When it comes to the central structure of The Blood of Dawnwalker, Tomaskiewicz said that players won’t really find a singular main quest to follow. Rather, they will encounter different kinds of quests, and figure out things like where their main target might be. This also means that the player can then decide to immediately take out the target, or even hang back and do some other quests that might help weaken the target’s position. He noted that the number of options presented to players is the studio’s attempts at bringing the freedom of gameplay decisions that can often only be seen in table-top RPGs.

“No, there’s no main quest. You build your experience from the quests you encounter,” he explained. “You know where your enemy is. You can attack this place anytime you want to. It’s up to you if you want to do it by yourself, or if you want to build yourself, find the powerful items, develop your character, or do some quests and find allies to help you do it. We want to bring video games closer to pen-and-paper RPGs and give you the freedom to experience what you want to experience.”

As for just how much freedom the player might have, with Eurogamer asking whether it will be similar to Warhorse Studios’ Kingdom Come: Deliverance series, Tomaskiewicz noted that it wasn’t a bad example. However, more apt examples, according to him, would be the classic Fallout and Fallout 2 developed by Interplay in the 1990s. In both titles, players were given their primary objective right from the beginning, but then also had freedom to explore the world and build up their strength in different ways at their own pace.

“Kingdom Come: Deliverance is not a bad example, but still they have the main story that develops; you have the open world and the main quest which is leading you,” said Tomaskiewicz. “In our game it’s different. Our game is more similar in this area to the old Fallout, the first and second games, where you have a clear goal and everything is optional – you decide. You travel the world, you decide what you want to do. There is no main quest.”

Earlier this month, Tomaskiewicz had also spoken about how The Blood of Dawnwalker will tackle the subject of vampires, noting that rather than being a story about vampires, the upcoming RPG will be a story that happens to feature vampires. “We have different creatures of the night,” he said. “We want to tell [a] story with the vampires, not the story about [only] the vampires.”

The Blood of Dawnwalker is in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and is slated for release in 2026.

From Interplay’s Fallout 1, 2 and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel to Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition, Fallout: New Vegas – Ultimate Edition, Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition and Fallout 76, it’s all here. Unfortunately, the anthology doesn’t come with any physical games. Instead, you get seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L. cards depicting the different stats and featuring PC codes for each title.

On the plus side, they come with a mini-nuke container (which audibly explodes) for collectors. So there’s that, and honestly, not much else.

The Fallout TV show’s first episode premieres on April 12th on Amazon Prime. In the gaming sphere, Fallout 76 is slated to receive new content this year – check out the roadmap here. Fallout 4 fans can also expect its next-gen update to arrive sometime this year, though further details have to be revealed.

SUFFOLK COUNTY CHARTER SCHOOL (FALLOUT 4)

Let’s start off with a bang, because Suffolk County Charter School is one of the creepiest places in Fallout history, no question. The school is crawling with ghouls who were once students of the school, and were part of the Nutritional Alternative Paste Program, which essentially replaced their food with stuff that wasn’t healthy eating by any means. The experiment went awry, and the resulting ghouls would go on to haunt the building.

]]> 431427 https://gamingbolt.com/fallout-what-the-hell-happened-to-the-series https://gamingbolt.com/fallout-what-the-hell-happened-to-the-series#respond Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:55:06 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=421803 On October 23^rd 2077, the bombs fell. This began a cataclysmic shift for life in America. The days of clean drinking water, fancy transportation and retro-futuristic homes were over. It was a time of Supermutants, raiders, Deathclaws and irradiated landscapes. What was left of human life resided in the Vaults, many serving as experiments for different societies with controlled settings. Those that left the Vaults would see what was left of the world, navigating the ruins of a nuclear fallout for their own ends. It’s here that the player’s journey in the Fallout universe would begin.

On October 23^rd 2019, Bethesda announced Fallout 1^st. The premium subscription service offered access to Private Worlds, a Scrapbox with unlimited storage for components, a Survival Tent for a free fast-travel point, Ranger Armor from Fallout: New Vegas and some Atoms. All of this for $12.99 per month or that elusive “best value” of $99 per year.

For fans who had tolerated many of Fallout 76‘s failings, this may have seemed like yet another ill-timed move on the part of Bethesda. However, it was also the timing of the announcement that brought the online title and the franchise in general to into sharp focus. This was no longer a franchise about delivering a scathing, post-apocalyptic commentary on patriotism, capitalism and humanity while struggling with the harsh reality of survival. Fallout 76 came across as a monument to greed for a product that many felt hadn’t earned its redemption.

