Those who still can't get enough Fallout 4 are about to get a whole new way to play. Bethesda's survival mode for the game is currently playable in beta form for PC, and now, players can get an even better understanding of all the major changes that will make the new mode a serious challenge for even the most skilled gamer.
Bethesda broke down all the various elements of the mode in a detailed blog post. Some of the details were previously discussed, but the majority of it is new information. For starters, designers Josh Hamrick and Jon Paul Duvall explain how they approached the creation of the mode.
"My favorite moments in games are when my decisions are validated, even when that means a poor choice leads to things going sideways or completely south, Hamrick says. "The stories that those moments deliver are always the best. I think that's the common thread running through all of the changes we've made."
Survival mode exists to force players to explore the environment, approach combat tactically, add more realism to the world and more carefully manage resources. Players will need to eat, sleep and drink in order to keep their character healthy, and using drugs like Radaway and Stimpaks can even have negative side effects. Illness and disease is also being added to the world, so players will need to craft various antibiotics in order to stay free of sickness.
Combat is receiving a major overhaul in survival mode as well. Players will both deal and receive more damage, adding a whole new level of danger to each combat encounter. A new adrenaline system is also being added. With every kill, players receive a stack of adrenaline that increases damage output by five percent, up to a cap of 50 percent bonus damage. However, sleeping will remove a certain amount of adrenaline stacks, depending on how long your character sleeps.
Adding to the overall sense of danger is that players can only save their game at a bed. Since fast-travel is also disabled, that means players will have to hunt for a place to sleep in order to save their progress. Considering survival mode is much more dangerous than normal Fallout 4, that should create some intense scenarios of life and death.
Pack rats will also have to find new ways to adapt. Items that don't have weight in normal Fallout 4 will in survival mode, so players will have to manage their entire inventory (weapons, armor consumables, ammo) much more carefully, especially since your character's total carry weight has also been reduced.
The bright side is that, since survival mode encourages exploration, enemies will repopulate in the world much more slowly. That means if you take out a group of raiders tactically and then raid their camp, you won't have to worry about stumbling into them again anytime soon.
There are plenty of additional small details on the official blog post, so be sure to check it out. Fallout 4's survival mode will arrive on all platforms after the mode's beta period on PC ends.
