Fallout 76, though maligned upon launch, has managed to find a fairly solid niche in the gaming market. Naturally, there will always be players who feel that the live-service, quasi-MMO format isn’t a good fit for Fallout as a franchise, but as Fallout 76 receives new content and quality-of-life improvements, its success and influence is only going to grow, for better or worse.
With Fallout 76 seemingly here to stay, it’s interesting to think about what other permutations it will undergo, as well as what its continued existence means for the future of the franchise. Major gaming companies have been aggressively pushing continuous online spaces for the past few years, and now that Fallout 76 has some traction, it’s likely that Bethesda won’t abandon its own sprawling metaverse any time soon. For all the potential problems this could bring, it does have some benefits, as Fallout 76 could be the stage upon which BGS presents exciting and ambitious ideas couched within the Fallout world, not needing to build an entire stand-alone game around concepts or settings that don’t have the bandwidth for it.
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Fallout 76’s Next Setting Should Be Chicago
A Midwestern City Would Be a Nice Change of Pace for Fallout
The Fallout series, ambitious mods notwithstanding, has mostly stuck to the eastern and western regions of the United States, at least in its post-Interplay era. Among the franchise’s most iconic 3D settings are The Capital Wasteland, formerly known as Washington D.C., and the Mojave Desert in Nevada. These settings are intriguing and well-realized, but a change of scenery would be nice, and meeting in the middle could be the best way to do this.
Chicago, Illinois is the largest city in the midwestern US, boasting a population of over 3 million and some of the largest buildings in the world. It’s a rather interesting city from an architectural standpoint, as the Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed many key landmarks, thus influencing the city’s bias toward stone, metal and glass building components over timber—a trend that it adopted long before many other modern cities. Its history, distinct architectural style, and scenic position on the west shore of Lake Michigan would make it a prime choice for a Fallout setting.
It’s not hard to imagine the magic that Bethesda could work, given real-world Chicago as a canvas. Its massive lake filled with radioactive debris, towering skyscrapers on the verge of collapse, and landmarks like the Shedd Aquarium or Museum of Science and Industry would make for appropriately unsettling landmarks and set pieces, and the scale of the city could lend itself to exciting, dense level design. Plus, Fallout‘s rich lore may actually provide fertile ground for stories in this part of the country.
How Chicago Could Be Used for a New Narrative in Fallout 76
Chicago has cropped up in the Fallout series, most prominently as one of multiple settings in Fallout Tactics, but it’s also been referenced several times in other entries, with NPCs like Nick Valentine having close personal connections to the city. Additionally, key Fallout factions like the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave supposedly have Chicago chapters, so perhaps a theoretical Fallout 76 expansion in the Windy City could focus on these groups, especially since their fates remain uncertain.
Of course, a full-blown Fallout game set in Chicago would be welcome as well, but if there’s not enough narrative meat to carry an entire game within that setting, then maybe a DLC in the rapidly expanding Fallout 76 would be the best venue. With what Bethesda has learned from previous releases and the inherent potential of this new locale, it could certainly turn out to be something special.
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.
- Released
- November 14, 2018
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Creation
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- How Long To Beat
- 34 Hours
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- X|S Optimized
- No
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- File Size Xbox Series
- 97 GB (May 2024)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Weak
- Cross Save
- no
- Cross-Platform Play
- no
