Kotaku⁠73%

The Fallout I’m Most Looking Forward To Isn’t A Remaster Or A Sequel ⁠87%

By Zack Kotzer⁠69%

7/19/2026, 9:53:45 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Pessimism Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Hasty Generalization, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 33.7% saturation with 112 hits. Analysis detected 893 faulty-reasoning hits from 332 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 79.2% and a BS Rank of ⁠87% (2,952 of 21,886 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 86.50% of the article peer group.

This week, as distress, disgust and distrust mounted from Xbox’s decimation of their studios, the company pushed Bethesda on stage to quell anger. 
In some pretty naked damage control, Todd Howard assured fans that their favorite series would continue, in spite of layoffs. 
An Elder Scrolls here. 
A New Vegas remake there. 
But Li’l Devil pointed to my head, the next Fallout chapter I’m most looking forward to isn’t even coming out of Microsoft. 
Formally unveiled nearly a year back, Fallout: Bakersfield is a fan-made full conversion Doom mod set in the more classical wasteland. 
Developed by Denis and Alexander “Saur X” Berezin, the footage promises a ferocious and gory send up to the original Interplay games, nailing their distinctive ‘90s compressed media look and making good use of Brad Garrett voice clips. 
At the time, the Berezins said the game was 60% released, and could make groundfall as soon as 2027. 
There have been many ambitious Fallout fan projects over the years. 
Some with their own turbulent tales to tell. 
Few look quite as uncanny as Bakersfield, which consciously approaches Fallout as if the action-focused RPG hybrid mutated together in the era of Duke Nukem 3D instead of the age of Oblivion. 
Even if it wasn’t for the foul taste irradiating from Xbox’s way, Bakersfield tickles my fancy far more than the thought of another expansive Bethesda entry. 
This isn’t quite a “hire fans” declaration, but games like Bakersfield and Sonic Mania highlight the distinctive qualities these series possess, better isolated by talented outsiders than some of the usual suits. 
That, ultimately, the beauty of these games can come from any source, and that sense of ownership and personal investment is what fandom truly offers. 
Well beyond hyping up more paint-by-numbers to keep investors from panicking. 
That said, a disproportionate amount of “things that rock” come out of Doom WADs, so it’s best practice to bet on those. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 3.1%Kotaku: 4.4%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.2%Kotaku: 1.6%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 9.9%Zack Kotzer: 4.8%Kotaku: 4.0%Availability Heuristic9.9%This article: 16.0%Zack Kotzer: 1.8%Kotaku: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic16.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.5%Kotaku: 1.0%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 11.4%Zack Kotzer: 1.3%Kotaku: 1.7%Overconfidence Bias11.4%This article: 3.9%Zack Kotzer: 7.3%Kotaku: 5.8%Framing Effect3.9%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.6%Kotaku: 1.1%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 7.5%Zack Kotzer: 0.8%Kotaku: 1.1%Status Quo Bias7.5%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.1%Kotaku: 0.4%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 5.7%Zack Kotzer: 1.5%Kotaku: 2.9%Optimism Bias5.7%This article: 21.4%Zack Kotzer: 3.6%Kotaku: 3.4%Pessimism Bias21.4%This article: 33.7%Zack Kotzer: 16.8%Kotaku: 13.5%Negativity Bias33.7%This article: 9.6%Zack Kotzer: 0.8%Kotaku: 2.0%Self-Serving Bias9.6%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 1.1%Kotaku: 1.5%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.4%Kotaku: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 9.6%Zack Kotzer: 3.0%Kotaku: 1.3%In-Group Bias9.6%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 1.3%Kotaku: 0.3%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 1.3%Kotaku: 3.6%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.3%Kotaku: 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.0%Kotaku: 0.1%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 1.3%Kotaku: 2.4%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.3%Kotaku: 0.6%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.0%Kotaku: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 12.7%Zack Kotzer: 3.2%Kotaku: 1.3%Ad Hominem12.7%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.6%Kotaku: 0.6%Straw Man0.0%This article: 11.4%Zack Kotzer: 3.4%Kotaku: 2.6%Appeal to Authority11.4%This article: 3.9%Zack Kotzer: 1.7%Kotaku: 2.3%False Dilemma3.9%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 1.8%Kotaku: 1.0%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.0%Kotaku: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 19.6%Zack Kotzer: 8.9%Kotaku: 9.4%Hasty Generalization19.6%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.0%Kotaku: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.1%Kotaku: 1.1%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 20.8%Zack Kotzer: 8.2%Kotaku: 5.8%Appeal to Emotion20.8%This article: 7.5%Zack Kotzer: 1.1%Kotaku: 0.9%Begging the Question7.5%This article: 6.9%Zack Kotzer: 2.4%Kotaku: 2.4%Post Hoc (False Cause)6.9%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.0%Kotaku: 0.3%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.3%Kotaku: 0.7%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 1.3%Kotaku: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.0%Kotaku: 0.5%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 9.6%Zack Kotzer: 2.0%Kotaku: 4.3%Anecdotal9.6%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.2%Kotaku: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 7.5%Zack Kotzer: 1.5%Kotaku: 2.0%Ambiguity (Equivocation)7.5%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.0%Kotaku: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.2%Kotaku: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.0%Kotaku: 0.5%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.2%Kotaku: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.4%Kotaku: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 5.7%Zack Kotzer: 1.7%Kotaku: 2.8%Unattributed Quote5.7%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 1.5%Kotaku: 1.6%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 14.8%Zack Kotzer: 21.0%Kotaku: 15.3%Biased Writer Voice14.8%This article: 16.3%Zack Kotzer: 3.1%Kotaku: 2.4%Indoctrination16.3%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 4.5%Kotaku: 0.6%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Zack Kotzer: 0.7%Kotaku: 0.1%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 3.3%Zack Kotzer: 2.4%Kotaku: 3.5%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…3.3%

332 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers12%attributed speech293writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 100.0% coverageTodd Howard • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 38 words • 0.0% coverageDenis and Alexander “Saur X” Berezin • 19 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 32 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 32 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 100.0% coverage
Selected voice

Todd Howard

100%flagged-word coverage
20 attributed words51% of attributed speech94% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Indoctrination-18.4 ptsWriter: 18.4%Todd Howard: 0.0%0.0%Biased Writer Voice-16.7 ptsWriter: 16.7%Todd Howard: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -3.8 ptsWriter: 3.8%Todd Howard: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.