Appalachia is a land of myth and legend, with one ofFallout 76’s first big trends beingthe discovery of Mothman, but perhaps the most iconic of Appalachia is the purported alien sightings, even in the real world. This winter,Fallout 76’s Zetans will be joining the game (again) in a brand new way.
It should be noted thatFallout 76had code for aliens, or Zetans, since launch, but aliens were not available.The Steel Dawn Updateadded them in a way, but just as already-dead corpses (aside from the Flatwoods Monster). The Tales From the Stars update, which aligns with season 7 ofFallout 76, will be adding these creatures, while attempting to pay off on nearly three years of Zetan fan investment. From not existing to corpses to actually existing, Zetans have been teased for so long and this winter needs to go big with them.
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Fallout 76 Roadmap
Fallout 76Season 7 won’t release until the winter, with plenty of new content coming before it. Nonetheless, “stars have aligned in the Wasteland” and Zetans will be appearing in-game alongside new features like C.A.M.P. Pets. The Ritual seasonal event likely has something to do with them, with their reappearance hopefully having its own story segments in-game. Notably, there will be public challenges and daily ops surprises related to these Zetans, but that wouldn’t really be enough.
Simply put, adding in Zetans as random enemies, tying them to challenges, and not really expanding on them would not pay off on thos who have kept up with the Zetans inFallout 76. Bethesda really ought to go big by having this be its own storyline, perhaps starting withFallout 76’s Tales From The Starsbut not necessarily ending. After all, the Brotherhood of Steel storyline isn’t ending until this summer’s Summer Reign, and it’ll be a good time to bring in another major arc like this.
Fallout 76’s Zetans and the History Behind Them
Truth is, these Zetans aren’t really just going to be following upFallout 76but theFalloutfranchise altogether. The first game had the psychic nullifier and two skeletons, while the second game had alien tech like bio med gel and Skynet. InFallout 3, players could find a downed ship and a dead Zetan, with the Mothership Zeta DLC allowing them to be kidnapped and then escape the Zetans.Fallout: New Vegas' Wild Wasteland traitenabled players to face off with two Zetans and an alien captain, whileFallout 4had a crashing UFO event. Alien Blaster pistols could be obtained, much like they can in Fallout 76.
Despite all of this and a few lore bits like the Enclave basing its tech on aliens, their only known purpose in the game is experimentation. Tragic alien stereotype side, it doesn’t really even establish why. There’s no real explanation or hint as to what they want, and it’s a shame they’ve been limited to such a role for so long. Indeed, ifFallout 76gave a true storyline, it could potentially fill in lore that would go years without detail.Fallout 5is said to be a late 2020/2030 game, so it’s clear a new entry won’t really be offering answers any time soon.
Fallout 76is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
