What’s Wrong with Fallout 4 : Bethesda Or Hype?

 

A glimpse at Oblivion in the Commonwealth?

When Bethesda first Announced Fallout 4, excitement flooded the gaming community as it became one of the most anticipated games of 2015. Despite the storm of hype the internet, the games release was met with less than favorable reviews, citing sub-par graphics, and complaining about general bugginess. However, when examined the game is very functional, and really is a vast improvement over previous titles in the franchise, which is actually exactly what Bethesda promised for the game, So why are so many people upset? Well, the answer has less  to do with Bethesda or the IP, and more to do with the fans. So let’s examine the nature of the hype that revolved around the announcement of FO4 , along with the fickleness of the gaming community.

The beginning of the Fallout 4 discussion started as far back as Fallout: New Vegas, because ,just like today (with FO4), New Vegas was not well received by Fallout fans. People were dissatisfied with New Vegas to the extent that some people wouldn’t ever consider it as a sequel to FO3, claiming  that it was more of a expansion than a stand alone game. As unfair as that may sound today, it was a very real trend in the Fallout fandom, Although New Vegas was clearly not a very large technological leap, it did have some game play improvements like; the ability to use iron sights aiming, weapon customization, and a more balanced perk upgrade system like FO2. Despite, all this, today the fandom has been hailing NV as the best Fallout game ever made. When Fallout 3 came out the Interplay purists condemned it and held the original two games FO1 &FO2 aloft upon the highest pedestal, preferring the old turned based combat to the New FPS style combat.

Power Armor in FO3

And the obvious improvements….

So, in light of these past trends, one could draw conclusion solely off of this information alone.We will, however, note the tendency of nostalgic longing among the FO fan-base and move on to yet another friend; the hype factory.

I have noticed the hype engine that pops up around game announcements. Not just a FO problem , it tends to extend it merciless grasp into all games. What happens; is that a developer/ studio/ publisher will make an announcement like,’’ We are working on our next game,’’ This is what it’s called,’’ it’ll be the the best game we’ve made yet.’’ From this point forward, unless you see a statement on the company website, everything else you will hear about the game will be, far the most part,conjecture. For most IPS the hype wagon is a short ride that isn’t taken seriously but Bethesda has a fairly good history with making game of the year (GOTY) titles, and fan’s expectations are set on this idea, and subsequently want the next title to reach that status. Yes, this may he unreasonable, and quite possibly short-sighted, but Bethesda fan a are very proud and passionate people, and they always want their favorite publishes on top. Furthermore, Bethesda has a very strong modding community, one that Bethesda fully supports and encourages. In the past the company has shown appreciation for modders, by using the ideas that the modders came up with, so Bethesda has a reputation as a company that listens to it’s fans. What we fans have to realize, though, is that Bethesda is still a small studio and can’t possibly implement all of our ideas. I know that fans are aware of all of this, but it seems that a large portion are still offended that FO4 didn’t their ideas (“ I know they can’t do every games ideas, but my ideas was the best, it was essential,’’

I suppose that what I’m trying to say is that Fallout 4 is an excellent game by every standard. It may not he the best game in the world. Or even the best Bethesda game, but these are relative terms what is true for you may not be true for Todd Howard or Pete Mines, perhaps they like Fallout4 better than their past games, perhaps not.The fact remains that FO4 is one of the funnest, most entertaining games on the nest gen market. Sure graphics could have been better, but if production started after Skyrim, then chances are FO4 started its life being designed before the next gen came out. I can assure that the next Elders Scrolls, or the next Fallout will be 100% next gen in design. As small as they are starting over 1/2 way isn’t an option.

… and now, for something not all that entirely different…..

Weather, you like it it as not, FO4 is great. If you don’t like it perhaps you should examine your  own expectations. Our tendencies, as fans, to expect Flawless production from such a small studio, and the hipster-like nostalgia envy, is really unrealistic. Bethesda is not at fault for making a ‘’ Bad Game’’ they are victims of the pedestal we put them on.

