The Walking Dead's TV debut put it into the upper echelon of zombie fanfare. The result of which, has led to it's success on a grand scale. Of course, one could argue that it was successful as a comic series, but a comic could never do what a TV show could. As a TV show, The Walking Dead was introduced to many people who were unaware of it. Thus, leading to it's now, massive popularity, which has pushed it's namesake into video games.
The first of which was TellTale's, which was a well written and overall good introduction as a video game. However, it lacked a key element that such a game should have, and that is full control over the main character. This is a crucial aspect of any such game, as it immerses the player into the game, rather than making them an observer. It seems developers lack the insight to understand this.
The second game was Activision's Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, a FPS walking dead, which was horrendous, on so many levels. Yet, it was marketed and priced as a AAA title. The Walking Dead namesake can only do so much, sound gamers will call it as they see it. Survival Instinct was a failed attempt at a walking dead video game. In reality, it was Activision banking on the walking dead name, to make money.
In both, looking at and playing the game, anyone can see no real effort was put into the game, as far as mechanics go. It's nothing more than a low grade generic FPS, with the walking dead name attached. At this point, neither TellTale nor Activision has created a walking dead video game, that is 100% befitting of it's name. The ideal approach to what a walking dead game should be, is essentially what I want to point out.
First and foremost, a walking dead video game should be a third-person shooter. The basis of which, allows for better interaction with the environment. It also needs to be multiplayer (2-4), which is based on the fact that there are an abundance of characters. One may say, well...what if one of the characters someone's playing with is killed, in the actual story of the game?
My response would be, the game could do something like Obscure: The Aftermath, in which, if a character that someone is playing with is killed,(which does happen) that player must pick another character to play as. The next aspect a true to walking dead video game should have, is character skills (single, i.e. one per character), much like TellTale's game. For ex. Carley was a good shot and Doug was smart. Another aspect, that is present in Obscure: The Aftermath.
Now, one might say, you want a walking dead game to be like this Obscure game, but that's not true in the least. It is only the two aspects above, due to the fact, they fit into walking dead scenarios. Characters die, new characters are introduced, and they all posses one skill or another. The skill doesn't have to even be definitive (i.e. a marksman), just the ability to use a weapon (bat, pipe, knife, etc...), is skill enough. After all, the main goal is to survive, and protect the group.
The multiplayer aspect, is as one might expect, as far as two players go, splitscreen. (horizontal of course) However, due to the number of characters, an online component should be included too, that allows for 4 player co-op. Thus, offering something for both offline (splitscreen/couch co-op) and online (those unable to play in same location and or abroad) multiplayer fans.
The game's central theme should incorporate all of the following: freedom of choice, (unlike TellTale's game) in which characters (players) can choose to separate or diverge from group, resulting in a certain event (i.e. attacked by zombies, bandits, find a survivor, supplies, etc...) a variety of weapons, ( very limited ammo for guns) with an emphasis on melee weapons and use of environment to kill or escape zombies. A limited (car/motorcyle models) variety of vehicles should be incorporated as well, as this would provide a wide range of scenarios.
Therefore, missions would be varied, from saving a member of the group, to moving to another location. Every (major) action would have an effect on the game, and each action would have at least 4 outcomes, 2 good, 2 bad. Of course, many might say, well...this would take a long time and a lot of money to make. My response, would be, it's worth it, for a proper walking dead video game!
Waiting a decade for new instalments in franchises as massive as Fallout and Elder Scrolls feels like a waste.
Microsoft have Obsidian but I feel it's Bethesda who just don't want to play ball as they've always said they want to do it themselves.
Once MS bought Zenimax in 2020 they should have put the Outer Worlds 2 on the back burner, allow Bethesda to finish off its own Space RPG with Starfield (despite totally different tone why have two in your first party portfolio with two developers who's gameplay is a tad similar) and got Obsidian for one of their projects to make a spiritual successor to New Vegas.
When the Elder Scrolls VI is finished Bethesda can then onto the main numbered Fallout 5 themselves.
The Outer Worlds 2 started development in 2019 so putting it on the back burner wouldn't have been the end of the world, they'd have always come back to it once Fallout was done and it would have been nicely spaced out from Starfields release once they had most likely stopped supporting it and all the expansions were released.
If they did this back in 2020 when they bought Zenimax and the game had a good, steady 4 - 5 years development, you might have seen it release in 2025.
We are literally going to be waiting until 2030 at the very earliest for Fallout 5 and all they seem bothered about is pushing Fallout 76.
Its not just only Todd not playing ball.
Obsidian have made a name for themselves in delivering stellar RPGs, but most famous once have always been sequels/spin-offs to borrowed IPs like KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Stick of Truth etc.
Obsidian wants to invest more in their own original IPs like Outer Worlds or Pillars of Eternity with Avowed.
Similar to what Bluepoint & inXile wants to do or Kojima is doing (i.e not involving anymore in Konami's IPs).
So yea, even if New Vegas has the most votes from 3D Fallout fans, Obsidian just wants to do their own thing, like any aspiring dev studio and MS is likely currently respecting that.
But a future Fallout game from Obsidian will surely happen. Founder Feargus Urquhart has already stated an year ago that they're eager to make a new Fallout game with Bethesda, New Vegas 2 or otherwise. Urquhart was the director of the very first 1995's Fallout game after all.
And don't forget Brian Fargo and his studio inXile, as Brian Fargo was the director of Fallout's 1988 predecessor: Wasteland
"The Vancouver-based (Canada) indie games developer Blinkmoon Games are today very happy and proud to announce that their dark fantasy bullet heaven "Necromantic", is coming to PC via Steam Early Access in 2024." - Jonas Ek, TGG.
Athenian Rhapsody is a JRPG with a difference: alongside turn-based combat & exploration, you'll need to complete WarioWare-style microgames.
"My response, would be, it's worth it, for a proper walking dead video game!"
Question becomes how much are the fans willing to play for it?
The production costs are already very high, and if they want to do a game w/ that big of a scope... it'll be hard to not only fund the game but to sell the game at a 60$ price point. Not even the publishers of Walking Dead (Show) would be willing to invest that much unf. It is a business and passion only takes you oh so far.
I say and still stand that travelers tale walking dead game is phenomenal. Now instead of a third person shooter how about a survival third person game. Hunting for food, makeshift weapons by scavenging the environment, deal with dehydration, hunger and stamina. Play solo or online.........
With the current influx of zombie games, it's difficult to make anything that stands out. Personally, I enjoyed the Telltale game more than I enjoyed watching the actual show.
I'm waiting to see State of Decay, and the MMO (Class4) that it spawns. Right now, they're the only thing that's got my attention in the zombie genre.
interesting I will check it out :-)