Fallout 4

 PC
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9559 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,044 out of 9559
  2. Mixed: 1,929 out of 9559
  3. Negative: 3,586 out of 9559
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  1. Azazelll
    Feb 3, 2020
    5
    Fallout 4 is a spit in the face of fans of Fallout games. Only the blind will not see a regression compared to Fallout 1-2 and New Vegas. Todd Howard pulled down the toilet all that managed to restore Obsidian in New Vegas. In Boston wasteland has raiders and ghouls, raiders and ghouls, but still there are raiders and ghouls. This game is about the genocide of the raiders and ghouls.Fallout 4 is a spit in the face of fans of Fallout games. Only the blind will not see a regression compared to Fallout 1-2 and New Vegas. Todd Howard pulled down the toilet all that managed to restore Obsidian in New Vegas. In Boston wasteland has raiders and ghouls, raiders and ghouls, but still there are raiders and ghouls. This game is about the genocide of the raiders and ghouls. Bethesda, please stop raping a remarkable series of games!… Expand
  2. Scifieart
    Dec 24, 2015
    5
    It wasn't really apparent how disappointing this game was until a second play through. It's not that it's a bad game, it was fun, I did play 130 hours. but it wasn't what I was expecting. I liked, the branching story paths, unpredictability and the ability to solve problems without violence, that the previous games had. None of which are found in this one. While the new weapon modsIt wasn't really apparent how disappointing this game was until a second play through. It's not that it's a bad game, it was fun, I did play 130 hours. but it wasn't what I was expecting. I liked, the branching story paths, unpredictability and the ability to solve problems without violence, that the previous games had. None of which are found in this one. While the new weapon mods system is great, as Is the new power armor system, everything else falls short. And a lot of things made no sense. After a battle fought in power armor parts had to be fixed since a grenade fell nearby. Understandable, but if you fight the same battle in raider armor made from junk you never need to fix it. Weapons also never break, weaken or jam, even those made from plumbing supplies and driftwood. Which oddly enough describes half the guns in this game. The build system lacks physics making it possible to build bases that hover in the air. And they have a crippling parts count limit that seems pretty arbitrary.

    The game is small both in size and density. There are 3 towns with voiced characters. everywhere else is populated by raiders. Skyrim had 9 believably large cities and several more towns. all with voiced characters and many side quests New Vegas had at least 7. Even fallout 3 had 4 such locations. Most fallout 4 side quests use repetitive dialogue, especially the minutemen ones. And nearly all consist of Nothing more than, going somewhere and killing or fetching something. gone too is the humor these quests brought in previous titles.

    the story relies on a series of twilight zone style twists. Which of course are no fun the next time. Dialogue options are limited and you don't actually know what your own character is going to say. Perks have no effect on dialogue at all and neither does the special.

    The background given to your character if they are male is that there a war veteran, while if your female you're a lawyer, and yet the story progresses exactly the same. Despite most of it involving killing people. Come on since she is voiced and a Lawyer; I expected her to be a little upset after killing somebody the first time, but... nope. She didn't even react to facing a Deathclaw, which also happens in the first 20 min. Why they didn't Just have whoever YOU choose be the ex soldier, I don't know, It would have made more sense. Especially since you get your first power armor within the first 20 minutes, and know how to work it, something a lawyer turned housewife should not know how to do.

    The largest gripe of all I had is in nearly every quest nothing you do matters. You can talk somebody out of killing a person, only to have their partner do it anyway, with the dialogue after being identical. No choice you make in a quest has any repercussions later. In fact there is no karma system, or even a bounty system like Skyrim. You can walk into town, kill 5 guards come back a few days later and they're back to cracking jokes about your armor. In general the game doesn't really let you be evil, no mater how many people you kill or what quest options you choose, folks will treat you as their savior. No hidden faction or missions are revealed for your misdeeds, unlike the previous fallout's or Skyrim.

    Unlike New Vegas, you can't broker alliances between factions. Worst of all No matter who you side with, you get the same end missions. Many of which share animations, scenes and objectives. followed by the same monologue and montage after. Despite having radically different agendas all factions resort to the same exact methods. Making every choice you thought you made meaningless. Which is why I agree with many others in saying that this Is an FPS game. Not even a particularly good one.

    On top of all this it lacks polish. Despite my I7 nvidia gtx 970 and 32gb of ram letting me average 60 fps, on one helicopter gunner mission it always drops to 12 fps. This is not only time this happens either    … Expand
  3. Jodeert
    Nov 10, 2015
    5
    I will try my best to look at this objectively since everyone else seems to either be 0/10 is crap or 10/10 best game ever like it always is.

    The gunplay is by far the best between the three first person shooter fallouts but that's about the only good thing I can say about it. Everyone already talked about how poorly the game looks, the animations, as well as the performance so I won't    I will try my best to look at this objectively since everyone else seems to either be 0/10 is crap or 10/10 best game ever like it always is.

    The gunplay is by far the best between the three first person shooter fallouts but that's about the only good thing I can say about it. Everyone already talked about how poorly the game looks, the animations, as well as the performance so I won't bother too much with it. But I just gotta say that there are dozens of games out there that are much bigger and detailed than this one that manage to run much better on most machines. Hell just look at all this year's releases if you want proof, this just feels like lazy optimization in the developers part. My gtx 770 could max out MGS5 and play at a stable 60fps at all times, the witcher 3 made it struggle to maintain 50fps on high but at least that game had detail and was much better looking than this one making it excusable. This one runs at 60 on high but dips to the 40s for no real reason constantly.I don't even want to know what this runs and looks like on consoles.

