Fallout 4

Digistruct0r

Dec 18, 2015

5

The game feels overburdened with stuff and is not engaging enough. Technology-wise it is by no means a bad game (but keep in mind that this is a Bethesda RPG after all, so there are glitches, most of which I could fix with quicksave/reload), and the UI is definitely an improvement over F3/NV.

That said, the content in the game feels extremely boring. 90% of the missions are basicallyThe game feels overburdened with stuff and is not engaging enough. Technology-wise it is by no means a bad game (but keep in mind that this is a Bethesda RPG after all, so there are glitches, most of which I could fix with quicksave/reload), and the UI is definitely an improvement over F3/NV.

That said, the content in the game feels extremely boring. 90% of the missions are basically "shoot those guys and bring back that item", the characters and companions are either unengaging or obnoxious (with possible exception of the dog). The main storyline is simply not engaging (maybe because it's been told a million times in other games already), and all the endings feel lackluster.

The dialogue system has been dulled down significantly, with your dialogue choices having little to no effect, you might as well just spam the left arrow to sound sarcastic all the time. And you've never have a complete understanding of what you're going to say, because each choice is represented by a single word and there is no ability to see the phrase your character is going for (unlike DXHR, for example).

The absence of the level cap is nice, but perk system is a double-edged sword: while you can get just the perks you want, their higher-level versions are locked behind a level wall, forcing you to spread your skillpoints over a myriade of skills which you don't need or want.

The settlements mechanic is completely useless, unless you are the person who would rather have AI play their game for them. And while putting extra shops/power armor stands/other stuff certainly seems like a good idea, I feel like building your own structures is best left to something like Rust or Minecraft.

To sum up: too many gimmicks, old plot, smaller map, better graphics and UI. Not impressed.… Expand

Vulfie

Dec 18, 2015

6

So I sank nearly 200 hours into this and I feel like I finished everything that was worth doing around the 80-100 hour mark. F4 certainly has not changed my opinion of Bethesda games; They're like junk food. They taste good and sometimes you get a craving for them, but they ultimately leave you feeling empty and unsatisfied.

I don't particularly want to rant about every detail I didn'tSo I sank nearly 200 hours into this and I feel like I finished everything that was worth doing around the 80-100 hour mark. F4 certainly has not changed my opinion of Bethesda games; They're like junk food. They taste good and sometimes you get a craving for them, but they ultimately leave you feeling empty and unsatisfied.

I don't particularly want to rant about every detail I didn't like in this game, but there are some things I feel I need to talk about. The game has no challenge worth mentioning, unless you consider chipping away at bullet-sponges to be a rewarding experience. Similar to the Super Mutants of Fallout 3, Deathclaws have been downgraded from how they used to be and are now the new "Generic roaming tough-guy enemy" (Even though they shouldn't be roaming in the first place). Just like Skyrim, NPC's dump meaningless and unwanted quests in your journal if you even so much as hear them whispering in the distance. You're expected to do everything for everybody and it gets tiresome quickly. Example: One of the most common side quests is to clear out a spot that would make a good new settlement. Generally the person giving you the quest will say something like "I've got some friends who want to move in there". So you clear out the place, report back, and 2 settlers will move in to their new home. However, they do nothing when they arrive. They won't set up a farm, beds, defences or even attempt to clean the place up. Despite being told that these settlers wanted to move in once this piece of land was cleared out, they are perfectly happy to just sit there and starve to death until you come back and build up the place for them. What exactly was their plan for the place they asked you to clear out for them? I really can't stand how incompetent everybody is in Bethesda games. Also these kinds of quests are pretty much unlimited, so even if you do take the time to build up settlements for people, there is no sense of progression because you're immediately bogged down with 3 or 4 more of the same quest (Literally, as many of the quest-givers have a nasty habit of giving you 3 or 4 more quests before they allow you to turn in the ones you've already finished). At the time of writing this review, the GECK is not available so mod support is limited and as of December 7th 2015, an update was added which removed what little mod support the game already had (So long, Pre-war house). On that note, I don't understand why rebuilding pre-war stuff is not an option. When it was revealed that you were a pre-war survivor and military veteran, I figured that you having pre-war knowledge would become a big deal in the game. In FNV I remember someone saying that mining machines are tricky to use because nobody alive has the knowledge to repair them, or rebuild them if they ever completely break down. Not to mention HELIOS 1. But no, your characters status as a pre-war survivor is meaningless. He/she rarely even mentions it, he/she can't even sweep the piles of leaves and rubble out of his/her home. But hey, that's my fault for expecting more depth from a Bethesda game, I don't know why I keep trying.

Please excuse the wall of text, but I assure you, that was the short-list.

If you already got Fallout 4 on release, chances are you've finished it and moved on, so I'm really just writing this review for anybody who's still undecided about getting F4. This is certainly not Fallout New Vegas. It doesn't even have a Hardcore mode (Despite carrying over Skyrim's cooking system). I've been told that F4 started out as a mod for Skyrim and it sure feels like it. You really won't miss much by waiting for this game to go on sale, maybe in the form of the GOTY edition, when full modding support is available.… Expand

DaZzu

Jan 7, 2016

6

I'm really sorry but this game didn't catch me...it doesn't feel like fallout 3 or new vegas...it feels like a game made for the masses, average.
The graphic is outdated, some textures are simply unwatchable.
The world feels dead, boring and repetitive. Story is too linear and sub quests are all the same. Go there, kill everyone. Dialogues are embarassing. Choices unexistent.I'm really sorry but this game didn't catch me...it doesn't feel like fallout 3 or new vegas...it feels like a game made for the masses, average.
The graphic is outdated, some textures are simply unwatchable.
The world feels dead, boring and repetitive.
Story is too linear and sub quests are all the same. Go there, kill everyone.
Dialogues are embarassing.
Choices unexistent.
Companions are irrelevant and sometimes are even in the way.
Settlements have no point, they are just a nuisance.
Bulding a house is near impossible.
This is not the seems. I don't care about planting carrots and potatoes.
I wasn't expecting this...i was expecting a mature and realistic experience in a post apocalyptic environment.
This seems a playground.
It remains playable title..boring but playable.
I had appreciate the Power Armor aspect and the crafting system.

You missed the shot Bethesda...a really great one.… Expand

SocratesPOV

Mar 9, 2016

5

Fallout 4 is the showcase of what happens when developers spend more for merchandising than actual game development.

Graphics and physics are the same since Fallout 3 but what did you expect, right? If you can get through the gory paste and gummy bodies and, yes, some fresh post processing, worry not, this game has many more aces in the hole to disappoint you! Let's start with theFallout 4 is the showcase of what happens when developers spend more for merchandising than actual game development.

Graphics and physics are the same since Fallout 3 but what did you expect, right? If you can get through the gory paste and gummy bodies and, yes, some fresh post processing, worry not, this game has many more aces in the hole to disappoint you!

Let's start with the few good things about Fallout 4: Boston and its outskirt are big and it takes quite some time to explore the whole map, there is variety and i personally liked the glowing sea as it feels like the apotheosis of atomic annihilation. From the FPS perspective this game got far from his previous chapters as it now features more control over envirorment while shooting (peeking from cover for instance). Character customization, aesthetically speaking, have been improved. This said, roll up your sleeves, we are going deeper.

From the RPG perspective the game feels hollow: personally the voice acting of the main character wasn't necessary as it rips away whatever you wanted to imagine it was the voice of your character, although the acting is not that bad. The dialog circle is terrifying: the option swings from "good answer" to "bad answer" to the ominous "sarcasting answer", never in all the 3 cases you have an idea of what your character is going to say, you can vaguely imagine but you can't be sure. Thankfully modders fixed this. Hardcore mode, introduced in NV, disappeared, making this title look more like a walk in a theme park than a survivalish RPG in a ravaged wasteland. The choices you make sometime matters but in the big picture you have 4 endings and they all look the same, you just swap Preston with whoever is the leader of the faction you chose. Speaking of Preston there is a settlement that require your aid, General... Preston is just one of the many npcs who offer a series of repetitive quest which require you to go to "X" slay "Y enemies" go back, rinse and repeat. There are some engaging quest lines indeed but there are so few compared to the 3-line-of-dialog-repeated-x-times quests.

Technically as stated graphics and physics are docked safely at Fallout 3, there are very few moments of awe while walking the wasteland; the tree, grass, waters and whatever debris of the old world remain still as if the bombs deprived the world of atmosfere, leaving it windless. Entering every building has a loading screen and while this not being a big problem it still feel silly being this game released the same year as The Witcher 3 (or MGSV:TPP if you will) which doesn't have any loading time and is still a huge world much more vibrant and detailed than Fallout 4. Game difficulty is nothing to meddle with since it will not make the game a real challenge but will, instead, transform enemies in walking brickmen who need several clips before you down them or, if you are too sluggish to unload hell on some random raiders , get shotted by any silenced weapon with a couple of perks.

To conclude, Fallout 4 is , in my opinion, an under developed game who sold out more because of it's name than his qualitative gameplay. It's an "ok" game but absolutely not worth 60€… Expand

Militant_T

Apr 17, 2016

6

Fallout 4 fell off the rails. I find it an OK mindless blaster. But by far the most piss pour Fallout ever. Its almost been 2 decade since I picked up Fallout. Oh it was wonderful. The reboot Fallout 3 made me forget I was stuck in Iraq. Played it on my way to expensive gaming laptop between missions and managed to forget where I was. Then New Vegas happened. OMG, its rememberingFallout 4 fell off the rails. I find it an OK mindless blaster. But by far the most piss pour Fallout ever. Its almost been 2 decade since I picked up Fallout. Oh it was wonderful. The reboot Fallout 3 made me forget I was stuck in Iraq. Played it on my way to expensive gaming laptop between missions and managed to forget where I was. Then New Vegas happened. OMG, its remembering its roots. Great! Not perfect, but nice. Then....F A L L O U TTT 4..... UGh. What happened?… Expand

ken913

Nov 17, 2015

6

All these GLOWING reviews even 100% and after 7-8 YEARS to make the game with MILLIONS in budget, and we get

NO ABILITY TO FULLY BIND A KEYBOARD? NO NVIDIA SLI SUPPORT NO WIDESCREEN support NO HIGH RES above 1920x1080 CLUNKY combat POOR hit detection POOR collsion POOR AI as in your companions make all stealth IMPOSSIBLE Your enemies can crouch behind objects for cover...youAll these GLOWING reviews even 100% and after 7-8 YEARS to make the game with MILLIONS in budget, and we get

NO ABILITY TO FULLY BIND A KEYBOARD?
NO NVIDIA SLI SUPPORT
NO WIDESCREEN support
NO HIGH RES above 1920x1080
CLUNKY combat
POOR hit detection
POOR collsion
POOR AI as in your companions make all stealth IMPOSSIBLE
Your enemies can crouch behind objects for cover...you CANT

This is JUST scratching the surface, its totally unbelievable how all this is just glossed over by the "PRO review site" SO how much did they get paid off to blow that hype train whistle and keep it going to this day!!!… Expand

SpazeGoat

Jan 5, 2016

5

With over 270 hours and 100% achievements, you would think I'd give Fallout 4 a better rating. Instead I gave it 5/10 and still feel like I'm being generous. Please allow me to explain how I reached this conclusion.

Upon leaving the vault and entering the wasteland, it feels like every other Fallout title. You can't wait to explore unique locations, find stronger weapons, get yourWith over 270 hours and 100% achievements, you would think I'd give Fallout 4 a better rating. Instead I gave it 5/10 and still feel like I'm being generous. Please allow me to explain how I reached this conclusion.

Upon leaving the vault and entering the wasteland, it feels like every other Fallout title. You can't wait to explore unique locations, find stronger weapons, get your first suit of power armor; ultimately, finish quests with the best possible outcome. Whether your character is good, evil, or neutral- your choices effect what kind of ending you get.

My first impressions of Fallout 4 were pretty good. Graphics were improved, the main story was interesting, side quests reaped good rewards, gameplay was smooth (aside from a few bugs). I thought the settlements provided a nice break from questing and exploring. There was only 2 things that really bothered me. (1)The new perk/stat/skill allocation system being one of them. I felt like I had way less control over the development of my character. (2)Dialog options. With only having 4 dialog options, it severely limited the role playing aspect of the game. Obviously, this change was implemented for console gamers and/or casual players with a short attention spans.

As with all my first playthroughs- no guides, no forums, no spoilers. Since I did not read or discuss Fallout 4, I remained blissfully ignorant throughout most of the game. I started getting a little nervous after doing 20+ quests for each of the factions. I found myself asking, "Um, when is this quest-line going to end?... this is getting repetitive". Shortly after, I realized these must be repeatable quests and I'm just wasting my time.

I decided to continue the main quest and explore more. The progression of the main quest was a bit anti-climatic and predictable. Suddenly, every location seemed generic and heavily repeated. I had 20+ settlements and they constantly asked for help. Building became boring the second I learned how limited and inconsequential it was. After a while, I dreaded finding new settlements.

It kept getting easier and easier. I periodically upped the difficult level until I was maxed out on survival by level 50. The amount of HP and armor enemies had made my weapon and armor selection extremely limited. Combat remained easy, but it became a chore. Around this time, I didn't need anything. Caps, stimpaks, ammo, armor, weapons, ect. were all a "non-issue." I was carting junk for my pointless settlements, that's about it.

The final push was painful. After finding as many locations and completing as many quests that I could, it was time to finally beat the game. Around level 80, I saved before I became enemies with anyone significant so I could reload in order to explore other "possibilities." There was a cut-scene. Then there was confusion. I couldn't understand. I literally had to Google to make sure what I saw was the actual ending. Then I reloaded and beat it 2 other ways. I sat in awe as I realized how inconsequential every decision I made was. All those speech checks, settlements, and side-quests. I could have ignored 95% of the content and would have gotten the same vague, asinine ending.

I picked up the few achievements I missed; closed the game and said good-bye for good. I've played every Fallout (besides Fallout Tactics) and this is the first one to have zero point zero replayability. I agree with the common consensus that it's not bad game, but it's not a great game either. As many have stated, it's less immersive and lacks the "RP" in "RPG". That's why I give it a 5/10 for it's complete mediocrity.

For fans of Fallout 1 & 2, I recommend you check out Wasteland 2; if you haven't already. I enjoyed Wasteland 2 more than Fallout 4, which might sound crazy to some. Honestly, I wish Bethesda would bring Brian Fargo back to the Fallout Series. Pipe dream, really. Let's just hope this isn't Bethesda's "Jump the Shark" moment.… Expand

SaintTodd

Nov 16, 2015

6

The first time I played Oblivion, I was in awe. I had never seen anything like it, and I loved it. Fast forward to 2015, and Bethesda hasn't really learned any new tricks. This really is Skyrim with guns, and it doesnt come together as well as that classic. Yes, there's a huge world to explore, and lots of things to collect and people to talk to. But aside from the fact that it all feelsThe first time I played Oblivion, I was in awe. I had never seen anything like it, and I loved it. Fast forward to 2015, and Bethesda hasn't really learned any new tricks. This really is Skyrim with guns, and it doesnt come together as well as that classic. Yes, there's a huge world to explore, and lots of things to collect and people to talk to. But aside from the fact that it all feels so familiar and played out, the combat is pretty bad. One of the weaknesses of this style of game are the anklebiters. You know, the small creatures you fight who are difficult to track because of their small size and quickness. In Skyrim, those creatures were weak, and never presented much of a threat. In Fallout 4, there seem to be lots of these things, and some of them are very tough. In general, it feels like enemies are tougher to take down than they should be with guns. If I shoot a gangster in the head four or five times, I feel like I should be done with them. Not in this game. And with combat system that isnt really well done, and the scarcity of ammo, it just feels tedious.
If you really like open world rpgs, you can spend a long time exploring this world. If you want to play a polished action game, this isnt it.… Expand

rodericrinehart

Jan 30, 2016

6

Fallout 4 is a step back from Fallout 3 and New Vegas, and really shows that Bethesda has failed to innovate much in terms of their game engine, graphics, or gameplay. What they do is pretty cool, but it is becoming stale. And in the wake of The Witcher 3, the bad story and lack of any meaningful choices is made that much more glaring. That said, I had fun, but this could have been so muchFallout 4 is a step back from Fallout 3 and New Vegas, and really shows that Bethesda has failed to innovate much in terms of their game engine, graphics, or gameplay. What they do is pretty cool, but it is becoming stale. And in the wake of The Witcher 3, the bad story and lack of any meaningful choices is made that much more glaring. That said, I had fun, but this could have been so much more, and I genuinely hope that Bethesda will learn from their mistakes - instead of just swimming in their cash - and deliver the next Elder Scrolls game with upgrades and improvements across the board.… Expand

xZippy

Apr 13, 2016

6

Have you ever watched a movie, and just *wanted* to be interested in it? But couldn't? Yeah, there's a video game like that now. The graphics are decent in one areas of the game, but really ugly and mushy in others, which can make things an eyesore.

The quests are boring and the choices you make in the game don't seem to matter. For example, if I choose to spare a person's life, itHave you ever watched a movie, and just *wanted* to be interested in it? But couldn't? Yeah, there's a video game like that now. The graphics are decent in one areas of the game, but really ugly and mushy in others, which can make things an eyesore.

