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Fallout 76 and Its So Called ‘Softcore’ Survival Mode’s Issues | Culture of Gaming

Fallout 76 was promised to be softcore survival. So far, it's really not looking like that. What are some of the issues here? We take a look.

Before we begin, I’d just like to point out I have only played Fallout 4. I don’t know if there are similar modes in other Fallout games. While I do have some knowledge of certain aspects of Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, my knowledge is not sound enough to reflect on them. With that, let us begin!

Bethesda and Fallout fans from across the globe eagerly await the arrival of Fallout 76. November 14, 2018 is the day we’ll be able to explore West Virginia to our heart’s content. And as someone who recently got into the Fallout series, I am one of these eager people, going so far as to pre-order the t-51 Power Armour Edition of the game. But that isn’t what I’m here to talk about today. I’m here to lament over the ‘softcore’ survival of Fallout 76.

If you’ve played Fallout 4’s Survival Mode you know how hard it can really be. You have to feed yourself, keep hydrated, and actually sleep. Stimpaks dehydrate you and you heal so slowly it’s hardly worth it. And forget about saving wherever you want to. You have to sleep for that. You take more damage and ammo has weight, so you can’t hoard about 100 mini nukes like I do. It’s truly survival of the fittest in the Commonwealth Wasteland. And most of the time, softer players – like myself and plenty of others I know – don’t really want to do this.

Yes, I am aware that Fallout 76’s softcore survival mode will be a little different. It will have aspects derived from Fallout 3 and New Vegas, particularly the deterioration of weapons. That’s fine. But the problem is that so far, from what I’ve heard, 76’s promised softcore will be more like the hardcore survival of 4.

The other thing I’d like to talk a bit about is the Break-it Early Test Application, a.k.a Fallout 76’s beta. Everyone expected the B.E.T.A to be released maybe one or two months after its announcement at E3. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. We’re getting it a month before the actual game’s release.

The reason I’m salty at this: a beta should serve to aid a developer in finding and patching bugs and glitches before the release. Technically this is still true. But Bethesda games are… notoriously buggy. That’s sometimes not a bad thing. You can get some whopping good laughs out of their bugs. But that’s not the point. If I have to worry about surviving a damn sentry bot coming after me at lightspeed AND whether or not I’m going to glitch through the floor and find the abyss, I’m not going to be happy. The B.E.T.A should have been released much earlier, if not to fix bugs, then maybe to see what works with their ‘softcore’ survival and what frustrates players so much they leave.

To Conclude

It almost doesn’t seem that Bethesda knows what ‘softcore’ survival is. But it could differ from the survival modes of previous games. As long as certain aspects from previous survival modes/hardcore modes are downgraded or omitted entirely, perhaps Fallout 76 will remain softcore as constantly stated. I still believe a more casual mode should be implemented, mainly because I want to emulate Liberty Prime, but if not, I can live with that.

Whatever the outcome, I’ll still be picking it up. You can look forward to an unboxing video of the t-51 Power Armour edition also from me come November 14.

Are you looking forward to Fallout 76? What’s something that makes you worried about the game, and what’s something you’re looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below and stay with us at Culture of Gaming for more editorials like this!

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