Three years after the release of Fallout 4, Bethesda surprised fans with Fallout 76. The online action RPG was Bethesda Game Studios’ first multiplayer game and it served as a prequel to the previous titles released in the series. While this sounded like an exciting concept that would hopefully bring something new to the franchise, Fallout 76 was plagued by performance issues and cursed with forgettable quests. The disastrous launch that the game experienced might make one wonder whether Bethesda would have had more luck with a multiplayer spinoff for Fallout 4 instead.
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Fallout 4’s Narrative Consequences
Fallout 4 had a much stronger foundation for a follow-up multiplayer title than creating a brand-new prequel did, and it seemed a shame that Bethesda didn’t look at expanding the world of The Commonwealth as an alternative to Fallout 76. From narrative threads that remained unresolved to mecahnical aspects that could’ve been explore more, Fallout 4 still had plenty of potential for a post-launch life. Like the majority of Bethesda’s expansive RPGs, the community has continued to implement mods and shape Fallout 4’s landscape, including work on a potential multiplayer aspect.
This is unsurprising, considering how popular online multiplayer has become in the last few years, but fans can only speculate about what a Fallout 4 multiplayer spinoff might have looked like. Fallout 4’s story showed long-time players a new side to the post-apocalyptic environment they knew so well, with new crumbling landmarks, creepy vaults, and fresh areas to encounter. Gamers had a lot of freedom when it came to shaping their protagonist and their story, including how the narrative ultimately concludes.
Depending on which side the player’s Sole Survivor chooses, there are various consequences for the factions they’ve met along the way and the surrounding area they’ve called home throughout the story. A multiplayer game based on Fallout 4 could have explored how these consequences played out, as well as seeing how gamers dealt with remaining factions – whether they remained neutral or opted to wipe out any competition.
Fallout 4’s Many Factions
A successful element of many multiplayer titles is having organizations or factions that players can join. This not only adds an interesting element to the gameplay but also gives groups of players a reason to work together or even work against one another. Fallout 4 already established a number of contrasting factions that players could choose to align themselves with, like the anti-synth Brotherhood of Steel, the secretive Institute, the humble Minutemen, or the synth-friendly Railroad. Choosing to support any of these four main groups had an impact on the story and the overall ending of Fallout 4.
If a multiplayer title had been created that was inspired by Fallout 4, it would have been easy to pit these four groups against each other once more, with players able to pick which one they wanted to associate with or if they wanted to be a free agent instead. Having faction strongholds spread throughout The Commonwealth that gamers could customize, attack, or occupy depending on their affiliation would have been a great fit for a combative multiplayer, with a territory control element similar to games like GreedFall. It would help players feel invested, and factions would also incentivize cooperation as well as combat with potential perks for dominating an enemy group.
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Fallout 4’s Settlement Mechanics
One of the coolest new features in Fallout 4 was the chance to fully customize a base. New mechanics can be a bit hit or miss for iterative entries in a franchise, with studios sometimes trying to add new aspects for the sake of it, when really the original formula didn’t need any substantial tweaking. However, Bethesda offered surprising complexity in the base-building feature in Fallout 4 that was well-thought-out and well-executed for the most part. The ability to create a new home for both the playable character and other survivors was fun in Fallout 4, but a multiplayer game could have taken this to a new level.
Alongside the more practical elements like having enough beds, growing food, and ensuring that a settlement in Fallout 4 was supplied with water and power, players had to make sure their homestead was defended. Building the best and most well-protected base would add another layer of competition to a multiplayer title, as well as provide a challenge to gamers hoping to infiltrate or take over another’s players stronghold. Adding more tools to help make an impenetrable settlement like traps, different types of weaponry, and other physical obstacles would make the task of creating as well as capturing a base satisfying as gamers work to outwit each other.
The Future Of The Fallout Franchise
Fans know that Fallout 5 is on the way thanks to confirmation from Bethesda’s Todd Howard, but it seems like it could take a while. Not only is the studio preoccupied with the fast-approaching release of Starfield, but it will also be focusing on the highly-anticipated Elder Scrolls 6 before work on Fallout 5 can properly get underway. Players might be lucky to see the next installment this side of 2030, but at least they know it’s coming.
Obviously details on Fallout 5 are practically non-existent, but by looking at what worked and what didn’t with Fallout 4, fans might have some idea of where Bethesda could take the future entry. Fallout 4 was generally well-received, with many feeling it was a worthy chapter in the long-running sci-fi series. However, fans might also be looking for a multiplayer element to make the next title a complete package, and this time hopefully it won’t be scrapped the same way Fallout 4’s was.
Fallout 4 is available on {C, PS4, and Xbox One.
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