The quests are boring and the choices you make in the game don't seem to matter. For example, if I choose to spare a person's life, it doesn't make much sense to just have someone else kill them instead. The story is so painfully bland and many game mechanics have been pointlessly removed or oversimplified.

It's one of those "it's fun for a while" games.… Expand

EABanBoy

Dec 6, 2015

5

I was hoping for a combination of New Vegas (which exemplifies the old goodness of fallout, with factions, story and dialogue ) and Fallout 3 (the open world and game play). instead it was just an evolution of fallout 3, and meh on the whole, it has its great moments and terrible. Story and dialogue have reached an all time low (voice acting was fine, but the lack of options and lack ofI was hoping for a combination of New Vegas (which exemplifies the old goodness of fallout, with factions, story and dialogue ) and Fallout 3 (the open world and game play). instead it was just an evolution of fallout 3, and meh on the whole, it has its great moments and terrible. Story and dialogue have reached an all time low (voice acting was fine, but the lack of options and lack of an evil karma options were sorely missed.) Game play is great, and the world on a whole is great, it's what Bethesda is good at. But they are bad at story and making you feel like you ultimately accomplished something, can't put my finger on it, but New Vegas did do that aspect much better.

I don't think Bethesda will be getting game of the year sadly, which ruins their streak, but still for all it's flaws the game is DEFINITELY worth the price of admission. I had just really hoped for more of an evolution in the storytelling and dialogue, and not a streamlining.

Hopefully they can turn it around for their next game, and we can get more "RPG" to match their strides in "Action" but I doubt it.

Here's to you fallout 1 and 2.… Expand

Chomag7

Dec 10, 2015

5

And what the hell is with the instant gratification in this game!? It makes no **** sense.

15 minutes after the start of the game you are just handed a suit of power armor and a minigun. These things were only available during the end of the game, certainly past mid game, and were something the player would look forward to acquiring. In F4, **** it, just take it! You also getAnd what the hell is with the instant gratification in this game!? It makes no **** sense.

15 minutes after the start of the game you are just handed a suit of power armor and a minigun. These things were only available during the end of the game, certainly past mid game, and were something the player would look forward to acquiring. In F4, **** it, just take it!

You also get promoted to various ranks moments after **** meeting the bastards. The Minutemen rank of General is ok, the Minutemen are almost annihilated so ok, whatever can happen. But the others...man.

Brotherhood of Steel. This paladin Danse guy just gives you his most prized possession simply for watching his back in an abandoned building. You, a guy he met minutes before. But wait! There is more! Very soon after that you have your first real encounter with the actual Brotherhood of Steel and what do they do? Oh, we just met you but Danse vouches for you so here's access to a BOS power armor, our most hidden secrets and the BOS quartermaster. Also you are free to walk around and read everyone's diaries and loot their **** and they won't mind.

Railroad. Oh, some guy stumbled in our super secret base, let's test his loyalty by telling him to go kill some gen 1 synths (walking trashcans). That will prove his loyalty, I mean there is no way our enemies could allow some extremely disposable robots to be trashed by some potential undercover agent we just **** MET! Oh and while we're at it, here's our most prized possession as well.

Then I met some vault guys that asked me to rescue a cat and then find a cure for some dying kid. After I did so, those ingrate bastards didn't even make me their overseer or anything, just gave me a room in their vault.

What the **** is this?! Where is the RPG where you start as a nobody and have to actual prove yourself before you get any real goodies?! You're just handed everything on a silver platter and all you have to do is actually find the guy that does.

Played this game for 180 hours, it's worth the money at least, but I never finished it and I don't consider it to be a great game. It has a certain addictive element but around level 25 the boredom finally catches up with you as that's when you realize the game is pretty repetitive and boring once you saw everything.

Oh and this game IS NOT an RPG, this is basically post-apocalyptic Farcry with a dialogue wheel.… Expand

blablajank

Nov 14, 2015

5

Disappointing in many ways. Poor AI and optimization, many bugs, non interesting NPCs and story. This cons cover open world that gave few moments of joy.

flyingrasta

Nov 22, 2015

5

Total freedom, that was the premise of past Fallout games. Quests which can be done countless different ways.
Fallout 4 falls drastically short in this category. Because of the streamlined path you have to now follow the Dialogs are heavily simplified without the need or option to dig deep or follow different avenues of action.
There are a few parts in the game where you are able toTotal freedom, that was the premise of past Fallout games. Quests which can be done countless different ways.
Fallout 4 falls drastically short in this category. Because of the streamlined path you have to now follow the Dialogs are heavily simplified without the need or option to dig deep or follow different avenues of action.
There are a few parts in the game where you are able to choose between two options going forward but those are few and mostly reduced to "yes" or "no".

I like the improvements made to gameplay, interface and graphics but without the feeling of a dynamic world which reacts to your actions theres something important missing in a fallout game. Settlements you visit feel like islands with no connection to each other what so ever… Expand

McBean

Dec 19, 2015

5

First off the graphics are fine. I don't really see why everyone's moaning about that - the graphics are the least of this games problems. I'll also say that when Fallout 4 is good it's very good but I honestly can't give the game as a whole more than half marks because there are so many problems with it.

1. The settlement stuff is crap. I'm a lone wanderer, not a homesteader. Don'tFirst off the graphics are fine. I don't really see why everyone's moaning about that - the graphics are the least of this games problems. I'll also say that when Fallout 4 is good it's very good but I honestly can't give the game as a whole more than half marks because there are so many problems with it.

1. The settlement stuff is crap. I'm a lone wanderer, not a homesteader. Don't bother me with having to baby a bunch of strangers everywhere I go.
2. The new dialogue system is really awful. There's usually one choice. If you pick something else the options re-appear until you pick the 'right' choice to make the game progress the way it was going to anyway.
3. The leveling system is a huge step backward, and is designed in such a way as to make breaking the game much easier. For example I used to have to wait until I was very far into the game to take 'Ninja' in previous Fallout games. Now I can take it on level 1. Talking of which...
4. Giving the player access to power armour on level 1 and setting up a confrontation with a deathclaw almost immediately in a game like Fallout is such a blunder from a pacing and progression point of view that it boggles my mind.
5. The crafting system seems tacked on and feels very awkward. It seems that they've used arbitrary crafting and level checks to balance an otherwise broken game.
6. The game becomes more and more tedious and samey as you progress. You're often sent back to the same locations two or three times to do different quests, and while some of the quests are interesting, the vast majority are 'go there and kill everything that moves'.
7. There is no hardcore mode. Survival mode just means you have to pump more bullets into each enemy and it takes longer for you to heal, but as the leveling system is broken it won't take long before you're flush with ammo and not worrying about healing much anyway.

In short Fallout 4 is a decent but not great game with a lot of issues. It's really not progressed much at all in the 4 or so years since New Vegas (which I'd argue is the far superior game in almost every respect). It's much more of an FPS and less of an RPG than the previous games, which will please some (mostly players new to the franchise) and annoy others (a lot of people who love the previous Fallout games).

My advice is this: If you love the previous Fallout games then wait until Fallout 4 is discounted on Steam. It's worth $30 or so imo.

I'm sure there will be more Fallout games in the future, but this latest has set a few precedents that don't bode well for upcoming Fallout games, so I think it'd be great if they handed the next one to Obsidian, who in my opinion did most things right with New Vegas. That's unlikely to happen though, so I'm not really looking forward to Fallout 5.… Expand

BranCoGaming

Nov 22, 2015

5

Graphics from fallout 3 but optimization like in batman arkham knight....Pip Boy is still terrible to use... but anyway it is still a good post apocalyptic fallout

Kolhell

Nov 24, 2015

5

On it's own it's a competent albeit quite bland open world shooter with some fun moments and a pretty good atmosphere, in a similar vein to the Far Cry series.
But as a Fallout game it utterly fails to deliver on any of the things that made the series great, which is to say the story, the characters, the dialogue and the quests.
One might have though that Bethesda would have actuallyOn it's own it's a competent albeit quite bland open world shooter with some fun moments and a pretty good atmosphere, in a similar vein to the Far Cry series.
But as a Fallout game it utterly fails to deliver on any of the things that made the series great, which is to say the story, the characters, the dialogue and the quests.
One might have though that Bethesda would have actually learned from New Vegas and started taking the series back in it's proper direction but instead they manged to take all the elements of Fallout 3 that made it a bad Fallout game and condense it into Fallout 4.… Expand

Hint_Of_Lemon

Dec 8, 2015

6

Okay, I'm going to make this relatively short and sweet and (hopefully) include all the necessary details you would be concerned about when considering buying this game.

First of all, I have played every Bethesda game since Oblivion including New Vegas and many a time I've loved the Fallout franchise more than Elder Scrolls! So this is also coming from a fanboy. I would like to beginOkay, I'm going to make this relatively short and sweet and (hopefully) include all the necessary details you would be concerned about when considering buying this game.

First of all, I have played every Bethesda game since Oblivion including New Vegas and many a time I've loved the Fallout franchise more than Elder Scrolls! So this is also coming from a fanboy.

I would like to begin by establishing a seemingly contradictory point and then elaborate slightly on it;
Fallout 4 feels too different, and too familiar, and I mean those in a negative light.

Let put some useful information in point form for easy reading:

-The dialogue system may be more dynamic in the sense that you can view it in 3rd or 1st person, or walk away when you please(which is finicky in and of itself) but the depth is completely stripped away. New dialogue options based on skills like Medicine or Science? Nope. Player choice? I don't think so. Even if you say no you can always return and say yes. There's no lasting impact in the dialogue and it doesn't feel right.

-The world is smaller, yes. I don't much mind small worlds as long as sufficient detail has been placed in them and they're dense with activities to do. Unfortunately it just isn't the case. One of the first towns you're in, Concord, has almost all its doors barred. Why? No idea. Many times it feels like it's packed with a lot but with some insight and careful inspection it isn't. Bethesda have slightly abused quest generation to make the game go on "indefinitely". Maybe it would work if you didn't have to go to the same building 5 times and clear out the same raiders 5 times to retrieve an item in a chest for a particular quest which was the same chest that held all other 4 items. Wow.

-Skills? Nope. They're gone. Remember Bartering and Sneak and Lockpicking and Science and Repair? Gone. Everything is now a perk. You level up, you get a perk and that is it. The perks fall under the categories of S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes. So you want a perk that would allow you to carry more? That would be under Strength. If you don't have enough points assigned to Strength, the perk will be locked until you assign some points. It's not terribly, but I miss the Fallout 3 and New Vegas systems. This feels like it was made for a dumber crowd.

-Something that has bugged me almost more than everything else is the feeling of being in the post apocalyptic wasteland. It's supposed to feel like a survival game. Scavenging, looting and getting by, hoping to not get jumped by a passing group of raiders or super mutants. This doesn't feel like that. I have way too many Stimpaks (they heal you) and Radaways (they remove radiation poisoning). And grenades and ammo are supplied one metric ton at a time. Raiders seem to have infinite molotovs or grenades as they constantly spam them until you're nothing but an ash pile. -The radio. You remember those songs from Fallout 3? HERE THEY ARE AGAIN. Maybe 2 or 3 new songs added to the collection. Hope you're not sick of them from, you know, playing hundreds of hours of Fallout 3 or anything. Radio DJ is funny at first, then obnoxious... until you just put the radio off.

ALRIGHT

I've had my negative rant but let me point out some positive points.

+Power Armor is what it always should've been. It's like you're in a badass mech.

+Modifying weapons is excellent.

+Modifying armour is also great, but no where as good as weapon modification. Limited.

+Settlement construction is nice. That's it. Finicky; feels tacked on. Feels like it was put in for people to spend most of their time doing it instead of questing but it's honestly just ok.

+Gunplay is great. Feels natural and visceral at its greatest.

All in all. Fallout 4 is a good game. But not a good Fallout by any standard.

Welcome to FarCry: Wasteland Edition… Expand

Slapstick83

Nov 18, 2015

6

The problem with the game is that they did the important things poorly, but the unimportant things well. TLDR: Conversation bad, weapons good, world & npc is passable.

The bad: a) The dialogue system: It's reduced to a yes/no/maybe arbitration, without you knowing what you will say. As a result it doesn't feel like you're having a conversation, but that you simply exist to allow NPC'sThe problem with the game is that they did the important things poorly, but the unimportant things well. TLDR: Conversation bad, weapons good, world & npc is passable.

The bad:
a) The dialogue system: It's reduced to a yes/no/maybe arbitration, without you knowing what you will say. As a result it doesn't feel like you're having a conversation, but that you simply exist to allow NPC's to voice their lines to you. This can work in a game with a very strong narrative and a somewhat linear story arc, but not *at all* in the Fallout universe
b) Lack of nuance in the dialogue means it simply can't offer any real consequence what you say, or potential to play a real character. The story, npc's and world in general don't support it, and you don't feel like a person existing in that world. It becomes very hard to care about yourself, the npc's, or the story itself.

The good:
They did weapons, power-armor, settlements and perks really well. It's however, not what makes a great game. It just makes it possible to experience what could have been a great game, but isn't. Oh... and the dog is absolutely brilliant, though I wish I could name him.

The mediocre:
The world design is a bit "I can take it or leave it". "Everything looks the same" wherever you go, but there are good parts as well. Most followers are decent enough and worth the effort, but not memorable on a scale that includes Bioware games.… Expand

aervans

Nov 12, 2015

5

TLDR version: Fallout 4 will be the first game I've ever attempted to return on Steam. Rather it would have been if I hadn’t sunk a relatively large amount of time in clinging to the hope it would get better.

I think everyone, especially fans of the earlier games, will be extremely disappointed in Fallout 4. Most of the elements that made Fallout unique have either been stripped out,TLDR version: Fallout 4 will be the first game I've ever attempted to return on Steam. Rather it would have been if I hadn’t sunk a relatively large amount of time in clinging to the hope it would get better.

I think everyone, especially fans of the earlier games, will be extremely disappointed in Fallout 4. Most of the elements that made Fallout unique have either been stripped out, dumbed down, or completely removed. In exchange we now have a moderately interesting but mostly frustrating to use village simulator. That's right, you can now construct mini towns for completely lifeless and uninteresting AI! It seems as though the development time spent on this particular feature was sorely needed elsewhere. Gun customization is a nice touch but generally boils down to adding a few different preset mods to a limited number of base weapons and armor.

One of the other new features is the conversation system. I think there are implementations of it that could work but generally it just feels wrong in the context of Fallout. Additionally, as other users have reported many choices seem to lead to the same outcome. Being a jerk, sometimes even outright refusing options will have the same result as choices like “Let’s do it!”. Furthering the feeling of choices not making a difference, there are other well discussed issues such as invincible NPCs and commonly being denied the ability to do things that you could in past games.

Combat feels slightly improved compared to past Bethesda entries in the Fallout series but overall doesn’t do any one thing particularly well. There’s no concept of cover and gun play generally involves pointing and clicking while you strafe. That wouldn’t be the worst thing ever if shooting felt as tight as something like Counter-Strike. Unfortunately, the default settings like mouse acceleration, smoothing, and other issues like extreme frame dips make your standard point and click with a mouse much less satisfying. Sneaking is present but extremely basic. It certainly won’t make you feel like Venom in MGSV. VATS is unique but essentially only exists as a brief moment of auto-aim that provides relief for the otherwise sub-par shooting experience.

Another disappointing area but not totally unexpected is Fallout 4’s graphics. I don’t believe they’re quite as terrible as some of the 0/10s would have you believe but they definitely aren’t what you would expect out of a “AAA” title. I would suggest making judgement on this area yourself through YouTube videos, screenshots, etc.

I won’t touch too much on the story because it can largely be affect by things like exploration, side questions, and other factors. For the most part, if you’re expecting something along the lines of The Witcher you will likely be disappointed.

Finally, In typical Bethesda fashion the game suffers from a range of issues including crashing to desktop, models randomly disappearing, getting stuck after using terminals, and only being able to hear NPCs talk when you are facing 180 degrees away from them. Browsing online it’s clear I’m not the only experiencing these issues. Rather I seem to among the more fortunate who haven’t run into anything game breaking yet. Some people don’t think these bugs should be factored into the score because they will be fixed eventually. However, these bugs did affect my overall enjoyment of the game in more than a marginal way.

Overall Fallout 4 was a mostly mediocre experience that probably would have been great as a $40 game not associated with the Fallout franchise. However, being that it was a $60 dollar game and it was a part of the Fallout franchise I simply can’t recommend anyone buy this game for anything more than $40. It may not be a terrible game, but in the context of “Fallout” games it’s well below average.… Expand

joem282

May 20, 2020

5

I am extremely disappointed by Fallout 4. As an avid Fallout fan, I can't help but feel this is the weakest entry yet. While the gunplay and crafting are vastly improved over previous entries, every other system has taken a few steps back. Dialog "choices" hardly exist in the game, quests are linear as can be, side-quests are nearly non-existent (aside from dreaded "fetch" quests), andI am extremely disappointed by Fallout 4. As an avid Fallout fan, I can't help but feel this is the weakest entry yet. While the gunplay and crafting are vastly improved over previous entries, every other system has taken a few steps back. Dialog "choices" hardly exist in the game, quests are linear as can be, side-quests are nearly non-existent (aside from dreaded "fetch" quests), and settlement management is a chore. The new settlement system seems as if it was shoehorned in to appease the emerging demographic of gamers raised on Minecraft.

