Vaults, Pip-Boy, Power Armor: For their new Fallout, modders throw many series traditions overboard – and do some things better than Bethesda itself.
5.4 million times. That’s how many times the two gameplay trailers for Fallout: London have been viewed together on YouTube so far, with the last one appearing in mid-May 2022. To put that in Releation: Bethesda’s official Starfield reveal from last weekend’s Xbox Showcase has made it to 2.1 million views so far.
But one is a AAA game from a huge publisher with a gigantic marketing budget – the other is a free mod, a so-called total conversion for Fallout 4 that leaves no stone unturned. And in the truest sense of the word.
Because for the first time in the series, Fallout: London is set away from the American continent and gets rid of many Fallout classics on its journey to post-apocalyptic Europe: Pip-Boy, Vaults, Power Armor, nothing is the same anymore.
We were able to talk to the head of the international hobby developer team behind Fallout: London again a year after the last interview, uploaded numerous new screenshots for you in our gallery and explain why the 18-minute-long gameplay video celebrated by millions of role-players is actually so exciting. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s another chance:
Table of Contents
What’s Fallout: London about?
Since 2019, between 20 and 60 programmers, graphic designers, writers and scripters have been working on Fallout: London in their spare time, with the number of active developers fluctuating. Their goal: to build a new Fallout role-playing game from scratch in the never-before-seen Europe of the post-apocalyptic setting, but in line with developer Bethesda Game Studios’ lore.
The player starts as a blank slate in a bunker. After an attack by unknown forces, he escapes from a laboratory where he seems to have been grown in a test tube. The player then has to take his first steps in bomb-ravaged London and track down the identity of the mysterious Mister Smythe, who has been supervising the experiments on the character.
Get a glimpse of the neglected metropolis on the Thames, partly reclaimed by nature, partly in ruins and dominated by gangs, in our packed gallery with many new screenshots:
What are the big new features compared to the original?
At the beginning you determine the appearance, attributes and traits of your “Wayfarer” dumb hero. It immediately becomes clear that Fallout: London is very different from Bethesda’s Fallout games due to the scenario’s lack of a US connection (the famous company Vault-tec does not exist in the UK).
Instead of the eternally smiling Vault-Boy, there’s a different mascot and the Pip-Boy that functions as inventory, character screen, map, radio and quest diary is now a handheld computer:
The first steps in the still very linear prologue bunker are meant to be representative of the rest of the adventure, according to Dean Carter, who is leading the development of Fallout: London. “We made sure that nothing in the video was edited or faked. Everything you saw was 100 per cent real gameplay, and we can swear it’s consistent throughout the game. From the moment you load the mod to the end of the mod.”
Traipsing through the London Underground in the dark does feel a little creepy – and that’s intentional. “The older games certainly had those aspects, and that’s something we want to bring back with the mod,” Carter reveals to us in the interview.
“We’re not fans of that more upbeat vibe in Fallout 4. We want to give people high tension. Some of the worlds our level designers have created will certainly make the hair on the back of players’ necks stand up!“
After you have beaten up the first rat mutants and escaped from the bunker, you can take a ride on the famous London Underground, the so-called Tube. Fallout: London provides a first glimpse of the open world, which is supposed to contain the most important districts and many famous places of the real city in a scaled-down form. According to the developers, it will have roughly the dimensions of the Commonwealth from Fallout 4.
Of course, we wonder if all these buildings will be walkable. Dean Carter reassures us in the interview: “The number of walkable cells is larger than in the base game. We made sure that there are also many interesting areas in the main world that are not just hidden behind doors, so that you get a nice mix. No, not everything will be walkable, but there will definitely be plenty.”
In the course of the game you will encounter seven different factions that you can join. Will you help the established aristocracy or side with one of the criminal gangs? Or perhaps you’d prefer to help the Knights of Camelot, who go into battle with ancient armour and swords. In any case, you will have to deal with the mysterious Angel group, whose leader Mister Smythe somehow seems to be at the centre of it all.
Who will be interested in Fallout: London?
Whoever loves Fallout should be happy with the mod. The developers are clearly making an effort to integrate the scenario and story into the existing universe as well as possible. According to Dean Carter, the team is also in direct contact with Bethesda. The main game Fallout 4 including all DLCs is required to play.
Those who found Fallout 4 too lacking in role-playing complexity should keep a close eye on Fallout: London. The developers promise more opportunities to use the main character’s skills in conversations. In addition, unlike in the base game, there will be formulated answers in the multiple-choice dialogues – and again more than just four at a time. So far, however, nothing has been seen of this.
However, there is already a lot of information about Total Conversion, which we summarise for you in the video:
What do we like so far? What remains unclear?
What do we like so far?
- The setting is fantastically realised, from textures to items to the smallest details. It feels noticeably British and is a great change from the familiar US Fallout.
- The levels and open world look very appealing and high quality design at first glance. This is not a reskin of the Fallout 4 world, it actually feels like a new installment in the series.
- New environmental effects like an acid rain set the mood – and so do the NPCs, because they stretch out their umbrellas in such an event.
What still remains unclear?
- How well done are the story and dialogues? In the videos so far there have only been short excerpts to see, in the end the quality of the story told will be a sticking point.
- Are there really more classic role-playing qualities in London than in Boston? It remains to be seen whether the modders actually deliver more complexity than in the shooter-trimmed Fallout 4.
- When is actually Release? Dean Carter says: “We have a release date in mind and we’re working very hard to get there.” But of course, the sly dog won’t tell us when it will be! Our optimistic guess is 2023
If you want to keep up to date with the development, we recommend you take a look at (the official website of) Fallout: London. There, you can also sign up to volunteer (scripters are currently being sought in particular).
Editor’s Verdict
“Fallout: London is my life and my blood,” Dean Carter tells me a year after we last spoke, and I buy into his passion for his project. It’s been a year since Fallout: London made big waves on the internet, and according to the lead developer, not much has changed for him and his team. The modders are still considered outsiders in the scene, they are still stoically working towards their (secret) release date and they still have one of the most promising total conversions of the Creation Engine since Enderal in the works.
It’s been a year since that first big trailer was released. The one that has now been viewed an impressive 3.4 million times. And yes, I admit: a few of these views were also mine. Because Fallout: London appeals to something in me: It will be a new role-playing game in the familiar Fallout universe, without following the beaten track. It gives me a glimpse of what Bethesda and previously Interplay have always treated stepmotherly: the post-apocalyptic world beyond the USA.
I know, of course, that many great mods have enormous ambitions and yet it still takes years for them to finally appear, if at all. See Skyblivion. See Skywind. See Fallout: Miami. But no matter, if the disciplined Dean Carter and his team keep delivering such cool video insights, then they can still work on their mod in 2023 for all I care. I’ll have something to watch again. And so will millions of role-players.
