We received great news for fans of Interplay's Fallout series and haters of Bethesda's version - generally players who are craving for a good sci-fi catastrophic MMO. No offense to great games like Anarchy Online, but it is a bit too old or EVE Online, where you have to use mouse to control spaceships [for crying out loud, give us reason to own a joystick, Ed.].
The creation of massive multiplayer online game set in the Fallout universe was whispered about when the original crew from Interplay retained their rights to creation of Fallout MMO while Bethesda got those for singleplayer games. Still very few expected it to actually come true and it seemed like were stuck with Bethesda's censored vision of Fallout with merely recycled enemies and short versions of previous game plots.
A few days ago Interplay announced their deal with Masthead Studios to fund the development of a MMO codenamed Project: V13. [Vault 13, Ed.] The title has been in the works since 2007. The game will use Masthead's tools that were originally intended for their Earthrise project.
Can we finally see a true "Mature"-rated game in the MMO genre?
This collaboration between Interplay and Masthead might have interesting effects on the MMO genre as a whole, just as Interplay changed the world of RPGs to this day, with developing and releasing titles such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment and the original Fallout series. It is that expertise in making great stories that will hopefully freshen up the usual daily grind MMO idiocy. Masthead on the other hand knows all the tricks and skills needed to create an online game from a technical aspect.
After witnessing the arrival of whole fleet of medieval-based MMOs, there are now many Sci-Fi MMO games in the works: Star Wars: The Old Republic, Star Trek Online, StarGate Worlds and many more. It is a good thing to see a familiar post-apocalyptic setting among them. While some fans of the original Fallout series might disapprove the idea of Fallout online game as it could include many bad parts of that genre the since single player license is currently in Bethesda's inept hands. With that in mind, we can only hope that Interplay hasn't lost its magic gameplay touch and are waiting for a decent Fallout game.
