For the first time in years,Fallout: New Vegas 2feels like a real possibility. Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda brings it into the same house as Obsidian Entertainment, meaning the two have more reason than ever to put out a new game in the next few years. It does seem somewhat unlikely that players return to theMojave Wasteland, but there’s one area some fans have begging for ever since it was seemingly teased (it wasn’t): New Orleans.
For a variety of reasons, ranging from name conventions to the setting,Fallout: New Orleanssounds like a plausible follow-up toFallout: New Vegas, making it a proper “New” sub-franchise. However, assuming this ever proved to be the case, Bethesda and Obsidian couldn’t just slapFallout: New Orleanson a game case and call it a spiritual sequel. There are certain elements that would need to be included to capture the very essence ofNew Vegas.
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A Courier
InFallout 3andFallout 4, there are some strong connective tissue between the main protagonists. Known as the Lone Wanderer and Sole Survivor, both are made out to be strong, solo-types who are both searching for someone, either their father or their son. These events start off both of the games, while in stark contrast, theFallout: New Vegascourier gets shot in the head.
ForNew Orleansto be a spiritual successor, there would likely need to be some connective tissue in which the player is once again a Courier whose life has somehow been endangered from the onset. Hopefully, this type of opening is still open and wide enough that the idea behind its actually implementation is less repetitive than that of theFallout 3andFallout 4protagonists.
NPCs Like The Burned Man and Ulysses
Not to say thatFallout 3andFallout 4doesn’t have interesting characters, but arguably, neither of them hit the same caliber ofFallout: New Vegas. Two examples added by DLC, and this is just indeed two examples areJoshua Graham, otherwise known as the Burned Man, and Ulysses, another Courier. The image of Joshua’s wrapped face was enough to sell the DLC, with the fact that he was teased through the main world being an interesting fact too. As a living myth in the Mojave Wasteland, players meet a legend in him, one of betrayal and redemption. It adds more to the main story, while also offering players aNew Vegascharacter who was both religious and insane.
In Ulysses, the player characters see themselves reflected back. It’sUlysses' manipulations inNew Vegasthat see the campaign begin as it does, it’s Ulysses who serves as a behind-the-scenes antagonist even throughout the DLC, and it’s Ulysses that really takes the game to the next level.Fallout: New Orleans' rich setting would enable there to be a ton of interesting, compelling, and overtly unique characters as well: from the heavy catholicism, from the cajun influences, from the occultish ideas, there’s plenty of potential thatNew Orleanshas to live up to in order to rival New Vegas.
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A Living Wasteland
Speaking of settings,Fallout: New Vegas' was unique in the franchise. WhereasFallout 3andFallout 4saw a still pretty much dilapidated world with citizens settling into homes instead of making them homes,New Vegassaw characters trying to make the most out of everything they’ve got.The New Vegas stripis proof of that, as it’s clear that New Vegas wants to make something of itself again, instead of relegating itself to some type of wasteland memorabilia.
With that in mind,New Orleanswill need to clearly be destroyed but also rebuilding. Its history and architecture lean it easily into this, and by making"New" New Orleans a recovering city, it would tie the two games closer together.
War…War Never Changes
One thing to keep in mind too is howFallout: New Vegascaptures the idea of “War never changes” slightly more thanFallout 3andFallout 4.While still present, the NCR, Caesar’s Legion, Mr. House, or even the independent option all revolve around war and control of New Vegas. ForNew Orleansto hit that same high mark, it would need to show how factions are warring over control and trying to define the wasteland moving forward. That sounds incredibly similar in terms of plot, but the flavor could make it more distinct. An occult-controlled New Orleans vs. aBrotherhood of Steel-controlled New Orleans, as random examples, would be like night and day.
Ambition for NOLA
At least in comparison toFallout 3at the time,Fallout: New Vegasfeels like an ambitious game in terms of scope, size, characters, mechanics, and more.Fallout: New Orleanswill need to push the envelope all the same, and seeing as it would likely launch on next-gen consoles, that’s an exciting prospect.Fallout: New Vegasdesigned for next-gen consoles with a NOLA background paints a beautiful picture. Nonetheless, the future ofFalloutremains uncertain. Fans will just need to see what comes of theMicrosoft-Bethesda acquisitionand how that influences beloved franchises likeFallout.
