Fallout 76 – Is the Hatred Justified?

Written by: Glyn

Fallout 76 has only been out for a month or so now but the controversy and rage fuelled messages it has received from players has been substantial. Bethesda’s latest project which somewhat comes from the back of Fallout 4 has caused such hatred and controversy in gaming circles that the game has become somewhat of a joke but is the hatred really justified for the game?

Fallout 76 uses the same engine as Fallout 4 but this time solely online compared to Fallout 4 which was a single player experience. Fallout 76 is actually an online only game with no human NPCs which puts the focus of atmosphere back to players and how to they interact with others.

It pits you in the shoes of a vault dweller belonging to Vault 76. This vault has been designed so that after 25 years after the nuclear apocalypse, the doors will automatically open so that the dwellers can venture off into the new world and re-establish human settlements. This explains why there are no other humans in the world and the reasons why you will only come across (or should only come across) ghouls, super mutants, radscorpions  and the like.

With this lore explaining one of the main complaints of the game, you can actually argue that Bethesda have designed the game this way to instigate interaction between real players so that unique stories are created because you’re having to create them yourself.

Does this work as well as it should? So far from my experience, the only interactions I’ve had from real players is one guy many levels higher than myself shooting me repeatedly, one guy who stalked and harassed me asking for water and one guy who was naked and swimming in the river.

I have heard however of people who have formed their own trading companies and caravans that explore the waste land trading with people as merchants. I’ve also heard of people forming settlements of sorts which welcome players to join them and help them create newer and bigger settlements. These are rarities however and the majority of interactions are just greifers, trolls and people looking to annoy others who just want to enjoy the game.

Unfortunately this will likely carry on being the case as there just is no real incentive to really group up and interact in these ways and until there is, the majority of people will just look for chances to annoy others.

Another major complaint of the game are the bugs, glitches and un-optimised issues people state they face. With most Bethesda games, there always are bugs and glitches just due to the engines and the sheer amount of coding required by the games creators. Just looking back at recent releases such as Fallout 4 and Skyrim, there were many bugs and glitches but these were ironed out within months of release (although some do remain, granted) but there weren’t any that broke the game as such or made it completely unplayable.

There are a lot of people complaining about bugs and glitches but actually, none that I’ve read have said its made the game totally unplayable and actually are more just annoying then anything. Player bases which people have spent time creating just disappearing one day for no reason and then turning back up a week later for example.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am neither defending Bethesda or saying this is acceptable as yes, this game is a full release AAA title with a price to match (or at least was before the very sudden and big price drops!) but every game releases with bugs and it is just part of the process, especially in this day and age where games are much bigger with so much more data than ever before, and these issues will and are being fixed with regular updates Bethesda is pushing out.

Other issues people are complaining about are the shallowness of the game and there not being a lot of content after a certain level or point in the game but again, this is similar to all online games. Developers will only create games up to a certain point and then push them out and then begin creating DLC, expansions and updates to increase the amount of content at later stages of the game.

Actually though in regards to this point, I’ve now put in about 20 hours  into the game and have a couple of characters, one focusing on melee and one on firearms and with both, I’m only at level 20, and I have many, many hours’ worth of more content to explore and do. I say this because this shows there is a lot of base content to do but I do understand some people rush through to end game and want to experience the late game content before anyone else.

Just understand that games are created and made focusing on early game content when they first release because developers want people to explore leisurely, take their time to enjoy the game and then when they hit the late stages, the developers have had enough time to start creating end game content for people.

So after looking at all these points, do I feel the hated and controversy is justified and deserved by Fallout 76? Simple answer – no, I don’t.

I and many others enjoy the game and exploring and doing everything there is to do. I personally have not experienced any bugs or glitches and the game runs just as I would expect it to, getting a solid 60 fps at 1080p. The frame lock really being my only gripe about the game so far.

Should you give Fallout 76 a chance, especially at the low prices its currently going for? Yes definitely you should. If you’ve enjoyed any Fallout or in fact any Bethesda games before or you love the lore of the Fallout series then I would bet you will love Fallout 76.

You will find you can create and customise your character to how you want them to be, using the weapons and SPECIAL perks which are most appropriate to your play style and you will find the time melt away as you do play because actually, even through all the neigh-sayers, complaints and issues people raise, the game is enjoyable and fun and over time, any bugs or glitches will be fixed and there will be more content added over the next few months.

So grab your gear vault dweller, get out into the new world and create a story which you’ll be able to tell your grand kids!

What do you think of Fallout 76 so far? Do you think the hatred and negativity surrounding the game is justified and do you think it’ll improve? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll catch you in the waste land!