    The story and characters are mediocre at best with it getting worse as you progress, whether you got spoiled or not. It also has that god awful speech wheel that is only there because your character is now voiced and they had to limit your freedom on what you could or could not say. The Special system is now meaningless since upgrading it is a joke unlike literally every game before it, where putting a point was a struggle and an achievement at the same time. Remember going to the BoS base in FO1 and getting that machine to give you a point in a stat if you had the right drive for it? Or that Hubologist in San Francisco or NCR that had a chance to give you luck or decrease it depending on your luck in FO2? How about 3 and NV where you had to sacrifice a perk to get one stat point up? It wasn't as bad as sacrificing a perk in the first 2 games since you got perks every 3 levels but still it was a sacrifice, here its just "lol put a point more on it" . Skills are not even skills. This game was just poor decisions all around

    Also for PC this port hot garbage with the UI taken straight out of the console version, don't get me wrong even in the context of a console it looks like a mess but its even worse when you have a PC that could use a more sleeker menu. If you really want to play this game and like wasting money like me then wait for UI mods to fix it.

    The main reason I gave this a 5 and not something lower is because shooting stuff and looting stuff while 60s music plays in the background is still fun, but honestly there are better options for that everywhere. Overall the whole time I've played this game the only thing I could think of is man, I really wish I was playing 3 or NV right now.    … Expand
  4. Mudrock_
    Nov 10, 2015
    6
    I'm impressed that Bethesda finds a way to make games shallower and shallower every singer iteration. I'm even more impressed that they are still so salty that Fallout New Vegas added so many good features, that they chose to actually OMIT them instead. (Faction reputation is a big one, multiple choice, survival mode)

    This is a complete 360 degrees from Fallout New Vegas. Let's start    I'm impressed that Bethesda finds a way to make games shallower and shallower every singer iteration. I'm even more impressed that they are still so salty that Fallout New Vegas added so many good features, that they chose to actually OMIT them instead. (Faction reputation is a big one, multiple choice, survival mode)

    This is a complete 360 degrees from Fallout New Vegas. Let's start with the big bear in the room - dialogue and writing in general. Somewhere out there is a nice interview stating that giving the player a varied choice of dialogue in fallout 3 didn't allow them to tell a story quite like they wanted. You know what the problem is? A role-playing game isn't about being told a story, it is about making your OWN story. Especially in one like Fallout. All this talk from Todd Howard bout how player freedom remains their number one goal, yet they cuddle you through the whole story. (Which only has two endings, and considering the outcomes, seems a little extreme) So now here's the problem - Bethesda had YEARS to do this. Compare this to Obsidian who wrote for New Vegas, and it's absolutely asinine and no Bethesda excuse can really justify this. New Vegas allowed you to kill whoever you want, side with whoever you want (within reason since the BoS clearly couldn't take hoover dam) and be whatever player you want. You want to be a psychotic killer and murder everybody and become a slaver? You bet buddy. Dialogue was varied and rich. The story and world also made sense. There was little, if anything, in New Vegas that really seemed out of place in the world. The world felt alive, connected, reasonable. It also broke away from the post apoc trend and explored the "post post" apocalyptic theme (which is what Fallout intended to be). I figured that maybe Bethesda would realize why so many people enjoyed New Vegas and blend it with elements of what people enjoyed out of 3. Instead, they took a complete 360. Cut away player choice in story, made your protagonist voiced, don't let you kill just ANYBODY, and slap you on the wrist for it. It also relies on an RPG SIN which is telling you to care about a thing and gives you no reason other than "well it's the best choice!" Now don't get me wrong - obviously we want to progress through the story because it's a **** game. But the whole story relies on the FIND YOUR SON thing up until you find him. The story is so heavily dependent on it that the game does little to convince you about what's right and wrong in the game. That's boring. That's awful and lazy writing. There is literally no excuse for a game that has been in the works for allegedly 6 years when another publisher did it it better in far less time.

    Another weakness of FO4 - rather than making everything a moral grey area with exceptions (like it should be in a world of people just trying to survive), it does the GOOD GUY BAD GUY thing again. It's again just plain lazy. That doesn't mean everything has to be subjective, but it severely sacrifices player choice.

    So now let's talk about gameplay. One step forward, but two steps backwards. The gunplay is the best yet. Apart from a few quirks and weird scaling issues, every weapon feels like it can be useful with some mods. Customization is fun, rewarding, and adds much needed depth.. If there is one thing Fallout 4 gets right, it is this. If the previous bit had been in check, this easily could have made me ignore the other flaws. I'm excited to see where PC modding (you know, assuming we DON'T get paid mods) takes this system. The settlement thing can be fun as well, if not a little more time consuming than I wish.

    Here's the two steps back part - it does away with the classic leveling system and "Skyrimfies" it. You can more or less become a God and get everything you want. 10 in all SPECIAL, etc. The previous system was nice because you got a nifty perk AND level up a stat. FO4's perks just seem less varied, and you either get a niche perk OR something useful. I'm not saying the previous system was great, but since you can basically get every single perk that is remotely useful, really detracts from the multiple playthrough thing. It's not a HUGE complaint, but it was clear the audience they were going for (as if it wasn't clear enough) was the Skyrim audience. People who want max everything and to just dick around.
    Another note is scaling is just piss awful. You can get some of the best **** way too early in the game. (Power armor makes no sense)

    Overall - is Fallout 4 a bad game? No. It has strengths. The problem is that everything else is just so mediocre. I legitimately went into FO4 thinking "well there is no way they made it worse" and yet somehow, against ALL odds, 6 years, and such a large budget, they found away. Beth painted a canvas full of things to explore and instead they wasted it by not capitalizing on the Synths concept. Overall, a bad sign of what's to come since Beth clearly only cares about capitalizing on profit.
    4/10    … Expand
  5. Bondagga
    Nov 10, 2015
    5
    So... I don't know, man. You start the game and everythng feels great. Back in Fallout. Feels like a 10/10 game. It has a great, great buildup.
    After that, it all goes downhill. You start noticing how atrocious the writing and overall story are. You notice how bland the characters are, and how empty the world is. There are barely any interesting NPC's or stories, especially if you compare    So... I don't know, man. You start the game and everythng feels great. Back in Fallout. Feels like a 10/10 game. It has a great, great buildup.
    After that, it all goes downhill. You start noticing how atrocious the writing and overall story are. You notice how bland the characters are, and how empty the world is. There are barely any interesting NPC's or stories, especially if you compare FO4 to games like New Vegas or The Witcher 3. Bethesda's writers are simply bad at their job, they can't write a single inspiring quest.
    Most of the quests are fetch quests, and the dialogue wheel doesn't help either (it feels like they told a few different people to write responses and they had no idea what the other's prepared, only the general idea of it). It's insulting and depressing how dumbed down it is, with choises that basically don't matter at all.
    Combined with the skills having been removed, and the fact that there are only perks and SPECIAL now, you can easily see how streamlimed they've made it. I felt like I played an FPS game, not an RPG.

    I won't even start talking about graphical side of the game, because Bethesda is stuck in the year 2011.    … Expand
  6. abk815
    Nov 10, 2015
    5
    wth! I thought i would buy an RPG not a SHOOTER? Are you kidding me? Words cant really even describe my disappointment atm. Crashes at every occasion, cant rebind certain keys, graphics look horrible, cant search drawers and objects anymore, it just displays the content in on overlay, REALLY??!?, the voice acting is horrid....... i could go on and on... first time i am really speechlesswth! I thought i would buy an RPG not a SHOOTER? Are you kidding me? Words cant really even describe my disappointment atm. Crashes at every occasion, cant rebind certain keys, graphics look horrible, cant search drawers and objects anymore, it just displays the content in on overlay, REALLY??!?, the voice acting is horrid....... i could go on and on... first time i am really speechless about the poor quality of a Game. Holy **** Fallout franchise is dead now, epic stuff. I don't know, who is responsible for those blatant bad design decisions, but you better fire him (or them). This is not a Fallout Game, its a generic indie shooter. Last game i purchased from Bethesda.… Expand
  7. aristophocles
    Nov 14, 2015
    5
    "It just works" -todd howard. No todd, nothing in this broken buggy mess works. I'm sorry that all you guys had to do was not dumb everything down and the game would have been fine. But exusing the usual bethesda broken game **** and the retardation that this game is, just isn't reasonable. Todd, go to hell.
  8. DukeBalek
    Nov 12, 2015
    6
    This is a fake fallout for children who like to play those fake console fps. The comment just below about how bad reviwers are just bad shooter is so perfect to reveal where Fallout 4 failed : which public to target. I let you read it and think about it :

    "Most of the reviewers here just suck at FPS games and can't handle the combat even on it's easiest difficulty setting." Of    This is a fake fallout for children who like to play those fake console fps. The comment just below about how bad reviwers are just bad shooter is so perfect to reveal where Fallout 4 failed : which public to target. I let you read it and think about it :

    "Most of the reviewers here just suck at FPS games and can't handle the combat even on it's easiest difficulty setting."

    Of course, Fallout serie's spirit is not only a shooter game and bad reviews are not about the difficulty of shooting and killing in the game...not at all in fact ! this comment is the perfect exemple of the new generation mind... this is new target for game designers, those Destiny children, and this why we have to endure this insult and this crap...

    This game is a boring action game on a tiny open world.. better go play madmax, it is as repetitive as fallout 4 but at least fights are fun...every buildings are just filled with enemies and are, for most of all, just a place where to loot those energy cells to equip this stupid powerarmor... there are no surprises like in others fallout so even exploring, the core of the game, is useless and boring. The quests are so dumb, unrealistic, reused, lazy... I dont even want to speak about this nonsensical building feature.. after 30 minutes you realise how ridiculous it is and are ashamed for bethesda that they could tease their game with this crap...

    At first I told myself modders will fix it, but seriously, they can't create all that miss in the game. Seriously all the world is missing ! just a 11 minutes map and guns fights... After TESO, Bethesda miss again.. and very very badly.

    I played 300 + hours to New vegas, have finished fallout 1 and 2, and like even Fallout 3 which in comparaison to fallout 4 was finally not so bad.

    I give 4/10 because of the level design retro futur and the little (very little) fun i had in 25 hours ...

    ps : PC player, I beg you all to install SWEET FX from the nexus, it really makes the difference. The tiny prog to change fov and disable mouse crap smoothing etc is also very useful. Play with 100 fov.    … Expand
  9. Aelyn
    Nov 10, 2015
    6
    I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was certainly not what I got in the end.

    + quite nice graphics renderer (expecting Bethesda to use it in the next Elder Scrolls game) + somewhat good atmosphere in general - weak plot - poor quality textures - laughable audio (including very shallow character voice-overs and lack of any good surround positioning) - dumbed down RPG system    I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was certainly not what I got in the end.

