Fallout 76, the first multiplayer-only entry in the Fallout franchise, released last week on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The overall reception has been highly divided so far, with some players vocally professing their huge disappointment and others thoroughly enjoying the game. Chris published his review earlier today, and he seems to be closer to the first group’s opinions.
David Lockwood, a former Obsidian developer who worked on Pillars of Eternity DLC, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Pathfinder Adventures, chimed in with his opinion on the game in a Reddit thread that’s currently the most upvoted in the Fallout 76 subreddit.
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Essentially, he’s enjoying the game a lot despite its flaws and he’s also positive on the potential for improvement.
I like the game. I really like the game! Seriously though I am not an MMO player. I just can’t seem to get into them. I enjoy RPG’s but MMOs are so immersion breaking on every level they just fall flat with me. I’m obviously a huge Fallout fan and when I heard about 76 I was…. cautious in my enthusiasm.
Fast forward 76 levels later (yeah I am currently level 76) and I am completely in love with this game, despite its flaws. It has many, many flaws but I can see and already feel the potential. I really hope the dragging sales don’t affect the long term development process. I know first hand how gutted a development team can feel about that, 3 to 4 years of your life dragged through shit and then when the money isn’t there, all the cool things you have planned post development start getting axed. It is very difficult for the team.
In any case, I’d say probably 3/4 of my time has been solo and 1/4 co-op with people I know or really good randoms I met online. I may not get into MMOs but I have tried to, and this has the most friendly and fantastic player base for an online game I have ever encountered. There is a real sense of personal fulfillment to drop off supplies for new players or offer them hints. Dropping some of the Million duplicate plans I have, giving out power armor frames, handing out purified water, Aluminum and .38 ammo. It is a real treat, the dopamine hits are real.
The game does suffer from a huge number of bugs and I can’t really seem to play for more than 3 or 4 hours solid without a crash. However, I have enjoyed the story thus far and Bethesda are the masters of environmental storytelling and in 76 they have to be. Also, these areas are some of the most fun to explore in any of their games. Except for the cranberry bogs. Fuck those trenches when you are trying to run away.
Despite all of that I have played for 76 levels worth of time and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon! I really hope they get the sales they need to continue development, but knowing how the sausage is made, I’ll understand if they can’t grow this thing to where it needs to be. I’ll be sad, but my heart will go out to the individuals who make up the development team.
Lockwood also went on to compile a list with fixes and additions he’d like Bethesda to implement into Fallout 76. Some, like player owned vendors at CAMPs and workshops, a trade hub and the reintroduction of human NPCs at some point in the future, have been popular pieces of feedback in the community since before the game’s launch.
Hopefully, Bethesda can listen to the feedback and improve the game over time. After all, an online game’s release is merely the beginning of a long journey these days, and several titles have managed comebacks thanks to the dedication and support of their developers.
