Against all odds,Fallout 76has persisted as a successful live-service title. It has suffered from the same ups and downs as so many other games-as-a-service endeavors, with its launch being particularly turbulent, but it’s stabilized now, even reaching an overall review score of “Mostly Positive” on Steam—something that would have seemed far-fetched duringFallout 76’s infamous release window.
This is no small feat, as the past several years have done nothing if not expose how difficult it is to launch and maintain a live-service game, even if it’s based on a popular IP likeThe Avengers. Thoughtful, substantial updates have done a lot to upholdFallout 76’s rapidly improving legacy, as some of the most impactful patches have effectively reversed the course of the game’s fate. And fewFallout 76updates have been as widely celebrated as Ghoul Within, a patch that introduced the option to transform from a human into a ghoul, with appropriately distinct benefits and drawbacks. This flung the game’s role-playing potential wide-open, making it more narratively and mechanically complex, and it’s a bell that can’t be unrung comeFallout 5.
After Fallout 76, Bethesda Would Be Wise to Include Ghoul-Transforming in Fallout 5
Playable Ghouls Are Among the Best Parts of Fallout 76
Ever sinceFalloutbegan its transformation from top-downCRPG to full-3D FPS-RPG, fans have clamored for the option to transform their characters into ghouls. These disparagingly-named wretches of theFalloutuniverse are far from aspirational creatures, of course, but they are nevertheless an essential part of the franchise’s world, and since players can role-play as any number of other archetypes (e.g. outlaw, upstanding hero, gritty survivor, etc.), filling the shoes of a ghoul only seems natural.
It helps thatFallout 76’s ghoul featuresaren’t just skin-deep. Players' relationships with mechanics like radiation are fundamentally altered following their transformation into a ghoul, and otherFallout 76gameplay mechanics, specifically its survival elements, are greatly changed as well. Players also gain access to a slew of new ghoul-specific perks and abilities, and their interactions with many NPCs are shifted accordingly as well. Put simply,Fallout 76’s ghoul features offer considerable, meaningful twists on the gameplay and role-playing aspects of the game, and given how popular these features have become since the Ghoul Within patch dropped, carrying over some or all of them forFallout 5feels like a no-brainer.
Playable Ghoul Mechanics Could Work Even Better in a Single-Player Fallout Game
Fallout 5has reportedly been approvedby ZeniMax, suggesting that it will start development in earnest soon, if it hasn’t already. Bethesda Games Studios will hopefully be watchingFallout 76very closely during these early development stages, as this would be the perfect time to start implementing fan-favorite features like the aforementioned ghoul transformations. Part and parcel of this process is to be judicious when implementing such features, as there are elements of the traditionalFalloutformula that would enhance the experience of playing as a ghoul, in ways that have not been matched byFallout 76.
MaybeFallout 5could have a greater focus on human-ghoul relationships, and how being a ghoul fundamentally changes how an individual is treated in this harsh, post-civilization world. The way that some NPCs will alter their behavior around ghoul players is among the more interesting and satisfying aspects of the Ghoul Within features, so it would be cool to see Bethesda double down on these ideas inFallout 5. Indeed, playable ghouls represent a great deal ofpotential forFallout 5, but aside from that, the feature’s existence inFallout 76almost demands its recreation inFallout 5, lest the series be viewed as going backwards.
Fallout 76
WHERE TO PLAY
Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4, welcome you to Fallout 76. Twenty-five years after the bombs fell, you and your fellow Vault Dwellers—chosen from the nation’s best and brightest – emerge into post-nuclear America on Reclamation Day, 2102. Play solo or join together as you explore, quest, build, and triumph against the wasteland’s greatest threats. Explore a vast wasteland, devastated by nuclear war, in this open-world multiplayer addition to the Fallout story. Experience the largest, most dynamic world ever created in the legendary Fallout universe. Expand southward to Skyline Valley – a brand-new region of Appalachia. Investigate the cause of the electric storm circling overhead and unveil the mystery around Vault 63 and its dwellers, including a shocking new Ghoul type – The Lost.
