The Consistency of a Common Problem in Every Fallout Game, Except for One: A Gamers’ Preferred Choice

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Almost all Fallouts share the same problem

Just a few weeks ago, Amazon Prime Video surprised everyone by revealing its entire series fallout. While many fans of the saga expected an average adaptation because of the few trailers and posters that poorly sold the final product, the Fallout series ultimately convinced a lot of people. Whether you're a player of Bethesda's iconic saga or not, there's a good chance you love the series. Personally, for example, I discovered it after having played very little of the games and I particularly appreciated what I saw, as I tell you in this article.

On the occasion of the release of this series, many players who missed the mark on the games when they were released have chosen to catch up in recent days. However, it must be admitted that in addition to their age, Fallout games almost all share a certain flaw that could cause problems for many players. Indeed, in most Fallout games, the scenario imposes a sense of urgency which pushes the player to concentrate on the main quest:

• In Fallout 1you have to find a chip to save your shelter
• In Fallout 2you must save your tribe before it dies of hunger
• In Fallout 3you have to find your missing father
• In Fallout 4you have to find your kidnapped child

In the end, across all the games in the Fallout saga, only Fallout New Vegas emerges from this emergency and offers a scenario that gives pride of place to exploration. Indeed, in the game developed by Obsidian, your adventure begins after surviving a normally fatal blow, and the whole goal of the game is simply to find the person who wanted your life. In other words, there is absolutely no rush to complete this objective immediately, leaving the player free to take the time to explore the world. Knowing that all the salt of Fallout is found precisely in the environmental narration and in the construction of the universe, it is not surprising that Fallout New Vegas is considered the favorite episode of many fans.

A problem that we find in too many games

By reading the first half of this article, you probably said to yourself that this concern for urgency in the scenario was shared by a large number of games. Actually, thinking about it, the vast majority of open world games share this same problem, and it's a shame. In Cyberpunk 2077, for example, the player plays a character whose life is threatened by the chip in his skull. The latter promises him certain death in just a few days, and the whole main quest consists of finding a way to remove it. However, absolutely nothing prevents you from leaving the main quest aside to do a plethora of side content, totally diminishing the urgency that the scenario tries to make you feel. A very sad consequence when we know that Cyberpunk 2077 shines precisely through its scenario, its characters and the construction of its universe.

Ultimately, in all open world games that offer an urgent quest (and there are many), the player is left with two choices: abandon the side content and miss the whole point of an open world, or abandon the main quest and miss the stakes of the scenario. In both cases, the player loses something. It is precisely for this reason that the more I advance in my life as a player, the more I begin to prefer so-called “corridor” games because they, at least, know how to manage the rhythm of their scenario. Of course, this preference is directly linked to the fact that I bring a lot of interest to the scenario and the narrationwhich is not necessarily the case for all players.

But the real conclusion of all this is that I shouldn't have to choose between a good storyline or a successful open world. In an explorable open world game like Fallout, it's important that developers learn how to better control the rhythm of their narration in order to alternate urgent moments with calmer moments. In doing so, players could in turn alternate the progress of the main quest with moments of exploration without feeling like they are missing out on the issues of the scenario or everything that an open world can offer. If Obsidian already managed to do this in 2010 with Fallout New Vegas, I'm sure that others will be able to take inspiration from it in the future.