To add insult to injury, the Scrapbox was bugged for some and ate their components forever. The Private Worlds were reportedly reused instances that had already been looted. Bethesda announced it was working on a fix for the former while denying the latter.

All these years later, with the ups, downs, deaths and resurrections that the franchise has seen, one has to ask: What the hell happened to Fallout? To answer that question, we have to go all the way back to 2004 when the franchise was still very much the property of Interplay Entertainment.

Interplay will be a very familiar name to old-school RPG fans. The company broke into the role-playing game scene with The Bard’s Tale and Wasteland, the latter being an early predecessor to the Fallout franchise. Interplay was also involved in publishing and brought out some legitimately great games throughout the years like The Lost Vikings, Descent, Giants: Citizen Kabuto and FreeSpace 2. In 1996, Interplay established an RPG development division with Feargus Urquhart as the founder. The studio would go on to create Fallout, a “post nuclear role playing game” that embraced character creation, meaningful choices and tout story-telling.

Fallout would receive a sequel in 1998 while the RPG division received a name – Black Isle Studios. Fallout 2 was also a success, improving on the original with a larger world and even more freedom of choice. Black Isle was seemingly on a roll from that point on – it released Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale while also serving as publisher for the Baldur’s Gate series from a relatively unknown studio called BioWare. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly for the studio with Van Buren aka Fallout 3 and a non D&D title called Torn in development. Then, in December 2003, Interplay announced that Black Isle Studios was closing.

Interplay was facing severe financial problems much before this, being on the verge of bankruptcy in 1998. Though the company went public, these problems didn’t necessarily disappear. As it was a PC-centric developer in an age where consoles like the PlayStation One were reigning supreme, Interplay struggled to survive. Like the point and click adventure genre, the traditional computer RPG was looking less and less viable as time went on. Losses mounted despite a number of great games published. By 2001, the majority of the company was owned by Titus Software and several cost-saving measures were adopted including the closure of Black Isle Studios (which had its own share of debt) and the cancellation of its projects.

Feargus Urquhart left Black Isle several months prior to establish Obsidian Entertainment (which, again, you might have heard of). When speaking to GameSpot in January 2004, Urquhart speculated that “Interplay has decided to put all of its remaining development effort behind Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and the Exalted license. Both of those are console titles, while Black Isle was making a PC product. Plus, I would assume that Interplay could make more money in the short term by selling Fallout to another publisher and letting the team go than finishing the product.”

Of course, this wasn’t Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, a tactical role-playing game from Micro Forte and 14 Degrees East. This was Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, a linear action RPG for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Criticized for its repetitive gameplay and forced grittiness, it was a big failure for Interplay. The worst was yet to come though. In 2005, Titus Software filed for bankruptcy, leaving Interplay with a lot of debt and on the verge of bankruptcy once again. So in 2007, the Fallout IP was sold to Bethesda Softworks. The latter was known for a variety of titles but gained the most fame with The Elder Scrolls series. Around that time, it had released The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion to abject critical and commercial success.

There were a few problems though. First is that the company’s RPGs weren’t isometric turn-based titles but first person action RPGs with large open worlds. Sure enough, when Fallout 3 was announced, there was skepticism over its shift to a fully 3D title with real-time shooting and combat. Developed on Bethesda’s Gamebryo Engine, it was also the first Fallout title to not involve any of the original game’s creators.

In hindsight however, Bethesda was making all the right moves with Fallout 3. Though it included over-the-top elements like slow-mo head explosions and blood spatter, the focus was on a more serious title that channeled the franchise’s post-apocalyptic themes of survival in a brutal world. High profile actors like Liam Neeson and Ron Perlman were roped in, the latter famous for his rendition of “War. War never changes.” Though combat was in first person, character creation still formed a large part of the gameplay with skill checks and conversations yielding vastly different results depending on your stats.

Fallout 3 released in October 2008 and received strong praise from critics. Though Fallout 2 director and writer Tim Cain criticized the endings, he appreciated the overall level of detail of the world. Chris Avellone, who also directed and designed Fallout 2, loved the open world and variety of options available despite finding having some issues with the writing. Despite numerous bug and glitches, not to mention some hardcore fans believing that this wasn’t a “true” Fallout, Fallout 3 was a massive commercial success. It shipped 4.7 million units by the year end and is estimated to have sold 12.4 million copies worldwide as of November 2015.

