Fallout 4: Improving the series' shooting mechanics

One of the most talked-about games at this year's E3 was Bethesda's Fallout 4. The studio's first game since Skyrim in 2011, and the first entry in the Fallout series since New Vegas in 2010, it's fair to say that Bethesda's taken its time over getting this latest open-world odyssey into shape.

Thus far, that four-year development's already showing signs of paying off, with Fallout 4's gameplay footage receiving a warm reception in Los Angeles earlier this week. In the wake of that demonstration, creative director Todd Howard spoke to Gamespot about how his team has been using the lessons they've learned while making Fallout 3 and Skyrim to improve Fallout 4.

One of the areas they've been focusing on in particular is the sequel's combat. While Fallout 3 was one of the most acclaimed games of 2008, the lack of precision in its real-time shooting mechanics was often criticised by reviewers. Howard admits himself that Fallout 3's shooting "was mehh," and that his team's working on improving the real-time FPS mechanics  in Fallout 4.

"We started out with Fallout 4 knowing that, look, we can't apologise for being a role-playing game, Howard said. "We have to build a first-person shooter, and it needs to be a really, really good one. We spent a lot of time on that."

Those who preferred fighting with Fallout 3's VATS system needn't worry though - that ingenious targeting system will, of course, return in Fallout 4, and while players can treat the game as a regular FPS if they want to, using VATS will give players the edge over conventional real-time shooting.

"We want players to have the edge if they use the VATS system," Howard continued. "If you're building your character for VATS, it's really powerful."

Elsewhere, Howard talked about the unexpectedly sizeable success of Bethesda's mobile game, Fallout Shelter, which came out earlier this week; the free-to-play iPhone app has, remarkably, managed to beat Candy Crush Sagaas the third most lucrative game on the App Store.

"There were definitely points in development when we were thinking that maybe it wasn't a good use of our time," Howard said. "We had to ask, how much of a distraction is it? But once an idea gets in your head, it's like, you just need to do it. To see it now, as the number one app in the world, it's like what?! Well that worked out."

You can read the full interview with Gamespot here. Fallout 4 is currently pegged for release on the 10th November for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.