Science fiction is always full of technology far more advanced than anything remotely possible today, but not every sci-fi adventure is all LEDs and chrome. Post-apocalyptic adventures like Fallout introduce a rustbucket aesthetic to the world, forcing survivors to scrounge up parts and cobble together machines and weapons to survive. Players in an environment like Fallout often have to use rusty improvised weapons as much as they use advanced and fantastical devices. Historically, developers have always found clever ways to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of salvaged technology in-game, but as real life hardware improves, they might be getting some truly immersive ways to simulate unreliable weapons.
For instance, the PS5’s new DualSense controller has some significant additions over the previous version that are a real playground for developers. Among these upgrades are haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, both of which control the way the controllers feels in the player’s hands based on what’s happening in the game. They’re incredible tools for making gameplay more immersive and realistic. Fallout, in particular, can make these upgrades go a long way once Bethesda releases a new installment in the franchise. Whether guns are sleek and futuristic or rusty and ramshackle, detailed vibration and control sensitivity can go a long way to emulating sci-fi gunplay.
The point of haptic feedback is to dictate the way a controller vibrates with astounding levels of detail. Players are familiar with explosions and gunfire making controllers buzz violently in their hands, but haptic feedback can apply texture to the PS5 controller gently and with specificity based on how developers want something to feel. Similarly, adaptive triggers are designed to have more or less resistance based on what’s happening in the game. In a game like Fallout where guns are different from each other in much broader ways than their general category, that makes a difference.
One would expect that guns made and maintained in the dirty, dangerous wasteland would have grating parts and distinct sounds. A Naughty Dog developer has talked about the DualSense’s capabilities of putting sound and touch together to give players a more intimate experience with the game. In Fallout, that means players will get a better understanding of a gun’s feel as it cocks and reloads, its rough parts clicking and rumbling gently every time they interact with it.
What’s more, combat could see some high-stakes changes. A rusty gun isn’t always the most reliable weapon in the heat of battle, so Bethesda might come up with a specific set of sensations for guns locking up at a pivotal moment or misfiring. Even in an earlier Fallout game, these would have added layers of complication to combat, but it’s a much scarier experience when a player can feel a gun failing them in their own hands. If Bethesda taps into haptic technology this way, immersion in the next Fallout game is bound to be off the charts.
Of course, one can imagine that gunplay built around the risk of misfires might frustrate some players more than it immerses them in the world. Even if Bethesda only uses haptic feedback to simulate the weight and power of a gun, there’s other sides to combat that will be better off. For instance, high-tech or improvised melee weapons will have a new kind of force behind them with haptic feedback. Even better, Fallout‘s iconic Power Armor can feel even more empowering if the PS5 controller works to give players an idea of what it’s like to step inside such a hulking suit and take hits from all side in it.
One has to wonder if Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Bethesda will make a difference on a PS5 version of Fallout 5, though. The Xbox Series X’s controller still has some haptic feedback capabilities, but hasn’t gone as far in integrating new technology as Sony did with the new DualSense. Of course, it all remains to be seen, but technology like the PS5 DualSense deserves to be used to its full potential, and Fallout 5 would be one great way to do that.
A new Fallout game is not confirmed to be in development.
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