It’s interesting to note that at the time, Interplay was in an agreement with Bethesda to work on Fallout Online. The MMO sought to have player-controlled towns and social areas with roughly 65,000 square miles of terrain been mapped out. Of course by 2009, Bethesda sought to rescind the license due to Interplay apparently not starting development in time. It also didn’t help that Interplay was still selling the Fallout Trilogy which consisted of the original three games. Following numerous years of trials, the two companies settled out of court for $2 million dollars. Bethesda had Fallout Online all to itself while Interplay could no longer sell the original Fallout Trilogy after December 31^st 2013.

Following the success of Fallout 3, Bethesda brought in Obsidian Entertainment to create a sequel. The company already had a lot of former Black Isle Studios talent including former Icewind Dale designer Josh Sawyer and Fallout 2 designer Chris Avellone along with former founder, now CEO of Obsidian Feargus Urquhart. The team saw this as an opportunity to use several elements from its vision of Fallout 3 in the new title. The result was Fallout: New Vegas, running on the Gamebryo Engine and featuring much of the same gameplay mechanics as Bethesda’s game.

Though it had a development cycle of just 18 months, New Vegas was praised for its story-telling, quest design, improvements to the visuals and further refinement to the shooting. Many hardcore fans considered it the true successor to the first two games over Fallout 3. The short development cycle gave way to issues like numerous bugs, glitches and crashes to the point where it’s still recommended to play with mods despite numerous updates.

Fallout: New Vegas released in October 2010 and shipped a whopping 5 million copies in just a few weeks. By 2015, it had sold 11.6 million copies and enjoyed its fair share of critical acclaim, though Bethesda infamously denied a bonus to Obsidian for the title failing to receive a Metacritic score of 85+. Bethesda itself had been busy working on The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, which would release in 2011 and set new standards with its open world and scale.

Prior this, however, Bethesda was raising capital to the tune of $450 million. It began expanding its publishing efforts to Europe and opened offices in Tokyo and Frankfurt before expanding to other countries over the years (Moscow being the most recent). Parent company ZeniMax Media was also making big moves. It acquired id Software in 2009 and published RAGE. In 2010, it acquired Arkane Studios, known for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and for being involved with BioShock 2. The studio would go on to develop the Dishonored franchise before eventually heading up Prey (which was reported to have its own issues, including rumored interference from Bethesda who acquired the IP rights in 2011).

For all intents and purposes, Bethesda was becoming a big deal, publishing a range of titles while cultivating its own studios and properties. However, the main development team often received the same question: What about the next Fallout? When was Fallout 4 coming? It had been several years since The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. What was the studio’s plan for the next Fallout? Unbeknownst to some – and rumored by others – plans for Fallout 4 began in 2009. Though production began in the same year, the title fully entered production in 2013.

Unlike its predecessor, Fallout 4 wanted to be different from the older games – it wanted to channel their tone while introducing a bevy of new gameplay features. Base-building, a fully-voiced protagonist, better gun play, a deeper weapon customization system, hundreds of objects to interact with and the ability to manage an entire settlement were confirmed on top of the previously established V.A.T.S. NPC interactions would be more free-form; animations would be better (at least, that was the idea). The dynamic dialogue system promised a greater degree of player agency. The Creation Engine allowed for sculpting one’s character instead of relying on sliders, not to mention implementing graphical options like motion blur, screen space reflections, an improved material system and much more.

The marketing blitzkrieg was in full effect. A countdown timer ended on June 3^rd to formally announce the sequel and reveal the first trailer. Visually, the game was a step-up from the likes of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas though it was considered inferior to more contemporary titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Nonetheless, Fallout 4 was at the top of many wish-lists. Bethesda capitalized on the hype and released Fallout Shelter, a mobile title that involved managing one’s own Vault. It served as a nice distraction till Fallout 4 launch, despite being criticized for having lunch boxes that could be purchased with real money.

When Fallout 4 released, it received positive acclaim across the board and shipped a whopping 12 million units in the first 24 hours. About 1.2 million copies were sold in the same period. It seemed like another huge success for Bethesda. However, after the initial honeymoon phase wore off, some fan sentiment began to change.

The game’s numerous bugs and performance issues were criticized but it was Bethesda’s overall creative vision that faced the harshest criticism. Skill-checks were effectively gone or rendered pointless with interactions also feeling heavily dumbed down. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system felt less like a character defining tool set and more like a straight upgrade system. The story came across as far too similar to Fallout 3 with the added interaction of factions viewed as not impactful enough. Though the gun play was praised and the world fun to explore, many felt that the settlement building system was ultimately irrelevant to what they wanted from the game. It didn’t help that Bethesda’s some of Bethesda’s subsequent DLC packs were focused entirely on settlement building.