Bethesda has stripped down the game elements their core fans want, those being dynamic, player-driven stories, awesome quests, beautiful game worlds, and character development/progression. All of these systems were put on the back burner for things like crafting and settlement management. If Bethesda intends to release another game in the same vein as Fallout 4, I won't be buying it.… Expand

papirnehezek

Nov 16, 2015

7

Some thoughts:

- The game engine shows its age, it does not look great, and it runs bad compared to other games - Combat encounters are dull, involving shooting each other from short distances - Overall AI is pretty terrible - Map should be bigger, or at least stuffed with more things to do - Some people you cannot kill - Weapon crafting/modifying is too grindy - Base building hasSome thoughts:

- The game engine shows its age, it does not look great, and it runs bad compared to other games
- Combat encounters are dull, involving shooting each other from short distances
- Overall AI is pretty terrible
- Map should be bigger, or at least stuffed with more things to do
- Some people you cannot kill
- Weapon crafting/modifying is too grindy
- Base building has some issues, for example you can place things in the air if there is hillside in the way
- No hardcore mode
- Better gunplay mechanics than before
- There are colour which look good, but that is just time that they changed from a washed out palette
- The introduction is ok
- People are still ugly
- Pip-boy interface is a chore to use (still)

I am disappointed. New Vegas had some many great things added to the core FO3 experience, that I thought they would keep them and improve on them. There are iron sights, but most of the things are gone, and as Obsidian works on their own projects right now we will not have another great improvement on the basic Bethesda game. Modders might do it, but that is only half solution. I better get back to my NV, add a few mods, and forget this one.… Expand

phantomlord99

Nov 18, 2015

6

Everything about this game is boring. Would be good yes, by 2010 standarts maybe...
The only thing not boring in this game is the donkey kong part....

CthuluFthagn

Nov 20, 2015

7

Mediocre at best. Nothing new even with the bugfest we usually get from Bethesda + dumbing down RPG elements. This is typical mcdonald's of gaming. But why should Bethesda improve when people accept their unfinished and lackluster products...

Sneetches

Nov 16, 2015

6

Tl;dr A solid 6/10 for losing too many RPG elements in favor of simplified and streamlined gameplay, a haphazard story, and lots of bugs.

Unfortunately, even Skyrim has more depth than FO4 when it comes to it's RPG elements. No more weapon/armor repairs, no more ammo crafting, no more individual skills, no more of anything that you'd think think would be in a post-apocalyptic RPG. It'sTl;dr A solid 6/10 for losing too many RPG elements in favor of simplified and streamlined gameplay, a haphazard story, and lots of bugs.

Unfortunately, even Skyrim has more depth than FO4 when it comes to it's RPG elements. No more weapon/armor repairs, no more ammo crafting, no more individual skills, no more of anything that you'd think think would be in a post-apocalyptic RPG. It's so apparently obvious this game was built around attracting the non-Fallout player. The dialogue wheel was one of the most pointless additions to make, 3/4 choices lead to the same conversation point every single time anyways. So much for immersing yourself whenever your character has forced voice acting.

The word "forced" also explains the story. While I've only finished the game once with a certain faction so far, I've felt forced through every main quest the whole time. You are forced (literally, by the voice acting) to sound incredibly distraught and desperate about your missing son. Sorry, but using the angle of "your son" to suddenly thrust the player into caring about a character they'd known for all of 5 minutes is just poor story-telling in my opinion.

Lastly, the game crashes once every two hours for me, at the minimum. I've had crashes from: opening Pip-boy immediately after fast traveling. Immediately crashing when loading the external world. Two loading screens that never finished. I've had bugs where I couldn't look vertically after using VATS, a couple getting stuck in terrain, and a couple involving NPCs initiating dialogue from far away. Thankfully I quicksave every couple minutes now.

Overall, the only reason I'm really continuing the game is because it is still fun IF you pretend that it isn't a Fallout 3 / NV sequel. Unfortunately, the mods can't come soon enough, which still doesn't excuse Bethesda's poor attempt this time around.… Expand

Loki1904

Nov 12, 2015

5

The last time I was this disappointed in a game was Dragonage 2, but at least DA 2 had some well written characters, the same can not be said for Fallout 4. First the game is no longer an RPG it's an open world action game and any of those pesky things like building a charter play style are gone. We as players are now treated to an infinite leveling god character who masters all. Choice isThe last time I was this disappointed in a game was Dragonage 2, but at least DA 2 had some well written characters, the same can not be said for Fallout 4. First the game is no longer an RPG it's an open world action game and any of those pesky things like building a charter play style are gone. We as players are now treated to an infinite leveling god character who masters all. Choice is nonexistent as there are NPC's in the game who are not only essential but shooting them causes no reaction from anyone at all so don't bother with an evil character. The voiced protagonist is boring(only played the male) and his dialogue choices are limited to 4 meaningless choices. I tried to play a stealth character with a few of the companions which was pointless since the AI has them run in guns blazing only to be downed and my position now given away. I left the starting area and just wandered for a while, the map is small and very unpopulated, it's like they simply threw a sandbox out there for modders to fill up. I'm giving this game 5 only because I have not experienced any bugs on the PC, but I did get a refund for my season pass. This game feels like an end to fallout for me and I'm sad about that since it seems the classic RPG in general is a dying genre. I hope Bethesda learns from this with the next TES game but I doubt it.… Expand

metalmat

Nov 12, 2015

6

So much hype and so much disappointment. Now I will say that I do not agree with the reviews giving this game a flat out bad rating, it is still a decent game. That said I really really expected more than just a slightly upgraded version of Fallout 3. New Vegas came out only 2 years after Fallout 3 and brought WAY more to the table than Fallout 4.

Positives: The new power armorSo much hype and so much disappointment. Now I will say that I do not agree with the reviews giving this game a flat out bad rating, it is still a decent game. That said I really really expected more than just a slightly upgraded version of Fallout 3. New Vegas came out only 2 years after Fallout 3 and brought WAY more to the table than Fallout 4.

Positives: The new power armor mechanics are fantastic. Sound is great. Graphics, in particular the atmosphere. Lots of customization in the crafting system

Negatives: Plot is a HUGE letdown. The UI is awful. AI, while improved, is still bad. Side quests are not interesting at all. Performance issues & bugs.

It feels like Bethesda knew this game was going to sell well so they just took the money and ran with it.… Expand

Austinomical

Nov 11, 2015

5

Okay, this is going to be a short and sweet review from a Fallout enthusiast. I will start with the most obvious thing to discuss; the bugs and performance. I have SLI 970's and a new i5 for reference.

Negatives: ~Locked at 60 or 30 FPS (though you can manually unlock it). NOTE: doing so causes hyperspeed in the game, making everything faster and faster the higher the FPS ~FrameOkay, this is going to be a short and sweet review from a Fallout enthusiast. I will start with the most obvious thing to discuss; the bugs and performance. I have SLI 970's and a new i5 for reference.

Negatives:

~Locked at 60 or 30 FPS (though you can manually unlock it). NOTE: doing so causes hyperspeed in the game, making everything faster and faster the higher the FPS

~Frame rate is all over the place, very choppy

~Terrible graphics and textures, I know I know, but but...graphics don't beat game play. Cry me a river.

~Built in mouse acceleration (LOL, really, like wtf why?!)

~No FOV slider (this is 2015 Bethesda, get your **** **** together)

~ Perk system is retarded, just plain old retarded, dumbed down version for all the mindless FPS players out there

Pros:

~Okay story
~exploring is fun and exiting
~A lot of guns
~good customizeation
~keeps you busy for hours and hours

TLDR:

Please, for the love of god, do NOT buy....yet. Maybe in a year if they fix all the issues it would be worth it. To many bugs and common things that are missing in the game. Dumbed down version of Fallout for a more FPS shooter. This is no RPG, and it's full of bugs.… Expand

iseeall

Dec 11, 2015

6

I'm a Fallout 2 fan and played it for years, in "iron man" mode, as dumb character, using the "ultimate guide" etc. What made Fallout great is: 1) turn-based tactical combat; 2) complex dialog systems with multitudes of branching options and outcomes; 3) a skill system where you could go for a standard "diplo-sniper" but also for other custom builds which made all the fun.

Fallout 4 isI'm a Fallout 2 fan and played it for years, in "iron man" mode, as dumb character, using the "ultimate guide" etc. What made Fallout great is: 1) turn-based tactical combat; 2) complex dialog systems with multitudes of branching options and outcomes; 3) a skill system where you could go for a standard "diplo-sniper" but also for other custom builds which made all the fun.

Fallout 4 is nothing like that (as was Fallout 3 or even New Vegas). It's such a different game that I wonder why at all they persist calling it Fallout and make all that decorative stuff like pip-boy trying to appeal to the fans of the original. No, they can't win those fans. This game is made for a new audience, and for that audience it's a pretty good game, so I give it a 6/10.

Also, it's for consoles, so the GUI on PC is horrible, and there are always exactly 4 dialog options. It's a first person shooter. It has an elaborate crafting system which will appeal to Minecraft fans. You can upgrade all your stats to 10 easily. There is no tactical feeling in combat. Everything is linear. And the first person you talk to will point you right to where the Power Armor and the Minigun is.

If you are a fan of Fallout 1 & 2 like myself, buy Wasteland 2 instead. But if you liked Fallout 3 or New Vegas, you will probably like Fallout 4 because it's something between the two.… Expand

hein

Nov 13, 2015

5

The game is an unoptimized mess, which isn't anything new for a Bethesda game. They generally get a pass because of the worlds that they create and the stories that they create. They also get a pass because they allow the modding community a lot of freedom. But the thing that Bethesda cannot be forgiven for in a post Witcher 3 world is essentially repackaging Fallout 3 with slightlyThe game is an unoptimized mess, which isn't anything new for a Bethesda game. They generally get a pass because of the worlds that they create and the stories that they create. They also get a pass because they allow the modding community a lot of freedom. But the thing that Bethesda cannot be forgiven for in a post Witcher 3 world is essentially repackaging Fallout 3 with slightly upgraded graphics. The game you see is not representative of a modern game. Besides the bugs, glitches, jaggies, fov...I am sick and tired of having to mess around with ini files. This game will probably be fixed down the road and the modding community is already doing wonderful things, but for the time being the game is not worth buying. We deserve better.… Expand

bcaton

Jan 7, 2016

5

+ Good opening
+ Some companions (Piper, Valentine) are wonderful
+ Some quests (Silver Shroud) are moving AND tricky + Settlement system shows promise - Settlements are just for show - you cannot recreate the commonwealth - Settlement bugs are common - the spreadsheet will show no water, for example - Settlements can't defend themselves unless you are there - despite everyone+ Good opening
+ Some companions (Piper, Valentine) are wonderful
+ Some quests (Silver Shroud) are moving AND tricky
+ Settlement system shows promise

- Settlements are just for show - you cannot recreate the commonwealth
- Settlement bugs are common - the spreadsheet will show no water, for example
- Settlements can't defend themselves unless you are there - despite everyone wearing power armor and carrying miniguns. They automatically fail, because Bethseda wants to force you to drop everything all the time and babysit them
- the characters choices don't really matter. You are a pawn, never a General, despite what they tell you.
- it's not an rpg - it's a shooter. It's not a PC game - it's a console game that PC players can sort of play.… Expand

Smilingcookie

Apr 8, 2016

5

This is a mediocre shooter with a semi interesting story, not a smart and exciting RPG like previous Fallout games. I was really excited for Fallout 4, but after 27 hours I quit because it started to feel too bland and boring. There is no real way to influence the story in any significant way, the world is open but feels "set on rails" and there's not really a lot you can change in it.This is a mediocre shooter with a semi interesting story, not a smart and exciting RPG like previous Fallout games. I was really excited for Fallout 4, but after 27 hours I quit because it started to feel too bland and boring. There is no real way to influence the story in any significant way, the world is open but feels "set on rails" and there's not really a lot you can change in it. Choice & consequence are inexistent. There are no more skills and your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats don't have any noticeable influence on how you play the game. As a result, character building and development are pointless. Dialogue system is completely changed (and dumbed down). There are little or no ways to talk yourself out of conflicts without violence. This in stark contrast to previous fallout games where it was possible to finish the game without killing anyone (if you run from raiders). In FO4 it always comes down to the same thing: eplore a place, kill everything in there, get a reward.

On top of that there is a settlement building aspect included in the game, use of which is required to finish the main quest. This system has a terrible interface (on PC). It is literally a nightmare to control. The hearthfire DLC for Skyrim did this aspect way better, there at least you could "drag and drop" items.

One defendable aspect is the implementation of the power armor. Combat is OK but becomes repetitive due to lack of peaceful/diplomatic options.

The only hope for the Fallout series is Obsidian creating an actual New Vegas Style RPG in this engine.… Expand

SchladenFlaten

Jan 7, 2016

5

Gave it a positive review on STEAM because it's a solid action, light rpg experience but it's a horrible Fallout rpg, IMO.

Pros - Revisits many themes and even player actions from Fallout 3 with updated animations, graphics and mechanics. Cons Revisits many themes and even player actions from Fallout 3 with updated animations, graphics and mechanics. Horribly optimized, littleGave it a positive review on STEAM because it's a solid action, light rpg experience but it's a horrible Fallout rpg, IMO.

Pros - Revisits many themes and even player actions from Fallout 3 with updated animations, graphics and mechanics.

Cons Revisits many themes and even player actions from Fallout 3 with updated animations, graphics and mechanics.

Horribly optimized, little replay value.

From a huge FO3 and FNV fan, this hurts a little.… Expand

Pasza26

Nov 16, 2015

5

If You want to buy this game becouse You think like me - "It must be a great title, it's Bethesda, it's Fallout!" - then don't.

After few hours in the game, after completing few quests I can say that this game is just boring. I love F2, F3, F:NV, I was really open-minded before the F4 release. My expectations were high, but hey... this is Bethesda. They cannot make a bad game. But theyIf You want to buy this game becouse You think like me - "It must be a great title, it's Bethesda, it's Fallout!" - then don't.

After few hours in the game, after completing few quests I can say that this game is just boring. I love F2, F3, F:NV, I was really open-minded before the F4 release. My expectations were high, but hey... this is Bethesda. They cannot make a bad game. But they did.

The world in F4 is small (much much smaller than in Witcher3, hey even smaller than in F: NV) and ridiculous (soo many locations packed on small map and the effect is that your are leaving one area and in the same time entering another), graphics are bad (like created in 2010, no sense even to compare Witcher or Dragon Age Inq), story is so so, but the most important thing is that... this series evolve in wrong way. Instead of nextgen RPG (look at Witcher3) we are receiving this...

Don't buy it. It's not worth 60$.… Expand

xesty

Nov 17, 2015

6

This is a good game, but it's kind of a let down. Bethesda could have and should have done so much more considering this is a fallout game, and they definitely had the time, money, and teams to get it right. I feel that this game is definitely a step backward from Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas in a lot of ways. As a Fallout game it's like a 6/10 but as a game itself it's like an 7/10.This is a good game, but it's kind of a let down. Bethesda could have and should have done so much more considering this is a fallout game, and they definitely had the time, money, and teams to get it right. I feel that this game is definitely a step backward from Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas in a lot of ways. As a Fallout game it's like a 6/10 but as a game itself it's like an 7/10. It's fun to play, but it's not a deep experience while playing. I much prefer Fallout: New Vegas.

There are a lot of flaws, a lot of issues that make this game... uncomfortable to play. There are things that I've gotten used to that were great features.. gone. Here are those issues that dissapoint and upset me.

A voiced protagonist was interesting, but it limits the gameplay too much. In the dialogue, you are restricted to 4 options at all times; Question / Yes / Sarcastic (Yes) or just Yes / No (which is yes most of the time). No more skills to affect dialogue, only Charisma from SPECIAL and maybe 1-2 other perks. What a shame. While doing main quests and the main storyline, there is much left to be desired. I wish there were options to really take charge as a leader, make great alliances etc.

Skills are completely gone. Perks take too long to gain. There are too many, and the leveling is too slow. I reached level 40 and maybe have 20-25% of all of the perks. The perks have great bonuses, but what's the point if you are too limited while playing. It leaves a lot to be desired while playing the game.

No karma system! No moral system. Goes for reputation and dialogue. It ruins both. The only kind of 'karma' in the game is whether you get your companion to 'like or dislike' a certain action. This is pretty meaningless.

There's just not enough variation. Legendary items are garbage mainly, you get very crappy bonuses most of the time. And that's all it is. Just simple little bonuses rather than huge upgrades. There are maybe 10 different 'unique guns' and the rest are all just variations of them. Same goes for armor, you have 5 armor sets. Leather, raider, metal, combat, synth. Definitely not enough rare gear in the game. Modding takes too long for some guns (meaning close to endgame to unlock) but it is a great concept.

The map is pretty small. The content is pretty limited. The game doesn't feel large. Most of the cities are just copies of each other. In most of the cities, there is nothing to explore. You go around fighting 3 different groups. That's it. Raiders/Gunners, Super mutants, Ghouls. And some wild animals away from the cities. It gets extremely boring and repetitive. If you liked exploring and looting in the old fallout games, Fallout 4 ruined this aspect.

