"Fallout 4" returns to the PC, readapted for Virtual Reality. The game is set to be released on December 12, 2017, making it perhaps the perfect holiday present for any HTC Vibe users you may know. "Fallout 4" was originally released worldwide on November 10, 2015, and was available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The VR version was announced earlier this year at E3 2017.

Bethesda Game Studios, who developed the game, also revealed "Skyrim VR" during the Media Showcase, hoping that the VR element will give players a new experience in both games.

Plot

If you're unfamiliar with the story of "Fallout 4", it's a post-apocalyptic RPG. You play as a character only referred to as the "Sole Survivor" after they emerge from their cryogenic stasis in an underground nuclear fallout shelter called Vault 111. Your task is to search for your child after they are kidnapped when your spouse is murdered in front of you. You venture out into the Commonwealth, which contains the city of Boston and the surrounding Massachusetts region, to search for them.

The story takes place in the year 2287, which is 10 years after the events of "Fallout 3", and 210 years after "The Great War", which caused nuclear devastation across the US.

Gameplay

There isn't only the mission to find your child. In "Fallout 4 VR" you can explore the game's open world map, complete main story and side quests, assist factions in the game, and gain experience points to level up your skills. Every choice is yours to make, and only you can decide the fate of the world you wake up to. You also have the ability to develop and manage settlements, and there's a crafting system where the materials you find on your travels can be used to craft explosives, and upgrade weapons and armor.

Like most games that include a level-up system, you'll be given points to spend on a system that "Fallout" calls "S.P.E.C.I.A.L." The system contains seven statistics: strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck. When you earn enough experience points to gain a level, you unlock a new ability to use during gameplay.

There's also the return of Pip-Boy, considering that "Fallout 4 VR" is just "Fallout 4" with some new features, and a new way of playing the game, it wouldn't make sense for them to not include it. Pip-Boy is a personal computing device which is strapped to the character's wrist and allows the player to access a menu with statistics, maps, data, and items that the player has acquired.

Another returning gameplay feature is the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.), which an important and useful system when you're in combat.

VR features

"Fallout 4 VR" will be available for the PC, and playable on the Htc Vive. Similarly to "Skyrim VR", "Fallout 4 VR" will include the entire game - you have the entire open world to explore. V.A.T.S. has been redesigned for VR, meaning that time is slowed down during its use to make camera movement and play smoother.

The menus have been attached to the controllers, to give players a more immersive feel. The Power Armor has been reworked, for instance, when your player puts the armor on, the player is scaled up so that it feels more like you've put on the larger armor, and the helmet's HUD display tracks your own movements.

Overall, it looks like the game has been adapted well for VR, and with a month until its release (December 12, 2017), HTC Vive users better get ready.