    + quite nice graphics renderer (expecting Bethesda to use it in the next Elder Scrolls game)
    + somewhat good atmosphere in general

    - weak plot
    - poor quality textures
    - laughable audio (including very shallow character voice-overs and lack of any good surround positioning)
    - dumbed down RPG system (plagued by total insignificance of perks - you can complete this game as a simple shooter without even trying to pick some unique skills)
    - excruciatingly unhandy user interface
    - fails at delievering a realistic open world experience (the player may visit approximately 1 out of 10 buildings)
    - playable map area is too small (you could probably fit it somewhere between Whiterun and Riften in Skyrim)

    Also the game by default is not supporting NVIDIA SLI at this moment. Using custom compatibility profile partially resolves this issue, but the result is far from perfect: you may end up with minor bugs, flickering and awful FPS drops in certain scenes (for example, when you are looking at light source behind some sort of a volumetric fog).    … Expand
  10. Makaveli
    Nov 23, 2015
    6
    This entry in the series was disappointing for me. I didn't like how they changed the dialogue system to where you only have 4 options to choose from, also giving the the main character a voice somewhat takes away from the rpg experience (at least for me) The whole game feels streamlined and I think it caters more to newcomers than it does for people who've been Fallout fans for years.This entry in the series was disappointing for me. I didn't like how they changed the dialogue system to where you only have 4 options to choose from, also giving the the main character a voice somewhat takes away from the rpg experience (at least for me) The whole game feels streamlined and I think it caters more to newcomers than it does for people who've been Fallout fans for years.
    Base building feels tacked on and I thought it was very clunky and not very fun to play with. Leveling up is pointless too and not as in-depth as previous Fallout games.

    This was the first Fallout game where I got bored rather quickly, but I slogged through the story to get the most out of my $60 and it just wasn't a pleasant experience for me. It felt as if Bethesda didn't work as hard on this game as they did for Fallout 3. They did however improve on the gun play and we no longer have to rely solely on the VAT system. Many people are complaining about the graphics, but I didn't think they were that bad, the animations are terrible though. I thought this game was also too easy, even on higher difficulty settings.

    Don't get me wrong it isn't a bad game, I'm sure some people will like it, but it feels like Bethesda did the most rudimentary things just to be able to call this an rpg.

    Improved on gun play and graphics (like it should) but everything else is streamlined to the point where it isn't as fun as the previous installments. I don't know why Bethesda continues to strip down their games, it has been happening since Morrow Wind, with each new game in their series they remove more and more fun, what use to be limitless is now limited.    … Expand
  11. yogibbear
    Dec 5, 2015
    7
    Negatives:
    -Terrible UI, terrible M+KB controls, terrible UI, terrible UI, terrible UI, terrible UI
    -Terrible mouse acceleration (can be fixed in the .ini files) -Terrible Y-axis scaling (can be fixed in the .ini files) -Terrible performance (dropped Shadows to Medium & Godlight to Medium and I now get 45-60FPS on 770GTX, YMMV) -Weapon models are too large -FOV is horrible and    Negatives:
    -Terrible UI, terrible M+KB controls, terrible UI, terrible UI, terrible UI, terrible UI
    -Terrible mouse acceleration (can be fixed in the .ini files)
    -Terrible Y-axis scaling (can be fixed in the .ini files)
    -Terrible performance (dropped Shadows to Medium & Godlight to Medium and I now get 45-60FPS on 770GTX, YMMV)
    -Weapon models are too large
    -FOV is horrible and nauseating (you can and should fix this via the .ini tweaks)
    -UI colors OMG horrible
    -Removed complexity in levelling system, replaced with only perks, honestly this is horrible, but so far it works OK... [14 hrs in]
    -No companion army
    -Physical copy does not contain the entire game, you will have to download it still.
    -terrible UI, terrible UI, terrible UI, terrible UI.

    Positives:
    -Crafting weapons, armour, bases is cool and awesome
    -Scrapping stuff adds meaning to exploration and looting buildings
    -The gameplay loop is good
    -Building stuff is a new feature and it's pretty good, even though the UI and controls for it are stupidly wrong, but it works once you figure it out.
    -It's Fallout.
    -There's now a sprint button (like Skyrim added).
    -Boston gameworld is cool and art style is good.
    -Some character animations are better.
    -Getting in and out of power armour is cool.

    ---------------------------

    The above review was written after having played only 10 hours, I am now 67 hours into the game and need to make the following additions:

    Negatives:
    -Radiant quests are trash. There are too many of these thinly disguised "quests" that are just radiant go here, kill everything, repeating ad nausem trash quests for EVERY single damn faction in the game. This is not good game design. This is just bottom barrel scratching for something.
    -The dialogue system is completely trash with very little depth, frustrating "wheel" that doesn't explain what you're going to say, or what saying that will do to the conversation and ultimately leads you down the same linear pathway regardless.
    -The story is not interesting.
    -The settlement building mechanics and settlement happiness in relation to shops, defence, resources, etc. and settlement design could have had way better explaining. It's basically one giant mystery requiring exiting the game and seeing how someone else figured out how to get to 100 happiness, because it is not obvious at all what you are doing wrong.
    -Preston STFU stop giving me quests. Worst. Mechanic. Ever.

