For the longest time, Fallout 76 was the butt of many gamers' jokes. The multiplayer game lacked the cohesive narrative of its RPG-based predecessors. Bethesda's attempts to support the game also faltered, as new updates would cause new glitches. However, the game's latest Wastelanders expansion attempted to restore some goodwill - and it seems to have succeeded.
Wastelanders has brought Fallout 76 to the series' roots by introducing NPCs and a storyline. With these additions, Bethesda has been able to introduce some classic Fallout elements to the latest game's open world, like dialogue options and factions. Since the update was released,Fallout 76's negative reviews have been gradually replaced with brighter reviews from fans.
After sitting at "Mostly Negative" or "Mixed" for a year and a half, Fallout 76 now has a "Mostly Positive" score on its Steam page. While the game has several negative reviews that were posted after Wastelanders was released, many players have re-evaluated the game or left positive reviews after giving the game another try. One review claimed that the update should have been what Bethesda "actually released" at launch. Another player who used a five-star system in their initial Steam review, raised the game's original one-star rating to three stars.
This positivity has also spread to social media. Even highly critical Fallout subreddits have chimed in and admitted that Wastelanders addressed many of their problems with Fallout 76. Although Bethesda executive Pete Hines has said that "content generation is [not] the answer" to Fallout 76's problems, it's clear that the open-world multiplayer had strayed too far from the core gameplay of previous, story-based Fallout games. Although generating an ongoing storyline might be unsustainable, it's clear that Fallout's community will need time to adjust if Bethesda is insistent on taking its focus away from a narrative campaign.
Until Bethesda has more content to offer Fallout 76 players, diehard fans will have plenty of storylines and mysteries to unravel in-game. From the Mysterious Cave's code to talking to every new NPC, Wastelanders' massive reforms show that Bethesda is listening to player feedback, and is dedicated to continually improving Fallout 76. Hopefully, the game's future updates will continue to build on the foundation that this overhaul has established.
Fallout 76 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: Steam
