I think the only thing that would preclude Bethesda's games from having solid 100% third-person is the detail of interaction with the world and objects - none of the games as far back as Morrowind would have been worse off if their third-person modes were actually great (and they've been getting better and better), but you just can't beat first-person for searching through rubble or switches or everything at detail. That's why Bethesda's so invested in micro and macro details - one of the things they talked about with Skyrim was the sense of scale from looking up at a huge mountain miles away, down to the forks on the table. Strictly third-person games like Mass Effect lack most of those smaller details.

That wasn't third person gameplay, that was a live action trailer. Silly peoples.

Kidding aside, what have we seen that makes third person play look particularly good? Footage created to sell the game isn't likely to show the engines shortcomings. Until you've actually controlled a character in third person and seen whether he still slides along the ground as if on ice or something when you make strafing movements you won't know how much things have improved.

I thought that I heard they finally made it so shooting and such things will finally be an actually option in F4. I hope this is true because I definitely prefer 3rd person, it was just impossible in previous games to stay in it when ever a combat situation appeared. Can't wait to see if they truly improved upon it that much or if it was just hype.

I am hugely impressed by third person so far. I remember watching Skyrim's debut at E3, and just the fact that they had Z-axis movement was, for me, a major talking point. Now, with Fallout 4, the animations are way more fluid and seemingly natural. I do combat in first person and travel in third person. Maybe i'll do combat in third person this time around if the animations live up to what they've shown so far.

The sequences are kind of short but they do resemble Mass Effects view so combat in 3rd person is probably viable. Question is how using a sniper rifle will look?

not me i only play in third person cept for picking up loot,lockpicking,and v.a.t.s...... Im an oddball

I played the majority of Skyrim in 3rd person and I'll most likely do the same with FO4.

fallout 4 might not be for you then, bethesda games are meant to be played in 1st person, they can't make both styles top notch, a game company either makes their game first or third person person, to focus on both equally means neither will be very good so you have to go with either 3rd or 1st, you're talking about two entirely different game mechanics necessary and a different game engine, i don't know any game that does both 1st and 3rd person extremely well at the same time, the fact they put 3rd in at all is so we can get a different perspective of the game world like seeing around corners, viewing your character etc.

3rd person is for screenshots obviously so we can post that pic of our PC in their crazy hats and shades.

It looks great and I can't wait to wear tons of cool armor =D

I usually run around in 3rd person and then switch to 1st person for combat. I'm hoping 3rd person will be so good that I don't have to switch, though.

Iirc I couldn't see my characters face in Fallout 3. Just the back and sides. Idr Oblivion, haven't played that game in .... I wanna say 4 years, maybe 5. But Skyrim, yeah I remember seeing my characters face, that whole 360 view.

Exploring - 3rd person

Combat & trade - 1st person

Given the option I much prefer first person. If its not included already I am eagerly awaiting a Enhanced Camera mod for Fallout 4 that lets me see my body in first person. Its a small thing but you really do notice it when its missing in games.

While they have been improving the third person perspective, I still find myself using first person mode 98% of the time.

Just hold the view-switch key, and you can move the camera around to the front without turning your character. Same in Skyrim and Fallout 3. Or, just let him stand still for two minutes, and the camera will start orbiting the character for a full 360° view.

Even though I do play both ways, I hope there's an option we can set so that when we enter conversations it auto-switches to third person and maybe even does cinematic camera angles, etc. Because if it DOESN'T --- and I could see why you would not want it to do so, since conversation apparently doesn't stop time any more ---- then I can imagine it would be tricky to pan the camera around to see your character speak, then pan the camera around again to see the person you're talking to.... and since time isn't frozen maybe some new NPC walks by and says something and you have to pan around to see who said that... I just see a lot of potential for missing conversational cues in the NPC (or your character) faces and body movements....

Hahha, I'm totally guilty of this.

I hope there is a way to adjust the camera offset. What always irks me about 3rd person is looking over the right shoulder, not just because I am Left Handed, but because I prefer a centered on the character camera. I usually play in first person and will probably do that in this game, but if I go third, I want the camera centered.

Third person does look good from what we've seen, I only use third person to admire my character and to get a wider view of an environment that I'm in, I use first person for almost everything else but I do love the ability to switch between them especially for admiring my character and exploring certain areas. For combat like most players I think first personal is the way to go.

Heh I forgot about that. Thanks though.

Couldn't agree more. Game would be 100% playable in 3rd person if players could switch cam shoulder or have it centered.

Bah! I've played almost exclusively in third since Morrowind and it works just fine. They're smart enough to know they can increase their audience by doing both. Without both, only 1/2 my family would play these games instead of all of them.