Fallout 4

Fallout 4 is my game of the year for 2015 and I know for a fact I won’t be finished this side of the New Year. I don’t want it to be, I love being in the world, I love discovering new things and all in all I just love this game.

I have spent more than 60 hours in the Xbox One version of the game and don’t feel anywhere close to having tackled most of the content. Fallout 4 could be the only game you buy for the next six months, and you might never get bored. It’s everything that Fallout fans were hoping for. When it comes to game releases in 2015, the best was truly saved for last.

The biggest and most important thing to discuss is the combat. Fallout 3’s combat was lackluster and not without its share of headaches. I’m happy to report that the combat has been refined and even inspired by games like Destiny. You still have the ability to change between FPS and Third Person view on the fly. I prefer the FPS mode and you can tell Bethesda really poured their heart into making it right.

Fallout 4 is a game that will spark conversation and a huge amount of love, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t follow in the footsteps of Skyrim as something of a cultural phenomenon. The game’s only real issue is in the dated visuals, but the engine serves a purpose beyond eye-candy, and hey, we’re mostly walking through irradiated trash anyway, right...Fallout 4 is impossible not to recommend.

The gaming mechanics are almost flawless which gives the player a sturdy control system in this action RPG that successfully teleports you into this post-apocalyptic world as you search for your son and “save” the world. Sure, the story does take a back seat but this is because you create your own character and make your own story and what a story it is. Imagine being the star of I am Legend or Mad Max as you control your destiny in this nuclear devastated world.

Fallout 4 captures you in its world without ever letting you go: it still shows the series' well known soul of a collapsed world frozen in time by a nuclear blast, but this time everything is more fluid and streamlined, from objects management to dialogues to the combat system, with an added management layer and an incredibly dense and detailed world. This is the game to have for RPG lovers this autumn.

Bethesda's open-world strengths have always differed from its contemporaries in that focus on world-building and a sense of place above all else. Fallout 4 has all the ambiance and history that made its predecessors such wonderful places to get lost for hours at a time, with a much more coherent set of stories within it. That Bethesda has integrated a major building and crafting tool while finally building a great-playing game almost feels like a bonus.

You’ll have to deal with people who grew up with no understanding of morality and civility, gain their respect (by force, if necessary) and build bright post-nuclear future with them. Wasteland domination is just a step away. [Issue#203, p.46]

Fallout 4 is the most complete game Bethesda Game Studios has ever created. The studios lifted exploring a nuclear wasteland to yet another level.

The magnitude of the world is awe-inspiring, and even with the lukewarm additions of crafting and building, Fallout 4 manages to be as enthralling an experience as any open-world adventure to date.

Even the technical shakiness that crops up here and there can’t even begin to slow down its momentum.

I’ve spent around 50 hours playing between the console and PC versions, and I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near quitting...And that’s what we want from Fallout, right? A world we can dive into completely and spend days exploring. Well, if that’s what you come to Bethesda products for, you’re going to get it here.

Masterful design, excellent art direction and fresh gameplay elements turn Fallout 4 into a delightful, never-ending experience. It may not be perfect, but you won't want to miss it.

Fallout 4 is truly a remarkable experience and you need to play it.

Sometimes beautiful, a bit broken, and really quite brilliant in many places, forgiving fans will adore Fallout 4. [Christmas 2015, p.60]

More Fallout 3.9 than 4, but still absolutely essential. Skyrim 2 has a hard act to follow. [Jan 2016, p.67]

Fallout 4 isn't perfect by any means, but the sheer scope of the game as a whole and the incredibly well-structured world means that should you dare to take the plunge, you'll be swimming around in these waters for dozens, if not hundreds of hours. The bugs may threaten to spoil the show, but every time one rears its head and makes you want to stop playing, you'll feel the pangs within the hour to go back and give things another go.

It’s massive and compelling and at times boneheaded, but usually brilliant. Stylish, deep, story-driven, tactical, action-packed: Few if any games manage to be so many things at once, and despite some hiccups, Fallout 4 turns the end of the world into a real blast.