    Postives:
    -There are a lot of really cool designed places to explore, and the variety is really really good. Sadly despite all these brilliant places, with interesting tidbits and reasons for existing the actual stuff that you need to accomplish in these places boils down to the same repetitive radiant quest frustrations and ultimately boredom. If you designed any of the artwork, or levels, or world building in this game then you should truly be celebrated. But sadly the vision is not supported by gameplay, by sound, by RPG mechanics, by story, or by anything and the cracks show throughout and it all falls apart.    … Expand
  12. nickdos
    Nov 12, 2015
    5
    We all played this game 3 times by now since fallout3, skyrim and newvegas, nothing new, same old buggy engine, shallow gameplay and story.
    Anyone that has played those games will get bored quickly.
  13. LordHagen
    Nov 10, 2015
    7
    Graphics is nice but... oh my god... how... how you can sleep dear Bethesda after that?... why? Why you killed Dialogue system?? WHYYY?! People will not forgive you >:-(
  14. iKiller109
    Nov 12, 2015
    5
    Bethesda... what you doing? Bethesda, I really wanna know answer! What you doing? For what?!
    It's so cruel, unsparingly and... and you are insane maniac! Maybe, my oldschool nature raget because this game is not Old Fallout? Yeah, that so... Fallout 3 - too many idiotic things, single-celled story and more of this, but it wasn't so bad, new atmosphere good, gameplay not bad, wasteland -    Bethesda... what you doing? Bethesda, I really wanna know answer! What you doing? For what?!
    It's so cruel, unsparingly and... and you are insane maniac! Maybe, my oldschool nature raget because this game is not Old Fallout? Yeah, that so... Fallout 3 - too many idiotic things, single-celled story and more of this, but it wasn't so bad, new atmosphere good, gameplay not bad, wasteland - giant radioactive stone, that make me fun... Than release the Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout from Parents of Fallout! Oh, I love New Vegas, Old-New Fallout, it's gooooood!
    And now we can see the new game of this universe - Fallout 4... It's sucks! Good beginning(?), like a beginning Fallout 4 - father search his son(somewhere I've seen it, cant remember where...), but our hero-character acts as if he doesn't care fate of his son, of coursly, that reason to "nobody cares" - 1.Non-Motivation.
    Gameplay: hmmm... Borderlands + **Id Tech Shooter** + liiiiiiiiiittlee piece of Fallout, tightening, but this will pass faster, than effect of Jet. And with this interesting part of game. But craft really good, undisputed, really!
    Graphics: Doesn't matter. But due to color gamma in this time without filter, atmosphere just gone(OMG, thanks, "firetrackers"!)
    Bad story-line, bad gameplay, absence atmosphere - compilation of game for 3,7/10. Awful! Fckn' "third" was better! Worst!

    P.S. Where is Obsidian Entertaiment? And where is my Fallout: New Vegas 2?!

    P.S. Sorry for my English, i know, that's really-really bad, I am trying to develop my English-language. Thanks for your attention!    … Expand
  15. crazyrussian65
    Nov 28, 2015
    6
    Some of the graphics are plastic looking.
    Gameplay can get repetitive quick when you try to do other missions other than the main story.
    The companion mechanics are wierd... They can often blow your cover and get themselves hurt a lot.
    Pretty fun to build a new settlement and create some fresh guns.

    so... not bad. I wouldn't pay $60 though.
  16. Renard
    May 7, 2016
    7
    Enjoyable experience so far. I had a good time but there are terrible performance problems and my first review was 0 because it took me 5 weeks to even start the game. I am not satisfied by DLC so far and I expeceted much more from season pass. I suppose it will end as an great polished game after the modders will have an opportunity to fix Buthesda game. If You like fallout You shouldEnjoyable experience so far. I had a good time but there are terrible performance problems and my first review was 0 because it took me 5 weeks to even start the game. I am not satisfied by DLC so far and I expeceted much more from season pass. I suppose it will end as an great polished game after the modders will have an opportunity to fix Buthesda game. If You like fallout You should play. If You loved Fallout 1 or 2 you may be dissapointed by dumbed down dialogues and lack of diversity in character building and world exploration. Fallout New Vegas had much better overall quality in gameplay. But I enjoyed Fallout 4 much more then Fallout 3. I liked the gunplay changes, climate and easthetics but thay could do so much more and so much better.… Expand
  17. RogueAgent
    Nov 10, 2015
    5
    If you are a Bethesda fan, you probably remember sensation of playing Oblivion or Skyrim for the first time. They showed great improvement from their prequels; there were, of course, shortfalls, but gamers could feel that Bethesda put great degree of effort and care into the game, so we gamers (not all, but majority) were satisfied and loved playing the game.

    This time, however, Fallout    If you are a Bethesda fan, you probably remember sensation of playing Oblivion or Skyrim for the first time. They showed great improvement from their prequels; there were, of course, shortfalls, but gamers could feel that Bethesda put great degree of effort and care into the game, so we gamers (not all, but majority) were satisfied and loved playing the game.

    This time, however, Fallout 4 launching showed how Bethesda got lazy. I feel like Bethesda and Todd Howard became bastard nephews who live on their uncle's generosity (Bethesda name value and already established systems & world from prequels). I wouldn’t surprise if devs are thinking like 'Hey, even if we show **** of laziness, modders gonna finish sanding and polishing!' If I hadn't played previous Bethesda game series, I could give more generous rating, but I played Bethesda games since Arena and witnessed its evolution; Fallout 4 is such disappointment and is a shameful sequel when compared to its prequels.

    Game engine and environment middleware cost money, and yes, everyone wants to reduce production cost and maximize profit; I understand that. Bethesda, however, has been doing this - bugs, shameful in-game envirment and graphics which is two or three gen behind - for more than ten years while milking money out of its loyal fans, and there is barely a sign of improvement thanks to its chronic laziness and ignorance.

    Just look at other games from this generation. Well, actually, others games from several generations back even showed better gameplay environment. When you play Fallout 4 after playing games like Last of Us (which is from three years ago), you would feel like you are in the world of ragdoll.

    I usually put less emphasis on technical issues and in-game environment like graphics and physics engine, since gamers still can acquire great gameplay experience and deep emersion without superb graphics when the game is well designed. But Bethesda, seriously, this is just too much, and you got lazy.

    Decent game, thanks to already-established world settings and systems, but huge disappointment.

    Pro:
    As usual, adventuring wasteland is fun
    Item crafting system: fun to try out different combinations
    Scary deathclaws & ghouls, badass powerarmor, disgusting radroach

    Meh:
    New conversation system
    Housing: I really like the idea, but it needs more improvement
    Story: not terrible, but not superb. Feels like eating mass produced lukewarm mac & cheese.

