A sequel to Obsidian’s beloved entry to theFalloutfranchise,Fallout: New Vegasis looking more likely than ever. With fans calling for a sequel and Bethesda’s recent acquisition by Microsoft, which purchased Obsidian Entertainment back in 2018, another Fallout collaboration could be just around the corner.
While the originalFallout: New Vegasis a fan-favorite for manyFalloutplayers, there is one feature the next game should steal from CD Projekt Red’s upcoming and hotly anticipatedCyberpunk 2077. Adding this feature could help take open-world RPGs into the next generation of gaming, and restore theFalloutname among fans after the disappointment of recent entriesby focusing on elevating the franchise’s and the genre’s strengths, not overcoming its weaknesses.
RELATED:Fallout New Vegas: 10 Little Known Facts About Rose Of Sharon Cassidy
New Vegas Origins
One of the best things about the originalFallout: New Vegaswas the freedom of its opening. Very little is established about the player character at all. They are referred to only asthe Courier, and the only thing out of the player’s control is that their character took a delivery job to deliver a platinum chip, which ended with them being shot and left for dead in the tiny town of Goodsprings in the Mojave Desert.
The brilliance of this opening is that it complements the freedom the player has to explore wherever they want, allowing them to imagine their character as whoever they want.Fallout 3’s timelineestablishes that the player is about 19 when they leave Vault 101, whileFallout 4’s introduction was even more specific. This was an attempt to give the series a more narrative-driven edge, but the decision was ultimately detrimental toFallout 4, establishing the player to be a veteran in a happily married heterosexual relationship, and that they recently had a child named Shaun with their spouse.
This choice forFallout 4hugely limited the roleplaying options available to players in the game, and massively reduced the replayability ofFallout 4, unlike games likeNew VegasorSkyrimwhere the player could start the game again and come up with a totally new character.New Vegas 2will need to get the series back on track in this regard, and there’s one interesting feature fromCyberpunk 2077that could allow them to do this if implemented correctly.
Cyberpunk 2077will have 3 different origins which players can choose from, called Life Paths in the game. These are theCorpo Life Path, the Nomad, and the Street Kid, and each has its own first act before they converge with the main plot of the game.
It is possible thatCyberpunk’s protagonist, V, being voiced will undermine the replayability of the game by making the character feel like the same person regardless of their origin, but ifNew Vegas 2has multiple origin options and no player character voice, it could massively increase the roleplaying options available to players in the game.
Opening Options
Skyrim modslike Alternate Start – Live Another Life show just how popular having different opening options are among many first-person RPG fans. The mod starts the player in a cell, where they talk to a statue of Mara and choose from a number of different starts to the game, including being a member of any ofSkyrim’s famous guilds, and race-specific options like starting in a stronghold for orcs.
Mods like these helpopen-world RPGslean into their most valuable asset – the freedom they present players with, allowing them to roleplay as whoever they would like, limited only by their imagination. WhileCyberpunk 2077only presents players with three Life Path options, Alternate Start shows just how many can be added seamlessly into a series likeThe Elder ScrollsorFallout. Each option doesn’t need to be hugely narrative-driven, because first-person RPGs as a genre aren’t about railroading players onto tightly constructed storylines.
Indeed, part of the genius of the originalNew Vegasopeningis that it provides very little clear story motivation at all. The player has just woken up from being shot in the head while delivering a platinum chip, the value of which they have no idea. It makes perfect sense to many players to not try and find the men who shot them, and instead to count their blessings and head out in the opposite direction, fully taking advantage of the game’s sandbox to explore.
LikeCyberpunk,Fallout: New Vegas 2could present players with different origin options that take place before the main quest begins and converge at a single point. If this was done in the originalNew Vegas, for example, the player might be able to start as a member of Caesar’s Legion, a ranger for the NCR, a prospector, Powder Ganger, or King, and then take up the delivery job that triggers the events of the main quest later if they’d like to. This would allow a huge amount of variety when it came to different playthroughs.
RELATED:Avowed Should Include One Fallout Feature Not Found in Skyrim
The Future of Fallout
It has been difficult for both sci-fi and fantasy open-world RPGs to live up to the incredible double-punch thatFallout: New VegasandSkyrimmade back to back in 2010 and 2011. Bethesda attempted to make the last single-playerFalloutfeel like a next-generation game by adding a fully voicedmain character inFallout 4, but as already stated, that only ended up limiting roleplaying options.
The open-world RPG that will take the genre to the next level, stepping out of the shadow of those two older games, will likely be one which provides players with even more options, even more freedom, and even more unique ways of experiencing the game that make it feel like the player’s story is being told even when the game world itself isn’t particularly reactive or as narratively driven as otherRPGs likeThe Witcher 3.
WithBethesda and Obsidiannow under one roof the chances for a sequel or a spiritual successor toFallout: New Vegasare higher than they have been in years. Nonetheless, fans will have to continue to wait to see how the studios’ relationship changes now that they are owned by the same company, and whether this will be enough to overcome the controversial past Obsidian and Bethesda have shared.
Fallout New Vegaswas released in 2010 and is available on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
