Greg Reisdorf, a seasoned director from the Call of Duty franchise, recently voiced his strong opinions regarding the gunplay in Bethesda’s modern Fallout titles, describing it as “awful” and in dire need of an overhaul.
Reisdorf believes the current state of shooting mechanics in Fallout games is unacceptable and needs significant improvement:
“Oh my god. [The shooting] is so awful. Whatever you’re doing right now, Todd Howard, just stop. There are a ton of problems with the animations. The engine performs poorly, especially in first-person. It seems they’re using the same models for both first and third-person perspectives. Their entire aim-down-sights (ADS) system feels like it’s implemented as an abrupt button press rather than a smooth, dynamic transition.”
Reisdorf speculated that Bethesda might struggle to dedicate sufficient attention to weapon and item mechanics due to the immense scale of the worlds they create. Nevertheless, he firmly believes that for a game featuring firearms, the weapons themselves must be a central focus:
“If you’re going to make a shooter, then the guns are your main characters.”
The veteran developer expressed his willingness to personally assist in refining Fallout’s shooting mechanics, should Bethesda’s director, Todd Howard, be open to the collaboration.