Fallout 3 faced skepticism before launch but Fallout 4 was the subject of a more significant, sustained backlash after release. Many felt it was more akin to an open world looter shooter than a full-fledged RPG. Though Bethesda supported the title over the years with numerous bug fixes, mod support and features like Survival Mode, it also used Fallout 4 to launch the Creation Club. This was essentially the company’s attempt to introduce paid mods after failing to do so with Skyrim on Steam once upon a time. The store’s prices, coupled with free mods still being very popular, would see it viewed with scorn. At the very least, Bethesda wasn’t attempt to stifle free mods and continued encouraging their discovery and support within the game itself.

The Fallout brand wasn’t damaged goods by a long shot but the urge for something that felt like a true next-generation sequel became stronger. In the interim, Fallout Shelter was still very successful. Live-service games and loot boxes started rolling in 2016 with the release of Overwatch; the popularity of the live-service model exploded when Fortnite: Battle Royale released by 2017 end. Bethesda brought the Creation Club to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition on Xbox One, PS4 and PC, with the expected mixed reception.

It was never formally confirmed when Fallout 76 started development but the trends that Bethesda were chasing would only become more obvious later. On May 30^th 2018, Fallout 76 was announced after a 24 hour livestream with the “Please Stand By” test message that the series had become known for.

Rumors beforehand indicated that Fallout 4 would have a sequel spin-off, much like Fallout: New Vegas. Though Bethesda didn’t provide any real details about Fallout 76 upon its announcement, reports from Kotaku’s Jason Schreier indicated that it was an online-only survival title. When E3 2018 finally arrived, Bethesda revealed that Fallout 76 was a prequel to the series and indeed only playable online. Of course, to placate fans, the company also revealed that single-player efforts like the long-rumored Starfield was also in development along with The Elder Scrolls 6.

As the months passed, the developer promised that all post-launch content would be free with the Atom Shop and its microtransactions bringing in revenue. The promise of “only cosmetic” items in the Atom Shop was made and fans awaited the first open beta which would arrive on the Bethesda Games Launcher. When it was finally available, some PC players faced a fairly serious dilemma.

The 50 GB client, upon downloading, had deleted itself, prompting Bethesda’s infamous reply to “not click any buttons on the client for the time being.” Things only went from bad to worse when those who did play the beta reported horrible performance, years-old bugs like game speed being tied to frame rate, the lack of an FOV slider and push-to-talk chat functionality, and countless other bugs and glitches. What was most alarming was that Fallout 76 would officially launch on November 14^th, a little over a week after the open beta’s conclusion

Of course, at launch, the game was an unmitigated disaster with its bugs. Reviews circulated quickly and criticized the game’s lack of a compelling story, repetitive side quests, lack of human NPCs, poor gameplay, the list goes on. The title would be embroiled in one controversy after another, whether it was the canvas bag in the Power Armor Edition actually being made of nylon, support tickets with sensitive information being publicly available to view, stealth nerfs, numerous crashes, item duplication woes, or eventually, gameplay-affecting items available in the Atom Shop. Each new major update seemingly broke the game and some bugs, like the endless firing sound from sentry turrets, just wouldn’t die.

The future of Fallout 76 continues to look cloudy. Bethesda has commented on Private Worlds offering mod support. With the former being locked behind a paid subscription, this seems like a way to introduce “approved mods” and perhaps even charge for the same. The Wastelanders update has been delayed and there’s not a whole lot of hope for it having a bug-free launch. Bethesda is seemingly past the point of revitalizing the game – it’s now a matter of keeping whatever players it still has, continuously testing the waters for what’s okay to monetize.

It’s interesting to view the Fallout franchise in retrospect. As a computer RPG series ahead of its time, it suffered from a company that wanted to focus on a more streamlined, action-oriented game while pushing aside the role-playing mechanics. It chased the MMO trend but was quickly out of its depth.

Bethesda seemingly understood what made Fallout successful and translated those gameplay elements into a compelling sequel that would also appeal to a new generation. Overtime, it decided to focus more on streamlining certain RPG elements and focusing on a more action-oriented approach. Lo and behold, Bethesda also took to chasing the latest trends – microtransactions, live-service elements, shared worlds, etc – to cash in. The main difference between the two is that Interplay felt it had to trend-chase for the sake of staying afloat while Bethesda seemingly cashed in on what was considered “hot.”

