At the E3 2019, Bethesda announced that Fallout 76 will be available for free testing for a week. Included is the first feature of the new update: a Battle Royale. We will see if the new mode is worth it.
What kind of mode is this? During the press conference at E3, Bethesda announced a new game mode for Fallout 76. In the new mode “Nuclear Winter”, you fight with 51 other players for the Overseer position of Vault 51.
You fundamentally play in a team of four players, with a total of 13 participating in a round.
In the style of a classic Battle Royale, you must first gather equipment, weapons, and armor, and survive against other players until only you are left. A circle of fire gradually tightens.
For every victory (and also for defeats), you gain experience that increases your Overseer rank. With higher ranks, you receive rewards such as cosmetics.
Nuclear Winter – What the Community Says
Is Nuclear Winter worth it? Looking into the community, it can be said: Yes. The new “Nuclear Winter” mode is very well received, even or especially by players who usually do not like Battle Royale.
The presentation is nice, the loot is largely fair, and you find weapons fairly early in almost every round, surviving either the first fight quite well or quickly finding the next round.
Additionally, Nuclear Winter is currently free to play. Anyone interested can easily get a picture themselves. How to download and play Fallout 76 for free currently can be found here.
This is being praised: In the subreddit of Fallout 76, since the start of the free-to-play week, there are constantly new threads on the topic of Battle Royale, some of which have now received over 1000 upvotes.
The following are particularly praised:
- The rewards, which also include experience and caps for the adventure mode
- The largely flawless implementation and stability
- The smooth gameplay due to a relatively low “time to kill”
- Perks that exist only for Nuclear Winter
- No airplane from which to jump. You appear at the chosen point.
In general, the opinion is that the mode fits very well into the game and plays out “as one would imagine a Fallout Battle Royale to be.”
This is being criticized: Despite the great popularity of the mode, the community expresses some criticism and wishes for improvement:
- More modes than just one for 4-player squads would be very welcome
- A way to rejoin a game immediately after it ends, without being thrown back to the menu
- An overseer level that is tied to the account rather than the character
In many of the feedback threads, representatives from Bethesda have already spoken up. Since the mode is currently scheduled to be tested for free until June 17, such feedback is desired and will be taken into account.
The “Battle Royale” mode is just the first feature of the “Nuclear Winter” update, which, along with Wastelanders, is still to come for Fallout 76:
