Have you heard about Fallout Shelter? If you haven’t, then you missed out on some good stuff. Since Bethesda released the game in 2015, it garnered a lot of praise from the gaming industry. Fallout Shelter won the Golden Joystick Best Handheld/Mobile Game, and the Mobile Game of the Year in the 2016 D.I.C.E. Awards. It also earned a very positive rating on Steam, wherein it garnered 87% positive reviews out of 33,815 users.
Although Fallout Shelter was released 5 years ago, its unique, post-apocalyptic concept has inspired tens or hundreds of games already. All of which have pretty much the same concept. These games include Hustle Castle, Westworld, Rimworld, Sheltered, Assassin’s Creed Rebellion, Zero City: Try to Survive, and many others. So even if you haven’t played Fallout Shelter during its prime, you still have an idea of how the game is (if you have played some of the games mentioned).
Fallout Shelter may have garnered wide praise and awards during its release, but it now has lost its appeal. That’s partly due to the fact that many other similar games have been popping up – and have improved on Fallout Shelter’s concept. But the developers themselves may also be to blame. Below are some of the reasons why.
The Game Has No End Goal
While most games have an end goal or final level to ‘win’ the game, Fallout Shelter doesn’t. You just have to create more vaults and make sure that it supports the community in the long run. That’s it. There are no end goals in sight, like hitting a maximum number of dwellers or vaults.
Due to the lack of endgame goals, some players feel bored and unmotivated to continue playing the game. It’s just a steady, slow-paced game without any competition or challenge. For players who are used to playing PvPs, Fallout Shelter won’t cut it.
Fallout Shelter Has No Sense of Direction
The story of the game is very simple. Since the world has slipped into a post-apocalyptic state, people are struggling to survive. And this is where you come in. Your role in the game is to be the overseer of the underground vault. Your mission is to support the needs of dwellers and create a livable community where you can all thrive and survive.
Unlike other role-playing games where there is some kind of story progression, Fallout Shelter doesn’t have that feature. You just need to create a vault to sustain your community, and that’s it. No other side quests or missions to be followed. And because of that, there’s a total absence of direction for the game. There’s simply not much content and excitement in store for the players. Thus, the game becomes repetitive, pointless, and tedious. It’s no wonder why many players just abandon the game after a while.
Is Fallout Shelter Still Worth Playing?
For players who are into thrilling action and challenging adventures, this is not the best game for you. Sure, Fallout Shelter might keep you hooked for days. But once you get the hang of it and create enough vaults for survival, there’s nothing much else to do after that. In the long-run, you’ll end up switching to other games instead. But if you are looking at Fallout Shelter as a mere time-killer, then you may still find it entertaining.
Technically, Fallout Shelter is not a bad game. In fact, it was a phenomenal one when it was released. The problem with it is that it failed to adapt. It also failed to bank on the eagerness and competitive nature of most players. In short, the developers failed to create more exciting content and challenges to keep its players hooked for a long time.
