The Fallout series has come a long way since the original games, similar to the evolution of the entire open-world genre that was firmly established in Interplay Entertainment's titles and further expanded by Bethesda. However, as far as new innovations to the genre go, the Power Armor from Fallout 4 and 76 might be the best addition that Bethesda has made for any open-world title.
Power Armor has existed since the original Fallout as well, although its introduction was as little more than a powerful piece of armor, which both Bethesda and Obsidian continued when reviving the series. So, when Bethesda decided to take a new look at the iconic set of gear in Fallout 4, an overhaul was made that few open-world titles have moved forward with implementing after its success.
In fact, the biggest open-world title with a similar mechanic to release since Bethesda reinvented Fallout 4's Power Armor in 2015 is Kojima Productions' Death Stranding, with the power, speed, and all-terrain skeletons. It's a strange mechanic to have been seemingly abandoned by the genre, possibly due to the criticisms that the rest of Fallout 4 and the following title earned after release. While there is plenty to criticize in Fallout 4 and 76, the newly designed Power Armor is something that future open-world titles shouldn't sleep on, with some necessary improvements hopefully coming in new sandboxes.
How Bethesda Reinvented Power Armor
The major change that Bethesda made to Power Armor was to take it from being a powerful piece of armor to a pseudo-vehicle that has a whole new set of benefits. Additionally, instead of being a late game reward, a Power Armor suit is given to the player early, with pieces of its armor being difficult to come by, as well as the fusion cores that puts the "power" into the "armor" in Fallout 4. So now, players are given an opportunity to have powerful armor that gives them increased SPECIAL stats and carry weight, making this a valuable commodity early on and a staple later in the game.
Of course, all of this needs to be balanced in some way, which Bethesda found by introducing Fusion Cores to Fallout 4 in order to keep Power Armor from becoming overpowered. The prevalence of this fuel is one of the criticisms that players often put onto both Fallout 4 and 76, with the game often being far too rewarding with what should be as valuable of a commodity as a mini-nuke. However, the added balance does help to redefine what Power Armor really is in the Fallout universe as this thing that requires an investment to make stronger and should be saved for expectedly intense fights.
What This Does For Open-World Exploration
Vehicles are nothing new for open-world titles, with recent entries like Cyberpunk 2077 including cars and motorcycles that help players get around the map faster. Some games go further into melding vehicles into overall gameplay, like Days Gone and Death Stranding, but these all tend to focus on increased speed or traversal in general, with combat either coming secondary or as an exploit. Few of these titles look at vehicles in the same way that Fallout 4 does by essentially ignoring the speed boosts in favor of giving players new combat options.
Something that quickly gets players from A to B is great, especially when an open-world is expansive, with empty gaps between fights, dungeons, and puzzles. However, an ace in the hole that can both turn the tides in combat, and increase equipment load can be exactly what some players need to go checking the unfamiliar corners of Fallout's map. Then the addition of a component or commodity in order to maintain the personal pseudo-vehicle adds a risk reward to heading out, with each trip costing fuel and not guaranteeing that it will be replenished.
How The Power Armor Can Be Improved
Considering everything that the Power Armor does to improve exploration and give players more options for combat, there are still improvements that future Fallout games, and others in the genre, can implement into the mechanic. For one, the fusion cores need to be a much more rare commodity, otherwise there's little incentive to leave the armor behind out of fear of running out of fuel. It's a balance that many survival games have to deal with, and is often a large part of surviving in any Fallout title, but both 4 and 76 leave way too many around for players to find.
Additionally, the current version of the mechanic, even in Fallout 76, is overpowered to a degree, making some encounters that should still be gripping feel underwhelming due to there really being no danger presented to the player. The approach to this mechanic taken in Death Stranding actually addresses this flaw, with the three skeleton types focusing on different aspects of traversal, but never giving the player access to all at once. It makes the choice between which rig to take into a fight less about which has the highest stats, and more about which has the utility the player needs for the task at hand.
The Upcoming Titles that Could Best Benefit From Power Armor
An optimistic view would say that fan-requested projects from Kojima Productions would be a great place to include this mechanic, like Metal Gear Solid 6 or Death Stranding 2, but those likely aren't coming soon, if ever. Instead, two of the games that might be able to best make use of reworking Power Armor could come from some that players might not expect, Far Cry 6 and Dying Light 2. It's a long shot, but both could do well with adding some type of experimental rig that enhances the player character's abilities, like unlocking powerful weapons or extending running speeds and jumping distance.
For Dying Light 2 specifically, there is already a fairly hefty need for suspension of disbelief with the first game's Kyle Crane becoming a parkour expert in all of five minutes, so making some government developed exo-rig wouldn't be too far. This could help the player in the sequel jump large gaps that normally wouldn't be accessible, or escape from enemies that can normally chase to fast to get away from. The mechanic of a powered suit doesn't have to be limited to combat, and can open up shortcuts that aren't available if the player runs out of fuel before getting through a specific obstacle, adding all new levels of complexity to the open-world.
Fallout 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.