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Fallout 3 : The Pitt – YouTube
To put it in perspective, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare launched in 2007, just a year before Fallout 3, alongside Battlefield: Bad Company in 2008. Rather than attempting to match their genre-defining gunplay, Bethesda developed VATS—a time-slowing mechanic that allowed players to plan their shots. This system drew inspiration from the tactical, phase-based combat of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the cinematic crash sequences of the Burnout series.
“It shares DNA with Knights of the Old Republic in terms of tactical pausing and setup,” says Bethesda director Todd Howard. “But we also looked at Burnout, a racing game where the spectacle of the crash is central to the experience.”
Howard recalls a presentation where he pitched this vision to the development team. “I told them to imagine those flying car parts from Burnout, but replaced with eyeballs and gore!” he says. The intent was to give players a strategic reprieve, prioritizing character stats over raw reflexes, even if it meant sacrificing a bit of the game’s momentum.
“VATS allowed the game to pause so you could make calculated decisions,” Howard explains. “It shifted the focus onto your character’s attributes rather than just being a standard run-and-gun shooter.”
Despite the success of VATS, Howard admits that the focus on this system may have hindered the game’s real-time gunplay. “By its nature, it handicapped the traditional shooting mechanics. Even for its time, it didn’t feel as tactile or responsive as the best first-person shooters on the market,” he concedes.
Source: gamesradar.com