My mental record of video game history…

A little man in a jumpsuit riding a rat bike,  zooms in and out of traffic on some highway in Kenya,  nearly hitting a cow that, for some reason, has decided to take a nice morning stroll in the middle of the road, and just when he thinks he is out of dangers way,  another motorcycle pulls up beside him and he get a face full of a led pipe as the new racer swings away with astonishing fury and vigor. The force of the blow sends the little man and his bike flying off to the edge of the road, but he corrects in time to get back next to the man with the led pipe, and when the pipe starts swinging again, this time he reaches up and takes it from the guys hand and gives him the thrashing he rightfully deserves.

Road Rash is one of the memories of the times of Sega Genesis that I remember a touch more fondly than most. My Dad and I used to play that game almost endlessly during the early springtime of my life. I couldn’t have been much older than five or six at the time, and my introduction to the Racing Game genre set me up for many disappointments by raising my standards to a point that I had to have some sort of senseless violence built-in with it. Racing games never did get up to par for me until at least the time of the Sega Saturn, with Need For Speed when I could functionally go through and run other cars off the road without my car exploding as a result. Of course these days that kind of racing experience is a dime a dozen, because any one of the genre will allow you to drive recklessly (however, if you are online people get upset, which is why I don’t play Forza online). I watched many genres of games evolve into something much greater than what they really were, and I’ve even watched genres appear out of thin air on occasion (Like GTA), but that’s what anyone born in the 80’s would have seen.

The FPS (First Person Shooter) genre is another one that I can look back on fondly, and it all started with shooting demons and zombies in Doom, for me. That was one of the first games that truly amazed me. All the blood, monsters, labyrinth style maps that you could easily get lost in for hours, and some of the coolest music of its time (goofy sounding computerized versions of what sounds like Metallica), kept me busy from the time my uncle David introduced me to it, to the time that Soldier of Fortune (SOF)was made.  Both games were extremely revolutionary, in the fact that they both had rather immersive 3D maps that you could explore. In Doom you could find hidden passages filled with cool stuff and new enemies that got increasingly scarier for a kid my age. SOF was fun just because it was the first game I played that allowed you to freely aim your weapon, and the bullets were interactive with the body part you hit, if you had the Desert Eagle equipped you could blow a man’s head off, and furthermore, if you had the 9mm all you would do is put a hole in his head. SOF was way before it’s time however, because the only game quite like it was Cold Winter. Call of Duty and Medal of Honor never really got into blowing people’s body parts off, and I think that would still be a good addition to their physics engine.

Last but not least, is the genre of RPG (Role Playing Games). David also introduced this to me, but I didn’t like them at all first. They were way too boring for a little kid I think, and i never really got into them until Bethesda the Awesome, took away the stupid turn based fighting, and made it into a new first person type of game. Morrowind and Oblivion were both amazing games thought up by Bethesda, they both had extremely large worlds that were highly interactive. Oblivion itself was only surpassed by the recent Skyrim. I still don’t think I’ve done everything there is to do in Morrowind or Oblivion, but I also have a tendancy to mod, (so expect an article about modding) which may be the reason I’ve never fully completed these games. I would like to talk about Fable, as well, which I think has been unappreciated by most of the mainstream gamers. The game makes choice it’s core development, and thus makes the world even more interactive than you could realize at first, especially in Fable 2 and 3. It is unique every time you play it, but more than that, I believe it is the most successful merging of RPG and Action gaming ever invented and I will always hold Lionhead Studios in high esteem for it.

I’ve seen video games come from, a squiggly little frog running across the road, to the massive interactive worlds created by the last three Elder Scrolls games, and Grand Theft Auto. I’ve seen games go from 2D to 3D and from simple like Double Dragons, to complicated and bizarre like Spore. I don’t know where they will go next but I honestly can’t wait to see it (no matter how corny that sounds).