    Con:
    Usual, everlasting, tiring Bethesda issues (bugs, physics, graphics, motions, etc)
    Feels like Fallout 3: Boston Wasteland DLC with Skyrim engine attached
    Terrible terrible AI    … Expand
  18. Tubey
    Nov 11, 2015
    7
    I was torn between a 6 and a 7 for this game, opted for the higher end because of this reason - ultimately, even after the glaring flaws that exist, this is a "decent" game if you take it on it's own merit and ignore the fact it's a Fallout game and just a standalone title instead.

    Yes, comparing it to Fallout 3 and New Vegas makes it harder to swallow. Fallout 4 lacks the general RPG    I was torn between a 6 and a 7 for this game, opted for the higher end because of this reason - ultimately, even after the glaring flaws that exist, this is a "decent" game if you take it on it's own merit and ignore the fact it's a Fallout game and just a standalone title instead.

    Yes, comparing it to Fallout 3 and New Vegas makes it harder to swallow. Fallout 4 lacks the general RPG elements that were so immersive in those titles, with a heavier focus on combat that screams Battlefield Fallout rather than what we expect from the Bethesda franchise by now. It also has bugs and glitches all over the shop, but manages to just about stay roped together enough to avoid this being a complete disaster.

    Graphically, this is sub-par. Not much of an improvement on, say, Skyrim really. But with all those flaws aside, this is still a massive, well made post-apocalyptic experience, which I'd class as an FPS with RPG elements, rather than a first-person RPG.

    You can safely wait to pick this up on sale quite frankly, but you won't regret playing it. If you're new to the idea of Fallout, you'd be best served going back and playing Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas before picking this up. The low scores for Fallout 4 are a result of the hype before the game not meeting the reality of the release, rather than a score of the games actual quality - the zero scores are even dumber than the nines in this regard, and are kneejerk, hysterical overreactions.

    That said, the practice of over-hyping games needs to stop. It is a direct result of the pre-order culture. People, start learning lessons, wait for a games release, try a demo if you can, THEN buy it if you want to, instead of buying into a game that doesn't exist yet.    … Expand
  19. CreamyyStreams
    Nov 10, 2015
    6
    It's a Bethesda RPG and performs exactly as you'd expect. The world is immense and, in its way, beautiful. There's plenty to do, lots of things to find, places to explore and people to meet. Levelling is reasonably satisfying, a marginal improvement over Skyrim's and a marginal step down from Fallout 3 and NV. I'm sure I'll enjoy getting lost in the wasteland for a few dozen hours.It's a Bethesda RPG and performs exactly as you'd expect. The world is immense and, in its way, beautiful. There's plenty to do, lots of things to find, places to explore and people to meet. Levelling is reasonably satisfying, a marginal improvement over Skyrim's and a marginal step down from Fallout 3 and NV. I'm sure I'll enjoy getting lost in the wasteland for a few dozen hours.

    However, the knife cuts both ways. Alongside all the great things you can always expect from this calibre of game from Bethesda come a whole lot of negatives.

    One of the more immediately noticeable flaws is visual fidelity - or rather, lack thereof. It looks like a game made in 2011, and unfortunately it doesn't even run particularly well to make up for it. It sits around 50fps on an i5 and 970 and there are some noticeable frame drops. Turning off godrays seems to help a little, but a game this visually unimpressive shouldn't require sacrifices to run at a stable framerate. It's unpleasant to tank to the mid-30s every time there's an explosion on screen.

    It's also rife with bugs. We all expected it, but this is an engine that's been around for more than a decade. You'd have thought they'd have figured out how to stop the AI running into walls, elevator floors cutting out and sending you plummeting and corpses flying around violently by now. Not to mention CTDs - I've experienced two in ten hours so far. There is very, very little new technology in this game - CTDs should not be happening. Remarkably as of yet I have not been launched a thousand feet into the air and ragdolled nor have I fallen through the earth into blue space, so take that as you will.

    Keys are not rebindable, which is a pretty nasty oversight in this day and age. There's also a conspicuous lack of adjustable FOV, meaning you'll need an .ini tweak or console command to escape console claustrophobia.

    The writing is atrocious, but that's forgiveable because it's a Bethesda RPG and it'd be delusional to expect otherwise. The bigger issue is character animation. A huge quantity of body language is this game is ripped straight from Skyrim - you've probably seen the clip of 'hat man' at the beginning of the game equipping his clipboard like a shield. Facial animations are impressively awful and regularly resemble those silly over-the-top lipsync videos people make in Source. Voice acting is weak, but again what else would you expect.

    Gunplay in this game is not good. Everything feels a bit floaty and it's not helped by the odd mouse acceleration/smoothing it forces on you. There doesn't seem to be any way to disable it. Perhaps it's better with a controller, but why would you play Fallout with a controller.

    I'd imagine this seems overly critical, even for a 6/10 review, but it's genuinely difficult to recommend this game in its current state. Ultimately it doesn't matter, since it's Fallout and you'll damn well buy it anyway like the rest of us, just please don't go into it thinking it's the same calibre as other heavy-hitters to have come out this year - MGSV and TW3 both blow it out of the water.

