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Fallout 3 is one of my favorite games of all time. It is one of those games you can simply sink your time into for hours at a time and be completely immersed in the setting. The vibrant atmosphere of the post-apocalyptic wasteland, the Wild West feel of the first major city Megaton, and the tension of visiting dark underground vaults scattered throughout the map made this game one of the best in my books.
With Fallout 4 almost undoubtedly happening, as Bethesda has their own E3 press conference and rumors circulating everywhere, it would be an absolute shock if Fallout 4 was not officially announced this summer. So, that being said, here are a few things I really want to see if this game comes to fruition.
VATS 2.0
In Fallout 3, the VATS system was my best friend in combat situations. VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) allowed a player to freeze time and choose an area of the enemy’s body they wanted to target while seeing the percentage that the weapon would actually hit the enemy. This caused some satisfying kills, as destroying a limb would blow it off and if the head was targeted, it would explode causing a “bloody mess.”
I would love to see VATS again in Fallout 4 with new innovations. My mind may not be creative enough to think of what that is, but I definitely want to see the system return in Fallout 4.
Strong Story for a Strong Game
I loved Fallout 3’s side quests. In my mind, Bethesda has really figured out the best formula in their games with initiating side quests and telling awesome parallel stories to that of the main quest. However, my biggest issue with Fallout 3 was its main quest. Throughout most of the main journey, you are tasked with finding your father and completing his research of discovering a way to purify water for everyone in the wasteland. While it sounds promising, the way it is delivered is a bit underwhelming.
In my opinion, this could be said for most Bethesda games, Elder Scrolls included. Fallout 3 did a wonderful job in my opinion of telling an amazing side story, but in Fallout 4 I would love to see a compelling main journey.
Oasis Environment
While Fallout 3 from a technical standpoint had good visuals, it was not necessarily fun to look at due to its bland textures and colors. This is completely understandable considering the environment is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. However, something Fallout 3 did really well in terms of visuals and colors was the Oasis area of the map. The area, known as Oasis, complete with a talking tree, was vibrant in color and seemed to be the last of the non-mutated living nature in the wasteland.
I hope that Fallout 4 can have another sort of hidden gem area like Oasis with amazing colors to show off what their visual team can really accomplish. Oasis was such a beautiful thing to look at compared to the bland rest of the Fallout 3 wasteland, and another change of pace area would be a good thing for Fallout 4, visually.
Karma Chameleon
In Fallout 3, one of the neat factors of the game style was the karma system. If you did morally good things, you got good karma, while evil actions resulted in receiving evil karma. For example, in the city of Megaton, you are given a major side quest that can result in permanently saving the city from the inactive bomb in the middle, or you can choose to be evil and blow the city up for a large amount of money.
I really liked the moral decisions you can make in the game and I would love to see Fallout 4 expand upon those choices. I would love to see more opportunities in-game as well as consequences for every moral decision made. This could create a whole new dynamic for the game, as well as give every player an even more unique experience depending on their play style.
Closing Thoughts
I have no doubt in my mind Bethesda is making Fallout 4. I also have no doubt that they will produce another masterpiece of a game. I just think, in my opinion, what can change Fallout 4 from a great game to a masterpiece, game of the year contender, are updates to the combat system, including a revamp of the VATS system, a strong main quest storyline, some beautiful environments mixed in the wasteland for some change of pace scenery, and morality choices that are used more often with more dire consequences one way or another.
Fallout 4 is rumored to be announced at Bethesda’s E3 conference and even shown 20-30 minutes behind closed doors to the press. You can check out that story here. What are your thoughts on Fallout 4? What do you want to see in the game? Let us know in the comments below.