At Bethesda’s E3 briefing last night, the studio announced that Fallout 4 VR will be coming this year for the HTC Vive, but with AAA virtual reality PC content, comes prices to match.
Update: A previous version of this article stated that Fallout 4 VR was on the way for the PSVR, this is incorrect. Another Bethesda title, Doom VXR however, is coming to Sony’s VR headset and you can read all about it here.
Announced at Bethesda’s standalone event at E3 last year, then later used as a way to build hype for Microsoft’s forthcoming Project Scorpio console (just yesterday christened Xbox One X), Fallout 4 VR is in the face of it the answer to many VR gamer’s desires. A triple-A title, from a long established and beloved franchise that promises 10’s if not 100’s of hours of gameplay and a blockbuster production values – elements sorely lacking in abundance as far as VR games were concerned at the time.
A year on, and one virtual Microsoft U-turn later, Fallout 4 VR perhaps isn’t quite the great white VR hope that it once was, but there’s no doubt that such a title has the potential power to reach across the VR enthusiast / hardcore gamer divide and shift some VR headsets.
Fallout 4 is available to pre-order via Amazon right now (in the US) and direct via Steam, and its price reflects the years of development that went into the original game, in this case a cool $60. The release date is still a little foggy, coming some time in Q4 of this year and the title is being flagged as ‘supporting’ only with the HTC Vive, although given it’ll be running on SteamVR it seems unlikely that those with an Oculus Rift and Touch controllers won’t get a crack at this too, but perhaps best waiting until release brings confirmation of that before buying.
The game itself offers the full Fallout 4 game as released toward the end of 2015 plus “all-new combat, crafting, and building systems fully re-imagined for virtual reality.” Judging by the Regardless of whether you’re a fan of the series or not, there’s no denying then that your $60 buys a ton of content.
Of course, PlayStation VR owners, being a console based system, have faced higher prices since launch compared with their PC VR brethren. Arguably too, the level of polish that has encouraged though has justified that somewhat.
Playing in VR isn’t quite like traditional monitor-based gaming though, that of course is the whole point. But I wonder how many people will manage to stomach the multi-hour play sessions it’d take to make a dent in Fallout 4’s story campaign alone. You could argue that it probably doesn’t matter after all, the sheer experience of being so effectively immersed in the game’s post apocalyptic world will be worth the ticket price alone to many.
Interestingly, judging by the title’s launch trailer, VR locomotion purists will be happy to see that so-called ‘full locomotion (i.e. in-game movement akin to the traditional game, without teleporting) is present and correct.
Fallout 4 VR is available on the HTC Vive headset via Amazon (US only currently) or direct via SteamVR for $59.99 and will be available in Q4 of this year.