While dressed up like the Silver Streak, a Shadow-ish pulp character, I broke into someone’s home alongside a detective android and a super mutant. That’s right- this is Fallout 4.
Fallout 4 is in several ways the game you’ve been waiting for, and the exact same game you remember playing a few years ago. You’re a vault-dweller with direct ties to the past (you were alive before the war some 200-odd years ago), there is a twisting, winding narrative that will take you all over the map, subplots become just as important as the main story, and exploration is the main thrust of the game. Everyone at Bethesda must be explorers at heart, because no matter what good or bad may come with their games, they handle exploration better than any other studio ever has. The thrill of the undiscovered is so thick and addictive, it’s often difficult to drag yourself back to the actual game.
The story places you in the role of a parent searching for their child. It’s a decent and compelling narrative hook that works better than Fallout 3’s inverse story, and leaps and bounds beyond New Vegas’ pseudo-revenge plot. Most likely by design, you’re given half of what you’re searching for about a quarter of the way in (as is the case with 3 and New Vegas), and the game uses that revelation as a springboard for the second half. Without getting into spoiler territory, things get… decisive.
In terms of game play, Fallout 4 has a lot going for it. Most notably, the improved shooting. In Fallout 3/New Vegas, shooting at enemies, even with tons of experience points dumped into shooting, was a pointless task. Sure, you COULD shoot your weapons outside of VATS, but the odds of you actually HITTING your target were slim to none. This made VATS not only a strategic advantage, but a necessary component for completing the game. With the redesigned combat system, you hit what you point at… it’s simply a matter of how much damage you do. The dice-rolls are far better implemented than they were in the past two games, and that’s a welcome change of pace.
Unfortunately, not everything is sunshine and roses. Fallout 4 is still built on the same engine that Bethesda’s previous games were built on, and it shows. I understand they have millions (billions?) invested in the game engine, and it’s built some of the most popular and defining games of the last console generation (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?), but at a certain point, there’s only so far you can drive an old car before it’s time to buy a new one. Additionally, there’s huge frame rate issues on the console editions of the release, other performance issues like stuttering, and the patented Bethesda Jank. Odd character animations, long pauses between dialog, objects floating in air, physics problems… you know, Bethesda Jank. It’s upsetting that these same issues that have been brought up time and time again over the years still exist in the studio’s latest release.
This is a game that’s compelling despite its flaws, which seems to be the addendum always added to Bethesda titles. Exploring the ruins of Boston, a city built into a baseball park, knocking off a raider’s head with a bat while classical music plays and a nuke goes off in the background; you come to the Fallout series because it’s an experience you can’t get anywhere else in pop culture, let alone the world of gaming. We forgive the Fallout series its faults because the journey is just so unforgettable each time out of the gate. At least, for now. The cracks are showing in the series, and it’s possible that if future installments aren’t severely overhauled, the brand could face damage in terms of waning interest and/or loss of sales. How many times can we laugh at glitches or odd robot-like NPC character behavior before the joke stops being funny? Time will tell, I suppose.
Fallout 4 is not a bad game- it’s quite the opposite, actually. It’s a huge, sprawling adventure that welcomes all to lose themselves for hours at a time, and it does so in a way that few other franchises and titles could ever hope to pull off. If there’s any disappointment to be had, it’s seeing a great game that could have been a truly amazing genre-defining title brought down by technical issues that have plagued the studio’s catalog almost since their inception.
If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll enjoy your time in Boston but feel like you’re walking familiar ground. On the other hand, new fans will be swept away by the weirdness and spectacle that is the wasteland. Either way, enjoy- it’s a great time for an apocalypse.