There aren't enough groups in the game. You have 4 major groups to play with and to side for. They are all very bland and only really tie in with the main story (other than one group which has a long storyline to it). These groups have no 'deeper' meaning. They just feel empty and like lost potential.

The game's scale is way too small. I only experienced one actual battle, and then one endgame battle. These were pathetic and did not have nearly enough groups/npc's involved.

The graphics could be better, although I am not one to care for graphics. Colors are great and perky. However facial animations are horrendous at times and feel extremely dated. Many times, the motion does not match the power of the dialogue.

Power armor is great, but it's just too big and ruins the FOV in first and third person. I barley played with it for this reason. Also I feel that the gap between power armor and regular armor is way too huge. You should be able to play the game without power armor (you can but some points in the game it would be extremely difficult).

Game is also not that stable with many reports of issues in game. I experienced this myself where my game constantly crashes to desktop at Sanctuary whenever I try to scrap, activate, or fight enemies. No idea why, but this is a major issue. You'd think that this issues should be taken care of in testing.

Settlements are fun, but also not as deep as they could be.. hence why you are proposed to build many (quantity > quality). They aren't as beneficial as they could be. They are just little time wasters to get your creative aspect going. Something I feel Bethesda added last minute just to bandwagon.

All in all, the game is decent. It's fun to play and can be addicting. But it just feels rushed. There isn't enough content that I expected. The content that's there i's too shallow in a lot of aspects. The dialogue changes are straight up horrible. The game is disappointing. The main story is the only thing that this game has going for it. It's appealing and interesting. But again, there are times where there is much left to be desired, and times where you wish there were more options and control.… Expand

SuspiciousBread

Dec 7, 2015

7

It has been said before that "fallout 4 is a good game just not a good fallout game", i completely agree with this.
The game has a great setting and design, good gameplay and shooting mechanics and a pretty solid story, but it's just not quite "Fallout" enough, for me anyway. To me fallout was never really about the shooting or gameplay but more about the conversations and the choices iIt has been said before that "fallout 4 is a good game just not a good fallout game", i completely agree with this.
The game has a great setting and design, good gameplay and shooting mechanics and a pretty solid story, but it's just not quite "Fallout" enough, for me anyway. To me fallout was never really about the shooting or gameplay but more about the conversations and the choices i made, It had interesting side missions that were cool and memorable, but Fallout 4 doesnt really have any of this.

First off the conversations are dumbed down, a lot, and i dont mean the vague choice you have i mean the outcome, in fallout 3 your conversations could go a number of ways, you could end them with shooting the persons head off, or bribing them, or using your science skills to gain more info, there was so much more depth to them which is why im very disappointed in fallout 4's system, usually you always end up with the same result no matter what you pick, that or you either end up in a firefight or you end up not in a fire fight.

One of the faults for this the fact you dont have a science skill anymore, or explosive, or anything like that, now all you have are perks which all have different effect but none on the conversation, there's no situation where you use your skills to disarm a bomb, now you can just do it. This really limits the "RPG" aspect of the game seeing as you can pretty much do anything no matter how you play your character, if i want to be a smooth talking charisma based character i still have to be able to fight my way through a horde of enemies, there's no more talking my way out of a situation now it's shoot first ask questions later which really bummed me out seeing as that's usually how i like playing these games.

Apart from all that another flaw i found, and maybe this is just me, but i didn't think there were many memorable locations, sure the main story takes you to cool locations but besides that none really come to mind, it also doesnt help that the vaults in the game you can visit are pretty lackluster, again none as memorable as "Gary" or the vault from 3 where you hallucinate, which again is a massive disappointment.
maybe their saving the best for DLC but if that's the case it's even more depressing.

Also after putting over 100 hours into the game i kinda feel like ive done everything i want to, the rest are just boring side missions that say "hey go here and kill these guys and ill give you some caps", which gets pretty repetitive.

A great feature that i do keep going back to is the settlement builder, it's very fun and engrossing to build up a settlement from the ground up and make your own cool and unique locations in the map, but it's very limited if you don't use mods, which takes me to my next point.

Mods, possible the best feature in any Bethesda game, the modding community already has a ton of mods available that are great, i spend a lot of my time just browsing the nexus forum and picking out mods that i think are cool, this game will have a much longer timespan thanks to mods, just looks at Skyrim still going strong because of mods.

All in all Fallout was my most anticipated game of the year and though it has satisfied me as a game, it has also become one the most disappointing games for me, sure i can't blame bethesda for not making the perfect game that i imagined it would be but to me fallout just seems like it saw other game and tried to copy them and in doing so it lost the heart of a fallout game.

That's what i'll leave this with, Fallout 4 is a good game but it's lacking the heart of a fallout game which could have made it great… Expand

kman5473

Apr 17, 2018

5

This is Fallout for Dummies. Still a fairly solid game, but its continuous play-ability is minimal at best. Skyrim still feels like a bigger game because of the variety of characters, quests, interactions, and dungeons. Fallout 4 is just miles and miles of dead trees.

The Good -Graphics -Stability of gameplay -Voice Acting -Animations The Bad -Character Development -DiversityThis is Fallout for Dummies. Still a fairly solid game, but its continuous play-ability is minimal at best. Skyrim still feels like a bigger game because of the variety of characters, quests, interactions, and dungeons. Fallout 4 is just miles and miles of dead trees.

The Good
-Graphics
-Stability of gameplay
-Voice Acting
-Animations

The Bad
-Character Development
-Diversity of quests
-Minimal effect from choices overall
-There is clearly a "good guy" faction in this, with a couple morally ambiguous and one or two bad choices

The Ugly
-All game play feels redundant
-The main quest is the most developed plot line, yet least satisfying
-A multitude of perks are completely useless and don't really effect gameplay at all
-Overall, 60% of this game feels complete, while 40% feels empty and under-utilized
-The map prioritization of Boston was completely underwhelming. I would have rather seen Bethesda make a map as close to the real city than this summarized/miniature version they came up with.… Expand

Baronz

Nov 19, 2015

7

Not a bad game overall, but texture looks terrible even at ultra settings, like someone puked on my armor :|
Having to run around to gather every single piece of junk to build your settlement is tedious. Worth playing but not worth 60 euros

Itz_Rhino

Dec 23, 2015

5

I could see how some people may enjoy this type of game for its open world and seemingly endless exploration, but honestly, the exploration doesn't feel really rewarding as there is a lot of nothing.

My biggest gripe with the game is the combat. The system is extremely simplistic, and your success in combat is largely dependent upon your level and armor/weapons... Not skill. Hell! ThereI could see how some people may enjoy this type of game for its open world and seemingly endless exploration, but honestly, the exploration doesn't feel really rewarding as there is a lot of nothing.

My biggest gripe with the game is the combat. The system is extremely simplistic, and your success in combat is largely dependent upon your level and armor/weapons... Not skill. Hell! There is even a perk that makes you stronger if you stand still and fight!

When fighting enemies that are far above my level and can one shot me, I find myself having to "cheese" them in order to win, but getting objects between me and them and playing "ring around the rosie" for 10 minutes while shooting them in the face. This isn't fun combat. You may say, "Well level up then and fight them toe to toe", but that is the point I am trying to make! I don't want to have to be a certain level to go toe to toe with it. Let me dodge, block, parry, etc. it with extreme precision to beat it. Not run backwards and shoot over and over and over again.

I never feel like this game is ever challenging... and I am playing on the hardest difficulty you can. ALSO, the hardest difficulty doesn't even make combat harder! It just makes healing worse, slowing combat EVEN MORE!

Here's the skinny of it... If you loved Skyrim, you will probably love this game. I blame Dark Souls for ruining my love of FPS and these types of RPG.… Expand

istvan

Dec 6, 2015

5

too much flaws to be a worthy follower of fallout 3

- crappy end
- no decisions/differences by playing good or bad
- annoying sidequests - sim city ....

my top 3 -_-

rockman909090

Jun 1, 2016

6

The game is unbalanced. 90% of time is fighting.. is it a rpg game? lol. And the map. Boston looks beautiful but exploration involves cleaning the another locations.. It's hard to find a side quest outside the factions. Weak dialogue system .

Tacoguy293

Jul 8, 2017

6

This game takes multiple steps backwards and multiple steps forward for the Fallout series. On the one hand the game has fun enough combat and the settlement system is fun enough. The writing is also a little bit better than Fallout 3, but to be honest that's like saying that McDonald's is better than Taco Bell. However it seems like Bethesda still doesn't know how to make a decent storyThis game takes multiple steps backwards and multiple steps forward for the Fallout series. On the one hand the game has fun enough combat and the settlement system is fun enough. The writing is also a little bit better than Fallout 3, but to be honest that's like saying that McDonald's is better than Taco Bell. However it seems like Bethesda still doesn't know how to make a decent story without having about as many holes as Swiss cheese. The story is awful, worse than Fallout 3. And while the world of Fallout 4 is dense and diverse, there are very few locations that I would call "stellar", so as far as the world goes, it's just another Fallout game. Lastly I would like to say that while I'm aware that most Bethesda games are very buggy, this game at release was buggier than usual, and anyone who tells you differently is a liar. But overall, this game is a prime example of slightly above average, its fun enough for new players, but is again a tough one to play for lovers of the original two games, (and New Vegas).… Expand

Soulafein

Nov 11, 2015

5

Well, I payed 45€ for GTA V. It got things i don't like but good game and good optimization afterall. Worth every cent. 9/10

I payed 60€ for MGSV-TPP. Sometimes it is kind of boring, but very good optimization and very good game afterall. Worth every cent. 9/10 I didn't pay any cent to this game, and I'm really glad I didn't do it. I just knew "It's going to suck so hard..." IWell, I payed 45€ for GTA V. It got things i don't like but good game and good optimization afterall. Worth every cent. 9/10

I payed 60€ for MGSV-TPP. Sometimes it is kind of boring, but very good optimization and very good game afterall. Worth every cent. 9/10

I didn't pay any cent to this game, and I'm really glad I didn't do it. I just knew "It's going to suck so hard..."
I played about two hours at a friend's house and we both were like "This is a joke, right?" "I'm playing any other postapocalipse FPS nonsensical base-building simulator with the AI of ArmA 3 but definitely not a RPG and obviously not a brand new 'Fallout' game".

Well, fanboys let's discuss something:

-I don't care about graphics when I talk about optimization, I just want a game supposed to be played with a PC to be playable (Do I, seriously, have to explain this point?) UI, keybindigs, controls, input, graphics settings OUT of exe -coming from AAA product it is just annoying- just everything related to playability is just a mess.
-I don't care about map size (Which, by the way, it is the tyniest of all Fallout saga), and beautiful landscapes if there is not something interesting attached to that places (Quests, smart enemies, good loot, SOMETHING)
-And i definitely don't care about the improved shooty things and the protagonist voice if everything that made this game an awesome RPG turn into something dumb, simple, stupid, overrated and overpriced which can't be called RPG anymore (SPECIAL/perks/skills are just a blasphemy, dialogue are just boring and useless and cutscenes looks like GTA V ones with the ragdoll mod).

Buy it if you want to play a "sometimes funny FPS with RPG (not much) elements" when it's price go below 20€ (25$ or so)
Do not buy it NEVER if you loved Fallout 1, Fallout 2 and Fallout 3 New Vegas and, also, enjoyed Fallout 3.

For god sake, even the lore is a mess. *sigh. 5/10 to be fair. Sad but true. Sorry about my english, btw.… Expand

JoelCR

Nov 15, 2015

5

It's like developers completely avoided all the positives changes that Fallout: New Vegas added to the series and instead tried to recreate Fallout 3 to todays's standards. Anyone who says to you that Fo4 is better than NV is out of their **** mind, let me tell you why.
-Fo4 suffers the same problem that Fo3 endured, the difference between early-game weapons and late-game weapons isIt's like developers completely avoided all the positives changes that Fallout: New Vegas added to the series and instead tried to recreate Fallout 3 to todays's standards. Anyone who says to you that Fo4 is better than NV is out of their **** mind, let me tell you why.
-Fo4 suffers the same problem that Fo3 endured, the difference between early-game weapons and late-game weapons is non-existent. You'll most like use one weapon for the most of the game 'cause that what you invested mods to.
-artificially prelonging the game's length by level requirements needed to get certain perks. This wouldn't be bad if the perks weren't accentual to certain builds - for example, to be at all competitive at stealth with meleei equipment you need a perk to muffle your foots steps so you avoid detection, but that perk takes extremely long to acquire and 'till then you better enjoy slow-walking through coridors… Expand

HenriBlanche

Nov 12, 2015

5

One step forward, two steps backward.

Being able to play a limited version of Minecraft a plus. Looks better than most of the previous Fallout games. Voice acting is fine even if the words rarely match the mouse. Still encompasses some of the classic Fallout flavor. I didn't have any of the hardware issues other folks had even though I had to manually tweak three files to change FOVOne step forward, two steps backward.

Being able to play a limited version of Minecraft a plus. Looks better than most of the previous Fallout games. Voice acting is fine even if the words rarely match the mouse. Still encompasses some of the classic Fallout flavor. I didn't have any of the hardware issues other folks had even though I had to manually tweak three files to change FOV settings.

On the other hand there's no Skills, no Reputation, lousy conversation and the story is sad. Mostly a retread of other Fallout games that did it better. And it definitely has the console feel which is never a plus for PC players. Just so disappointed in a game that I was hoping for so much more in.… Expand

Unladenswallow0

Jan 19, 2016

5

Nice looking game, plenty to do, but Bethesda cut its balls off. Play FO3 or NV instead. The same cut and paste quests that Bioware gave us in Dragon Age Inquisition, only these quests are dressed up nicely just so you dont immediately realise you are doing the same thing over and over again.

rockdacazbah

Dec 3, 2015

5

I knew this game was off to a bit of a bad start when in the first hour of game play I was clonking around in power armour wielding a mini-gun shooting at a deathclaw.

Bethesda Definitely pandering to the action fps console brigade and its an over used phrase but they have "dumbed down" fallout. Its enjoyable as a fps as such, but nothing near what I was expecting after 7 years. hmmI knew this game was off to a bit of a bad start when in the first hour of game play I was clonking around in power armour wielding a mini-gun shooting at a deathclaw.

Bethesda Definitely pandering to the action fps console brigade and its an over used phrase but they have "dumbed down" fallout. Its enjoyable as a fps as such, but nothing near what I was expecting after 7 years. hmm shame Bethesda.

oh and if you are going to add settlement building to the game please make it work properly and not make it half assed. Asmodius got it spot on in his review (Kudos on the Brahmin caravan) . I would add that constantly respawning junk in locations like the 3 fuses and 2 light bulbs in the hardware shop in Concord is just bad,,, put a bloody perk in so we can salvage scrap cars, power cables etc from outside the settlement areas. Oh and please make the settlements self defending If I set up guard posts and turrets and blumming walls, I should not have to trek from 1 side of the map to the other every verse end while I am in the middle of something else to "help defend" it

and yes the UI really does suck, but hopefully when the modding community really get going these issues may be resolved

So if you are expecting a fallout game in the true fallout fashion you will be a tad disappointed with FO4.… Expand

Agent7300

Mar 23, 2016

6

Fallout 4 is a pretty lame fallout game, but a great game on its own. In comparison to its predecessors, there is a lack of content. however there are some very odd, and in most cases changes that shouldn't of even left the dev conference room. For example: they changed power armor so that its customizable and you can build it from scratch, which is good, but now you need fusion cores toFallout 4 is a pretty lame fallout game, but a great game on its own. In comparison to its predecessors, there is a lack of content. however there are some very odd, and in most cases changes that shouldn't of even left the dev conference room. For example: they changed power armor so that its customizable and you can build it from scratch, which is good, but now you need fusion cores to power it which is absolutely absurd. of course it was implemented for balancing purposes, however fallout has never worried about balancing. walking around the capital wasteland in winterized T51-B with a gatling laser is overpowered, but it was fun.
Now lets get to the more important, and stupid changes.
#1. voiced protagonist ruins any and all immersion
#2. very minor gripe: explorable vault doors are already open when you find them, removing the "whats inside?" tension.
#3. Very short, boring and easy main questline story.
#4. Side missions consist of the same missions.
#5. uninteresting and bland game map.
In short, before i put over 100 reasons on why this game isn't that great of a fallout game, its almost like they took all the progress they made with new vegas and 3, sucked it all out and "casualized" it for the mainstream average player, which in turn ruined the experience for all players including the audience they were targeting to bring into the franchise.… Expand

Darmesis

Nov 15, 2015

5

I give this game a "0" or a "10" - cuz I haven't actually played it, but I wanted to act like some of you dingbats that apparently pre-order incredibly expensive titles and then either say it's damn-near perfect or the worst piece of trash EVAH! For those that rate everything "10": you do a real disservice to those of us looking for non-skewed reviews. For those who rate titles "0": youI give this game a "0" or a "10" - cuz I haven't actually played it, but I wanted to act like some of you dingbats that apparently pre-order incredibly expensive titles and then either say it's damn-near perfect or the worst piece of trash EVAH! For those that rate everything "10": you do a real disservice to those of us looking for non-skewed reviews. For those who rate titles "0": you make yourselves look dimwitted and mega-immature for blowing your money and wasting hours upon hours of your life on something that apparently shouldn't qualify as a video game. I especially love the "zeros who give zeros" to games they played to the end, and LOL at those of you who play something TWICE to bad-mouth it on different settings. Anyone who admits to pre-ordering, coughing up $60, and then blowing hours of your life on a "0" game when there's, like, fifty-gajillion decent games out there should keep their embarrassment to themselves and maybe read a book or take a walk.… Expand

gamer_krang

Nov 20, 2015

6

Reviewing after 125 hours played.

