwellers to explore this new wasteland in West Virginia. Players can either work together to take on the plethora of new mutated creatures, including a giant mutant sloth (umm…yes), or they can take on each other for survival of the fittest. The new map for Fallout 76 is promised to be roughly four times the size of Fallout 4, so this definitely leaves plenty of room for all the dozens within the server. 
Fallout 4 did introduce the ability to build shelters across the map, which contained a surprising amount of depth. This is now being expanded upon in Fallout 76 with the brand-new Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform (C.A.M.P.) system. With friends, players can build their own camps and bases anywhere in the world to protect themselves from the many creatures and, of course, other players. There will also be the option to trade and shop with each other. This is all looking extremely impressive to create a fully realized online gaming ecosystem. “There’s no ‘I’ in nuclear wasteland” as the trailer puts it.
The biggest surprise is the implementation of nuclear missiles. This being a Fallout game, its no surprise that nukes are going to play a role in the game’s online environment. Don’t worry though, it doesn’t look like we will need to constantly deal with the threat of some troll constantly nuking the map, as access to these missiles requires exploration, and more importantly, cooperation with other players. Throughout the game, enemies will sometimes contain a letter to the nuclear launch codes. It’s made clear in the trailers that one person is not likely to find all the letters, so they will need to find others that hold the rest of them. From there, chaos will be unleashed on some poor soul(s) in the game with a large nuclear blast. It’s then pointed out that players can take advantage of the nuke site and collect rare materials only caused by a nuclear explosion. This new system with the nukes is quite interesting, as the psychology behind it will play a unique role. It can cause players to make unlikely team-ups in the hopes of getting the full launch codes. Or, most plausible, players will take the codes for themselves.
Fallout 76 is shaping up to be reminiscent of similar titles like Rust of DayZ. Still, the fact that this is going to contain the world building elements of a Bethesda title, it’s something we should all keep our eyes on. Best part about all this information is that we won’t have to wait too long to get our hands on Fallout 76. The official release date is going to be November 14, 2018. The game’s beta is also in the works. Those who pre-order the title will automatically get access to the Break-It Early Test Application (B.E.T.A.). The B.E.T.A. has no official date at this time.
