Bethesda might be a new name in games publishing in Europe, but it’s certainly not a new name to most gamers. Its Elder Scrolls series has enjoyed tremendous success since its arrival on PC in 1994. However, it was the 2002 arrival of PC hit Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and its eventual transition to Microsoft’s Xbox, that propelled the game into the mainstream.
The series’ popularity was cemented with 2006’s Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which was a huge hit on PC and arrived on Xbox 360 just four months after the console was released. It was also released on PS3 last year. Of course, the medieval setting of the Middle Earth-esque Elder Scrolls series boasts little resemblance to the post-apocalyptic landscape of Fallout 3, but players of both will immediately notice the parallels.
“The big similarity players will notice is the freedom they’re used to, and that they can create whatever kind of character they want and do what they want,” Bethesda’s European MD Sean Brennan told MCV. “Be good. Be evil. Be sneaky. Use dialogue. Shoot first and talk later. It’s still entirely up to the player to define what kind of gameplay experience they want. I think they’ll notice any number of changes, too.
“The character system is different and so you don’t improve skills by using them – you have to make a decision as to which skills you want to improve every time you level up. That keeps you from being good at everything like you could in Oblivion.
“They’ll also hopefully notice more depth and variety in the quests, both in terms of what you’re asked to do and how you can go about completing them. We do want the game to feel very familiar in terms of how you play it, but at the same time feel very new in terms of what you’re seeing and the things you’re doing.”
With Elder Scrolls so popular and the game engine now more developed, you’d be forgiven for asking why Bethesda didn’t simply invest in a new chapter in that series. But the move to the Fallout brand makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Firstly, the sci-fi post-nuclear wasteland will attract a totally different audience to that of Elder Scrolls’ orcs and treasure chests. Plus, the Fallout label is one that remains close to the heart of many gamers.
“We think it represents a style of game that really grabbed people and stayed with them since it was first released ten years ago,” continues Brennan.
“Those games did some new things for their time – they weren’t afraid of being violent, or mature. Fallout has a vibe and a presence that is all its own. It’s not ‘just’ post-apocalyptic, but done so in a way that is unique to Fallout with its ‘50s sensibility and the use of Vault Boy. Those are just some of the things that made us love the game and series and inspired us to acquire it and not only bring it back for folks that loved the originals, but bring it to a whole new audience that might not have played those games back then.”
The appetite for Fallout 3 is huge, so Bethesda can be forgiven for being hugely confident in its upcoming title – and for pairing it with an equally upbeat marketing drive.
“We suspect that very few titles will be spending as much as us,” Brennan concludes. “It will be positively ubiquitous and very hard to miss. All the major retail chains have full view of our campaign.
“We expect them to be exceptionally pleased with the sales of this title. It has quite rightly become one of their key focuses in the lead up to Christmas.”
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