What Fallout 4 does well: 1. The color infusion has really helped to make the world beautiful in all its wasteland devastation. This without sacrificing the core feeling of the series (Fallout 2, still the best Fallout game, was not a game without color). 2. One of the major issues with Fallout 3 has been addressed in that the game no longer has aReviewing after 125 hours played.

What Fallout 4 does well:
1. The color infusion has really helped to make the world beautiful in all its wasteland devastation. This without sacrificing the core feeling of the series (Fallout 2, still the best Fallout game, was not a game without color).
2. One of the major issues with Fallout 3 has been addressed in that the game no longer has a hard ending; you can keep exploring and leveling infinitely.
3. The main story line is really good and the voice actors do a great job.

What Fallout 4 does less well and fails miserably at.
1. The same bugs as always in Bethesda games are ever present. Its amazing that they put this much time into developing a game without properly addressing these issues. A role playing game is all about suspension of disbelief. This can never be accomplished in a game where NPC's keep walking into walls all the time, where Brahmin spawn on top of roofs and where the dialogue is either repetitive (an arrow to the knee) or doesn't make sense. NPC's will still say stuff like "I hope you know how much you did for us... you ain't here looking for trouble are you?". They will be familiar with you one second and forget you exist the very next.
2. Combat is still horrible, just as horrible as always. Clunky, unnatural and nowhere near the improvements that were promised pre release. This is a huge problem as 75 % of your game time usually will consist of combat.
3. Settlement management is just too buggy. This is really sad as this could have been the salvation of the title. I have spent 50 + hours just managing settlements and it's frustrating to see how well this could have worked and how horribly it does work in the end. Construction works fine if you want to build the basic shacks that the templates are meant to construct. However if you try to build anything more advanced it quickly gets frustrating. Building blocks wont work together in a smooth way. Also the object limit per settlement is a major drawback. After a while you begin to wonder why you bother with settlements, there are no real rewards apart from modest vendor incomes. If I ever start over with a new character I wont bother with settlements, I'll just build a garage for my own storage and workbench needs.

All in all, Fallout 4 is not a bad game. It just isn't what the pre release hype promised and a bitter disappointment after Skyrim that took Bethesda games to a new level.… Expand

Nergui

Jan 15, 2016

6

Made an account just to write this: The hype was huge, and I had high expectations. Like others, though, I was also disappointed. As a big fan of Bethesda games, I was really looking forward to sinking many hours into the game, and I did (60 - level 31). I found, however, an experience that felt shallow/static, and the more I pressed forward in search of that moment which would engageMade an account just to write this: The hype was huge, and I had high expectations. Like others, though, I was also disappointed. As a big fan of Bethesda games, I was really looking forward to sinking many hours into the game, and I did (60 - level 31). I found, however, an experience that felt shallow/static, and the more I pressed forward in search of that moment which would engage me, the more it became clear that real fun would not be found. There are more features at play here (crafting and settlement construction), but the core of the game has not evolved from previous Beth releases, while other developers have genuinely pushed the industry forward. For example, the voice acting is improved, but the writing is just boring and without the flair of talent. Additionally, the UI was maddening, and I never developed the muscle memory for it. The world itself is attractive, but feels static since there is little evidence of motion in it. The town's are tiny, as well, and outside of that, the gameplay really is just "shoot everything." It doesn't feel like an RPG, but rather a mediocre shooter. If I wanted a shooter, I would buy a shooter. Makes me wish I could be a fly on the wall to witness the decision-making process.

Maybe I ruined my chance at having fun in this game by playing Skyrim with 230 mods tacked on. That's a serious possibility. But consider that I also really enjoyed vanilla Skyrim through two playthroughs before I even knew that mods existed. As it is, I uninstalled the game, and every few months I will check the mod lists to see if the community has injected some life into the game. I still have some hope that they will succeed where Beth's imagination went soft. That hope, though, is tinged with the understanding that turning this game into something more satisfying, and deeper, will be tough considering the game doesn't possess much beyond it's initial veneer.… Expand

JS99

Apr 16, 2016

5

This is not a good RPG, and it's not a good FPS. The story is a tired and boring "save the princess" snooze-fest with a twist (yes I know that's a bit oversimplified). I was really looking forward to having an adventure, like I did with Fallout 3, and New Vegas. I wanted that feeling of excitement when I found a new area. I wanted a world that would make me want to explore. This game gaveThis is not a good RPG, and it's not a good FPS. The story is a tired and boring "save the princess" snooze-fest with a twist (yes I know that's a bit oversimplified). I was really looking forward to having an adventure, like I did with Fallout 3, and New Vegas. I wanted that feeling of excitement when I found a new area. I wanted a world that would make me want to explore. This game gave me a bland boring world that really looks the same. Skyrim made me feel like there was an entire world to explore, mountains to climb, towns to find, magic to be discovered. Boston on the other hand was just uninteresting. In conclusion, Bethesda has used up my loyalty, my wallet is now closed, glad I didn't buy the DLC. No more.… Expand

Lycanthrope

Nov 20, 2015

6

Another vapid Bethesda "RPG" made to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Here's hoping Bethesda sign Obsidian up again to come along and give old fans who still can't quite accept that Fallout is, for all intents and purposes, dead an actual Fallout game with some substance. The game somehow manages to have glaring grammatical and spelling errors, more often in the terminals butAnother vapid Bethesda "RPG" made to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Here's hoping Bethesda sign Obsidian up again to come along and give old fans who still can't quite accept that Fallout is, for all intents and purposes, dead an actual Fallout game with some substance.

The game somehow manages to have glaring grammatical and spelling errors, more often in the terminals but frequently in the subtitles as well. My favourite of which is the phrase, "make due"--a mutilation of "make do."

Where did you find your writers, Bethesda? Grade school?… Expand

Asbest-Men

Nov 11, 2015

5

Самая переоценённая игра года после новой Колды. Плохо почти всё:
Оказуаленный гемплей
Никакой сюжет и квесты, диалоги убиты Устаревшая графика Дебильный отклик на ПК Маленькая карта Поставил 5 исключительно за начало, крафт. Гореть в аду беседке.Самая переоценённая игра года после новой Колды. Плохо почти всё:
Оказуаленный гемплей
Никакой сюжет и квесты, диалоги убиты
Устаревшая графика
Дебильный отклик на ПК
Маленькая карта

Поставил 5 исключительно за начало, крафт. Гореть в аду беседке.

Giusyone

Nov 11, 2015

5

A medrioce game designed for console players, than doesn't improve anything from the past but ruisn almost everything you liked in the past series.
Buy when the sales come if you really want to do.

billybaggggg

Nov 12, 2015

6

It's an ok game... lots of glitches and such... mods usually make Bethesda games for me, and mods will fix and add on the the game. I like modding as well, so this ought to be great!

meno0_

Dec 1, 2015

5

Probably the most disappointing game I've played in YEARS. Why did they not let Obsidian make this game? The story is underwhelming, the characters are literally blank pages of paper, the game is full of bugs, and the missions are boring. Don't buy it, pirate it.

JazzTheMan

Feb 5, 2016

6

The game could've been a lot better, the story wasn't as good as any previous story. It was dull, and there weren't as many endings or dialogue options as any previous fallout game.
Long story short: It's a good game, but not a good Fallout or Bethesda game.

Mikimax

Dec 2, 2015

5

What can i say but - big disappointment.
It's the same old Fallout 3 with "newer" graphics and new maps. Same old style, guns, gameplay, etc. Feels like a glorified DLC for F3.
Oh, and ghouls are stupidly fast.

rentonB

Dec 13, 2015

5

Worst fallout? The voiced characters are completely unnecessary and only creates countless of problems not giving much in exchange, the RPG aspect does not exist at all, the characters sucks, the story sucks the endings are big WTF. The only good addition to the game is stuff crafting but it wont save the game either.
Is it worth the money? Maybe, if you don't mind spending them.
Does itWorst fallout? The voiced characters are completely unnecessary and only creates countless of problems not giving much in exchange, the RPG aspect does not exist at all, the characters sucks, the story sucks the endings are big WTF. The only good addition to the game is stuff crafting but it wont save the game either.
Is it worth the money? Maybe, if you don't mind spending them.
Does it live to hype? NO.
Never ever gonna buy a Fallout from Bethesda, considering Fallout is my favorite genre i would like to punch Todd Howard in the face for what has he done to it.
Was going to give it a 6, but they claimed it was 5 year development. LOL… Expand

Alkatraz

Dec 3, 2015

6

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There's love for this game from Bethesda....just...not enough.

Like everyone else I looked forward to this game, and going through a dry spell of decent RPG's, Fallout 4(F4) was the light at the end of the tunnel - although, yes, the game itself has many redeeming qualities, the intense immersive gameplay the previous fallout games possessed show how lackluster F4 is.

Here's what you'll enjoy:
- More of the F4 world
- New base building
- Interesting new equipment mechanics
- New and interesting perks
- More action and fighting focus

Here's what you may dislike:
- Dated graphics engine
- A reliance of mod community to clean up some of the graphics, fix power suit balances, and essentially rely on the community to refine the game.
- Shallow characters and stilted dialogue
- More action and fighting focus

You might be wondering why I give it a 6, because honestly it is not a bad game, the controls and FPS component feel more refined, the world appears to be well detailed, the seed community's allowing players to build a town is a great idea, and the atmosphere of F3 is still present. What F4 is missing, imo, is character.

The dialogue is terrible, you obtain equipment far to easily, and have access to the power suit quite early on. The beginning of F4 is painstakingly boring (for me), and I [spoiler] before we really get to enjoy our family or create a bond they are ripped away - I don't know them enough to care....

Suggestions:
- Give the player a powersuit but have it break after using it the first time; the player is given time to VALUE the immense power of the suit, so that they work towards it's repair. Create value for players so they see the need to use the suit and how important it is.
- Spend more time with your family or don't make the story about your family if you can only attribute 10 minutes of gameplay to them. Perhaps make it about your family, but cryogenic damage has caused memory loss, or someone has implanted memories that were never there....give me a reason to care Bethesda....give us a unique story....

I feel my gripe lies heavily in what feels like an unpolished gem, that will only get better once the modding community and DLC for the game comes out. The game is fine, playable, but by no means GOTY quality, or has the same enjoyable traits as F3; but I can't ignore the fact that it does a "good" job, and not a "great" job. So if you like the Fallout world and want more of the same-ish, add it to you list. If you were expecting something different, innovative, and there to create RPG memories, it just didn't draw me in like the previous Fallout's have.… Expand

MeritCoba

Dec 7, 2015

5

I have opted for a simplified scoring system, with 5 being a meh. Fallout 4 gets a five from me because a one is a bit too harsh and thus it escapes a four, which is what it deserves.

Enough has been said by others and I will not repeat what has been said before ad nauseam other then to note that Bethesda has finally done away with the roleplay elements of the game, which isn't really aI have opted for a simplified scoring system, with 5 being a meh. Fallout 4 gets a five from me because a one is a bit too harsh and thus it escapes a four, which is what it deserves.

Enough has been said by others and I will not repeat what has been said before ad nauseam other then to note that Bethesda has finally done away with the roleplay elements of the game, which isn't really a surprise as we shall see shortly. In fact it is the goal Bethesda has been progressing towards.

I will concentrate on what for me simply breaks a game, which is the story. In this respect Bethesda has been very consistent in that none of their flag ship games, being the Elder scrolls series and the Fallout series, have anything resembling a good story. Take the story lines of both Oblivion and Skyrim, they are very similar and just bare bones enough to get you out into the world. The world is basically a sandbox where you can roam around doing repeat missions that have no consequences. Go and kill some elder dragons up on the mountain and return to town to find out that nothing has changed. In Skyrim Bethseda has made boring what in other games is the summon of tension: fighting dragons. Next we will see fights with demons, as boring as can be(compare this to Dragon Age III)

Fallout is now the same game as the Elder scroll series. It is a sandbox game that has a flimsy storyline to get you going. It is so inconsequential that the game spends less then 10 minutes on your background story, it might be longer if you take the time to extensively alter your look.The whole story in a nutshell: a short introduction to your family, after which you agree to a place in the nearby Vault. Then the alarms sound, you run to the Vault getting while the bombs drop. You get frozen in, wake up for unknown and unexplained reasons, to see your partner getting killed and your kid stolen. Some unknown time passes and you get out of your cryogenic module, to find everyone in the Vault dead. Except for the radroaches, that is. It ends when you escape to the surface to enter the world of Fallout.

Fallout fails as a story because there is nothing to make you go out there. There is no imminent danger, no sword of Damocles or time limit. There is no evil character to beat, a threat to thwart or a world to save. My son is supposed to be the MacGuffin that ought to get me going, but since nobody else is(Maltese Falcon: everyone wants it) there is no pressure and, given that no time is spend on making him matter to me, I basically don't care what happens to him. In fact I know nothing will happen to him as the story won't progress unless I talk to the next NPC in line. He is so unimportant that I even forgot his name until it popped up in my conversation options.

This game now has the option to build things, not that it matters to the world at large. It won't get any safer or more advanced. In fact nothing happens. The same goes for the killing of all the monsters and raiders. What you get is empty looted places, not safe havens: the beginnings of a new civilization. You make a wasteland by killing everything and then that might be called peace.

Someone compared it to State of Decay and indeed even that game shows how soulless Fallout has become. In State of Decay you cared for your small group of survivors and building mattered for it made your base safer and for you especially when you had to find resources that were important and in short supply. It also had a story with a definite end and a heightened pressure when more deadly monsters appeared. There were many faults in State of Decay, but you felt that it what you did mattered, you had your favorite survivors you cared for and gave the best of your equipment.

And this then compared to the empty world of Fallout. No story to be had, no characters to care for, you don't matter, the world doesn't matter and nothing matters. It is a sandbox where you can roam around for ever for there are always randomly spawned monsters and raiders around the corner. It has no story and no soul. How utterly soulless it has become is shown by the fact that any humor is lacking. This game is as dry as a desert and devoid of life as a graveyard. Compare that to Fallout 1 and 2.

And this is what Bethesda wants. Offering a sandbox game without a story so they don't have to spend time on writing, without roleplay elements so they can go on forever, and with just shooting and looting. What is next? Fallout online or Elder Scrolls online no doubt. Perhaps that already exist? Maybe. It is what a MMO is basically: sand box games with a flimsy story. Soulless worlds.… Expand

MrSubjective

Nov 26, 2015

5

This Fallout is really mediocre at all stages and worst of all series.

I'll start with cons first, because it's important to know about: So so graphics, huge numbers of not-even-changed items in-game (consoles, cabinets, mutants, you name it), pale story, pale characters, repeatable boring quests (place the same camera on different places 11 times, help some settlements 15 times, clearThis Fallout is really mediocre at all stages and worst of all series.

I'll start with cons first, because it's important to know about:
So so graphics, huge numbers of not-even-changed items in-game (consoles, cabinets, mutants, you name it), pale story, pale characters, repeatable boring quests (place the same camera on different places 11 times, help some settlements 15 times, clear the same factory you just complete).

And some pros to be objective:
Customizable weapons are nice, but not smart. Just cap your damage and recoil - get your top gear. Well, nothing else to mention.

And here it is, there is nothing to hook you up with. Story, characters, dramas - no, skipped, forget about it. Where are all these junkies here and there? Where's all that depression flying over you, when you have nowhere to go? Where's cults and false faith? Where are really tough choices you have to made? They flew away, man. They flew away.

Long story short: it does not worth your money and time. Time especially. Wasted.… Expand

MaoJin93

Sep 1, 2016

7

Let's get the bad things out of the way first:

1. I really like the idea of having a voiced protagonist but unfortunately the dialogue system has stripped away the role-playing aspect of the game. Your options are pretty much limited to being a good guy. Take a look at DA: Inquisition and give us different voices to choose from next time Bethesda. 2. The overall story is a bitLet's get the bad things out of the way first:

1. I really like the idea of having a voiced protagonist but unfortunately the dialogue system has stripped away the role-playing aspect of the game. Your options are pretty much limited to being a good guy. Take a look at DA: Inquisition and give us different voices to choose from next time Bethesda.

2. The overall story is a bit uninteresting and you didn't get enough time during the intro to really grow to care about your family or the world. (the intro movie is actually excellent, but the rest is just "meh")

3. Performance can still get pretty crappy even on my machine (Sapphire 390X 8GB Tri-X OC + FX9590 @ 5 GHz + 16 GB RAM) [partially due to mods]

As for the good things:

1. Weapon customization - probably the best improvement over Fallout 3 given how much it lets you personalize your weapons. But it needs more base weapons along with some decals/colors/whatever that you can add. (modders to the rescue fortunately)

2.
a) The companions are convincing and really well voice-acted and you grow to like many of them for their own personalities.

b) I love the way you've recorded so many names for Codsworth to call you. More of this in future games, for at least all main NPCs!

c) The "romance" plots are a marked improvement over Skyrim but they're still very shallow compared to e.g. Bioware games.

