When word got out that Bethesda (of the Elder Scrolls fame) purchased the rights from Interplay to helm the direction of the Fallout franchise, many hardcore fanatics of the series were skeptical with how carefully it would be treated in the hands of a proven developer that had no involvement in the creation of the first two games.
Those eagerly waiting to pull the trigger of their firearm on a raging Super Mutant may be pleased to hear that Bethesda recently claimed that it’s following the original design document that was composed prior to the development of the first title as guideline for the third installment.
You may be asking, "What does the Fallout out formula consist of?"
Well, dear reader, allow me to present it to you (courtesy of the game’s official website):
- Mega levels of violence. When people die, they don’t just die – they get cut in half, they melt into a pile of goo, explode like a blood sausage, or several different ways – depending on the weapon you use.
- There is often no right solution. Like it or not, the player will not be able to make everyone live happily ever after.
- There will always be multiple solutions. No one style of play will be perfect.
Aside from the first three listed above, other things that factor into what kind of experience a game grounded in a post-apocalyptic setting should provide are included in the list, such as, "…a sense of urgency" and "A wide variety of weapons and actions."
The final item on the list is directly related to the development team itself.
"We want to do this. We care about this game and we will make it cool."
If anybody is still in desperate need of reassurance that game will fulfill their expectations, the game’s executive producer, Todd Howard, elaborated the significance of the list to the talent behind the sequel.
"Ten years later and I don’t know that I would change a word of what we want to do today [Ed’s note- the list]. Especially that last one. We have an incredibly passionate and amazing group here; I’ve been privileged to work with many of them for over a decade. Hopefully in another 10 years people will look back and say, ‘Nope, they didn’t screw it up.’ Hopefully."
From the sound of things, it seems like Bethesda is applying its greatest effort in catering to the audience the first game in the series captivated in the late 90’s.
So, who’s still concerned?
