‘Fallout 4: Far Harbor’ DLC Dated, 1.5 Update Hitting Consoles Friday

Bethesda Softworks announced a release date for the Far Harbor DLC for Fallout 4 Wednesday. The last and largest of the initial slate of add-ons to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC role-playing title is coming later this month. Meanwhile, the consoles will receive the latest 1.5 update this month that adds support for the DLC and brings the revamped Survivor Mode.

Far Harbor will take players to the largest landmass for a Bethesda add-on yet on May 19 for all three platforms. Some PC gamers will get an early look at the new content this week when Bethesda Game Studios begins to send out beta invites to those that applied to participate in beta testing earlier this year.

The trailer for the new Fallout 4 add-on shows quite a bit of new content in addition to the new landmass. Players will have to work their way through a conflict between the local townsfolk, synths, and the Children of Atom as they search for a missing young woman, which is something of a callback to the Point Lookout DLC from Fallout 3.

Here is the official description of the add-on from Bethesda.

“In Far Harbor, a new case from Valentine’s Detective Agency leads you on a search for a young woman and a secret colony of synths. Travel off the coast of Maine to the mysterious island of Far Harbor, where higher levels of radiation have created a more feral world. Navigate through the growing conflict between the synths, the Children of Atom, and the local townspeople. Will you work toward bringing peace to Far Harbor, and at what cost?

“Far Harbor features the largest landmass for an add-on that Bethesda Game Studios has ever created, filled with new faction quests, settlements, lethal creatures and dungeons. Become more powerful with new, higher-level armor and weapons. The choices are all yours.”

The trailer shows some deadly new water-born enemies, including one that looks like a mutated Angler Fish, a mutated Gecko, and a giant Mantis Shrimp. There’s also a new semi-automatic rifle as well as lever action rifle. A fishing gaff being wielded as a melee weapon can also be spotted at one point. Meanwhile, what appears to be a diving suit can be seen, too, along with some Children of Atom-style armor.

The mood Bethesda set in the Far Harbor trailer is a cross between horror and mystery. It’s almost Lovecraftian in a way, which fits the foggy Maine island the action takes place in. It will be interesting to see how many extra hours this adds to Fallout 4 and its quality on release.

Meanwhile, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners can look forward to the 1.5 update to be released on both platforms this Friday, May 6. The PC version of the game received the update last week.

As previously covered, Survival Mode started out in Fallout 4 as just the base game with tougher enemies. Designers Josh Hamrick and Jon Paul Duvall used an internal Game Jam session to change the mode up by forcing Fallout 4 players to make choices they wouldn’t normally make in the game.

Bethesda has made combat more brutal to make players think more about when to get into battle and when to avoid it. The pace of the game has also been slowed down somewhat to encourage players to explore more of the game world. Meanwhile, items have been re-balanced to prevent players from hoarding items and force them to consider their armor and weapons more carefully.

Some of the examples of the changes include only allowing player to save when they find a bed and let their character sleep for at least one hour. Fast travel has also been disabled, while the lethality of attacks by the player character and enemy NPCs has been increased. Players will also need to manage their character’s health better, as there are several different illnesses that one can acquire, and it is possible to cripple limbs either through injury or fatigue.

Aside from the addition of Survival Mode, the 1.5 update to Fallout 4 includes a handful of fixes to the game. Some of these are correct issues with various quests in the game, while others fix problems experienced in Workshop mode.

You can find the list of fixes in the Fallout 4 1.5 update that are in addition to Survival Mode changes below:

• General stability and performance improvements
• Fixed rare crash related to reloading a save that relies on Automatron
• Fixed issue with the robot workbench camera not moving properly immediately after canceling out of the menu
• Fixed issue with perks being repeatedly added when reloading a saved game while in robot workbench
• Fixed issue with Ada not properly traveling to an assigned settlement
• Robots can now be assigned as settlement vendors
• Fixed issue with “Appropriation” where blueprints would not appear properly if the container had already been looted prior to getting the quest
• In “The Nuclear Option,” entering the Institute using the targeting helmet on Power Armor no longer inadvertently causes the player to go into combat, and become stuck in the Institute
• Fixed distance check with Robotics Expert perk
• While in Workshop mode, if the Jump button is remapped, the Y or Triangle button can still be used to jump
• Ability to delete downloadable content via the Add-Ons menu (PS4)
• Fixed issue with “Defend the Castle” where speaking to Ronnie Shaw would not properly complete the quest
• During “The Nuclear Option,” fast traveling away from the Institute immediately after inserting the relay targeting sequence holotape will no longer block progression
• Fixed issue where Workshop-placed light bulbs would occasionally not light properly

[Image via Bethesda Softworks]