Hilariously enough, Obsidian Entertainment has had the opportunity to make its envisioned title not once but twice. With Fallout: New Vegas, it brought Van Buren back from the dead. With the recently released The Outer Worlds, it gave fans the spiritual successor to New Vegas that they always craved.

For all intents and purposes, Fallout is a successful franchise for Bethesda. The company isn’t going bankrupt anytime soon and doesn’t have to worry about selling the IP. It could see just how far the well could be poisoned before putting the Fallout franchise on the back-burner and focusing on its other games. Perhaps some kind of shake-up is required for the company to bring the franchise back to its role-playing roots.

Either way, the story of Fallout doesn’t end here. Whether it sinks to new depths or has its legacy carried on by the likes of The Outer Worlds or more hardcore games like Underrail remains to be seen.

Grunty’s Furnace Fun – Banjo-Kazooie

The most immediate example that comes to mind is Banjo-Kazooie. Before fighting Gruntilda, she presents a rather odd puzzle to stop our heroes – Grunty’s Furnace Fun. There are unique panels that present everything from timed challenges (like the sandcastle puzzle) to identifying different worlds. You also have Grunty’s personal questions which are randomized each time and can only be answered by speaking to Brentilda, her sister, throughout the game.

Bethesda’s Fallout 76 recently received a hefty new patch containing over 150 fixes on PC (consoles get it next week). However, those who logged into the game last year can now avail of the old-school Fallout games, free of charge. The Fallout Classic Collection is now available and it contains Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. Even if you played the PS4 or Xbox One versions of Fallout 76, you’ll still receive the collection for free on PC.

Unlike Bethesda’s Fallout titles, Interplay’s Fallout games are all from the overhead isometric perspective. Players can customize their character as they see fit and place points into different stats based on the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system. Throughout the first two games, you’ll run into different situations, which require speech checks to bypass.

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel takes a different story-telling approach, providing players with a squad-based tactical turn-based RPG. Though criticized from departing from the previous games’ approach, Fallout Tactics was generally praised for its gameplay and overall atmosphere. If you’ve never played the older titles and wondered what all the fuss was about, now’s your chance to find out.

In the midst of all the Fallout 76-related fiascos that have dominated the news in recent days and weeks, from Bethesda bizarrely and accidentally leaking private customer information to the prices of microtransactions of the game’s PS4 version going up in some places for some unknown reason, it’s good to see some good news coming out of the publisher as well, especially as we get into the thick of the Holiday season.

Bethesda has announced on Twitter than anyone who’s logged into the full release of Fallout 76 in 2018 will be receiving the Fallout Classic Collection in January. The Classic Collection, in case you’re wondering, includes three Fallout titles (all from the pre-Bethesda Fallout days). Namely, these are the original Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics. This will apply to all Fallout 76 players, across PC, PS4, and Xbox One. 

Meanwhile, if you’re more concerned with Fallout in the here and now and are hoping for improvements to be made to Fallout 76, the first quarter of 2019 looks like it’s bringing some interesting stuff. A a new mode without PvP restrictions is primed to go live in the early months of 2019- read more on that through here.

#HappyHolidays!

ANYONE who logged into the full release of #Fallout76 in 2018 will receive an entitlement for Fallout Classic Collection on PC. This applies to Xbox One and PS4 players, too.

The entitlement is expected to go live in early January. pic.twitter.com/U8pJwrk0PV

— Bethesda (@bethesda) December 22, 2018

Vault 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure

Fallout wasn’t always going to be a post-apocalyptic, violent RPG that put Interplay and Black Isle Studios on the map. Instead, it to be called Vault 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure and based off of Steve Jackson Games’ GURPS. At some point, it seemed that the game would be about time travel which was removed in favour of a post-nuclear setting. It was all going well…until Steve Jackson saw the violence in the game and decided against the GURPS system being used (though Jackson said Interplay took this step on its own without providing a reason). As a result, Black Isle went with its proprietary S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system and with Brian Fargo suggesting the name “Fallout”, a franchise was born.

Ghosts With The Sorrow – Metal Gear Solid 3

Remember that fight with The Sorrow? The depressing trudge through the afterlife? As it turns out, the various ghosts represent the people that Snake has killed up till that point. So obviously, killing many enemies will see them appear. Of course, any experienced Metal Gear Solid player knows this isn’t the first time the game mocks you for your killing.

