Though everyone is of course entitled to their own favorites, for me, Fallout 3 remains the best entry in the iconic post-apocalyptic series. It really nailed home just how bleak the whole scenario would be if it were to become reality, and Washington DC took a lot more direct damage from nuclear and ballistic weapons than any of the other locations we have played in up to this point.
That said, it did come out all the way back in 2008, and if you go back to play it today in its original form, it can be a little jarring given the visuals we have become used to. Though there are plenty of rumors about an official remaster of the game being underway, they remain just that, rumors, and we have to look elsewhere for solutions for now. Happily, there are some very brainy people out there, and one in particular has given us great window into what an official re-release could look like.
Over on YouTube, the user Julian Uccetta uploaded footage of a project they have been working on, in which they have ported and Remastered Fallout 3 into Unreal Engine 5.7. Its built entirely using a custom plug in system they have developed themselves, that allows developers to import Bethesda games directly into the engine (with the exception of Skyrim: LE and Fallout 4).
Though it's still in the very early stages and there are undoubtedly some bugs, it's comfortably the most interesting and realistic look at what full remaster of the game could, and arguably should, be like. Those fans who made it to the comments section were delighted by what they saw, particularly with how uncharacteristically sympathetic to the original work the new visuals were in a notoriously punchy engine.
"This is the exact remaster I want! Original assets just with a new engine supporting real shadows, lights and effects!" one comment read.
While another added, "Immensely small thing, but I appreciate that one of the first things you showed was grabbing. Grabbing and the physics not just intact, but visually EXACTLY what I mentally expected and remember FO3's physics looked like. It's a small thing, but it shows a lot about how faithful you want the plugin and its systems to be when porting everything."
"This is incredibly awesome. Glad to see people are cracking open the Gamebryo data-driven architecture and seeing where it can take them. This alone is very, very impressive. When you opened the toolbox my jaw dropped lol," a third said.
The rumors around the official remake for Fallout 3 continue to swirl, but great projects like this serve as a ton of comfort in the meantime. If even one of them comes to full fruition, then we may not need Bethesda to do anything before we get to play what should feel like an entirely new game.
