Top 10 Fallout 4 Features from the Bethesda E3 Presser

01. Pal

In the original Fallout one of the best Easter Eggs in the game was one of the Mad Max Eggs. Actually the wizards behind the first Fallout game appeared to be major fans of that movie, because there were a number of Eggs and homages to Mad Max - but the one that stands out and applies here would be the dog that the player encounters.

As you played there came a point that the player could befriend a dog that, as the game explains, used to belong to someone else whose description -- the previous owner is described to you and complete with leather jacket sounds a hell of a lot like Max!

The important thing tho is that once the player wears the leather jacket (which is in every game that followed) the dog becomes their friend and companion. That is important because the dog becomes a very useful even powerful ally.

In Fallout 2 and 3 but especially 3 the dog companion not only serves as an homage to Mad Max but also serves as an homage to the original Easter Egg from Mad Max, which was a nod to the book and movie A Boy and His Dog, which featured among other companion elements a mutant dog named Dogmeat who was the loyal companion to the protagonist.

They even called the dog in Fallout 3 Dogmeat! The back-cover art on some of the Fallout 3 games including an iconic shot of the protagonist walking with the dog beside them that was a direct homage to the same visual image found in Mad Max. And A Boy and His Dog. And the tradition, as we said, carries forward in every game - and Fallout 4 is no exception.

So what is it about what is obviously a regular feature of the series? Why just the scene where the protagonist meets a new dog - called Pal - a German Shepard who not only becomes the companion of the Vault Dweller from Cault 111 as he explores and masters what was formerly Boston and its environs, but hey, wait, there is more!

During the demo we saw how Pal is every bit the companion in that he fights alongside us, but more important at least in terms of this entry is the fact that Pal is wicked smart!

The player can literally issue commands to Pal that go way beyond - WAY beyond - simple commands like Stay, Sit, and Roll Over. How about Fetch - that object?

When the Vault Dweller approaches the Red Rocket Garage he has Pal go in and fetch him a spanner (adjustable wrench)! Clearly that is not the only object that Pal could fetch but that is the point - and the reason why Pal is Numero Uno on our Top 10 List of Fallout 4 Features from the Bethesda E3 Presser!

Seriously - Pal will battle along side you, warn you of danger, fetch a Nuka Cola when you are thirsty, and when you are bored you can chat with him. And really, can you ask for more than that from a canine companion??

Conclusions

Fallout 4 will be arriving on current gen consoles on November 10, 2015 - that is the good news.

The even better news is while we are waiting to play what we are pretty sure will be one of the best titles in the series EVER, the wizards behind the games at Bethesda have offered up a free mobile app/game for us to play that will feed our Fallout Need.

Fallout Shelter, the free-to-play and free-to-download title (it has only a tiny in-game purchase element that is totally optional) is available NOW for iOS and Android platforms. In fact they actually announced on stage that the app/game would go live on the related game stores shortly after the press event ended, and we can confirm that it HAS released on the App Store for iOS devices. Yes indeed.

We have not actually seen the hands-on demo at the show - because the show has not started - but that said based on the press previews we have seen that are no longer under embargo, and the game play video at the presser, we have to admit that both as games journo and gamer, we are pretty darn excited for Fallout 4.