A new Fallout.

"Having been a hardcore fan of open-world RPGs and looter shooters in general, the improved gunplay and setting really pushed me to pick it up."

The last “real” open world from Bethesda was The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. That was in 2011 though and it felt like forever ago. Skyrim had its share of DLC and mods, support for the latter continuing to this day. It was impactful enough to be compared to every single open world game from Dragon Age: Inquisition to Just Cause 2. Skyrim was flawed and buggy but its brilliance couldn’t be denied. A new Fallout though? There hadn’t been a Fallout title from Bethesda since Fallout 3 in 2008. Obsidian filled that gap in 2010 with Fallout: New Vegas but the true next step, the series’ next-generation debut was yet to be seen. But in June, it finally happened – Fallout 4 was announced. We even got a reveal trailer and despite criticism of the visuals, fans were generally upbeat about what was coming.

For me, having grown up in an age where XCOM was always an isometric tactical strategy game, Bioware’s best game would always be Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and Fallout always offered unprecedented character customization and role-playing, every Fallout game from the third onwards just felt strange. Not bad but strange and different.

The more I saw Fallout 4, the more I liked it. Having been a hardcore fan of open-world RPGs and looter shooters in general, the improved gunplay and setting really pushed me to pick it up. I even told the girl in question at the time that my availability would be limited because gosh darn it, Fallout 4 was coming. Hype levels weren’t set to critical like many, many fans but I was suitably excited.

Whether it was the emotional stress at the time or just being too busy with other things, I didn’t really spend much time with Fallout 4. I still kept pace with the game because it interested me and make no mistake, so did millions of other players. There were 1.2 million copies sold in the first 24 hours – Bethesda had shipped 12 million units to retailers in that same period. By early 2017, Fallout 4’s sales had already surpassed Skyrim’s within the same time frame. It was an uber-popular game. However, slowly but surely, fan sentiment began to shift.

"Fallout 4 was still one of the most played titles on Steam but it was clear that hardcore fans were angry at worst, disillusioned at best."

“Fallout 4”, for all intents and purposes they said, “Is a good game. But it’s a bad Fallout game.” This phrase was bandied about forums and Reddit threads for years. What did it mean? It meant that while Fallout 4 was a competently made, even enjoyable, experience for any player. However, if you wanted a Fallout game, you were completely out of luck. A wave of disappointment slowly began to form. The questions just wouldn’t stop.

Why was Fallout 4’s story so similar to its predecessor? Why did it feel so one-note and unexciting? What happened to Perks and Traits? Why was the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system relegated to just being a straight upgrade for your character instead of a means to craft one’s individual personality? What happened to speech checks and dialogue choices? Why were so many dialogue choices simplified and seemingly presented similar resolutions to conflicts? Why did the factions feel so one-note and boring? Why was the world so uninteresting? Why weren’t the side quests like The Witcher 3? Why did the game as a whole feel a bit on the short side, especially with regards to the story? What happened to the lore? Why does the game put so much emphasis on looting and shooting? What the heck was up with all the building?

Fallout 4 was still one of the most played titles on Steam but it was clear that hardcore fans were disillusioned at best. For the angry few, the game felt like it was missing something. Some who enjoyed the game even reflected on their time spent with it and admitted that it wasn’t as good as they first thought. You could chalk that up to pressure from the most frothing faithful though.

Hilariously, I bought the Season Pass for Fallout 4 once I heard about its content. The overall DLC sounded fine and Bethesda was going to increase the price in exchange for delivering even more. I was sold because, for the limited time I put into Fallout 4, I generally liked the game. I didn’t walk into it expecting a Fallout experience as much as a regular FPS/RPG.

Over time, I started indulging in the game some more and really burning through the base story. Many of the inherent flaws of this “good game” became more obvious. Quests like Museum of Witchcraft and Dunwich Borers, hailed for being some of the best, were pretty good but nothing over-the-top amazing. Exploring the world and having these random experiences or happening upon significant lore did feel great. The urge to complete the story was there but so was simply wasting time in the Commonwealth. I struck up a good balance and eventually by early 2017, I had finished Fallout 4. It was a nice, solid “7.5” experience. Nothing supremely exceptional but a good fun game nonetheless. Even with 70 hours spent, I feel like I could go back and kill some more time without too much thought.

"With the announcement of Fallout 76 and its reveal as an online title with survival, building and co-operative elements, the discussion has cropped up again. “Fallout 76 isn’t a real Fallout title,” they say."

