Fallout 76 – Review – VideoGamer France

Fallout 76 is a work with immense potential, a vision for an exponentially larger playground than the one we had had the opportunity to explore in Fallout 4. The theoretical ambition of Bethesda stands out clearly but unfortunately, it is remarkable how advanced is the execution. Much remains to be done, the problem being the motivation to stay connected to the servers in the coming months.

With a huge legacy, the Fallout series will have Fallout 76 as a lab title, that is, will transpose it online and experiment with its creators. One such vision is that the community unites to participate in activities designed to extend its longevity ad aeternum, merging the processes normally associated with single player campaigns with those common in online adventures. However, it is a radical change, because the final product lacks soul and sometimes the identity that is the signature of the saga.

The premise begins as usual. We created our character, we spent a few minutes realizing that we were in Vault 76 and we went out into a large area until we lost sight of them. We realize that we are in West Virginia and that the calendar marks the year 2102. 150 years before the events of Fallout 3 and Fallout 4; one hundred and fifty years before our visit to Beltway and Boston. Originally, in its early days, Fallout 76 seems to teach us only the basics of a long tutorial, with the potential to be ubiquitous, as players will marvel at the thought of every nook and cranny they can explore.

However, the passage of the hours begins to show the warm and little inclined side of the work. Humanity was not only absent from Vault 76, but remained practically outside the Appalachians on the side of nuclear annihilation. The hours that we accumulate in Fallout 76 will look more and more like a prolonged visit to a ghost country, where they inhabit robots and mutants, which testifies to the feeling of desolation impossible to leave.

This unreasonable ambition to place a map about four times larger than the surface of Fallout 4 eventually brings to the surface a syndrome that is not entirely new. That is to say, a bit like in some areas of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, it seems that the producer has reached the point where he had the square kilometers, but it was not very good what in make. Fallout 76 has a lot to tell, players can discover completely different cities, whether in architecture or its history, and can try to understand the diversity of what happened there before our arrival. However, the way this context is presented – thanks to the lack of indirect forms of human dependence (such as audio files) is huge – this eventually tires and annoys the player early.

The fallout lives – or has lived – much of the dialogue that has nourished the myriad of personalities we encountered on the way. Bethesda made Fallout 76 a watertight game, because the quests (and the various game processes that feed them) associated with the online multiplayer component are not removed by cutting and cutting a good narrative arc. a substitute for emotional investment that is only possible thanks to a good argument. There are stories that can only be told by those who lived them, not endless chubby holotapes.

I think even the most dedicated fans have neither the patience nor the strength of mind to continue investing in this passive form. know is fermented and given to consume. When the assimilation process of Fallout 76 is over, we realize that, despite its ambition and the immensity of its map, the essentials rest on a few pillars: exploring the landscape, killing (or trying) anything that crosses your path Pick up the loot, spend all on the comb in search of vital resources, use the raw material of the craft system, evolve the character and increase the level. This is not a complicated job to understand, as long as you know the basics of role plays and you do not miss the vital targeting indicators.

As an online game, Fallout 76 has, once again, a better reach in theory than in practice. It is possible to team up and explore the world, as well as participate in missions (public quests, for example) and team combat. However, not only is the map of the game not exactly a place filled with characters controlled by other flesh and blood players, but there are some aspects of this much-publicized component that seem unfinished.

Even in a team, there are details like the loot and the objectives of the quests that are not shared. It's odd that the multiplayer mode is the centerpiece of the game, but Bethesda is not doing everything in its power to keep the players in a team. That is, they play in a shared world, but often end up exploring and developing this world in a solitary way, without strong and unequivocal encouragement to devote the vast majority of hours to training and maintenance. teams – nor in PvP mode, which for the moment seems to be quite inconsequential, whether in losses or conquests.

The gameplay that underlies all this is not, as we have already mentioned, revolutionary or innovative. You can shape your character by investing the points in the benefits (Perk cards), which are the most traditional, namely Charisma, Endurance, Perception, Strength, etc. can collect, create, restore and improve weapons and facts, various objects that help fight hunger and dehydration, factors still present, as mentioned, but also factors requiring scenario players.

Obviously, the more things you collect, the more you'll be able to create what they need in your camp – which you can move, customize and improve – for example, the camp supervisor. During the different seasons, they can cook, create or modify weapons or costumes / armor, as indicated. Not surprisingly, compare the statistics and create the one that best fits your situation, boiled or purified water being of utmost importance throughout the trip, which will not be a surprise if you take into account the scenario post-apocalyptic. where they play.

When you are not fighting hunger and dehydration, the other type of fight will probably be directed against countless types of creatures who do not try to try their luck. You're probably familiar with the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, better known as VATS. That was one of Fallout's strengths because it allowed you to slow down time and consider shooting at different parts. of the enemy through the investment of Action Points. Considered by many to be rewarding and entertaining, it's a system that looks very different in Fallout 76.

Once the game has highlighted its DNA online, players can no longer delay while slowing down, so the V.A.T.S. now works in real time. Unfortunately, in practice, this removes an important part of the pleasure and charm usually associated with dating in the Fallout titles, as the strategic part gives way to more generic fights and does not provide a real pleasure to the players.

What Bethesda has to offer with its new game is what is left of Fallout's legacy here. In practice, Fallout 76 shines when it surprises gamers through their exploration, rewarding them for what they've built on the map. The variety is present, the Appalachians exhibiting the destruction of different shapes and degrees of intensity. Among the places that intimidate the exploration of buildings, there are still traces of what the game could have been. This building, however, is diluted with the size of the map, ie the sections between the places of interest are so large that the monotony mentioned in it reduces the motivation.

It's a game card with places that are not ugly, especially if you look at them from afar. It is clear that the textures are not the most detailed of 2018 – not even the most detailed of an open game published this year – but they are here to create – or at least try to create – an atmosphere. As I have already mentioned, they get mixed results, sometimes grounding memorable scenes from the construction of the game world, sometimes losing to virtually helpless regions.

The connection to the servers and the stability of this same connection did not pose any major problems, the technical errors being mainly slowdowns in the number of frames per second of the works. The works of Bethesda have never been so polite and think that this situation will not change with Fallout 76, at least for the moment. The producer will have to work hard in his game over the next few months so that players continue to accumulate hours in this world, I think there is no major doubt about it.

Recently, two new updates were released in December, giving at least the information that something was going to be tried. Performance can be improved, hiding adjustments can be made, but the Fallout 76 backbone will need to be redesigned, redesigned and readjusted based on what players need to extract from a game to feel motivated. Perhaps the best thing to do in Bethesda is to listen to her community, work with her and try to breathe new life into the game with new updates. Is it easy? No, of course not, but it's possible, just watch No Man's Sky.

Regardless of what will happen with Fallout 76 over the next few months, and who knows for years to come, we are certainly facing an important point in the history of the saga and that of the producer. Do not just put an epic-sized card at the disposal of the players without worrying too much about what to do after connecting to the servers. Bethesda seemed about to discover with the fans the problems that their game was going to present, now is the time to discover with their fans how to solve them.