![]() ![]() While it’s nice to be able to reuse instead of rebuild, often that leads to building on top of existing problems, along with designers taking shortcuts that create new issues. Their parent company in Xbox also has several fantastic engines in its back pocket they could lend to help things along. Should they rebuild it from scratch? Maybe. Fallout 76’s opening nosedive shows, however, that a bad game built on a rickety foundation is going to lead to major criticism and bad publicity. Unreal 5 is only now being used by developers of this generation, so it wouldn’t matter in the case of Starfield which has been under construction since 2013 conceptually. ![]() Games like The Lords of the Fallen and Hellblade II look mind blowing, and this is only the start of what this generation can offer. ![]() ![]() This is an even bigger notion to consider when watching the Unreal 5 showcase that aired recently. I don’t expect photorealism, but sometimes you just want more. Creation games also look dated compared to some other games that were released in the same period of time, like Batman: Arkham City (2011), or The Witcher 3 (2015). When you play other games in the same vein and don’t have the same amount of issues though, you have to question the validity of using Creation over something like Unreal. Skyrim and Fallout games are massive, which means there’s a higher probability something will break eventually. Sticking with something that works is great, but when your internal engine has been behind some of the buggiest games of all time, something isn’t working correctly. But for that same reason, we at least have to consider the possibility of the Creation Engine being part of the problem. I know it’s an argument that doesn’t always hold weight, because after all, we’re on the fifth iteration of Unreal Engine and it looks incredible. Can it do the job? Sure, but not as good as a brand new weapon might be. It’s the equivalent of using some of the weapons you craft in Fallout 4, there’s a standard old base of something that worked before, but with a bunch of other newer pieces tacked onto it. As Paul Tassi titled an article on Forbes from a few years ago, the Creation Engine has gone from a meme to a liability. It’s in a downward spiral with cracks showing in the foundation, especially with Fallout 76’s release. Part of why that is worrying is how unoptimized the Creation Engine has been over the years. Is doubling down on Creation Engine a good choice? Much of what we’ve seen of the gameplay in Starfield makes you think a lot of things are going to be familiar, and unfortunately the bugs and glitches we’re used to could come with that. After all, Fallout has largely followed the same systems and mechanics of its predecessors in the Elder Scrolls franchise. Starfield is taking us into a new world, apart from what we’re used to, but a lot of the same practices in game design might remain intact. The mistakes of the past have to be observed carefully so as to not be repeated. Bethesda may be under a new banner with Xbox, but most of the in-house leadership still call the shots. That being the case, Starfield needs to be a hit. If they mess up again, they aren’t just damaging their reputation, they’re besmirching Xbox’s. But, the issue at hand is not many flops get a second chance, and you worry that Bethesda may have used their one. Sure, Fallout 76 has somehow survived its poor arrival, being one of the few live service games to pick itself up off the ground. Even more so, they’ve already had a flub, with Fallout 76’s disastrous launch that was underlined with terrible microtransaction practices and bait and switch helmet bags in the Collector’s Edition. Yes, Cyberpunk 2077’s rebound rivals that of the much maligned turned inspirational No Man’s Sky, but it’s a reminder that even the best fail.īethesda has made some of our favorite games, but that doesn’t remove them from being subject to criticism. I don’t remember the answer, but even with the critical acclaim, the hidden console issues and horrendous glitches soured the staunchest of CD Projekt Red defenders, showing that even pivoting to the flashy neon of Night City didn’t make up for bad design choices. I remember being in an analyst’s live chat (shout-out Benji-Sales) when Cyberpunk hype was at its highest and asked the question “ What if Cyberpunk 2077 is bad?”. It sounds like a silly assumption to make, but we all would have thought something like this would sound silly of CD Projekt Red before Cyberpunk 2077 was released. ![]()
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