Fallout Shelter Online was first announced back in November 2017 by Chinese developer Shanda and IP owner Bethesda Softworks as a joint mobile game project. Based on the popular Fallout Shelter launched for the English audience, Fallout Shelter Online is an exclusive title for China with added gameplay elements such as PVE, PVP, guild system, and much more. I was able to try Fallout Shelter Online out in its latest Closed Beta phase, and will try to briefly go through some highlights during my first 2 hours in the game. Read on!
• If you have played mobile RPG titles such as Seven Knights and Summoners War, the basic game systems of Fallout Shelter Online will be very similar. Other than a focus on collecting heroes, players get to build a base similar to Fallout Shelter which launched for the English audience. That makes the game much deeper than the typical mobile RPG.
• I have not played Fallout Shelter before, but Fallout Shelter Online is more about exploring the post-apocalyptic world after discovering it is safe to, similar to the main series Fallout games. This is where all the quests and PVE instances come into play.
• Ah the heroes. From what I have encountered, these are the grades for different heroes: N, R, SR, and SSR. This is very similar to other hero collection games. You will need to upgrade their skills, equip them, and of course increasing their levels and star grade via hero fragments. Of course, you can form full heroes from fragments as well.
• Other than getting fragments from completing quests, there are 2 convenient ways to get new heroes from the cash shop. The first is to purchase hero fragments, as seen in the screen below. Both cash currency or game currency can be used. However, there are only 3 heroes per day to purchase, not including the 1 free daily refresh. Of course, players can use cash currency to refresh the roster as well. A standard money sink in mobile games 🙂
• Another way is to purchase either the Silver Hero Lunch Box or Gold Hero Lunch Box using the game currency at a high price. At least a “R” grade hero is guaranteed for Silver, while it is a “S” for Gold. Amazingly, players cannot use cash currency to exploit this.
• The final way to obtain a new hero is through luck. A random hero might visit your shelter’s doorstep, and you will need to click on him/ her and complete the requirements before able to recruit. There is a time limit to complete the objectives as well! The first of such random encounters I had was a “R” grade hero. Really awesome!
• Mobile gamers will be very familiar with the PVE dungeon setup, with an information screen showing the monsters in the dungeon, rewards, option to automatically raid it, and recommended team strength. New difficulty levels will also unlock once the requirements are met. Nothing too innovative here.
• There is also PVP, but for now it is just simple player team vs player team. Combat is fully automated, and players cannot even press the skills when available.
• I only unlocked the guild function after 2 hours into the game, hence I have yet to enter one and explore the available features.