3. Everything else is pretty great. Love the atmosphere with immersive weather events like radiation storms, building settlements, etc. It's nice to see Bethesda bring in more of the immersion features that are so popular in mods.

These are my main thoughts that come to mind at the moment. I still have a long way to go and yet to even finish the main quest but at this moment I think the game will be worth your money. It feels like it has quite a lot of replay value. Will see if I update this review later.… Expand

hifiboi

Dec 6, 2015

6

Do you remember the feeling when your weakling character met the Brotherhood in Fallout 1 and 2 and you just knew you had to get into their little bunker and had to complete initiation tasks even though you had no idea what they were about other than having badass armour and weapons. Yeah, don't expect anything like that, when you meet them after a few hours you will already be moreDo you remember the feeling when your weakling character met the Brotherhood in Fallout 1 and 2 and you just knew you had to get into their little bunker and had to complete initiation tasks even though you had no idea what they were about other than having badass armour and weapons. Yeah, don't expect anything like that, when you meet them after a few hours you will already be more powerful than them.

What a disappointment, I just hope the mods can salvage this game, I was so excited for this game after being a lifelong fan since Fallout 1. They kept all the bad stuff from their other re-skinned games, Bethesda apparently don't learn anything from previous games:

individually loading generic dungeons - check
horrible character design - check
poor dialogue - check
forgettable npc's - check
bad animations -check
new poorly implemented tagged on world building - check

I don't know why I expected anything different from Bethesda, they are a passionless husk of a company.… Expand

nabbone

Nov 30, 2015

5

No innovation of any kind, infinitely sad, as always when there is no risk.
Not to disappoint anyone has made a clone of fallout 3.
This is an old way of thinking about video games; I expected more from Bethesda.
Bethesda, if you are working on a new The Elder Scrolls, know that if you spoil it as you did with Fallout 4, I come to visit you with a bat.

Slaneth

Nov 22, 2015

5

Best fallout when it comes to gameplay!

By far, the worst Fallout when it comes to story and dialog. It really lacks so severely in this department i struggle to call this game an RPG at all. Nothing you do matters, MMO style quests except for the main quest. Join a faction and do randomly generated quests over and over again with maybe a very rare random sidequest that just alsoBest fallout when it comes to gameplay!

By far, the worst Fallout when it comes to story and dialog. It really lacks so severely in this department i struggle to call this game an RPG at all.

Nothing you do matters, MMO style quests except for the main quest. Join a faction and do randomly generated quests over and over again with maybe a very rare random sidequest that just also leads you into a room that you need to clear of enemies.… Expand

asm123

Nov 15, 2015

5

Fallout 4 is ok but it has really disappointed me. The main one is that it builds on Fallout 3 not New Vegas. New Vegas has a spaghetti western type story that doesnt take itself to seriously and a faction system that allows you to feel like your having an impact on the world and side quests that are unique. Fallout 4 on the other hand has a way to serious story that limits role playing,Fallout 4 is ok but it has really disappointed me. The main one is that it builds on Fallout 3 not New Vegas. New Vegas has a spaghetti western type story that doesnt take itself to seriously and a faction system that allows you to feel like your having an impact on the world and side quests that are unique. Fallout 4 on the other hand has a way to serious story that limits role playing, side quests that arent really unique and a very bad version of a faction system. It is really a step in the wrong direction in my opinion which is why it has been so disappointing.… Expand

AnotherUserName

Jan 30, 2016

5

Some good, some bad, and some ugly...

After reading all the negatives I wanted to add my voice. Coming from the background of originally playing Fallout 1, 2, Tactics, 3, NV, and now 4 (over 100 hours). And RPGs over many many years. As an RPG this just really isn't much of one anymore. The score would be more like a 2 or 3. As an FPS it's probably more like a 7 or 8 I'mSome good, some bad, and some ugly...

After reading all the negatives I wanted to add my voice. Coming from the background of originally playing Fallout 1, 2, Tactics, 3, NV, and now 4 (over 100 hours). And RPGs over many many years.

As an RPG this just really isn't much of one anymore. The score would be more like a 2 or 3. As an FPS it's probably more like a 7 or 8 I'm thinking. Action/Adventure/Comedy?? meh... So the good?

What I liked

- Atmospherics. Rain, Radiation storms, vegetation (yeah it's dead but it's there), clouds. It's feels more like what you might expect a post apocalyptic world to be like. (maybe not 200 years later but...)
- I think the people actually do look different from each other compared to FO3
- The fallout franchise Finally figured out how to make the dangers of radiation poising have a real practical effect.
- They included some FPS things, like a grenade button.
- I actually thought the voice acting was well improved with respects to the quality of delivery over FO3 and NV.
- Some quest items have time limits. I know some people hate this, but I also liked my companions to actually be able to die. I prefer the real consequences over the idea that raiders would actually sit on an abducted settler for months until you get around to killing their camp.
- You can really build the home of your dreams (mostly).
- Creatures are more interesting. Burrowing, crawling out of holes. Clinging to walls, etc.

The Bad....
- It's not really an RPG, it's an open world FPS. (that's got to be the worst of the worse)
- Your character development is almost irrelevant. Other than leveling up for more hit points.
- Dialog options are pretty much gone now.
- Your settlements become tedious (seriously do I have to literally rescue them all the time?)
- Hardcore mode?
- Lots of Mutants, lots of ghouls
- City flavor is missing (more on that below)
- The bones of Fallout 1 & 2 are just about gone now.

I know a lot of people are complaining about the graphics, and some of the glitches. I watched a dead mirelurk fall from the sky after I reloaded a quick save. But those are mostly inconsequential.

It seems to me that Bethesda looked at what the modding community was doing and took some of the well executed ones and added it to FO4. Environmental effects, and building. I was excited for the idea that I could carve out a settlement the way I imagined. Instead, I'm dealing with a bunchy of whiny settlements that never seem to take care of themselves.

However I had a concern after FO3 that they might try to slide into their Elder Scrolls territory with a sequel. Instead it appears they're trying to squeak out a pure FPS but can't quite bring themselves to do it. And really they shouldn't. There's lots of other games that do that better.

So when I said the "flavor" is missing I mean it like this. I used to (and still do) play FO3 just to wander into the capital wasteland and feel the oppressive, ruin of a world brought to it's knees by bombs, and just what might be around the corner. The look, the feel. Imagining what that building might hold if I could just get inside somehow.

Instead in FO4 I try to find the quickest route some where cause I get tired of running into ONE MORE RAIDER SETTLEMENT blocking the street. Or if it's not a raider it's super mutants. It's less about discovery and more about fighting. Which many others have pointed out is all you really do in the service of pretty much every quest.

Save some one by killing everything. Bring a new settlement into the fold by doing a quest for them to kill every thing. Someone giving you a problem? Eh, kill em. Might as well.

So the joy of discovery for me has been largely, largely, stamped out by knowing that all I'm pretty much going to do after killing all the ______ (fill in the blank) is find a building full of junk to scrap.

FO4 implemented the same scheme that Diablo has done for years by adding some kind of unique effect to their weapons or armor to make it stand out from the crowd. Was kind of fun at first, but honestly, it stopped being of much interest a dozen hours in when you see the same things keep showing up. There's room to improve this with patching or DLC.

To conclude, if you like just going out and shooting stuff, you might like this. If you like RPGs you won't really get what you want. Hopefully two things come out of this. First, we can hope Oblivion Entertainment gets another shot at a Fallout with a follow-up to New Vegas. Second, hopefully Bethesda, goes back to the RPG core that made this game what it is. But please not Skyrim with a robots. Fallout 1 & 2 were loved for a reason!… Expand

muyfresco

Dec 1, 2015

6

Gran shooter y un mal RPG....

Para los amantes de la saga una pequeña decepción y para todo aquel que se une en este ha sido todo un descubrimiento.... Que decir tiene que las conversaciones no llevan a ninguna parte... solo voy por el yermo pegando tiros y de vez en cuando me paro charlo con alguien pero da igual lo que elija (no es relevante) vamos que sirve para poco... En unaGran shooter y un mal RPG....

Para los amantes de la saga una pequeña decepción y para todo aquel que se une en este ha sido todo un descubrimiento.... Que decir tiene que las conversaciones no llevan a ninguna parte... solo voy por el yermo pegando tiros y de vez en cuando me paro charlo con alguien pero da igual lo que elija (no es relevante) vamos que sirve para poco...

En una palabra lo han casualizado... pero hasta tal extremo que en muchas partes del juego pierde su esencia. También hay que decir que las mecánicas de disparos han mejorado mucho y le sientan muy bien, detrás de esta afirmación hay un gran trabajo sobre todo después de leer que solo un estudio de 100 personas han llevado a cabo esta obra en gran parte titanica. Las dimensiones del mapa, su densidad relativa.. porque no nos olvidemos de que aunk veamos algo en el mapa no significa que lo pase sea relevante.. parece un juego pasillero pero con un pasillo muy grande tanto que lo llaman de mundo abierto. Falta profundidad toma de decisiones relevantes que el mundo cambie que mi partida sea diferente a la tuya y al ponerlo en comun la gente viva experiencias diferentes tanto que apetezca repetir...

:(… Expand

IrishDWG

Aug 30, 2016

6

i gave this a low score because i have a top of the line laptop and i put the settings to best performance and it still runs like **** and i always have to start all over on the story to get only 1.5% further

ChestyPuller

Mar 7, 2017

5

It's disappointing coming from New Vegas. I can still go back and play that and feel intensely satisfied with the story and the quests ( We can all admit the gunplay is a we bit clunky). Then going to Fallout 4 it just seemed to suck the immersion out of the experience. The gun play was really great, but it just fell short of Fallout. Call me a Fan boy if you would like, but thems the brakes.

ADHGO

Nov 13, 2015

5

game play is boring, even the conversation is too much boring, over all land scape view is fantastic and colors are harmonic, good Graphics but texture not good, skyrim much better..

Kardox

Nov 11, 2015

6

My review is based on around 20 hours in the game.
And so far this game reminds me an MMO. I guess the same people who worked on the Elder Scrolls online have also worked on Fallout 4 (and I have spent 1 month in ESO on its release in 2014 so I can compare). I am a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls series but the ESO was a disappointment to me. Unfortunately Fallout 4 is also aMy review is based on around 20 hours in the game.
And so far this game reminds me an MMO. I guess the same people who worked on the Elder Scrolls online have also worked on Fallout 4 (and I have spent 1 month in ESO on its release in 2014 so I can compare). I am a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls series but the ESO was a disappointment to me. Unfortunately Fallout 4 is also a disappointment. Here is why.

The main plot in Bethesda's RPGs has always been dull. But this has always been compensated by absolutely fantastic side quests. In Fallout 4 the side quests are a total disappointment and all are MMO like. They are all about: go kill those guys, bring this, bring that. There are no stages. What an npc tells you to do is exactly what will need to be done. There are no unexpected twists or anything intriguing.

The settlement building feels like an MMO time sink. This all reminded me the garrison building in World of Warcraft. There are several settlements that you can build in the game. For each of them you need to collect tons of resources. Reading the reviews of the critics I guess there are plenty of people who enjoy this part of the game but for me this Minecraft/World of Warcraft copying got old very soon. It's all very repetitive and pointless really. Feels like mindless grind.

The graphics is nothing to write home about if you played the Witcher 3. I would say that it's year 2012 quality. And in general if you give the Witcher 3 a 10 then the Fallout 4 is a 6. People play single player RPGs for the story and the immersion. Bethesda again confused the priorities. In the Elder Scrolls online they made a single player RPG with MMO elements. As a single player ESO was weaker than previous installments. But the MMO part also felt alien. It's the same thing with the Fallout 4. A lot of MMO elements but now in a purely offline game. What's the point? Why not make a Fallout online instead?

I really wanted to write something positive about this game but it's average in every respect. I was totally blown away by the Witcher 3 storyline, the open world and the graphics. Fallout 4 is just meh...… Expand

NakSup

Nov 12, 2015

5

Many things are wrong with this game such as:

Bethesda lied about the frame rate being unlocked, it's locked to 60 and higher frames cause the games engine to speed up. The UI is copied straight from the console versions with no thought in mind for PC users with many controls being locked and building mode using a key layout that requires 3 hands. Many many performance issues andMany things are wrong with this game such as:

Bethesda lied about the frame rate being unlocked, it's locked to 60 and higher frames cause the games engine to speed up.

The UI is copied straight from the console versions with no thought in mind for PC users with many controls being locked and building mode using a key layout that requires 3 hands.

Many many performance issues and crashes and no Sli support.

The game feels rushed and unfinished a more suitable name for this title would be rage 2.… Expand

hooner

Nov 13, 2015

5

Huge disappointment. Given how much Bethesda could (should!) have learned from FO:NV and the huge number of mods that improved this and Skyrim, it should have been a stellar game.

Buy this in a years time when the mods are really flowing, and you may get a game that lives up to your hopes. If modders can do hi-res textures for example, why the hell can't the company that made theHuge disappointment. Given how much Bethesda could (should!) have learned from FO:NV and the huge number of mods that improved this and Skyrim, it should have been a stellar game.

Buy this in a years time when the mods are really flowing, and you may get a game that lives up to your hopes.

If modders can do hi-res textures for example, why the hell can't the company that made the game in the first place? I think Bethesda are relying on other people to do their work for them.… Expand

Hohum

Nov 12, 2015

6

I've come to the conclusion that the games Bethesda roll out are so detailed and immense in scale that they can't be bothered to pay anyone to play test them any more. That would explain a lot of things.

Things, such as, my first encounter with a Deathclaw at the very start of the game. Round one - I open my Pip-Boy to use a Stimpack, and can't close it. Deathclaw stands, bemused, nextI've come to the conclusion that the games Bethesda roll out are so detailed and immense in scale that they can't be bothered to pay anyone to play test them any more. That would explain a lot of things.

Things, such as, my first encounter with a Deathclaw at the very start of the game. Round one - I open my Pip-Boy to use a Stimpack, and can't close it. Deathclaw stands, bemused, next to my motionless body. Re-load. Round two - I decide to hide in one of the buildings which is working quite well. Deathclaw runs away and doesn't come back. Eventually I go in search to find that he's stuck on a pile of rocks. Shoot him a couple of times before he teleports around behind me and rips my limps from my torso. Re-load. Round three...well, you get the idea.

Like all Bethesda releases, there are a ton of bugs at launch. Some are minor annoyances, some are immersion-breaking, and others require you to load the game from your most recent save. This may have been more acceptable seven years ago in the days of Fallout 3, but we've seen so many super-polished games with massive worlds since then, eg: Witcher 3, GTA5, etc. The bar has been raised for all open-world games recently, and Bethesda ran right into it and bumped their head.

The Creation Engine is really starting to show its age. I'm normally in the "graphics don't matter" camp, but when I actually recognize objects and textures which were lifted right out of Fallout 3 and implanted into 4 without even so much as a re-skin, it irks me. Overall the graphics and presentation is a mixed bag. The exterior views/landscapes are actually great in my opinion. Character models are average. Building interiors and many of the item models/textures are significantly below par by today's standards. Animations are poor and lip-syncing often attains kung-fu-movie levels of awful. This engine has been powering all of their open-world games since the stiff-legged Khajiits of Morrowind floated across screens 13 years ago. It really needs to go.

Ranting out of the way, it's definitely not all bad. When all of the bugs are fixed, I would happily update my review score to a solid 7/10. Improved graphics/textures via modding would hit an 8/10. Sadly nothing will ever fix the awful "speech wheel", wooden dialog and an in-game menu which was invented somewhere in between the discovery of fire and the first wheel.

An overall disappointing experience, especially given all the hype.… Expand

randomlette

Nov 12, 2015

6

Was really pumped for another entry in my favorite series since 1997. But this leaves me frustrated and disappointed -- more of the same is nice, but the design decisions made over FO3 simpy don't work for me. Story is bland, workshop and crafting are tedious and add nothing substantial. Plus the thing performs extremely bad in interiors, yet looks practically the same as before. Minus theWas really pumped for another entry in my favorite series since 1997. But this leaves me frustrated and disappointed -- more of the same is nice, but the design decisions made over FO3 simpy don't work for me. Story is bland, workshop and crafting are tedious and add nothing substantial. Plus the thing performs extremely bad in interiors, yet looks practically the same as before. Minus the post-apocalyptic color palette, which had its appeal. To sum up, frustration from bugs and **** performance + tacked on features break immersion more than they do any good.… Expand

rustyfeeder

Nov 13, 2015

6

Stripped RPG elements, terrible dialogue system, outdated graphics, small map size, overall lack of innovation. I would not recommend buying this game.

txriddle

Nov 16, 2015

7

Amazing potential, innovative ideas, nice graphics marred by the rp-unfriendly dialogue system, a PC UI that is a console port that is primitive and inflexible.

