Fallout 76

Fallout 76 was released in the year 2018. Since its release, the game has been under constant criticism thanks to a large number of bugs, lack of content and shady practices. The game had so many flaws that it made gamers lost all hope for the future of the Fallout franchise. There was no fun playing Fallout 76, players just wanted their money refunded because the game was not even worth playing. The bugs just made the game unplayable which made many players frustrated including me. The shady microtransaction practices made many players angry. EA did the same and both of these companies are known as greedy publishers. However, the biggest misstep was lack of mods because Fallout is all about mods.

Fallout 76 Setting

Unlike other Fallout games that take place many years after the nuclear disaster Fallout 76 takes place twenty-five years after the nuclear war. The time frame of the game makes it a prequel to all other Fallout games. It depicts the events of first vault dwellers as they try to repopulate the devastated earth. In a sense, it is the initiation of all the events in every game of the series.  To me, it is just an experiment with a Fallout game that is now out of control. The lack of NPCs just made everything worse.

Fallout 76 Environmental Storytelling

No matter how messed up Bethesda is they will always have better environmental storytelling. The game was full of bugs from day one which made it nearly unplayable. Bethesda is constantly improving the game but some of the problems seem unsolvable. There were so many bugs in the game that made it seem incomplete. The game was developed in a rush as a mean for the company to earn money. Despite its many flaws, the environment of Fallout 76 is quite explanatory. The surrounding of Fallout 76 tells player most of the story. The environment of the game is very detailed which tells most of the story about the devastated world. Like all other Fallout games, players can guess what they are getting into as soon as they are out of the vault.

The Multiplayer Companionship

The strongest aspect of Fallout 76 is the companionship it provides to the lone survivor. In other survival games, you will always be worried about being stabbed in the back by other players. In Fallout 76 you are safe from other human players. The engagement between players is nearly nonexistent unless you change the mode of the game or both players attack each other. In battle royal mode you can only survive by killing other players. Fallout 76 gives you chances to be aggressive towards other players or be friendly with them. So don’t worry about being stabbed in the back. However, bugs are still a great issue for this experimental Fallout.

Mechanics of Fallout 76

The combat of Fallout 76 mostly resembles Fallout 4 and even graphics of both games are similar. Third-person is useless when it comes to ranged combat. You won’t be able to shoot anyone in the third person because the entire mechanics of combat is crappy. First-person is the only sure way to take down the enemy. Initially, there were many bugs in the game which made the game difficult even on the first person. The updates fixed most of these problems but third-person combat is still hard.

VATS was the most important part of the Fallout series because it slows time and gives you a chance to react. In Fallout 76 you can only use it in real-time, so you can only use it as a scouting device. Unlike other multiplayer coop games, you can’t level up without indulging in battle such as Wolfenstein: Youngblood. You have to tag your enemies by shooting them at least once to get XP.  You will also have the ability to deploy a mobile base to prepare for battle. Initially, there were lots of bugs in the combat system which made the game frustrating.

Fallout 76 Was a Disaster Form the Beginning

The problems with Fallout 76 began as soon as the game was released. It was the first attempt by Bethesda to create an MMORPG version of Fallout series.  You can’t see a single graphical improvement in the game. The game had bad gameplay, the experience of which was worse than any other Fallout. It was not an RPG game like other games in the series. However, these were not the problem that led this game to disaster. The controversies and the buggy nature of the game was the reason for its failure.

Issues with Physical Items

The problems of Fallout 76 are not limited to the game. The physical items sold alongside Fallout 76 game were also full of problems. Power Armor Edition of the game also included a military-style canvas bag that would include all other collectibles of the game. However, the bag that customers received was a cheap nylon bag. When they contacted the customer support service of Bethesda through twitter. They did not give any clear reply due to which many fans got angry. Later they paid every Power Armor Edition purchaser with 500 atoms which were not enough to buy even a single outfit from the store. When everyone started criticizing Bethesda they sent actual canvas bags but at this point, the damage was already done.

