Fallout 76 is still a few weeks away from launching, but the game's beta testing is officially live. Last night select players were able to explore the Appalachian wasteland for four full hours to test out the game's character creation, combat, and everything else they could get their hands on. Game ZXC participated in the Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. for the full four hours and tested out every system and feature we could find.

It's important to address right away that players jumping into Fallout 76 will quickly realize that the character models are very similar to those available in Fallout 4. That said, although the character models may not feel like a big leap forward, the West Virginia wasteland is absolutely stunning (despite the graphical downgrade). The environment is incredibly immersive and running around the hills and mountains doesn't just feel like revisiting a game from 2015. If it wasn't for all the radiation and terrifying monsters, we could get lost exploring this map for days.

Fans who have been following along with the trailers and gameplay reveal likely could have predicted those impressions about the world and its aesthetics. A bigger surprise for us was how quickly (and frequently) our character ran into other players. This is a beta, so perhaps the server was more populated than it would usually be, but throughout the four hours of gameplay, we hardly went 15 minutes without running into a group of other players. Initial explanations of the servers seemed to suggest players would be a bit more spread out and only bump into each other on occasion, or during events, so hopefully that is a little truer further into the game.

Interactions with other players were both tense and easy to navigate. There was always the thrill of waiting to see whether it would be an aggressive encounter or not, but using the emote wheel to communicate is smooth and the menu options to trade or invite to a team are also just a quick click away after targeting the other player. We were lucky enough to make it through the full four hours without killing or being killed by another player.

For players worried about how much this game feels like a Fallout experience, it certainly checked all of the right boxes for us, despite being light on NPC interactions. The majority of our playtime was spent gathering up resources to craft better weapons and armor or exploring different zones as we hunted down clues that led us along the path of the game's main narrative line. The quest system is very similar to Fallout 4's and still works very well.

One major change from previous Fallout experiences that definitely leaves an impression is the survival aspect. Characters need a steady stream of food and water to survive in the post-apocalyptic West Virginia wilderness and players will need to spend some time gathering water to boil and hunting down food to cook. These mechanics are entertaining enough for a few hours, but it will be interesting to see if they begin to feel like more of a chore after 20, 30, or more hours in the game. Players can use their campsite to take care of some of these survival needs, so that is helpful. It seems like it may be smart to invest a few hours in making a survival ready campsite very early in the game and then just unpacking that setup every time a resource starts to run low.

Although there is a major focus on multiplayer and survival, Fallout 76 still maintains some of the core RPG elements that have helped define the series over the years. The updated perks system builds off the familiar SPECIAL character stats, but the new card-based bonuses add an interesting twist. Players unlock packs of cards as they level up and use these to gain bonuses associated with each stat. The card system is a fun few feature to explore and offers some interesting min-max choices that the RPG fans will enjoy analyzing.

Overall, the Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. was an exciting and addicting experience. Although the game may not feel exactly like the pure Fallout experience that old school players are longing for, we can't deny that this short taste has us counting down the hours until we can get back onto a live server again.

Fallout 76 is set to launch on November 14, 2018 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Game ZXC was provided an Xbox One code for B.E.T.A. access.