It’s funny to look back and think about it because even with DLC like Far Harbor, Fallout 4 has a generally lamentable reputation. Many fans have accepted what it is, acknowledging that it will never be more than the sum of its parts. Others try to find the fun in its gameplay loop while messing about with mods and other enhancements. However, the general feeling of Fallout 4 betraying what the classic games offered – turning into what many feared Fallout 3 would become in terms of oversimplification and the removal of key gameplay elements – seemed to permeate among the diehard fanbase. For someone like me who never really experienced Fallout despite understanding the significance of the classic games, I had fun with it, acknowledged its faults and then moving on to other games. How the player base felt to see their favourite franchise become something that was, for lack of a better word, “different” is understandable (though the blind vitriol directed at the developer was excessive, to say the least).

With the announcement of Fallout 76 and its reveal as an online title with survival, building and co-operative elements, the discussion has cropped up again. “Fallout 76 isn’t a real Fallout title,” they say. It’s not even a traditional Bethesda Fallout game since the Pipboy no longer results in sweet slow-mo kills, bruh! But then you could also nuke other people, which is totally not cool and also lore-breaking, darn it! There are many different complaints to be had honestly.

However, many also felt this would be an interesting step forward. If players wanted to role-play as certain characters like merchants or even the Minutemen, they could do that. Pairing up with other players wasn’t necessary and though NPCs with their intricate backstories weren’t available any more, random encounters with real players while exploring this massive wasteland could lend to unique experiences. After all, we’ve all played the bog-standard open world Bethesda RPG with its radiant side-quests and faction quests. We’ve all experienced the open world formula of The Witcher 3, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Assassin’s Creed Origins. The developer is also working on Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, which will be single-player efforts. Why not try something totally different, especially if it will have free content (even the paid cosmetics can be earned through playing) and single-player servers with mod support?

However, I can’t help but ask why this cycle keeps repeating, especially with Fallout. \Bethesda first acquired the license after initial publisher Interplay went bankrupt. Black Isle Studios, known for the Fallout titles and other classic RPGs like Icewind Dale, also subsequently shut down. You could theorize that Bethesda pressured Interplay into giving up the IP purely for its own greed, turning it into something it’s not. For better or worse though, Bethesda put in the money for the IP. It dedicated the time and resources to create this large, open world RPG/FPS hybrid and then marketed it heavily. The title very much could have failed especially given the buzz from hardcore fans about how much it differed from previous titles. Instead, Fallout 3 was a success. Aside from the numerous, justified complaints about bugs, some fans of the classic games seemed pretty okay with it as well.

"Fallout 2 is when the series truly began to come into its own. Some may look back and criticize its shift towards twisted American culture, humour and overall wackiness."

What was it then about Fallout 4 that broke the camel’s back? For that matter, when looking at future titles like Fallout 76, what constitutes a “real” Fallout game when the discussion crops up? What do many of the fans actually want from Bethesda Game Studios? Is there a specific reason it’s not being provided to them (besides the obvious urge to do something different)?

The first Fallout was intriguing for many reasons but at its core, it had severe issues. Combat wasn’t so much tactical as a crap-shoot and the user interface wasn’t very good either. What the game really nailed was the look and feel of a true, post-apocalyptic wasteland. That feeling of oppression and loneliness, of the world having truly ended, was conveyed amazingly well. The gameplay hook of Fallout was in the sense of freedom that it offered courtesy of its S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system, Skills, Perks and Traits. While S.P.E.C.I.A.L. was the base of a character’s stats, it was really meant to augment your base Skills. The Skills dominated pretty much every single decision made throughout the game, from how effective you were at lock-picking to whether certain options appeared (skill-checks essentially). The number of points in a particular stat was also important but the Skills really opened the game up in terms of variety.

From there, players could imbue either benefits (via Perks, which were improved less frequently) or drawbacks (via Traits, which offered something good but sandbagged you with some issues, thus incentivizing certain builds while discouraging others). Skills are important, no doubt, but Bethesda also created the game to let players approach situations in any way they so pleased. Yes, a lot of solutions could end up with the same bottom line, but the overall effect on player agency – especially when Karma and Reputation are thrown in – can range from subtle to game-changing. Even if Wasteland in 1988 offered a persistent world that was constantly changing from your actions, Fallout took it even further as exemplified with Fallout 2.

