1 Reason to Pre-Order Fallout 4 VR & 4 Reasons to Wait

Fallout 4 VR pre-orders are live but most of you are better off waiting.

Bethesda is finally making good on the promise it made to HTC Vive owners last year. The Fallout 4 VR release date is confirmed for October and in a few months HTC Vive owners will be able to step into a virtual version of apocalyptic New England, known as the Commonwealth in the Fallout series.

The company hasn’t confirmed a specific Fallout 4 VR release date but that hasn’t stopped its retail partners from taking pre-orders. Fallout 4 VR is on sale for $60 on Amazon and Steam.

Fallout 4 VR pre-orders don’t come with any (known) incentives but some of you might want to commit to the new game ahead of launch. Many others will benefit from waiting a few more weeks or until sometime after the game’s release in October.

Our Fallout 4 VR pre-order guide will take you through some early reasons to, and not to, buy the game right now. Bethesda’s still holding some key details back so we’ll update this when we know more.

Pre-Order if You Love Fallout & Own an HTC Vive

If you’ve invested in an HTC Vive and you absolutely love Fallout 4 and/or the Fallout series, think about putting in a pre-order today or in the near future.

The HTC Vive has a long list of games but few of them are as interesting as Fallout 4.

Fallout 4 VR isn’t just a piece of the game. It’s the full game. Bethesda says the “whole world is fully explorable” and that it “includes hundreds of locations, characters and quests.”

The game is packed with things to do and it also has tremendous replay value thanks to settlement building, crafting, side quests, and the interesting plot lines.

If you don’t own an HTC Vive and Fallout 4 VR’s got your attention, take a look at our full length review. It outlines the pros and cons of HTC’s virtual reality headset.

Wait for More Details

Most of you will want to hold off on putting in a Fallout 4 VR pre-order.

Bethesda’s released a teaser trailer and some screenshots that showcase what the environment, combat and the crafting system will look like on the HTC Vive. It looks great, and the feedback from E3 has been encouraging, but there are lingering questions about gameplay and the game’s release.

Will there be any bundles? Any pre-order bonuses? Any special editions? How will mods (unofficial or official) work exactly? There’s also some confusion about Fallout 4 DLC presence in Fallout 4 VR.

Steam’s landing stage carefully states that “Fallout 4 VR includes the complete core game with all-new combat, crafting, and building systems fully reimagined for virtual reality.”

However, in the Fallout 4 VR trailer, there’s a shot of the Sole Survivor’s Pip-Boy with the “Vault-Tec Calling” quest. This quest is only available via the Vault-Tec Workshop DLC expansion.

If Fallout 4 DLC is included in the game, will Fallout 4 Season Pass holders get a discount? Doubtful but it’s still a question that needs to be answered.

It’s unclear when or even if Bethesda plans to reveal additional Fallout 4 VR details. Gamescom is a possibility but it doesn’t kickoff until late August.

Gamescom or not, it might be a good idea to wait for more information before buying the game and/or an HTC Vive.

Wait to Go Hands-on

You’ll have to wait until October but it might be a good idea to go hands-on with Fallout 4 VR before buying it.

If you couldn’t make it to E3 2017, you might’ve missed your window to go hands-on ahead of the game’s release date in October. Bethesda hasn’t confirmed plans to release a Fallout 4 VR demo.

If you’re new to VR or you simply want to get a feel for the game mechanics (movement, combat, crafting, dialogue, etc), you’ll have to wait.

We might not see a public demo but we could see retail stores setup demos for the holidays. If that doesn’t pan out, you’ll need to find a friend with HTC Vive and the game.

Wait for Fallout 4 VR Reviews

This is an ambitious project on new technology so it might be a good idea to wait for reviews (from critics and average HTC Vive users) before buying Fallout 4 VR.

We’re starting to see some feedback trickle out of E3 2017 but it’s early. We expect the final product to have more polish and, perhaps, some additional functionality.

The teleportation system that was present in the early Fallout 4 VR demo is still in the current version of the game. It was the default locomotion in the E3 Fallout 4 VR demo.

The company has said that it’s still “experimenting with a few” other ways to move around the wasteland so we could see some changes to movement, and other parts of the game, in the final copy.

Early feedback is great but most of you should wait for the bigger picture to emerge later this year.

Wait for More Deals

If $60 for Fallout 4 VR is too steep for your blood (if you bought Fallout 4 and a Season Pass/DLC it might be), take a look at Amazon’s deal.

The retailer is taking 20% off the $60 price which drops the game to $47.99. That’s the cheapest price right now though it requires an Amazon Prime account. You should be able snag the deal via an Amazon Prime trial if you don’t have an account.

If that’s not cheap enough, you’ll probably need to wait beyond its October release date. We could see some deeper deals emerge during Black Friday/Cyber Monday and in the weeks after the holiday shopping season ends.

keyNuker

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Let's start with one of our favorite PC Fallout 4 mods that quickly made it over to console. keyNuker creates a key ring in your inventory that hides keys and passwords. With it installed, your MISC tab in on your Pip-Boy is going to be a lot more manageable, particularly if you're deep into the game with tons and tons of items listed.  The screenshot here shows you what the vanilla MISC tab looks like compared to the MISC tab with keyNuker installed. It's night and day. This is one of our favorite Fallout 4 mods and one that should consider if you're tired of wasting time scrolling through hundreds (many of them worthless) of items.

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