So the
first wave of
previews and footage of this has been released, and it looks about as shit as I expected. The levelling system looks interesting and it seems like it controls
alright, but that's about it. From what I've seen so far, it is just another example of Bethesda completely misunderstanding what made the original Fallout games so good.
The main thing for me is how it seems so barren. There are no NPCs, no settlements, not even a hint of a faction, how can you have a Fallout game and not include any semblance of society? I'm not complaining that my old favourites aren't back in a childish, fanboylike
"oh, where are the Brotherhood of Steel. I wanna see them again!" way. I'd
love for them to come up with a whole range of new characters, groups and enemies. I just don't understand how you can have nothing? The entire point of Fallout is about people rebuilding society. Creating a new world out of the ashes, with a few bright, optimistic people attempting to evolve humanity but being held back by the majority of people trying to replicate the world which was lost and slowly, grimly, just repeating the mistakes of their forebears. The reason the original games placed such an emphasis on the speech mechanics is that interaction between people and social dynamics are the main theme of the games, how you speak to people is just as important as who you choose to shoot. I heard it best described from someone as a
post-post-apocalyptic game, and I think there's so much opportunity to create interesting stories in this space.
Of course, Fallout 3 & 4 showed that Bethesda never were really interested in exploring that side of Fallout, and just appreciate the cool aesthetic and iconic characters. I really wasn't expecting much. However, with proper effort I reckon it is possible to make a good multiplayer Fallout game that keeps all the themes intact and supplies a fun experience. Most of my FO1&2 runs involve me picking up and dropping companions and party members throughout the game as they die from unfortunate dice rolls or just become useless - there's no reason those party members couldn't be real people. Add in a dialogue system like Divinity: Original Sin's, you could have had something truly amazing. No, all we're gonna get is a dull-looking Borderlands with shit gunplay, a worse story and a half-arsed crafting mechanic. BOO Bethesda. BOO. Just stick to re-releasing fucking Skyrim.
I know, this is a lot of shit to write about a game that's not even released yet but it pisses me off how one of the biggest studios with the most prestige just keep releasing games that range from almost-good to basically-alright-I-guess just because they lack any sort of ambition or imagination.
