Fallout 4 chooses ‘freedom’ over ‘graphics’

When Fallout 4 was first revealed, many weren't too impressed with the graphics. Sure, the colorful new visuals were a nice change from the bland color palette of browns and yellows, but the actually graphics or animations didn't really blow anybody away.

Really, though, that's not what Fallout 4 is about. And in a recent interview with Gamesradar, Pete Hines, Vice President of Bethesda Softworks, explained why Fallout 4 isn’t "all about amazing visuals and crisp textures," but is instead built as an "interactive world" in which "everything can be touched, moved, built, or destroyed."

“We push it visually as much as we can, while realizing that we are not making a game just for the sake of having it be the best looking game out there,” Pete said. “It’s not meant to be the most stunning RPG ever. That’s not the stated goal, We want this massive interactive world, where you can talk to people, choose your own path and everything in the world has meaning and is an actual object."

Pete went on to say that “Everything in the world [is]something tangible – you don’t walk into a room and see lots of stuff and it’s all fake. All the items are actual items,” he continued. “You set off a grenade in a room? It’s going to blow shit around and knock it all over the place. You have to spend cycles and stuff tracking where all of that went, and how it’s going to bounce around."

Pete likened the experience to The Elder Scrolls games, which are known for their freedom.

“It does allow for chaos but it also allows somebody to roll a thousand wheels of cheese down a hill in Skyrim. And you laugh, it’s fun,” he pointed out. “You have that freedom and you also have a much better sense of place, because everything that you’re touching and picking up is real. These are real books and that’s a real apple. It’s not a picture of an apple that disappears from the world. You can pick it up from here and set it down over here."

As for you graphics snobs, Pete said if you're going to compare Fallout 4 to another game, graphically, "then it had better be a game that does all the same things."

“If you can deconstruct and reconstruct the world in real time, in the game, and you can pick up every single item and it’s not just a texture then we can talk. Otherwise, well then it’s a bit apples and oranges," he concluded.

Personally, I think Fallout 4 looked incredible. The animations are a little stiff and clunky, but I would instantly trade graphics for freedom. Bethesda Softworks always make their worlds so massive, interactive, and downright immersive, and I can't wait to see the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 4 come to life.

Fallout 4 is set for release on November 10 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The wait just keeps getting harder. While you wait, check out the batch of screenshots below.