    If you have any degree of self control, wait for patches.    … Expand
  20. ScotchRobbins
    Nov 10, 2015
    5
    PSA: If you mindlessly gave this game a 0 or a 10 within the first day the game was released to the public, you did the community and planet earth a disservice by not being in any way, shape, or form thorough.
  21. Aereid
    Nov 10, 2015
    7
    Bad PC port, Keybindings are atrocious and not everyone in the world uses Qwerty Keyboards. And you can not change them, will probably update review later have not advanced the game that much only 2 hours in.
  22. Capetown
    Nov 10, 2015
    6
    Bethesda-Sandbox as you know it since Morrowind 2002 but with the usual improvements to make the game less enjoyable:

    - Story not worth mentioning - Horrible UI, thanks to consoles that are needed to finance their games. Even worse than Skyrim, well done! - Controls on PC even more horrible - very simplified game play/game mechanics to make it more accessable for the masses -    Bethesda-Sandbox as you know it since Morrowind 2002 but with the usual improvements to make the game less enjoyable:

    - Story not worth mentioning
    - Horrible UI, thanks to consoles that are needed to finance their games. Even worse than Skyrim, well done!
    - Controls on PC even more horrible
    - very simplified game play/game mechanics to make it more accessable for the masses
    - completely unnecessary "minecraft-feature" where controls are even worse

    Still, exploring wasteland Boston is fun as it always was plus the new crafting features are fun and meaningful. And for the first time in a Bethasda "rpg" you really have the feeling, that your choices make a difference. So another play-through might give you a really different experience.

    But in post-W3 times it might be time for a change Bethesda, now that we've seen what it is possible in an open world RPG. If this is all you can do after 7 years of development maybe it's time for a complete start from scratch.    … Expand
  23. alilsneaky
    Nov 10, 2015
    7
    + gunplay much improved
    +consistent frametimes
    +gun modifications +mod support -the dialog system is only a shadow of what it was in previous games, this was one of the bigger draws of fallout and now it's been stomped because the masses don't like to read or w/e -still the same bethesda jank with awful animations, glitches, dialog audio skipping, corrupted saves etc etc etc.    + gunplay much improved
    +consistent frametimes
    +gun modifications
    +mod support

    -the dialog system is only a shadow of what it was in previous games, this was one of the bigger draws of fallout and now it's been stomped because the masses don't like to read or w/e

    -still the same bethesda jank with awful animations, glitches, dialog audio skipping, corrupted saves etc etc etc.

    -characters and their dialog are extremely forgettable, new vegas was a lot more interesting

    -while the framerate is very consistent (no stutters whatsoever if you can stay above 60 fps, which is a huge improvement over previous bethesda games), the game needs a really powerful pc to get to that 60 fps at decent settings @ 1080p, imo it doesn't look remotely good enough to justify being so demanding

    -enemies don't react to being shot (other than a canned animation that triggers at a certain hp treshhold)
    It's the same issue skyrim has, you might as well be swinging/shooting at thin air, no feed back whatsoever until they die. It's especially jarring on the enemies with more health.

    -base building/village managment addition adds nothing meaningful and isn't fun, it's just a timewaster

    Fallout 4 has basically reduced the 3D fallout formula to being a decentish shooter (except without the satisfying hit reactions from superior shooters like fear/max payne/painkiller etc) where you loot a lot of junk and do some crafting (which doesn't amount to anything more than raising stats on weapons, no cool creative stuff, it might as well not be in the game).
    The RPG aspects are not good in this game. The improved gun animations/behavior/sounds are what make this a 7, otherwise it would be much lower.    … Expand
  24. pi972
    Dec 4, 2015
    6
    It's... Disappointing. That's the word. I set my expectations really low, and this game still didn't meet any of them other than the "it'll be fun for a while" one. There are better games for this price.
  25. sscott0829tw
    Nov 10, 2015
    7
    Fallout4 is an outstanding Sandbox game,the story and its characters is very decent.The game world is not only beautiful but filled with contents.I especially loved the weapon customization system,I can make some very badass weapons.The building system is good but I don't think is very necessary,cause this is not a multiplayer game,it is boring to build houses and decoration without otherFallout4 is an outstanding Sandbox game,the story and its characters is very decent.The game world is not only beautiful but filled with contents.I especially loved the weapon customization system,I can make some very badass weapons.The building system is good but I don't think is very necessary,cause this is not a multiplayer game,it is boring to build houses and decoration without other players playing with you.Dialogue and conversations are awesome and well designed,your decision really matters.But the graphics are not that good for next gen,perhaps is because Bethesda took too many times to make the game.There are some glitches too,but not many.Overall I do think Fallout 4 is a great game,but failed to reach a higher level.… Expand
  26. gameren82
    Feb 28, 2016
    5
    - The real problem with dialogue system is that choice "either puts you on the same route with the same quest objective or just nets you a "come back later if you change your mind mane" response. Illusion of choice.
    -Repetetive, similar quests.
    - No hardcore mode.
    - No reputation.
    - Graphics and animations outdated.
    - Inventory and sorting
    - Dumbed down RPG elements. '
  27. mortizauge
    Aug 30, 2019
    6
    Sadly doesn't live up to expectations or past iterations. Reusing the same engine was a bad decision, and some of the plot elements feel sloppy and uninteresting. Still a nice shooter/RPG.
  28. barjo455
    Nov 10, 2015
    5
    Very nice game! The graphics are pretty and the gameplay is awesome!!! I don't know why people hate that much this great game.
    I mean sure there are still some little bugs. But nothing to worry about!
    I recommend this game!
  29. MartianAxolotl
    Mar 14, 2016
    5
    Really Short Review:

    Bethesda: "We've been hyping this for like 3 years but we dont actually have anything, what are we gonna do guys?" Bethesda Employee: "Okay were gonna... uh... reverse the plot from Fallout 3... make the world smaller so we dont have to make too much. Give them everything in the first 30 minutes so we dont have to complicate the plot... and... take out the    Really Short Review:

    Bethesda: "We've been hyping this for like 3 years but we dont actually have anything, what are we gonna do guys?"

