The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered shadow dropped earlier this week, and if that isn't enough Bethesda goodness for you, there could be a Fallout 3 remake on the way, too.
During Microsoft's legal battle with the FTC, a leaked document revealed plans for both Oblivion and Fallout 3 remasters. Now that we've seen the Oblivion remaster surface as a joint project between Bethesda and Virtuos, we know it's more of a remake than a remaster.
Oblivion Remastered has been ported to Unreal Engine 5, but it still uses Oblivion's original engine for a lot of the behind-the-scenes work, so it feels like old-school Oblivion while looking completely new. Bethesda's approach here helps us know what to expect from a Fallout 3 remaster, should it ever come out.
But what else could change in the title other than the graphics and some modernizations?
Former Oblivion lead designer and Fallout 3 designer Bruce Nesmith says, "What did you see in Fallout 4? That will tell you what they felt was necessary to change from Fallout 3," in an interview with Videogamer about a potential Fallout 3 remaster. "I know in Fallout 4 there was a lot of work done on the gun combat, because Fallout 3 is the first time they ever tried to do a shooter-style game. And, well, I think the work that was done was amazing."
Fallout 3 is my favorite Fallout game by far, and while it's true the combat "didn't hold up to shooters at the time," it's important to remember it's "an RPG shooter, it's not a run-and-gun shooter," as Nesmith says.
Fallout 4 felt more like an FPS game with some RPG elements slapped on, but I do think its gunplay in the more RPG-heavy Fallout 3 would be a nice pairing.
"A lot of work was done on [the combat] for Fallout 4. So I anticipate seeing a lot of that work go into [a Fallout 3 remaster], assuming they're doing the same thing," Nesmith says.
In the meantime, check out our list of the best retro games you can play right now, no remasters needed.
