Nukes will play an important role in Fallout 76. This feature is part of the endgame and the main story. However, experts are now criticizing the nukes.
With the nukes, players can theoretically create tougher endgame areas with better loot and blow their neighbors up. Sounds like an interesting feature at first, but now it is criticized by experts in nuclear warfare. They are unhappy with the portrayal of nuclear destruction which serves only the players’ fun.
Nukes should not be fun
What exactly is being criticized? According to several experts, Bethesda has gone too far with the portrayal of the nukes.
This includes Martin Pfeiffer, an upcoming lecturer at the University of New Mexico. He studies the way we talk about nuclear war. In his opinion, a nuclear war is not fun and would not sell well.
I have always been somewhat ambivalent towards Fallout. I would say that a focus on the aesthetics of nuclear wars, rather than on the costs that people have to pay, leads to a kind of “#NukePorn”…and to a post-nuclear fun wasteland. The line between satire and a nicely portrayed, fun post-apocalypse can become very thin.
Pfeiffer is therefore not generally against the depiction of nuclear warfare in video games. For him, however, the manner is crucial.
I think it’s difficult to allow nukes in a game that does not incorporate any meaning for it. This is problematic from various perspectives. It all revolves around context, form, and the audience.
Tim Nichols, a professor at the US Navy Military College, describes himself as a Fallout fan. He also expressed critical views to Motherboard. For him and many other critics, the nukes in Fallout 76 destroy the core of the franchise.
ICBMs are no joke…They created the hellish world that players inhabit. Using them for laughs undermines the purpose of the game.
Furthermore, Nichols argues that Bethesda would harm its own franchise with this.
If you really want to criticize Bethesda, make them pay for turning one of the most educated and well-written franchises in gaming history into a means for teenage griefers to atomize each other.
What the nukes are in Fallout 76
How do the nukes work in Fallout 76? In the game world, you will find several rocket silos. From these, the rockets can be launched and areas in the game world targeted. However, you will first need the codes to open them. These are scattered throughout the game world and heavily guarded.
Once you drop a nuke on an area, it becomes highly radiated and now hosts stronger creatures. This is intended to allow you to shape the endgame and acquire better loot.
However, it has not been seen yet how it all works exactly. At a demo event, Bethesda let a nuke go off in front of a gathering of journalists, we already showed you a video of that.
It is certain that the nukes will also play a role in the story.
What do you think about the topic? Do you agree with the critics?
