Summary
TheFalloutseries has undergone a variety of changes as the games have evolved from their origins as isometric, turn-based RPGs to the modern Bethesda-developed FPS RPGs Bethesda fans have come to know today. While some of these changes have helped streamlineFalloutgameplay and make it more accessible to new players, others have become outdated as the first-person RPG genre has changed in recent years. As such, the classic VATS mechanic, which has become an iconic part of the series, should be removed fromFallout 5to bring the series on par with other modern titles in the genre.
Fallout 5may still be a ways off withStarfieldhaving just released andBethesda’s attention turning towardsThe Elder Scrolls 6, but fans of theFalloutseries likely still have the game and the future of the series on their minds. TheFalloutseries has certain staple plot elements and gameplay mechanics that players have come to expect, and it’s likelyFallout 5will continue these trends. However, as notable as the VATS mechanic is to the series, it’s the one feature that warrants being retired the most from the series with the release ofFallout 5.
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The Fallout Series is Ready to Move On from VATS
As a mechanic, VATS allows players to slow down or pause time during combat and target specific areas of the enemy before automatically executing an attack. This system lets players who may have a harder time with real-time combat deal with some of the more difficult enemies theFalloutseries throws at them. However, as a game likeFallout 76demonstrates, this mechanic can run into some issues with the way modern games are being designed to incorporate online multiplayer components to the point where it seems to be holding the series back.
VATS seems to be a hold-over mechanic fromFallout’s roots as an isometric, turn-based RPGwhere players have time to consider their actions and how many action points they have available each turn. When Bethesda acquired theFalloutseries and developedFallout 3, the series switched from its previous isometric design to a first-person shooter with RPG elements. In order to ease players into this new genre, VATS was implemented as a way to emulate the turn-based combat of the previous entries while players became accustomed to the new action-based combat the series was developing.
This mechanic was present inFallout 3,Fallout: New Vegas,Fallout 4, andFallout 76, though it had to change somewhat to account forFallout 76being an online multiplayer game. Now thatStarfieldhas been released, it’s clear that the game draws a lot of inspiration from theFalloutseries, especially in the combat department as both are FPS RPGs. UnlikeFallout,Starfielddoesn’t have anything like the VATS systemto give players an alternative to the game’s action-based combat, demonstrating that most players are comfortable with modern RPGs' approach to combat and that VATS may no longer be a necessary feature forFallout 5to have.
While at the time it was introduced inFallout 3, VATS may have been a helpful feature for players jumping from the classicFallouttitles to the series' new direction, the amount of action-RPGs and FPS RPGs that exist in the gaming space today have rendered the mechanic a little outdated.Starfieldshows that aBethesda FPS RPGdoesn’t need a slowed combat mechanic to make combat accessible or enjoyable since action-based combat has become the norm for the genre. As such, theFalloutseries no longer needs to include VATS, and while some players may be nostalgic for it,Fallout 5is better off without it.