Problem with the Developers

Two months after the release of the game reports started circulating about the breach in the developer room. It was also reported that the hackers were doing it for a couple of weeks. The breach of security can have a huge effect on the power balance of the game. We all have noticed console commands in most RPG games such commands are locked in a multiplayer games. However, a person can access it through developers. Hackers were able to use that console though the developer’s system. They were able to access items that were supposed to be in future updates. Players were able to get their hand on all the items of the game.

We could see such item being sold on eBay and other platforms which cost Bethesda quite a fortune. They were able to ban the players using such items but the damage was already done. Some players were able to find their way around this problem and are still using these items.

No Mod Support

Bethesda was clear that there won’t be any 3^rd party mods for Fallout 76. A Fallout game without mod is like a warm cola without ice in hot summer. The entire franchise is famous for being mod-friendly. Most people would buy the games from this series due to mods. The lack of mods disappointed many players but Bethesda was still offering purchasable cosmetics in the game. The lack of mods indicates that Bethesda wants to sell the mods rather than make them easily available. Recently many players have been banned because they were using some modified item. To unlock such account the players have to write a long essay along with reasons for such behavior. This shows the total monetized aspect of Fallout 76.

Use of Microtransactions

Bethesda made many claims that were utterly baseless after the release of the game. One such claim was the lack of advantageous items in the Atomic Shop. Initially, it was true because there were only cosmetic items in the Atomic store. However, later with the introduction of the repair kit, their claims were nothing more than lies. On surface repair kit might not seem a big deal but it’s far from the truth. Repair kits enable players to repair weapons on the spot without the use of any material. So if you are repairing weapons that use rare material then you will be at a huge advantage. Other players would have to grind for hours just to get their hands on such material which would not be the case for you.

The scrap kit is another advantageous item in the Atomic store. It enables you to send junk directly to your stash without going back to base. Scrap kit provides a huge advantage because it lets you accumulate more raw material. In Fallout series raw materials are important for crafting of different items. If you are using scrap kit then you will have an unfair advantage over other players. Initially, the price of cosmetics was fair. However, the price of some recent cosmetics is very high. Some cosmetics are having the price tag of $18 which is $2 less than Witcher 3’s massive DLC. Bethesda has gone overboard with the microtransactions in this game.

Fallout 76 is Constantly Being Upgraded

The game had a sturdy start but Bethesda has been constantly improving the game to a great extent. Initially, there were no NPCs in the game. The lack of NPCs had a great impact on the game. It removed all the aspects of an RPG game form Fallout 76. Removing such elements made it a hollow Fallout game. Bethesda has been constantly improving the game. It is now a much better version of the game. NPC would be added to the game this fall. The addition of NPC the update will bring the RPG elements back to the game. NPCs would have a full dialogue tree and they will bring brand new quests to the game.

Battle Royal

The name of Fallout 76’s battle royal is Nuclear Winter. This is the latest big update of Fallout 76 that brigs massive changes to the game. The initial missteps of the game had created a bad reputation for it. Bethesda was hoping to introduce something new to the game. The battle royal lacks the essence of a battle royal and it is different than all other games. We can see that the constant improvement of the game is working to some extent.

Conclusion

Fallout 76 is a game that was trying to bring the iconic RPG game to an online platform but it failed to do so. Bethesda made many mistakes during the initial release of the game. These mistakes ruined the reputation of the game leading Fallout 76 to a disaster. There is still hope due to the steady stream of update and improvements.  Most of the players have already given up on the game but they can still reclaim these players.

If Bethesda had released Fallout 76 this year and all these updates were already included then the game wouldn’t have been this messy. If you are a fan of Fallout series and want to buy Fallout 76 now is the time. With all the updates your games would be free from most of the problem. Just make sure to download all the updates or else you will feel the wrath of bugs.