Fans of the Fallout series needed to wait five years for a fresh release, but it was certainly worth the wait.
Fallout 4, released Nov. 10, is Bethesda’s fifth major console title and first release since Fallout: New Vegas in 2010. This is its first appearance on “next-gen” consoles, and could be one of the best role playing games (RPGs) we’ve seen in a very long time.
Fallout 4 places the character into the wasteland remains of a nuclear post-apocalyptic world, as a survivor from Vault 111 located in Massachusetts. They find themselves in their neighborhood 200 years in the future, separated from their spouse (husband Howard if you choose to play as the female character, and wife Nora if the opposite).
One of my favorite features is the unlimited character customization. When I cracked this game open, I was so excited to get started in the campaign that I didn’t plan on spending too much time on customizing my character. When I got to that menu, however, I was absolutely blown away by all the intricate details you could change on your character. You can alter the nose bridge, the eyelids, the corners of the mouth and about fifty other options including facial features that I didn’t even know existed.
Not only could you spend hours adjusting the facial features of your character, you can also adjust the body type and gender of your character. But the customization of your character doesn’t stop there. Like all other Fallout games, you can also control your player’s abilities. You get a base amount of points you can spend on the player’s attributes called SPECIAL. This allows you to control the player’s strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck.
After spending a long time developing your character, you develop a special affinity toward them. You start off from scratch and can really be proud of how far the character progresses. It’s why role playing games are great, and Fallout 4 does a phenomenal job of capturing this feeling.
One of the biggest changes from previous Fallout installment is in the Vault-Tech Assisted Targeting System (VATS). In earlier games, using VATS allowed you to freeze time completely, allowing you to target the enemy’s weak spots. In Fallout 4, VATS will only put time in slow motion, which doesn’t make VATS a life-saving feature. This change makes Fallout 4 feel more like a functional shooter than other games.
A con in this new RPG are the bugs (as in glitches, but the actual bugs in the game are frightening, too). Upon the game’s release, many players were experiencing full game freezes and weird jump glitches that geometrically didn’t make sense. Since the game’s release, however, Bethesda has made repairs.
Other than these bugs, Fallout 4 does just about everything right. The amount of content, the sound track, player freedom and world depth are all highs for Fallout 4.
Another unique feature of the game has the character spending most of their time in Massachusetts, giving players from this area a special connection to the game. It even hits my home city of Woburn at one point.
What really sets Fallout 4 apart from other games released this year is that the player is not lacking things to do. Between weapon crafting, exploring, combat, quests and upgrading your SPECIAL, every hour is different in Fallout 4, and it really never gets boring which makes the game so addicting.
Overall, Fallout 4 is fantastic. It has already been nominated for Game of the Year, RPG of the Year, and Soundtrack of the Year, with a great chance to sweep all three categories. Fallout 4 leaves gamers with something to be excited about when they are away from the console. For a game to have that kind of power on a player is rare, and that achievement should be applauded.
Tyler Movsessian can be reached at [email protected].
