Fallout 4: A Game Review

Well folks, it finally happened. Bethesda Software managed to release a mediocre game. Anyone that spends any amount of time on the internet can tell you the hype for this game was immense, with many people preordering it in advance. On November 10, Fallout 4 dropped on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. This review examines the PC edition of the game. 

The Fallout series is an RPG franchise has been known for its expansive world and lore, and at least in this department, Fallout 4 delivers in spades. In an introduction that blends CGI and live action together extremely well, Fallout 4 begins like the other games in the series by saying that war never changes. In an alternate history where mankind pursued the use of atomic energy and robotics to the point of 50s B-movie retrofuturism, mankind flourished. However, due to overpopulation and limited resources, the world was soon engulfed in world war again. During this war, China would invade Alaska, the United States would annex Canada, and Europe would devolve into bickering, squabbling states desperate to control what resources they could. The war would eventually come to a head in the year 2077, where in two hours, the United States and China engulfed the surface of the earth with countless atomic weapons. Most of humanity was wiped out on that day. However, some managed to escape via the relative safety of underground vaults. Most Vaults emptied after the dust settled. However, some stayed locked, seemingly for good. In every game in the series, you play as a Vault Dweller from a secluded Vault 200 or so years after World War III suddenly thrust into the outside world where they have to rustle with gangs, drugs, irradiated animals, the remnants of the United States government, and a race of gigantic Supermutants. This setting is ripe for all kinds of political commentary about the current state of the world and where it could be heading. Some of the other games in the series have explored such ideas. 

That previous exploration makes the rather pedestrian story in Fallout 4 all the more painful. Its one innovation is that you briefly get to see what life was like before the bombs fell. You play as a man living in the Boston, Massachusetts area before the bombs fell. At the Vault, you are put into cryogenic sleep. You awaken hundreds of years into the future, and learn your spouse is dead and that your child may yet be out there somewhere. Essentially it becomes a vengeance and a search quest all in one. This would be more effective if the player had more than five minutes to establish their relationship with their family. Fallout 3 handled this better, where an entire hour was spent acquainting them with their Dad, so the player felt like escaping the Vault and searching for him was the right thing to do. Here, we might as well be searching for the last horde of Charleston Chew on earth for all I cared about this child. If the issues were only with the story though, I could still give this game a recommendation. 

Unfortunately, the graphics are only marginally better than Fallout 3 (a game that came out seven years ago now), the gameplay feels almost exactly the same as both its predecessor and Fallout: New Vegas, and to top it all off, Bethesda seems to have learned nothing from its previously buggy releases. In fact, I experienced more bugs in my sessions in Fallout 4 than I did in any other game in the series. Some would argue that because Bethesda games always release buggy, mods will fix the problem and we should accept that. However, a modding community should not be relied on to finish a developer’s job. A game ought to ship complete and relatively bug free, or not at all. After all, sandbox titles have come a long way since Bethesda hit gold with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in 2006, and now ship with fewer and fewer bugs as time goes on. Grand Theft Auto V, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, and Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain are all recent examples of sandbox games done right, with little to no game breaking glitches in any of them. If any other company released a game in the state Fallout 4 is currently in, gamers would be out for blood, but because it’s Bethesda, they get a free pass. I think Bethesda should be held to the same standards as every other company in the industry. 

The one saving grace this game has is its crafting and town building system. It allows the player to be a kind of real estate tycoon, which is an opportunity that has not been presented in any other Fallout game. Building something out of scrapes found in the wasteland is surprisingly addicting, even if the fences constructed float three feet off the ground. 

There is a good game somewhere in here, but as it stands, I would recommend those interested in it to wait for the inevitable patch, or better yet, not buy it. Bethesda should not be rewarded for releasing what is essentially an unfinished product, as it sends a message that this shoddy worksmanship is okay. Stick to Fallout: New Vegas. It at least is a complete game. For alternate recommendations, I point you to the aforementioned Witcher III: Wild Hunt for those wanting a deep gameworld with an equally rich lore, but for those more keen on a journey through a post nuclear war setting, I recommend Wasteland 2. It is far more true the spirit of the original games that even Fallout: New Vegas could ever hope to be.