Fallout 76 was one of Bethesda’s biggest mistakes...
Released in 2018, Fallout 76 just never felt on brand with the rest of the beloved Fallout series - but why was that? What changed for Bethesda that caused them to change the identity of the series and stray away from what worked so well for them in the past?
Up until Fallout 76, it seemed like Bethesda completely dominated the single player RPG market with the Elder Scroll series and the Fallout franchise. Fallout 76 had a really, really, really rough launch. So much so that Bethesda CEO Todd Howard said he wished they released a beta version of the game several months before release so they could’ve gained player feedback. Not only was Fallout 76 unlike any previous Fallout game, but the game also had significant instability issues and glitches. Most players would’ve never thought Fallout 76 would even be around 5+ years later.
But oddly enough, Fallout 76 is currently one of the most popular games to play and even eclipsed over 1 Million concurrent players. Now a large part of this revitalization is due to the success of the Amazon show, Fallout but even with the show’s success, it couldn’t revive a truly bad game…
So today we’re gonna be answering the simple question: Is Fallout 76 worth playing today?
But before we get into that, let’s take you back a few steps…in 2018, the launch of Fallout 76 was pretty much a complete flop. It’s the polar opposite of Fallout 3, New Vegas and Fallout 4 - all of those were massive successes. However Bethesda really wanted to engage a different type of audience. So not only was Fallout 76 the first multiplayer Fallout game, but the entire game revolved around this online PVP component.
So much so that at the release of the Fallout 76, there wasn’t a single NPC character on the map
If you’ve played the Fallout franchise before or really any Bethesda developed game like Skyrim or Oblivion, you know how ridiculous that sounds - up until this point NPCs are weirdly the life blood for RPGs and Fallout is no exception. Fallout is built on exploration, survival and random NPCs giving you the craziest quests you could ever imagine or simply just advancing the storyline.
But let’s put ourselves into the shoes of a Bethesda developer - up until this point, they have only known major success for the franchise. However, the world was increasingly growing more popular with multiplayer gaming. Up to this point, Fallout never added in multiplayer components, its true bread and butter was thru a single player RPG survival experience.
Fallout 3, New Vegas and 4 all represented a different era, location or storyline throughout the Wasteland. Fallout as a franchise really got its identity through the depth of the wasteland, all the vast storylines you could follow and this internal feeling of me vs the entire wasteland.
Now Fallout 76 didn’t just have a different identity altogether - the game didn’t really work as the developers were hoping…
Mainly because people simply waited outside the vault and killed any new player who tried to enter Appalachia
It made for a chaotic scene and griefers were everywhere. This led to Bethesda eventually forcing players to have to opt-in to the PVP mode to prevent stuff like this from happening - which kinda eliminated the entire mantra of Fallout 76.
However, part of this story actually shows one of the game’s strengths - because it’s a living, breathing game - updates can happen all the time. So in theory, the game should get increasingly better over time which is definitely the case for Fallout 76.
Outside of the game having instability issues, glitches, bug, etc. the Fallout 76 controversy goes even past the game itself. As with many popular gaming series - Fallout has die hard fans so Bethesda decided to release a $200 copy of Fallout 76 with the promise of special canvas bag knowing some fans would love the collectible
However, the promised canvas bags were a complete disaster - fans started to get these cheap quality nylon bags looking nothing like what was originally promised.
But it gets even better...To compensate people for the cheap quality they decided to offer patrons 500 atoms which is Fallout’s in-game virtual currency that you can buy. What does 500 atoms equal you might ask? You’d think it clearly has to be somewhat valuable 0 I mean these people spent $200 for crying out loud!
Well….500 atoms equals…..$5 US Dollars…which isn’t even enough to buy the Fallout 76 postman skin….who comes equipped with an actual canvas bag. Yikes...
The point I’m trying to make is that the Fallout 76 flop goes way beyond just the game’s disappointment. There was so many layers to the pain that it becomes a developer’s worst nightmare. So as you can tell there’s always been a lot of noise with Fallout 76, but supposedly in today’s gaming world, Fallout 76 is in a MUCH better place.
That’s why I’m going to give Fallout 76 2 separate reviews:
As mentioned, if you’ve never dabbled in Fallout before, then it’s a nice way to get your feet wet
But if you’re a season vet in the Wasteland, I personally wouldn’t waste my time unless you had a few other buddies who you can constantly explore Appalachia with.
I know this blog has mainly been negative but we do have to give Bethesda some credit in reviving this game. They could’ve easily threw in the towel and never fixed their mistakes. But they constantly listened to fan feedback, even though it took a while and ultimately got Fallout 76 to the place they most likely wanted it to originally be.
And that is a game for a new Fallout crowd, one that can enjoy Fallout in a lighter, less serious way
If you enjoyed this video then you’ll also probably like my video on the history of the Fallout franchise and you can watch that one by clicking right here.
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