Fallout 2 is when the series truly came into its own. Some may look back and criticize its shift towards twisted American culture, humour and overall wackiness. However, Fallout 2 embraced the madness that the post-apocalyptic landscape offered, letting players take on any number of character roles within its confines and play the game however they wished. The sheer freedom of character customization combined with Skills, Perks, Traits and the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system made it a dream come true for RPG fans. It didn’t hurt that combat felt more enjoyable as well.

"Again, don’t take this as a sweeping generalization or criticism of Fallout 4 as a whole. The game was still pretty fun to play."

Fallout 3, for all intents and purposes, started each player out with the same origin story. While having the same starting point in a game can be handled magnificently well (Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a good contemporary example), it’s player choice that brings all the wrinkles and little touches that become so memorable. Fallout 3 made a big deal about its Prologue, setting up the character’s relationship with their father in a strong manner. It also pushed a fair number of choices that could have consequences. Finally, the wasteland felt like a disconnected entity throughout all this. When venturing forth, Fallout 3 could be seen as opening up. Say what you will about the story or the lack of player agency, the essential systems like Skills, skill-checks, Karma, S.P.E.C.I.A.L. and so on were intact.

What did Fallout 4 get wrong though? It’s first important to note what player agency means. It’s the player’s ability to impact the world around them, either through the design or gameplay. From that perspective, Fallout 4 had a few moments of brilliance with regards to agency. Choosing your faction did fundamentally affect the game world, even if it didn’t really alter the ending all that much. How you acted around certain companions could determine whether different options – like Curie receiving a human body or Cait being free from addiction – could have had the potential for agency but their impact on the overall world was negligible at best. Similarly, even though settlements could be saved, constructed and made to prosper – allowing for the gameplay to affect the world’s physical composition – everything else that made up the environment just felt stagnant. It was almost like the majority of the world was resisting attempts at player agency (or not doing a good job at keeping up the illusion).

Again, don’t take this as a sweeping dismissal of Fallout 4 as a whole. The game was still pretty fun to play. Also, Far Harbor and Nuka World did pretty good at making the player feel their choices offered some modicum of difference (the former much more than the latter). For all the hate towards the lore ret-conning, Fallout 4 possessed some amazing stories. Cambridge Polymer Labs and the tragic tale of the scientists trying to escape while the director pushes them to complete their military research for some degree of leverage in the post-apocalyptic world is one. Dunwich Borers, especially in its environmental story-telling and lore alone, is another. Again, not everything is perfect in that regard but there are plenty of hits to be had.

Still, many other things that could make the player feel like they were affecting the world or even seeing it through a new light – via the characters, choices, etc. – felt stunted due to core system changes. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. was little more than a level up system where points could be allotted wherever to become an uber powerful being. The ability to have every single Perk resulted in more streamlined choices in the early going. By the end, the Lone Survivor felt more like the almighty bad-ass as opposed to, well, a bad-ass that leaned ever harder into the choices established in the early going. From a shooting and looting perspective, especially since loot contained a number of different benefits, this was fine.

"Probably but if Fallout 76 can make the impact of the individual matter in a set-up more catered to connected societies and a living world defined as much by others’ actions, then it just might have something to keep players coming back."

From a Fallout perspective, this felt like a big shift. Karma mattered but was the player’s reputation outside of the three main factions really being affected (especially since the Minutemen stick with you regardless of anything, especially bringing Raiders to the Commonwealth to murder and pillage)?

I can understand the fun that comes with imagining certain things for yourself and truly role-playing a character rather than the game responding with a set number of situations. That’s why I think within the context of Fallout 76, player agency should feel stronger since environmental story-telling will be reinforced. The player’s ability to associate themselves with this world will be stronger since it’s truly defined by their actions (as opposed to being perfectly congruent with their existence). However, I also feel that NPCs contribute to the world building. You could have the player as the sole character under which the entire world revolves or introduce other players who create numerous different backstories. You could allow players to do whatever they want to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. If the world itself still feels the same, as it mostly did in Fallout 4, will any of that really matter?

It’s an interesting choice overall and one that people shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss. Like Fallout 4, I think Bethesda has a unique, new way to really open up the universe of Fallout. The gameplay will hopefully reinforce that further and incentivize players to explore the world around them, letting them be who they want to be. Will that feeling from Fallout or Fallout 2 (or even Fallout: New Vegas, despite how barren its world felt) ever return? Will we feel like every single choice made contributes to a larger change in the world or at least be fooled into thinking the same? Probably but if Fallout 76 can make the impact of the individual matter in a set-up more catered to in-game communities as a whole, then it just might have something to keep players coming back with more positive things to say.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.