'Fallout 4' to feel 'normal' and less dark; Bethesda details perks level up system, power arm toy

Bethesda

"Fallout 3's" brooding and dreary aura will not be felt in "Fallout 4." Bethesda's vice president of PR and Marketing Pete Hines revealed in an interview with Official Xbox Magazine that the world in the upcoming title will feel very different from that in its predecessor. 

"It doesn't matter what it used to be like before. We're not going to rebuild the world like it used to be," Hines declared, as quoted by Gamespresso, emphasizing that this previous world, which markedly brought about a sense of bleakness, "is gone." 

"And so there is a bit of a vibe that you get from the game, more a sense of normalcy," he said. "This is now what normal looks like... Whereas in 'Fallout 3' you had a little bit of the bleak and the feeling of hopelessness, and the main quest had to do with trying to restore some hope to it. This game has gone past that, and it's levelled out." 

That said, "Fallout 4" will be generally more buoyant, as the denizens in it have learned to accept their fate dictated by an unforgiving nuclear catastrophe. In the game, they will evidently be more hopeful as they set their sights on making the most out of life, however changed it has become. 

On the gameplay side, Hines revealed in the same OXM interview that players will be able to level up both their characters and whatever perks they have in "Fallout 4." Upgrading the perks entails going as far as 275 separate XP levels, which should be both an exhausting and fulfilling task to execute.

In other related news, Bethesda showcased a "Fallout 4" power armor toy from ThreeZero. The design isn't finalized yet and details about the figure are scarce. But with the much-awaited title due in two months, fans should hear about the toy in the weeks to come.

"Fallout 4" will be released on Nov. 10.