    Bethesda Employee: "Okay were gonna... uh... reverse the plot from Fallout 3... make the world smaller so we dont have to make too much. Give them everything in the first 30 minutes so we dont have to complicate the plot... and... take out the morality system because thats too complex"

    Bethesda: "But thats means its gonna be s***"

    Employee: "Okay we'll add better guns. All the 9 year olds only care about guns anyway"

    Bethesda: "Alright" *makes game in 2 months* *makes it look like theyve been perfectng it for the past 6 years* *bribes the media into saying 10/10 IGN*    … Expand
  30. Telembrium
    Nov 19, 2015
    6
    Fallout 4, while still a fun game, is a large step backwards from previous titles in the series with issues ranging from questionable design decisions to poor optimisation to an identity crisis concerning the game's genre. The developers seem to be focusing on adding shallow secondary features rather than creating strong core features. Bethesda's games seem be getting more and more dumbedFallout 4, while still a fun game, is a large step backwards from previous titles in the series with issues ranging from questionable design decisions to poor optimisation to an identity crisis concerning the game's genre. The developers seem to be focusing on adding shallow secondary features rather than creating strong core features. Bethesda's games seem be getting more and more dumbed down with each rendition, and Fallout 4 is far from an exception to this trend. That's not to say that there aren't some innovations, but they're too few and too insignificant to make up for the removed content.

    By far the most flagrant issue with Fallout 4 is the voiced protagonist and the ramifications of its addition. A voiced protagonist could have actually meant good things for the series, but instead it has heralded the removal of a large degree of player freedom and choice. Dialogue has been stripped bare, and a large number of other questionable changes were undoubtedly influenced by the decision to have a voiced protagonist.

    One of the game’s main issues which was obviously inspired by the voiced protagonist is the dialogue. Only four options are given for every conversation, and most of them follow a set template of yes, no, sarcastic, and maybe. When it’s not a template conversation, it usually doesn't even matter what you choose, as the response will just be the same with slight variations, which often leads to jarring and discontinuous conversations. You don't get options which allow you to play antagonistically and your mannerism doesn't change with your character's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats. The only stat which matters in dialogue is charisma, and even then it’s only for speech checks. Almost all of the dialogue options you have are either morally ambiguous or directly related to the predetermined backstory, and a lot of the dialogue options given are also duplicates of questions which you have most likely already had answered by a different NPC. At least the voice acting has improved significantly relative to Skyrim, but it's still not anything special.

    The main story of Fallout 4 is bland, uninspired, and full of clichés. It's like someone wrote the entire story in one night after watching a sci-fi marathon on television. As for quests, they're pretty mediocre: go here, kill that, talk to this guy, yada yada. The only branching I've found was at one point in the main quest, but it was more of a choice of whether you wanted to continue or just quit there than an actual branch.

    Yet another place where Bethesda has dumbed down the game is in the removal of skills. Not only has this made the game less dynamic in gameplay, it has removed the various skill checks from the already suffering dialogue. Perks have been expanded in lieu of skills, but almost all of them are combat-oriented and dull. Lady killer/black widow don't even give custom dialogue. Most offensive of all, though, is the fact that you can now increase your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats at a rate of one per level, rendering any strategic placement of your starting stats effectively null and severely reducing replay value.

    Where has Bethesda put all of their development effort, then? Well, guns now operate like they would in a traditional shooter, and there is a mediocre cover system. It's too bad that the AI improvements are limited to failing to use the cover system instead of actually attacking and being able to constantly spam grenades, which more often hurt themselves or their allies than you. They'll even use missile launchers at point-blank range. Apart from that, expect the traditional tiered bullet sponges system, except for the new bullet sponges that heal to full health when filled with bullets so they can soak up more bullets. These particular bullets sponges drop gear with enchantments. I guess Bethesda decided it would be easier to embrace the crappy MMO-style bullet sponge system by adding more MMO-esque features rather than fix the problem. Speaking of, you can also build settlements now, and they're incredibly mediocre. I can't help but question why they spent all this time on a poorly-interfaced, clunky building system when a player could simply mod in something similar to what they can build much more easily, especially since console players can supposedly use mods now. As for the weapon mods, they've essentially just cut down on the number of unique weapons and replaced them with a system that lets you create military-grade weaponry from tin cans and alarm clocks. Meanwhile, the majority of enemies use guns made out of piping.

    I have a lot more that I’d like to say, but I’m already running into the character limit, so to sum up, Fallout 4 is a poor RPG, a poor FPS, and a somewhat decent adventure FPS with RPG elements. Bethesda needs to focus on making the actual game rather than adding gimmicky features like animated vault boys, mini-games like Donkey Kong, a single NPC which says your name, or shallow settlement-building.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Best PC Game of 2015
2
#2 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. CD-Action
    Feb 4, 2016
    80
    After terrible first couple of hours Fallout 4 pulled itself together and ultimately was almost as fun as The Witcher 3. There’s a huge chasm between these two games in terms of technology (F4 looks like a X360 game), but their open worlds are equally good and Bethesda did a better job with crafting. [01/2016, p.42]
  2. PCWorld
    Jan 19, 2016
    70
    This isn’t the step forward I expected, though. Here we are, the first Bethesda game on a new hardware generation, and I can’t help feeling like we’ve regressed—like Fallout 4 really is Oblivion-with-guns. A decade later, it certainly makes many of the same mistakes.
    Read full review
  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Jan 4, 2016
    92
    It’s easy to get carried away by Fallout 4’s massive open world. While the gunplay is much improved and the quests fun, I found the UI lacking on the PC. The inventory and build menus are really tedious to use. [Dec 2015]
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