The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remasteredhas been a smash hit for Bethesda and Xbox, and it seems that a remaster of aFalloutgame is to come later.Fallouthas been incredibly popular in recent years. This is largely due to the success of theFalloutTV show, with Season 2 well underway. Leaks and rumors suggest that aFallout 3 Remasteredmay be released in 2026.
There are some worries about it, but the question is, wouldFalloutfans prefer a remaster of3orNew Vegas?New Vegasis the fan-favorite of the series and much more popular thanFallout 3, to the point where there’s not even a website tag for the third installment at the time of writing. However, remasteringNew Vegasfirst would be a huge mistakefor many reasons, with the primary onebeing the amount of DLC content.
Fallout: New Vegas Doesn’t Need A Remaster
Not A Lot To Improve
If Bethesda were to remasterFallout: New Vegasin the same vein asOblivion, what would it gain? The visuals will be improved a lot, and hopefully, the bugs will get fixed,but that’s all I can think of.Fallout: New Vegasstill holds up for the most part, thanks to its great writing, role-playing elements, and main questline.
Compared toOblivion, which definitely needed more touch-ups, a remaster ofNew Vegasis not nearly as necessary. Besides some key areas, the majority of the open worldwouldn’t reap the benefits of a visual overhaul in the same way asFallout 3. The open world is a big reason why remasteringFallout 3is much better to do first.
Fallout 3 Has The Most To Gain Here
The Biggest Improvement
WhileNew Vegasis generally seen as the better game out of the two, I think there’s no denying thatthe open world inFallout 3proves to be far superior.
For example, the Deathclaw Quarry inNew Vegaswon’t be much improved in Unreal Engine 5.
New Vegas’sopen world has a lot of lackluster, forgettable areas on the map, whereasFallout 3is jam-packed with memorable locations. AnUnreal Engine 5 visual overhaul would work best at improving the game map ofFallout 3since the quality is so high in the first place.
For example, the Deathclaw Quarry inNew Vegaswon’t be much improved in Unreal Engine 5. To boot, the main sidequests are far more memorable and unique inFallout 3. Those would benefit more from a remaster thanNew Vegas, which would improve most in its main questline. However, above all else, there’s one key reason whyFallout 3must be remastered first from all angles: the DLC.
DLC Is Why Fallout 3 Needs A Remaster First
You Always First Do The Heaviest Task
Fallout: New Vegashas four story DLC packs: Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road, plus an additional weapons DLC pack.Fallout 3, on the other hand, had a whopping five story DLCs: Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta. Due to this amount of content, aFallout 3 Remasteredwould be a more taxing effort to make. Other publishers, like Sega, might want to do the less demanding remaster, but for a massive company likeBethesda, it’s in their best interest to do the toughest remaster first.
RemasteringFallout 3first allows the biggest obstacle to get out of the way. It makes aFallout: New Vegasremaster significantly easier due to the numerous reused assetsin that game. Konami appears to be using the same tactic with itsSilent Hillremakes, starting withSilent Hill 2, which makes a SilentHill 3remake easier due to the reused areas. Think of it like card collecting. If you’re collectingYu-Gi-Oh! 1st Edition Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, you must collect the heavy hitters first to get those wildly expensive purchases out of the way.
Starting off with collecting the Super rares is a terrible idea, and the same applies to making video games. Not only is remasteringFallout 3first the best financial route, but, once again, the DLCs benefit the most from a remaster. The Mothership Zeta DLC is widely regarded as one ofthe worst story DLCs inFallouthistory, and a remaster could significantly improve its quality. I know many would prefer aNew Vegasremaster, but first remasteringFallout’sthird installment would be for the greater good.
