The game begins with the sun’s blinding light beating against your eyes. You’ve been asleep for so long, all you can see is its radiant glow. Once the glare clears, the scorched trees, ruined houses, blue sky, and dry soil of the wasteland is all you can see for miles.
Fallout 4 is a gorgeous game, at least graphically. There are a few bugs and occasional hiccups, but the aesthetic is unmatched.
The core experience is like any other Fallout in the last few years. There are levels to gain, quests to complete, and mutants to kill.
Enemies don’t hesitate to bombard you with grenades, or mow you down in a hail of gunfire. Fallout is as unforgiving as it always has been, and to add insult to injury, some enemies have gotten stronger since their last appearance. Radscorpions burrow underground, and will surface at an opportune time to strike. Feral ghouls have more sporadic movement patterns, and show to be hyperagressive. They will surround you, and they’ll do it fast.
To counter this, of course, the player is appropriately beefed up. Armor and weapons have been completely revamped. Firearms are now completely customizable, adding a whole new variety to the game regarding armaments. Ever wanted that shiny laser rifle to be a sniper rifle? No problem!
Power Armor has also completely been redone. When you step into that gigantic suit of metal, it sure makes you feel invincible. You can jump for normally fatal heights and remain unscathed, stand up to the most ferocious of foes toe-to-toe and come out on top. With this being such an advantage, of course it has its downside in order to remain balanced. Your handy-dandy super suit needs power, or it’s useless. Prewar fusion cores are used to juice up your suit, and when you’re on “E,” mobility is significantly impaired. Armor is also customizable just like weapons, you can apply paint jobs and upgrades to them just the same.
Fallout’s staple Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S for short) no longer pauses time entirely as it did in previous entries, but rather just slows down time. Enemies are still given the opportunity to strike while you strategically place your shots, putting an emphasis on quick decision making. It still maintains the sleek design it has always possessed, however.
There’s also a distinctive lack of settlements around the wasteland that you aren’t meant to be the creator of. Fallout 4 introduced a settlement building system. A bold choice, given none of their other games have had such a thing. It works well enough in this game, though there was no real tutorial to get yourself situated with it. Trial and error seems to be the only way to get used to it.
Despite the significant lack of settlements that function without the player’s hand in the world, the ones that do exist are very lively and bustling. One city Bethesda flaunted time and time again, was the wondrous Diamond City, which we know as Fenway Park. The “Great Green Jewel of The Commonwealth” NPCs say time and time again. It most certainly lives up to that reputation, being the single largest settlement in the wasteland and having much to explore within its great green walls.
Companions were done perfectly. Each possesses their own personality, life story, and their set of morals. No longer will your faithful followers ignore the atrocities you commit, unless they happen to approve of that sort of behavior, of course. However, for the most part, companions are good Samaritans and will view you in a negative light if you decide to be cold and heartless. The one exception is your lovable canine companion, Dogmeat. Man’s best friend doesn’t care what you do. You’re rewarded by being compatible with your companion by gaining their specific perk once the maximum relationship level is attained, which was a nice touch.
Dialogue was stellar – a few conversations felt monotonous and uninteresting, but the majority proved to be well voiced and well written. One gripe regarding the dialogue though is the new system they implemented for dialogue choice. No longer are you given what your character will say verbatim, instead you’re given four options that summarize what’ll come out of your mouth. This sounds okay, but you’ll find the game being very vague about the choice, giving it a one world label like “Sarcastic” or “More details.”
Make no mistake: Fallout 4 is a good game; but it most certainly wasn’t perfect. It’s not the most open-ended RPG that’s come out this year, nor does it allow you the most freedom, but it sure does bring a few new ideas to the table. Sadly, it also throws out ideas that previous titles such as Fallout: New Vegas introduced, and you can tell where the developer cut corners. But if you’re looking for a well-crafted, lively post-apocalyptic world to explore this nuclear winter, look no further.
7 /10
