Despite the unprecedented nature of its disastrous launch,Fallout 76has made somewhat of a comeback in the last few years. Releasing dead on arrival with an unfathomable number of bugs, glitches, and other game-breaking issues,Fallout 76was mocked relentlessly by both critics and fans alike. It didn’t take long beforeFallout 76was the talk of the industry, but for all the wrong reasons, and a reputation that bad is hard to shake. Over the last few years,Fallout 76has received a number of fairly large expansions and updates, most of which have genuinely fixed the game’s most glaring errors.
With most of the bugs completely wiped out, Bethesda has turned its attention to adding more and more content toFallout 76, and the game’supcomingExpeditions:The Pittexpansionis doing just that. A location first featured in theFallout 3DLC of the same name, The Pitt was once one of the nation’s most active cities, but after the bombs fell, it became a wasteland, and prime real estate for raiders. Before fans jump back intoFallout 76and discover all the new content, they may want to learn a bit more about this new area and its rich backstory.
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The Pitt Explained
Originally known as the city of Pittsburgh, The Pitt was a prime target forthe Chinese nuclear warheadsdue to the city’s mass production of steel. With the warheads making direct contact with the city, not much of Pittsburgh was left, and with the increased pollution from nearby steel factories, the resulting radiation ensured that no life would ever be able to start there again.
This didn’t stop people trying to claim the land for their own, however. Just after the Great War, The Pitt would fall into the hands of raider gangs. Bythe early 2100s, raiders had begun to reconstruct the city in their own image, using enslaved citizens to do so. In a bid for freedom, a small number of these enslaved workers attempted to flee the city, and while many died, some managed to escape, eventually forming the Foundation settlement in Appalachia.
Due to the severe levels of radiation in The Pitt’s surrounding water supply, newborns were developing genetic deformities. While most of these deformities were simply physical, a portion of the population began developing a neurological condition that would cause the individual to enter a violent, animalistic state. Exiled from the city, these “Wildmen,” as they became to be known, now roam in packs around The Pitt’s city limits.
As the years went on, The Pitt became more of a hellish dystopia.Warring raider gangswould brutalize large portions of the population in an attempt to gain power, leaving only the worst of the worst alive. The Pitt’s reputation began to spread across the wasteland, becoming infamous for its cannibalistic, murdering population of raiders.
In 2255, aBrotherhood of Steelexpedition lead by Owyn Lyons found themselves stumbling upon The Pitt on their way to the Capital. In an event that would come to be known as the “Scourge,” Lyons lead an extermination mission, murdering everyone inside the city within just one night. With their mission being deemed a success, the Brotherhood of Steel left The Pitt, leaving it once again with no clear leader.
A Brotherhood of Steel soldier thought to have been killed in action during the Scourge would seize the mantle of leader. Usinghis power armor, training, and imposing stature, Ishmael Ashur would name himself Lord of The Pitt, and ruled with an iron fist, enslaving those who wouldn’t willingly join him. Ashur would allow slaves to earn back their freedom by fighting to the death in an archaic arena named The Hole.
In the midst of a coup, the Lone Wanderer finds themselves trapped in The Pitt, forced to participate in The Hole’s deathmatches. The Lone Wanderer eventually escapes and can either overthrow Lord Ashur or keep him in charge, but The Pitt’s population is once again decimated. WithFallout 76occurring 200 years beforeFallout 3, the player will be arriving in The Pitt during the first few years of its existence, when the city was at its most chaotic.
Fallout 76Expeditions: The Pitt, will release on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox One in September 2022.
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