When Bethesda announced Fallout 4 officially at E3 2015, fans of the series went into a frenzy (we know, we were there). They had been waiting since 2008’s Fallout 3 to return to the post-apocalyptic RPG world where you were free to do, well, pretty much anything you wanted. You wanted to be a mad, asshole scientist? Go for it! A rogue pirate like character with an insane melee weapon and the skills to boot? Done! It was impressive, to say the least. With Fallout 4, players finally return to that wonderful world and it is everything one could ever want...as long as you were hoping for more of the same.
Now, let me explain; this is in no way a bad thing. This game is wonderful on all fronts and aside from a few immersion breaking bugs, I have had more fun in Fallout 4 than in any game I’ve played this year. However, in some ways it feels like a massively polished Fallout 3 with a new story and the number 4 tacked on the end.
Fallout 4 takes place 10 years after the events of Fallout 3, however the game actually starts on the day the bombs first drop in America. You, as the player, get a brief chance to see what the world was like before it became the barren destroyed wasteland it is now. It’s an interesting twist on the normal Fallout, and even Bethesda spin on things and it was wonderful to see. It made the sense of loss your character feels much more powerful to see them, to interact with them, and then to have them ripped from you. Luckily, you and your family have been given a spot in the newest Boston suburb vault — Vault 111 — that has been built right by your house just before the bombs go off. It’s an insane, yet beautiful and insightful start to the game that I wasn’t expecting at all. I could go on and on for hours about the story missions alone, but I don’t want to spoil too much.
When I said that Fallout 4 was an improvement in almost every way on Fallout 3, I meant it wholeheartedly. I can already see new ways to playthrough certain situations with new characters, and I’m not even halfway through some of the missions yet. The settlement construction system is, surprisingly, very well done. I spent way more time than I’d like to admit constructing my settlements and making sure all of the residents have beautiful homes and beds and decorations, as well as food, water, power, and of course, defenses from raiders. I lost 10 hours in one day playing through side missions and settlement building alone, and I wasn’t even upset.
Fallout 4 is a much harder game than New Vegas and Fallout 3 before it, but the challenge has never been more rewarding. You’ll encounter more enemies of all types and sizes than ever before, and its here that the game takes on an almost survival-RPG (think H1Z1 or DayZ) feel to it, especially starting out. I spent the first few hours in game just traversing the landscape to get my bearings, killing what I could with the limited weapons and ammunition I had, meeting a few allies, and leveling up some skills. This all happened before I even touched the main storyline beyond the intro.
That’s another thing; there is so much to do in Fallout 4, I don’t think it could ever be truly completed. Like Skyrim before it, 4 seems to have an unlimited supply of side missions and things to explore, plus new things to craft or upgrade for your weapons, armor, power armor, settlements, and factions. It all might seem a little overwhelming at first, but take a deep breath, take it slow, and you’ll be just fine.
The new skill tree and progression system(s) in Fallout 4 rival some of the best I’ve seen in an RPG to date. There is so much customization to be had here, it really is up to you how you choose to skill yourself. The more ranks you put into a category, the better you become at that particular skill. For example, if you want to smooth talk your way out of situations instead of running and gunning all over Boston, dump a bunch of points into the Charisma skill and soon you’ll think yourself a regular suave James Bond type (Sean Connery, not Daniel Craig). Along with the upgrades to the skill tree system, the dialogue system has gotten a complete overhaul. Now all conversations are fully voiced by both your player character and the character you’re interacting with and some of the dialogue lines had me laughing so hard I had to stop playing to catch my breath.
Combat has also been vastly improved from Fallout 3. Whereas the combat system in Fallout 3 was largely dependent on what you spec’d yourself into at the start of the game, Fallout 4 has a bit more liberal sense of how that should apply and the combat feels more rewarding because of it. The fact that you can craft new mods and upgrades for your weapons, even the basic starter ones, helps give the feel of accomplishment, especially in the early game.
This game is stunningly gorgeous. It is one of the most visually pleasing games I have ever played and I can’t help but gush about it to everyone I talk to. It might be the vast improvement in graphical capability since Fallout 3 shining through, but this game stunned me from the moment I loaded in, to the last time I logged out. Everything from the player character models, to the enemies, to the scenery, to the weapons, to the water looks absolutely top notch. This game deserves to win awards for its graphical prowess.
While the visuals blew my eyes away, the music and the rest of the sound design had my ears in a constant state of bliss. It’s obvious that Bethesda spent a lot of time on how this game looks and sounds to immerse you in their world for hours, if not days, on end. The sound design is so well done, that I didn’t notice my roommates calling for me more than once… because I thought it was something that was happening IN the game. The music, especially the radio stations, are as funny and whimsical as ever. It’s great to see that they didn’t just throw in the towel on the radio stations and recycle them from Fallout 3.