With the success of Amazon Prime's Fallout streaming series earlier this year, both longtime fans and newcomers to the franchise are clamoring for more content. Collaborations with games like Fortnite have helped to fill the void, and Fallout 76 continues to receive updates. However, anyone hoping for a new installment from Bethesda is out of luck, as the next mainline Fallout entry is still years away.
This is where mods come to save the day. As with many of Bethesda's RPGs, the modding community regularly releases quality content to keep older entries in the Fallout franchise feeling fresh. This is especially true with Fallout 4, whose engine has been the basis for several total conversion mods. These include this year's Fallout: London and would have included the ambitious Fallout: Vault 13 if not for its recent cancelation. Though this mod is no longer in the works, its premise would serve as excellent inspiration for a future Fallout game.
Fallout 1 is a Wasteland Classic that Bethesda Should Remake
Fallout: Vault 13 was a large-scale project meant to recreate the original 1997 Fallout in Fallout 4's engine. Besides updating the game's graphics, the modding team's goal was to retool the skill system and dialogue trees from Fallout. The team even got so far as releasing a demo for the mod this past August. Unfortunately, development on the mod was suspended only two months later.
Fans were shocked by the news given Fallout: Vault 13's promising demo. As for the reasoning for the mod's cancelation, its co-lead Culinwino cited "a combination of factors, including burnout, difficulty recruiting and retaining team members with niche skills, and personal life changes among core team members." Culinwino went on to state in the mod's Discord server that, while work on the mod has ended, the team will still release an unfinished version of the mod to "allow the community to experience the mod in its current form and serve as a foundation for anyone interested in continuing or building upon it in the future."
An Opportunity for Bethesda to Take the Wheel
While Culinwino hopes the release of Fallout: Vault 13's unfinished build will serve as inspiration for other members of the modding community, it could just as easily inspire Bethesda itself. Vault 13 was a project that many Fallout fans were keeping an eye on. Its demo garnered plenty of excitement, and its cancelation was also the cause for plenty of disappointment. These reactions have proved that there is a desire among players for a remake of Fallout 1, and for good reason.
Given the trendiness of video game remakes nowadays and the antiquated nature of Fallout 1's gameplay systems, Vault 13's cancelation has given Bethesda the perfect opportunity to produce its own remake of Fallout 1. This first entry in the series continues to receive praise for its writing to this day, meaning that Bethesda wouldn't even need to overhaul or add to the storylines for a remake. Vault 13 also proved that Fallout 4's engine and assets could be used to create many of the locations from Fallout 1.
If the remake would be too much of a distraction from work on Fallout 5, Bethesda has the option to pull a Fallout: New Vegas with its approach. The main team could have another studio like Obsidian — a team-up that fans have been hoping for, ever since both studios were acquired by Microsoft — take charge of the remake, since so much of the groundwork has already been accounted for.
In addition to updating the game's antiquated gameplay for a new generation, a remake of Fallout 1 would be a great move for Bethesda to make for several reasons. It would help stall for time as Fallout fans wait for the next mainline entry in the series to release. Additionally, it would allow Bethesda to put its own spin on one of the few Fallout games made before it acquired the franchise in 2004. In an interview earlier this year, Todd Howard was against remastering or remaking Fallout 1, as he believed that it should remain playable as-is on mouse and keyboard. However, Fallout: Vault 13's demo has proven that Fallout 1 could still work as a 3D shooter in-line with Bethesda's other Fallout games.
Fallout 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 89%
WHERE TO PLAY
Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Fallout 76 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, invite you to the ambitious open world of Fallout 4. Do whatever you want in a massive Commonwealth with hundreds of locations, characters and quests.
As the sole survivor of Vault 111, only you can rebuild and determine the fate of the Wasteland. Join multiple factions vying for power or go it alone - the choices are yours.
From a Power Armor-toting soldier to the charismatic smooth-talker, be whoever you want with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Character system and develop your own playstyle from hundreds of Perks.
Experience exciting first- or third-person combat with the dynamic Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S., targeting enemies for maximum tactical advantage (and cinematic carnage!) Collect, upgrade and build thousands of items with Fallout 4's crafting system. Weapons, armor, food and with the right materials, even entire settlements are possible. Welcome home.
- Franchise
- Fallout
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- How Long To Beat
- 27 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- No
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- File Size Xbox Series
- 51 GB (December 2023)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
