Fallout: New Vegas is a lot of fans’ favorite entry in the franchise, and that’s for good reason. Obsidian Entertainment took the reins under a strict deadline and built a unique post-apocalyptic western world. Even after 16 years, there isn’t a Fallout game quite like Fallout: New Vegas, and it’s hard to say if Obsidian or Bethesda will ever be able to capture lightning in a bottle twice. New Vegas may not have the best wasteland or combat, but when it comes to the overall RPG experience, it reigns supreme. There are plenty of New Vegas features that should influence future entries, and the faction disguise system needs to be at the top of the list.
Now that both Bethesda and Obsidian are working on the Fallout franchise, there are already plenty of questions regarding what these games will have in store from a gameplay and storytelling perspective. The two studios joining forces is a big surprise, but it’s also a promising step forward for Fallout. The games side of things has been in limbo for years, with Fallout 76 currently carrying the franchise’s weight. After such a long hiatus between mainline entries, Fallout has to come out swinging, and taking note of how New Vegas does role-play is essential.
The Next Fallout Games Need to Bring Back New Vegas’ Faction Disguise System
Disguising as other factions in New Vegas works exactly how it sounds. Players can put on the clothing of a specific New Vegas faction and blend in with the majority of NPCs. There are exceptions with higher-ranked NPCs, but for the most part, it’s a straightforward way to blend in with opposing factions and sneak around. As interesting of a concept as it was, Obsidian’s short timeline kept the developer from going as deep as the team could have.
Guess the games from the emojis.
To put things into perspective, Obsidian only had 18 months to make New Vegas. The fact that Obsidian was able to create a game like New Vegas in such a short amount of time is close to a miracle. This detail is another reason why New Vegas is so beloved, because the devs had to put some serious blood, sweat, and tears into its production. However, it also means that some gameplay features are half-baked, which is definitely the case with the faction disguises.
How Future Fallout Games Could Improve New Vegas’ Faction Disguises
- Faction disguises should take rank into consideration
- Wearing items like masks and eyewear needs to make disguises more effective
- Perks can be tied to how effective a disguise is
- Skill checks to add greater depth
New Vegas introduced a great starting point, but the Fallout games since then have left the concept lying dormant. Even if a game simply added outfit rank into the equation, that would be enough to make the next Fallout game feel a lot more layered than New Vegas. The fact that I and so many other fans see New Vegas as the best RPG of the series despite such a wildly short production cycle says a lot, and Bethesda hopefully embraces Obsidian’s ideas moving forward.
Bethesda and Obsidian Need to Prove That Fallout Is Not an Outdated Franchise
The hard truth is that the bar has been raised in a massive way since New Vegas. In Obsidian’s defense, the developer has put out some solid RPGs in recent years with games like The Outer Worlds and Avowed. Now that Xbox wants a new Obsidian Fallout game made under Bethesda’s leadership, it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out, especially after the latter’s time with Starfield.
Fallout 76 is getting a big update in 2027 called Raven Rock that serves as a prequel to Fallout 3. Since Fallout 3 and New Vegas are getting remasters, Raven Rock is hopefully a sign that the remasters will also launch next year.
Games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 have completely reshaped RPG standards, and that might be something that Bethesda struggles with in the future. Starfield felt like it came a decade too late, and that raises plenty of valid concerns about whether The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 will be able to meet expectations. Eight years after its announcement, an Elder Scrolls 6 release date remains nowhere in sight, and Fallout 5 probably won’t be ready until the 2030s. Whether it’s Obsidian or Bethesda, whichever Fallout game comes first has to prove to players that it was worth the wait.
A deeper faction disguise system won’t be the only upgrade needed for the next Fallout game to succeed, but it’s a great place to start. New Fallout games don’t need to be bigger, they need to have more depth, whether it be faction disguises, moral ambiguity, or just general gameplay. With the Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters on the way, I’m crossing my fingers that there have been some upgrades made to features like faction disguises to show that evolving these systems is worth the effort, but only time will tell.
- Released
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October 19, 2010
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Engine
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Gamebryo