When "talking" to NPCs There is no sense of actually engaging in a conversation with a human being due to the severely limited number of responses with virtually no options based on your characters SPECIAL stats and theAmazing potential, innovative ideas, nice graphics marred by the rp-unfriendly dialogue system, a PC UI that is a console port that is primitive and inflexible.

When "talking" to NPCs There is no sense of actually engaging in a conversation with a human being due to the severely limited number of responses with virtually no options based on your characters SPECIAL stats and the reduction to a single word choice that makes it more a matter of just pushing the right button to move on past the "boring" parts.

An option to see what you character is actually going to say before clicking the button would have helped a lot but the game developers seem to have decided that a "one size fits all" approach is adequate.

Sadly, for a Fallout game, the emphasis is on action and the maximum numbers of exploding body parts rather then making the quest/dialogue conversations challenging , dependent on your characters abilities, and immersive.
I understand that a voiced protagonist consumed a lot of the resources available to develop the game and that enriching the dialogue/RP option/etc would have further increased the cost for the voice acting but for me, and many others, the balance is off as the rp potential has been severely compromised.

I preordered the game and do not regret that as I am confident the modding community will correct many of the flaws. It's sad though that the game seems to have been designed to be "thrown over the wall" to the modding community but many of the issues with the game seem to have been the result of narrowly-focused goals where flexibility was not considered important. Again, "one size fits all"

I will enjoy the game for what it is- playing at a slow pace- as I like to explore and interact verbally rather than just sequentially blowing heads off in a shower of blood and complete the game as fast as possible - and will mod the game when possible and slowly move toward seeing and enjoying everything I can in this massive, complex, and enthralling world… Expand

SoniqCZ

Nov 13, 2015

5

I love the series but F4 kinda disappointed me. The game itself is not bad but suffers from severe AI and visual glitches.

Do not buy this game just yet. Wait until Bethesda fixes AI and graphics.

limlight

Jan 10, 2016

6

The game simply does not live up to expectations. It's not bad, but not certainly not good enough.
The failings all come down to the watered down RPG elements and the increased focus on FPS mechanics. If that was what Fallout as a franchise was about it would be an above average shooter given the stunning art direction and original universe but it's not.
Fallout is expected to beThe game simply does not live up to expectations. It's not bad, but not certainly not good enough.
The failings all come down to the watered down RPG elements and the increased focus on FPS mechanics. If that was what Fallout as a franchise was about it would be an above average shooter given the stunning art direction and original universe but it's not.
Fallout is expected to be engrossing and intelligent, this entry to the franchise is neither.
Simplistic dialog options, story on rails with little to no player choice as to how the game world evolves.
I watched a "lightning round quick review" on youtube that said it all.… Expand

swade21

Dec 4, 2015

6

A had t o sign in to metacritic just to give this game a review. I have not give any game review before but now I had to.

First of all this game does not fell at all like Fallout game. Gun play is weak. You can scope to enemy's upper body and shoot but nothing happends. World is not big and most of the buildings are unable for entry. They are just for decorating this town. Also townsA had t o sign in to metacritic just to give this game a review. I have not give any game review before but now I had to.

First of all this game does not fell at all like Fallout game. Gun play is weak. You can scope to enemy's upper body and shoot but nothing happends. World is not big and most of the buildings are unable for entry. They are just for decorating this town. Also towns inner city and its achitecture feel a bit like half life 2. It is too modern. Again I say that this game does not feel like fallout game. Whit this game and its plot this game feels like some sort of scifi fps game. One bad this is that exploring game world in this game is really boring if compared to other Fallout games. There is no prices. Just junk everywhere. The power armor is a joke to me. It is more like a tank that you can suit in you. This game does not have replay value. Even if modders work hard day and night. This is because geme world is boring. Fallout New vegas was really good if compared to this. In this game the dialogue is crap. This game is not a roleplay. You don't have to watch what you say. There is not so much different weapons to choose. Almost everything in this game is hostile to you. You cannot choose who is and who is not. You just shoot, do what you have told to do and finish the game. Crafting weapons and mods is not so much fun as it was in New vegas and its mods. The main plot is not interesting at all. I waited it to be over so I can uninstall this game. One really annoying thing is that animals pop up from the ground. So you cannot know where rad scorpions are. This is really stupid. Also characters are shallow. For example Brotherhoods leader does not look like leader from the fallout series. It looks like a hipster. Also leveling, perks and character development is much worse that new vegas. I waited this game for six moths. I have played Fallout New vegas many times throught. I really give this game a change to be the next fallout game but it is not. I started playing it and at first it felt a little bit ok. But then I noticed that this game and its atmosphere does not feel like fallout at all. I hope that they make another fallout game which feels like fallout. :)… Expand

BigBountyBar

Dec 30, 2015

6

Ok at best.

Fallout is a game with a low graphical fidelity for 2015s Triple-A standards. This would be fine if the game would be well optimised, but it simply is not. The main story and each "factions" story and quest lines arent that entertaining as i would have liked them to be. I enjoyed Fallout 3 a lot more regarding that matter. The map itself is quite large, and what i likeOk at best.

Fallout is a game with a low graphical fidelity for 2015s Triple-A standards. This would be fine if the game would be well optimised, but it simply is not.

The main story and each "factions" story and quest lines arent that entertaining as i would have liked them to be. I enjoyed Fallout 3 a lot more regarding that matter.

The map itself is quite large, and what i like in particular is the fact that enemies scale in a certain level range according to region/ ares other then to the players own level. That means, that if you are very far into the game and have a high level and go back into the starting area, you will be able to crush anything that comes near you with ease. On the other hand, certain areas will be set to high lvl enemies in which you would get crushed if you were to face them early on. I feel this is the more immersive way to go.

Gunplay is good, quite simply put.

However, the way they changed the lvling and skilling system in Fallout 4 is an absolute joke to me. Instead of having the old Fallout 3 way , they decided to go for a very lazy approach in my eyes. The only thing you now get from lvling up is a point you can use to choose a perk for one of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes. We did have this before, but with the addition of you being able to put points into each of these attributes, up to 100 everytime you lvl up. Now you can only go in a rough direction by applying a few points the each attribute at the start. A change i absolutely dislike and influenced my gaming experience quite a bit.

In General , it seems like Bethesda have shifted their focus from an RPG to an Open-World Shooter by dumbing down the role playing elements such as the skill system and dialogue options while significantly improving gun play. Some people may like this change, however, i personally prefer the more RPG based approach of the older titles. The crafting system for me doesnt really fit into the game that well and does not enhance the gaming experience at all, which is a shame. All in all this game is OK, but not quite entertaining enough for me to warrant a price tag of 60 euros.… Expand

Xaos

Nov 17, 2015

7

Overhyped, buggy and lacking in proper story.

I completed fallout 4 in 46ish hours, with about 30 hours being spent in rehashed side/faction quests that were the same across the board. Go here build settlement or go there help someone OVER and OVER again. The quality of this game just feels MEH asside from all the bugs (and there are many!) where you cant turn in quests, npcs stuck inOverhyped, buggy and lacking in proper story.

I completed fallout 4 in 46ish hours, with about 30 hours being spent in rehashed side/faction quests that were the same across the board. Go here build settlement or go there help someone OVER and OVER again. The quality of this game just feels MEH asside from all the bugs (and there are many!) where you cant turn in quests, npcs stuck in walls, getting shot through walls and overall just HORRIBLE AI. Seriously the AI is the worst ive seen in a while, even worst then skyrim. Attacking NPCs just standing in place going in circles or just constantly running up against a wall. this happens a lot!

That all aside i do like the atmosphere in the game altough not as polished as for instance the witcher its still a fun place to be.

PC specific wise this game has major performance issues (mainly in cities), you cant unlock fps above 60 (the game will just break), there is no FOV slider and the animations are just plane bad.

The story was Meh imo but i guess its quite a personal thing, i like that you can make 'impacting' choices wich seem to do something for the story's ending. but i think the main story is to short (6 hours or even less) and unlike for instance Bioshock or The Witcher the side quests just feel empty. they are not compelling at all.

I dont think its a bad game, i had fun and it checks all my gaming need (FPS, loot based, RPG, post apocaliptic) but it leaves a lot to be desired. If you want the optimal experience for this game i recommend waiting a year or so before playing. Mods and bug fixes will deffinitly help this game alot.

In its current state it is in my opinion worth 7- lets hope a year from now it can be a 8 or something like all the 'critics' give this game… Expand

JimCorbett

Nov 27, 2015

7

Fallout 4 is certainly disappointing, but I don't think it deserves all the 0's it's getting. It is without a doubt a step back from New Vegas is just about every way other than texture quality and gunplay. The story, characters, and setting are all generally uninteresting. There are a few good characters and quests here and there but they are few and far between. The big thing that theyFallout 4 is certainly disappointing, but I don't think it deserves all the 0's it's getting. It is without a doubt a step back from New Vegas is just about every way other than texture quality and gunplay. The story, characters, and setting are all generally uninteresting. There are a few good characters and quests here and there but they are few and far between. The big thing that they hyped up prior to release was the settlement building. This mode is tedious and frustrating. It is impossible to create anything original since there are only a few preset structures to create and the way that things have to clip to each other makes it a pain to make something that the developers didn't envision. On top of this, the mode serves no purpose in the overall game. You build a settlement that looks like crap (because there are no nice looking options) and then it sits there and has no effect on anything. It's very disappointing. The world is not interesting and other than a few landmark buildings, it doesn't even look like Massachusetts. New Vegas has more interesting things going on and it was in a desert! I could live with all these problems, but they also decided to tear out the core RPG skills. I'm not even a huge fan of RPGs, in fact I prefer shooters, but this was a lame idea. When you level up you can pick one "perk" to get or you can level up one of your SPECIAL skills. Most of the perks are painfully boring or just plan useless. This means that you don't feel your character getting more powerful, and you have little control over them. You also can't be a bad guy. In NV you could choose multiple paths to take, NCR, Legion, Mr. House, etc. There is none of that here and it is very much a linear game which kills any interest I have in replaying it. I normally don't mind linear storylines, but this is Fallout and frankly the story isn't any good. Despite all these issues, I still enjoyed the 40 hours i put into the game. It's not bad, but it's not great. I feel like if i tried to play longer, or starting a new character then my score would go down, but i don't plan on playing this again. I'm also not looking forward to the next game by Bethesda Game Studios.… Expand

Deathlinger

Nov 10, 2015

6

As a longtime fan of RPGs I was incredibly disappointed with Fallout 4 and while the gunplay is fun it's nothing to write home about. The positives are things like the atmosphere around the areas (which is superb) and the amount of guns/modifications.
Now for the bad. The story is absolute wank, and the characters are boring and stale, the story feels like a indie game at best not an AAAAs a longtime fan of RPGs I was incredibly disappointed with Fallout 4 and while the gunplay is fun it's nothing to write home about. The positives are things like the atmosphere around the areas (which is superb) and the amount of guns/modifications.
Now for the bad. The story is absolute wank, and the characters are boring and stale, the story feels like a indie game at best not an AAA which could afford to hire good writers (I've actually honestly been more invested in an Assassins Creed game and I hate them.) The introduction of the speaking main character sounds good on paper, until you realise that there is only one voice so any attempt of roleplaying anyone who isn't a suburban parent is out the window (aided by the railroaded main quest.)
Gone are any form of progression in skills, which is a huge disappointment, Bethesda really need to stop streamlining places which worked and were fun, so the different dialogues and skills really needed to be in there.
The new outpost building mechanic is fun for a good 10 minutes, but it does encourage you to actually scavenge for items which is a step in the right direction.
But the side missions... Oh god the side missions. They seem to have gone in the direction of Skyrim which is instead of writing actual fun believable stories a la Witcher 3 have instead just made people direction posts to the nearest sewer/outpost/camp/etc
Now there is no doubt a lot of things will be helped by mods, but why should an AAA game rely on mods to make it fun? The mods should be there on top of an already shining game.… Expand

ScienceAdvisor

Nov 18, 2015

5

Most of the mediocrity is already well covered by objective non-professional critics. One thing many do not mention is is the sheer amount of magic they ported over from Elder Scrolls, as well as borrowing from Borderlands (random bosses) and Resident Evil (bosses mutate after being hit - WTF!?!). When added to the magic re-spawn of the same enemies and items at each Point of Interest,Most of the mediocrity is already well covered by objective non-professional critics. One thing many do not mention is is the sheer amount of magic they ported over from Elder Scrolls, as well as borrowing from Borderlands (random bosses) and Resident Evil (bosses mutate after being hit - WTF!?!). When added to the magic re-spawn of the same enemies and items at each Point of Interest, after a few days, you will give up any pretense of calling this a Fallout game. When you get a laser weapon that has the ability to magically poision or frenzy a target, you will forget this is supposed to be Fallout.

The total lack of immersion in Fallout 4 makes it very easy to stop playing and do something else (like write reviews). Anyone that played F3/FNV cannot say the same thing.

Total list of lies that Todd promised at E3:

"It just works" - BS in every regard. Not only for bugs, but for the lazy/haphazard design. Floating platforms is good game making? Settlement happiness arbitrarily dropping, or raiders that magically teleport past the walls and dozens of turrets to constantly kidnap settlers? If this is working, you are fired.

Volumetric Lights - there is only one (the sun) and it is not fully volumetric, as it just has godrays

Volumetric Shadows - totally absent

Physically Based Render Engine (PBRE) - The physically based rendering is mostly deactivated, leaving just a deferred render engine (the same thing they have always been using). They are even using specular maps, which no functional PBRE ever needs.

Destructible Environments - A few pannels that fall off a few special buildings does not qualify as an environment. When most of the pannels do not even break, just pop-off, it does not even qualify as destructible.

The best thing about F4 is that all the "professional reviewers" that failed to notice any of these aspects. Whether they are incompetent, or shills, they just burned their organization/site. You need to keep a list of both the reviewer and who they were working for, so that you are never fooled by either of them in the future. This game will be worth $30 in a year after modders fix and finish most of the half-assed gameplay. Until then, stay away from this toxic mediocrity and play FNV again (with mods).… Expand

ender212

Nov 17, 2015

6

Alright, full disclosure I got into this series with Fallout 3, which I really liked. Fallout 4 is a love/hate, there are really bad things and some things they did well so its kind of a blah type game from standpoint that the terrible things really take away from the enjoyment of exploring this great world Bethesday created.

First off I want to talk about the controls and inventoryAlright, full disclosure I got into this series with Fallout 3, which I really liked. Fallout 4 is a love/hate, there are really bad things and some things they did well so its kind of a blah type game from standpoint that the terrible things really take away from the enjoyment of exploring this great world Bethesday created.

First off I want to talk about the controls and inventory system. They should have taken some advice from the modders of skyrim and adjust the pip boy for a better sorting mechanism. Trying the navigate the pipboy is terrible and un-intuitive. Also the controls for speech are clearly not design for PC, when you hand is on WSAD, why would you want to lift and go over to the directional pad to make a selection??. Tabbing to exit on some menu's, while having to press ESC and enter on others is frustrating and hurts the flow of the game. Just seems like it wasn't well thought out for PC. Bethesda always overlooks this, almost expecting modders to take what they give them and make it right down the line.

Besides those issues, i haven't had many bugs or crashes ... yet, but the complaints about story are a little over reacting. When the story is broken up by hours of side quests, searching etc ...it will suffer a little, you have to know that going in. The dialogue between characters can always be better, you have to go into a game like this understanding that you aren't necessarily playing it for the story but more so for the exploration and adventure (which doesn't mean they get a free pass but know that those aspects probably was not their focus). I do not like the voice acting for the main character... just feels out of place at times, while i can't picture myself as being the person anymore.

Gameplay is great, shooting mechanics are smooth and response and feel are great.

Graphics are fine, modders will get them to where they need to be.

Open world ... is awesome, map isn't crazy big where i feel completely overwhelmed but its big enough to get a sense that is a lot do and places to explore. The amount of towns, "dungeons", layout is well done and I thoroughly enjoyed stumbling through this world.

TL;DR ... world is great / controls terrible / story/dialogue ok / gameplay/guns are good

I gave it 6 because the controls are just a huge part of the game for me. The amount of time sorting through inventory, (especially when crafting plays a huge role) and struggling to use the pipboy effectively just killed the experience for me even though the world was well done.… Expand

ASTALONTE

Nov 13, 2015

5

The game has been dumbed down til a limit where is almost a stroll for the park. No skills, no medic bags, simpler in almost every aspect. The rpg aspect has been diminished and simplified till a limit where is annoyed. THe dialogue system.., oh boy!!. You have no choice anymore in conversation and the charisma eventually gives you a choice with color. And with voice acting the roleThe game has been dumbed down til a limit where is almost a stroll for the park. No skills, no medic bags, simpler in almost every aspect. The rpg aspect has been diminished and simplified till a limit where is annoyed. THe dialogue system.., oh boy!!. You have no choice anymore in conversation and the charisma eventually gives you a choice with color. And with voice acting the role playing aspect is very hard. I feel like using a strange.
In spite of all this is a fun game with beautiful music, a master piece designed map and ok story.

