Everyone dreamed of making their own Fallout, and thanks to AI that dream is becoming reality, but Rad New World proves that not everyone should be doing it

Rad New World from Frontline Games Series looks like a postcard from 1997. It has an isometric view, a lone wanderer, a scorched wasteland, and a world map with random encounters.

The developer openly calls the game a love letter to Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics, but part of that nostalgia was put together with neural networks, and the demo trailer got a rough reception from viewers.

On paper, the ambitions are quite serious. According to the Steam page, the game includes:

• an open world with ruins, dangerous factions, and strange encounters, plus a classic world map for travel and random events

• unarmed and melee combat, throwing weapons, and small, medium, and heavy guns, along with tactical positioning, crouching, and crawling

• perk-based progression, buffs and debuffs such as radiation, addiction, and injuries, and dialogue choices that affect quests and factions

• lockpicking, bartering with shady merchants, crafting, and vehicle travel across the wastes with a mobile inventory

• gambling with poker, dice, slot machines, arena bets, and cheating mechanics

The developer does not hide the use of AI. A disclosure on Steam says neural networks serve only as a supportive tool, helping to upscale and refine map backgrounds and environment art based on the studio's own 3D assets. Some of the voices in the demo are also generated, but the developer promises to replace them with real actors for the final release

In the Steam comments, the developer put the share of AI at roughly 20%, and plans to launch the game in Early Access because, as the developer put it, many people asked for an earlier release.

The trailer itself, however, undercuts all of those explanations. The animations are slow and janky, the hero falls through a wall instead of ending up next to it, and the sounds seem to live separately from the picture.

There are no muzzle flashes, bullet impacts, or sounds of casings hitting the ground in the clip, yet a reload sound plays after every enemy shot. One viewer suggested a new feature for Valve:

If steam had something for the opposite of a wishlist I'd put this on it.

Some defenders pointed out that the developer was upfront about the role of neural networks. Others countered that the assets look not upscaled but fully generated, and that the trailer meant to sell the game showcases exactly those assets. The most level-headed verdict went like this:

AI can do truly amazing things but this further proves that it's a tool, not an i-win button. A crap game dev will make a crap game regardless of the tools.

Some commenters are already looking forward to Rad New World 2 and Rad New World: New Vegas, while others admitted the trailer gave them Fallout 1 and 2 vibes.