Power armor is a landmark feature of the Fallout franchise, despite it seeing many changes over the years. The history of Power Armor in the Fallout franchise has taken a drastic turn in recent games, and some fans consider these new changes to do more harm than good overall. Whether Fallout 5’s power armor returns to the basics or takes things further in a new direction, many fans are looking for Fallout 5 to give power armor its due justice.
Throughout the Fallout games so far, each generation of games has molded the way that the iconic power armor functions in the game. With Fallout 5 expected to be the start of a new generation in the franchise, this pattern means that power armor will once again see new changes in the franchise. Many of the changes introduced to power armor have been divisive among fans in the Fallout community, which ultimately puts Fallout 5 in a tough position to bring power armor back to its former glory with its own new generation of changes.
Fallout 5 Should Steer Clear of the Divisive Power Armor Features From Past Fallout Games
Power Armor in Fallout: New Vegas was a relatively good benchmark for the defensive capabilities provided by power armor, although it isn’t without its own controversy. The main thing that many fans still criticize about how both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas handled power armor is that in order to equip this type of advanced gear, players needed to obtain Power Armor training credentials. Even though Fallout’s iconic Power Armor was as powerful as ever in these two games in the franchise, the training credentials requirement still rubbed many fans the wrong way.
In the current Fallout 4 era of power armor, the most changes for power armor have been introduced. From seemingly retconning the lore of how power armor operates to breaking the armor sets down into individual pieces for each limb and more, Fallout 4 has had one of the biggest impacts on Power Armor in the Fallout franchise. Even though Fallout 4 scrapped the concept of power armor training credentials, many fans still believe that the new changes still weren’t all heading in the right direction.
Fallout 76 further shaped power armor for the franchise. Power armor in Fallout 76 uses all the changes introduced in the Fallout 4 era of power armor, while notably introducing an abundance of unique and legendary suits of power armor. Since the majority of these suits have been produced after the events of Fallout’s Great War that forever changed the world, these new power armor sets are often better tailored for the post-nuclear wasteland than most of the pre-war sets of power armor. What this translates to in Fallout 76 is that many of the post-war power armor suits offer passive perks and benefits that are unmatched by standard armor set alternatives.
Despite seeing many ups and downs in the franchise, many fans believe that the good old days for Power Armor in the Fallout franchise have already come and gone. While Fallout 5 could very well still use the Fallout 4 era of power armor changes, this could once again disappoint a large part of the community. The other alternative is for Fallout 5 to introduce its own changes to power armor and meanwhile potentially revert to the basics of power armor from the original Fallout games.
If there’s anything that Fallout 5 should be wary of, it should move away from the power armor features that have been highly divisive in the community. Particularly, requiring power armor to have a fuel source and training credentials in order for players to use power armor in Fallout 5 could steer things back in the right direction, at least according to how past games in the Fallout franchise handled these mechanics.