Bethesda specifically designed the tactical slow-motion VATS combat system in Fallout 3 after watching cars spectacularly explode in the arcade racing game Burnout.

A closer look

Bethesda specifically designed the tactical slow-motion VATS combat system in Fallout 3 after watching cars spectacularly explode in the arcade racing game Burnout. The developers were struggling to smoothly blend turn-based roleplaying mechanics with real-time first-person shooting, until they realized how incredibly satisfying it was to watch a vehicle get crushed in extreme cinematic slow motion. They aggressively adapted that exact same dramatic camera technology to showcase super mutants getting their limbs blown off by shotguns in a deeply irradiated post-apocalyptic wasteland. So instead of a traditional strategy game, millions of players were treated to a highly cinematic gore simulator heavily inspired by a totally unrelated franchise about reckless street racing