But sadly is not a proper rpg anymore.… Expand

dem87

Nov 11, 2015

6

Fallout 4 has potential. but overall it is mediocre Bethesda game. You have to forgot about dull game play, stupid characters, bugs and wait for mods. If you are looking for a story you might pick another game. If you are looking for something that can keep you occupied for long so that you entertain yourself this is the game. Just don't expect much of this game. I regret buying it nowFallout 4 has potential. but overall it is mediocre Bethesda game. You have to forgot about dull game play, stupid characters, bugs and wait for mods. If you are looking for a story you might pick another game. If you are looking for something that can keep you occupied for long so that you entertain yourself this is the game. Just don't expect much of this game. I regret buying it now and not on sale.

Graphics and visuals are below mediocre. As a fact game crush 3 time before it started a new game.… Expand

N3V3R

Nov 11, 2015

5

Pros : Gunplay - For an FPS/Shooter fan like me, It's the best gunplay of all fallout series .

Cons : Almost everything else . Just Boring as hell , dated graphics - post apocalyptic world doesn't means you need to make it like an desert - a little touch of vegetation (look at COD GHOST , CRYSIS 3 ) would have done wonders - but that requires intense graphical work so it's filledPros : Gunplay - For an FPS/Shooter fan like me, It's the best gunplay of all fallout series .

Cons : Almost everything else . Just Boring as hell , dated graphics - post apocalyptic world doesn't means you need to make it like an desert - a little touch of vegetation (look at COD GHOST , CRYSIS 3 ) would have done wonders - but that requires intense graphical work so it's filled with dull dead trees.… Expand

BoatLoadOfSeame

Nov 11, 2015

6

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One of the biggest issues I have with this game is how boring and unmemorable all of the characters are.

I don't care about my wife or my son and why should I? The game is trying to make me care about them, but I just don't. I've spent a total of 10 minutes with my wife and son and I'm supposed to care about them?
There is no drive to complete the main story which is basically a copy and paste of Fallout 3's story only this time you're looking for your son instead of your father.

Most side quests are generic and predictable. Fetch x, save y and the reward is caps 95% of the time.

I also don't like how you become a Minuteman general and a Brotherhood of Steel member just because you didn't attack them on sight and instead helped them kill a few raiders and ghouls. All you have to do is complete a boring quest and bam, you're suddenly a goddamn general. It just doesn't make sense and it feels very rushed. You also get a power armor and a minigun with 1000 bullets literally an hour into the game.

Graphics are simply ugly for a 2015 AAA title and the game runs surprisingly bad even on fairly good hardware (GTX 970, i5 4690k). There are some very bad textures and models in this game. The game's visuals are inconsistent. Certain areas look somewhat good and some look downright ugly.

The animations have improved, but not significantly. The game still feels clunky and it's very obviously running on Gamebryo. The only significant improvements over Fallout 3 and NV are character creation and combat (shooting in particular). The dialogue wheel is a huge step back and I'm not a big fan of my character having a voice.

The good:
-improved combat and character creation
-crafting system

The bad:
-unmemorable characters and generic quests
-poor writing
-voiced protagonist
-terrible facial animations, bad lip sync
-vague dialogue options
-poor visuals and Gamebryo… Expand

ethanm1834

Nov 12, 2015

7

There are some pretty glaring things about this game that others have spoken too. Some of the systems that people have grown to love are gone.

It seems people are having frame rate issues, I haven't had them personally or the score would be much lower. Maybe I lucked out who knows. The side quests and characters are pretty fun. I enjoyed the story, and found the game a bit too much of aThere are some pretty glaring things about this game that others have spoken too. Some of the systems that people have grown to love are gone.

It seems people are having frame rate issues, I haven't had them personally or the score would be much lower. Maybe I lucked out who knows. The side quests and characters are pretty fun. I enjoyed the story, and found the game a bit too much of a shooter.

At the end of the day for me am I immersed and having fun? The answer is yes. I enjoy the music, while the map seems small, in comparison to say other games. I find that its because things are dense. In terms of how the city itself is Diamond city for example. I enjoy scrapping parts to make new weapons or armor etc. I like exploring and stealing from the settlers I'm supposed to help.

I want to be fair to this game and I think this score is pretty fair, because I am having fun. However I think the biggest thing about this game that seem to have people angry is it feels like its missing that sense of wonder and soul. Even with its issues, if it still had that sense of dread and survivability of old. I think you wouldn't see 0 scores. Put it this way, if this game wasn't called fall out, I think would see that most would score this from 5-7.… Expand

Yozzer

Nov 15, 2015

6

I have played all the previous games in the series, so did have high expectations, especially after playing some other PC games this year, but sadly I am disappointed.

Generally I expected better graphics, lip syncing, animation etc than the previous titles, but in my opinion they are no better than the previous titles of 7 years ago. The bugs are a disgrace, and unless you use theI have played all the previous games in the series, so did have high expectations, especially after playing some other PC games this year, but sadly I am disappointed.

Generally I expected better graphics, lip syncing, animation etc than the previous titles, but in my opinion they are no better than the previous titles of 7 years ago.
The bugs are a disgrace, and unless you use the console, key quests are impossible, unable to get to locations unless you teleport using the console. This is appalling.
I have grown used to bugs, sadly in many games in recent years, but legally now in the EU, a game which cannot play through the main quest is deemed not fit for purchase, who tested this?
This is not a RPG, it is an OK FPS, and I will probably continue to play if possible, (as long as somebody cleverer than me can publish the console commands), but I do grow weary at these poor console ports, we deserve better.
A concern I do have is that the professional critics score the game so high, i can only assume the scores are based on what the game may become if the mod's are made to improve it, but as it is, 6 is a fair score, and a generous one at that, as actually there are too many game stopping bugs.
I will not pre-purchase again, (though I have said that before, I guess I was taken in by the hype!)… Expand

Jdankens

Nov 14, 2015

6

Any game with massive expectations is doomed to fail. When you expect it to be leaps and bounds better than a multiple GOTY title, it's gonna be a let down.

That said, this whole game feels like a cash grab for Bethesda. They could have done so much more, but they didn't. They kept most of the development on this on the content side, which is ok. I'm fairly convinced they spent aAny game with massive expectations is doomed to fail. When you expect it to be leaps and bounds better than a multiple GOTY title, it's gonna be a let down.

That said, this whole game feels like a cash grab for Bethesda. They could have done so much more, but they didn't. They kept most of the development on this on the content side, which is ok. I'm fairly convinced they spent a very sizable portion of their

As far as engine changes from skyrim? Pretty much '0'. AI is dumb as ever, character modeling and diaglogue is meh. It has all the same issues as their Skyrim. Game programming and engines are expensive, art designers and level designing is not. Bethesda looked for a way to basically lazily use their old **** and slap a bunch of content on it, then market it to sell. It worked.

Per usual, Bethesda releases a relatively broken product. The bugs were surprisingly minimal, but the overall mechanics and optimization were terrible. After a while I've managed to fix most of the graphics and bugs, thanks to the mod community. Does Bethesda even test play their own games anymore?

It's not a terrible game, but it's not near what it could have been. They have continued to 'dumb down' the RPG elements of the game, probably for the console audience. As many have said, it's a decent good open world FPS.

I'm playing with a GTX 780 and with a few tweaks the game looks pretty good, although their artists used some really dumb colors that make the world look ugly. Again, the game is broken on release, it's the EXACT SAME ENGINE as Skyrim, so at least modders and .ini tweakers can fix some of the issues.

Overall, it's still a decent game. it's enjoyable similar to the previous series. It's missing many elements, but you can still have fun in this game.… Expand

Smuggly

Nov 20, 2015

5

Too many elements are missing for this to be a great game. NV was pretty good and every detail in that game that made it better than F3 has been ignored. Games too easy, to focused around combat, perks are essentially gone, town building is pointless and designed by retards, facial models are from 2002, RPG elements -such as talking people out of a fight are completely random or missing.Too many elements are missing for this to be a great game. NV was pretty good and every detail in that game that made it better than F3 has been ignored. Games too easy, to focused around combat, perks are essentially gone, town building is pointless and designed by retards, facial models are from 2002, RPG elements -such as talking people out of a fight are completely random or missing. The game is fun, and with a lot of modding, patching and DLC may be great one day, but currently it's not.… Expand

Ghost67

Oct 25, 2016

7

I'm having flashbacks to when Dragon Age 2 released and the game was flooded with mixed reviews, many of them angry Bioware fans feeling betrayed by Bioware's design choices. But DA2 wasn't a bad game. It's the same thing with Fallout 4. The thing is this, Fallout 4 is not a bad game, but Bethesda is clearly losing ground with their fanbase and making the wrong decisions in their games.I'm having flashbacks to when Dragon Age 2 released and the game was flooded with mixed reviews, many of them angry Bioware fans feeling betrayed by Bioware's design choices. But DA2 wasn't a bad game. It's the same thing with Fallout 4. The thing is this, Fallout 4 is not a bad game, but Bethesda is clearly losing ground with their fanbase and making the wrong decisions in their games. There has been a disturbing trend of Bethesda continually simplifying their games. This started with Oblivion and now it has made its way to Fallout.

Of course, theres a bit of hypocrisy here from many fans. Skyrim was certainly dumbed down, yet has stellar reviews and has not received the hatred that Fallout 4 has gotten. Its as if all of a sudden the Bethesda fanbase has woken up to the fact that Bethesda has been dumbing down their games.

But F4 is not a bad game. The 1 - 4 reviews are completely UNWARRANTED for this title.

Both the Fallout series and Elder Scrolls are known for deep, complex immersion RPG games where player choice is supposed to matter. If you want to be an evil **** you can. If you want to be a goody two shoes, you can as well. There used to be a choice and consequence system that is sorely absent in F4. Its either friendly factions or raiders. There is little in between - there are a few notable quests that give you some choices, but in general you are forced to be the good guy.

Bethesda has also once again simplified the character development process, instead of working on both SPECIAL perks and skills from F3, it has now just come down to just SPECIAL perks, and that's it - you also gain 10 HP when you level up. Wow. What happened Bethesda?

Clearly the time Bethesda spent on development was the crafting system. F4 features a deep crafting system. As you explore, you pick up "junk", (which actually isnt junk at all) and use those parts to craft things, like weapon mods and upgrades, and your power armor. But this is where it gets funky - theres too much focus on crafting. Eventually, you are almost forced to get a "Settlement" - an actual town, so to speak. And you craft it from the down up, we're talking power generators, light poles, walls - etc. The problem is that I dont really want to do this, and clearly theres been plenty of time devoted to this sort of thing. You play Fallout for survival and exploration, not building towns and cities.

It becomes extremely grindy, because you are constantly picking up junk and storing it. And it gets crazier, because you have other parameters, like town happiness, food, water - this is some complex stuff. Is this a town management game or Fallout 4? What was Bethesda thinking? If they added the complexity of town building to character development the game would have been much better off. Actually, yeah, ok, I see where they were going with this. But it doesn't work for F4.

Another gripe I have is the fact that there is a bit of a Borderlands feel to it. There is a focus on combat, a bit too much. There are legendary enemies which drop super items akin to Diablo and ARPG suffix's (Pistol of Wounding). These items have special effects which cannot be crafted but are always superior to crafted items. This is cool and all, but adds another element of GRIND. This is not really Fallout. If I want to play Borderlands, I will play Borderlands.

But F4 is NOT a bad game. Yeah, it has the typical Bethesda bugs - Bethesda is well known for their bugs and glitches, and F4 has plenty of them. But F4's combat system works beautifully. Its thoroughly enjoyable sniping that super mutant or smashing that hound to bits with my sledgehammer. F4's combat is extremely well done, and VATS makes it all the more fun! It was really, really fun exploring the South part of the map, where combat gets really hairy and requires you to stay on your toes. This is where F4 shines.

F4's musical score is excellent and probably the best out of series and possibly the best out of any Bethesda game. 10/10 for music.

Overall, F4 is disappointing, and just shows how too much hype can kill a game. I just wish Bethesda would have spent more money developing their game than making cool ads. The disturbing trend of Bethesda dumbing down their games continues. I dont see how they can do go any further, but they might just find a way in Fallout 5. Bethesda, please go back to your roots and make complex immersive RPG's where player choice matters. Please.… Expand

MrRelyt

Dec 26, 2015

5

Fallout 4 isn't nearly as bad as most people seem to think it is (I'm not saying it's a good game), but it isn't a HORRIBLE game.

The gameplay is much improved since the previous installments. It's somewhat enjoyable. The sounds guns make is satisfying, and the crafting system is for the most part well developed. The characters are enticing, and usually have something of interest toFallout 4 isn't nearly as bad as most people seem to think it is (I'm not saying it's a good game), but it isn't a HORRIBLE game.

The gameplay is much improved since the previous installments. It's somewhat enjoyable. The sounds guns make is satisfying, and the crafting system is for the most part well developed. The characters are enticing, and usually have something of interest to say.

The world always invites you to explore it, you never know what you'll find: good loot, a legendary monster, etc. The atmosphere synergies' well with the post-apoc theme. Gloomy, and green tinted. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the graphics... or the UI.

The graphics are straight-up outdated. The textures are very poor. The UI is among the worst I have ever seen. It's blatantly horrible, delivering very little information while forcing you to scour through it to find a monotonously named item. Horrible. Also, the performance isn't the best (especially for how horrible the game looks.)

The story is dull. I never gave a single **** about it, nor did I pay attention at all.

Overall just a very... average game.… Expand

Whutupribs

Dec 22, 2015

6

I have played this game extensively, having logged four days and thirteen hours on one character. I wanted to start this with the things the game has done well, I really did. However, the more I wrote, the more apparent it became that I wouldn't have room for the short paragraph of good things I wrote about Fallout 4, at least not if I wanted to include everything they did wrong. ThatI have played this game extensively, having logged four days and thirteen hours on one character. I wanted to start this with the things the game has done well, I really did. However, the more I wrote, the more apparent it became that I wouldn't have room for the short paragraph of good things I wrote about Fallout 4, at least not if I wanted to include everything they did wrong. That alone says a lot about the game. So while I wish I could have included a few positive things, these negative things will have to suffice... The biggest issue I had with the game was the gun/ armor crafting system. At first glance, it looks as though there's a hugely in-depth system for customizing your weapons and armor. From the very beginning, Bethesda toted their weapon mod system, and how you could spend hours just setting your weapon up exactly how you want it. However, after a short time in-game, you start to realize that the weapon mods are all very shallow, and that every weapon has a "best possible setup" that can only be reached by dumping points into the associated perk. Rather than having mods that might, say, increase the rate of fire but hurt accuracy, you've got all the top-tier mods that are better than everything else. You'll find yourself deciding to not even mod a weapon until you unlock the best rank in the "Gun Nut" perk, because its a waste of resources to do so. There are really very few actual weapons in the game, which after a while starts to make things extremely dull. One specific, yet major, issue that I noticed is that sniper rifles are completely non-existent in this game. Sure, you can craft one and slap all the appropriate mods on it, but it's still weaker than most other weapons in the game. Considering how many people enjoy playing stealth characters, I feel like this was an enormous oversight. Another major problem you'll run into is the armor system. If you care even a little bit about the way your character looks, this is going to drive you insane. Every last type of layered armor is ugly and bulky, and never seems to provide enough protection. Couple that with the fact that you can't wear armor on top of probably 75% of the clothes in the game, and you get a constant struggle of looks vs. utility. On top of that, the Legendary armor you come across never really seems to be worth using. If you want to use the layered armor, expect to spend most of the game in your vault suit. This may be subjective, but I hated the way they chose to use Power Armor in this game. You're constantly worrying about running out of fusion cores (which power the Power Armor), and they're extremely rare, so you find yourself leaving your Power Armor at your settlement so as to not waste battery. That, in turn, means you never have your Power Armor when you actually want it. The settlement system, though I think it was a good idea, is completely broken. Its extremely difficult to build anything that looks halfway decent, and you find yourself building a lot of boxes and prefabs just because it's such a colossal pain to build anything the way you want it. It's almost as if the settlement system was left in alpha, like it was something they forgot about until the very last minute and then hurried to make usable. It could have been fun, intuitive and useful, but instead it is annoying, frustrating and unimportant. And god forbid you have more than one or two settlements, because you'll constantly be under attack. Every single time I've "waited" in the game, even if it was only for an hour or two, I failed at least one "help defend (insert settlement)" quest. Take that along with the fact that the settlements are unimportant and that there's no lasting consequences for letting one get wiped out, and it becomes more of an annoyance than anything. Of course, the dialogue system and the overall lack of a compelling story have been discussed extensively. The voice-acted dialogue breaks immersion pretty severely, or at least it did for me, and you never really actually have a choice. Dialogue is more or less just choosing how you say "yes". There's no karma or fame system, no lasting consequences for your choices, there are no medicine/repair/science/charisma-type dialogue checks (which makes the whole per system feel dumbed-down and unimportant), no real faction loyalty aside from the single point in the game where you get to choose who to align with. The story is bland and expects you to feel an emotional connection to your son and wife, even though you only spend a grand total of about 15 minutes with them. The fact that your backstory is forced breaks immersion as well. Long gone is the "lone wanderer" feeling, the ability to project yourself unto your character. There is definitely a lot more that can be said about the game, but I'm running out of space. This game is chock-full of great ideas that are only half-executed. You will get some enjoyment out of it, but it's not the Fallout game we had been waiting for.… Expand

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

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