Fallout presents a captivating franchise for lovers of a good apocalyptic story. Bethesda does a great job of imagining a post-nuclear world and bringing it to life, showing the deadly aftermath of Armageddon, called The Great War in Fallout lore. Earth is in a state of chaos and immense difficulty, and with no societal laws checking crime, it is an unsafe place for regular people. There are scant resources for circulation, settlements struggle to get by, and stragglers band together to form raiding parties - only the strong will survive in this simulated world. Fallout has developed this story from the ground up and has released several installments over the years.
However, recent releases of Fallout have not been so well-received by gamers and critics alike. The most recent of these, Fallout 76: Wastelands, did much better than the initial Fallout 76, but fans were still left unsatisfied with the role of NPCs in the game, and some began to wonder if Bethesda needed fresh ideas for the Fallout franchise. Franchises often explore spin-offs to get back on track, and there have been several suggestions from the Fallout fan base as to what spin-offs set in the Fallout universe could look like. Ideas stemming from factions in Fallout are at the forefront of the queue, but The Great War would also make a viable candidate for a quality spin-off.
The Case for The Great War
Most releases from the Fallout franchise have settings in the years after The Great War, with the timeline steadily progressing. Bethesda intended Fallout 76 to be a breath of fresh air and a change of direction, taking gamers back in time to 2102, only 25 years after the events of The Great War. However, Fallout 76 had a tough time in the review department due to its lackluster multiplayer mode and buggy design. Fallout 76: Wastelands made Fallout 76 at least playable, but it was also far from enjoyable. Bethesda will have to work hard to eliminate these problems as a first step to developing any future spin-offs. Looking back on history is always fun, and when an apocalyptic event makes up that history, it suddenly becomes more interesting by several degrees.
Everyone loves the stories of the extinction of the dinosaurs from Earth, and there have been games like Ark: Survival Evolved that tried to merge the experiences of the giant reptiles and humankind. With Fallout, Bethesda could employ a similar tactic. Players know much about the events leading up to The Great War through the intro of Fallout 4. Getting a history lesson, however, is markedly different from living out the events through gameplay. Although The Great War and the wars preceding it are not traditional Fallout-style material, Bethesda could consider taking the franchise in a slightly different direction from the wastelands.
Some would argue that the Great War is too short for any spin-off, as the world-changing event only lasted two hours in totality. However, there is more than enough history behind The Great War to flesh out a meaningful game, given the event was 25 years in the making, beginning from the Resource Wars. A spin-off centered during the Great War can skip the details of the Resource Wars and start with the Sino-American War, the decade-long conflict that eventually birthed the nuclear winter. The invasion of Alaska by China in 2066 under the command of General Jingwei and the resulting defeat of the Americans on their home soil can serve as a great starting point. Gamers are an action-loving bunch, and reliving the events of an intense war through an avatar is top on their list, as evidenced by the popularity of first-person shooter games like Call of Duty.
The Hot History of Fallout Could Be A Franchise Game Changer
The invasion of Alaska and the subsequent annexation of Canada by the United States are already immersive plot-worthy material that will surely draw the attention of several fans through its gameplay if done right. Trivia keepers would recall the case study of Crimea and just how much attention it garnered, and playing through such a crisis would foster a more profound sense of connection with the Fallout storyline. Next in line for development would be the biological warfare of the Forced Evolutionary Virus between China and the United States, which still has ramifications in the modern-day Fallout universe.
The Fallout universe introduced a bit of species diversity with the synths and the Super Mutants. The Super Mutants were born from the research behind biological warfare during the Sino-American War. Witnessing the birth of a new species through scientific research is a dream for any lovers of science out there, and since biological warfare games like Plague Inc. have gone viral in the past, Fallout could take a leaf out of its book. The Great War itself, all two hours of it, could serve as the finale of the spin-off. Players already know that certain places like Las Vegas were spared from the nuclear strikes thanks to the preparation of characters like Mr. House, which could be an interesting plot point.
A spin-off could depict the overwhelming sense of panic that ensued once the nuclear sirens warned of the incoming threat of the bombs and the race to find prepared vaults among regular folk. Given that The Great War is the most significant event in the history of Fallout, it would be a massive oversight for Bethesda to ignore the commercial potential a spin-off centered around it possesses. Building a world hundreds of years into the future after Armageddon is fantastic for satisfying the curiosity of how the world would look after a nuclear winter, but for a complete experience of just how degenerative war can be, Fallout needs to explore its history in more detail.
Fallout 5 has been announced.