Fallout 4 is the epitome of what an open world RPG should be.

The insane amount, and variety, of content available in this game is going to make it an experience that players don’t want to walk away from for at least the next year. The graphics may hold it back from being the game that defines this console generation, but the unforgettable narrative and open-world experience are more than enough to make up for the slightly dated aesthetic.

In creating Fallout 4, Bethesda has built upon one of the greatest games of all-time and released a very impressive and immersive sequel. It's not perfect, or the exact sequel that I was hoping for, but it's a rich and detailed experience that fans of the series will surely appreciate.

A (mega)ton of adventure awaits those who have the hours to fully experience Fallout 4’s beautifully devastated wasteland. Best of all, players will be able to experience it however they wish thanks to near infinite gameplay options.

Fallout 4 didn’t blow me away like the previous iteration did, but it did keep me thoroughly entertained and fully vested in journeying across the wasteland.

Bethesda have done it again, refining the formula for open-world RPGs and delivering a vast, deep and involving experience.

Fallout 4 might not be as technically advanced as, say The Witcher 3, but it’s a game full of charm and substance, which makes up for an aging Creation Engine. Fallout 4 boasts an incredible world full of intrigue, mystery and suspense, backed by a whole host of weird and wonderful characters. It’s a world you’re going to want to go back to, time and time again.

Fallout 4 is hugely ambitious and without a doubt one of the best games this year. It’s not without its flaws, but very few games made me care more about what I was picking up, how to use it, what choices I made, and even the communities I’d founded. By streamlining some mechanics, Bethesda has made room for other more complex ideas. If you can forgive a few technical imperfections, of which there aren’t as many as prior instalments, Fallout 4 exceeds all expectations.

The fact that your decisions stick with you after walking away from the game is a testament to the great storytelling on hand. Fallout 4 is an argument for substance over style, and an excellent addition to the revered open-world series.

It’s a gigantic game, with a gargantuan number of story-lines and missions, a crafting system that’s out of this world, and better gameplay when compared with its predecessor. The sheer quantity and quality of it all almost made us forget the bugs. Almost. After all, the number of glitches and hiccups we found in the game is pretty high too, and while this doesn’t really ruin the experience, it makes it imperfect. Basically, Fallout 4 is what we expected: a bigger, better, and smarter Fallout 3, and that is more than enough to make it great, even if it’s not the absolute masterpiece some were expecting.

Fallout 4 has a huge and detailed game world. In terms of atmosphere, the game totally nails it. However all the bugs and glitches are annoying and affect the game experience from time to time.

The biggest letdown of Fallout 4 is that by now the engine is almost as retro as the style of the game, because this iteration has the same technical limitations Bethesda-RPG’s have had since 2006. Thankfully the story is more vivid, the customization system that handily cooperates with the building of settlements and the Power Armor is ridiculously expansive, and slightly faster gameplay makes it feel fresh enough. Bethesda-lovers will be engrossed, totally, but this is no revolution.

In the end, Fallout 4 is essentially Fallout 3 with a few more features and tweaks. That isn't a dig at the game, but that's what most fans of the series will think.

Fallout 4 feels more like a Fallout 3.5: an improvement on Bethesda’s last game but a compromised one that loses some of the core appeal of the series.

The war on videogames is ever changing, however, and Fallout will need to bring more toys to the battle next time or risk rotting in the wasteland.

Fallout 4 is a genuine achievement, an awesome wasteland survival simulator that suffers from familiar Bethesda problems. Clear your schedule, Fallout 4 will demand all of your spare time.

If you're willing to put up with some technical issues, Fallout 4 is Bethesda's most ambitious RPG to date.

Fallout 4 is not the bar-raising, generation-defining post-apocalyptic RPG for which players like me might have hoped. But – and this is a great testament to Bethesda Softworks’ ability to transport us to fantastical worlds in which we become utterly engrossed – it is nonetheless a great piece of end of the world entertainment that’s managed to keep my hands firmly on my controller and my eyes glued to the screen and for dozens of enjoyable hours over the last week...Just don’t expect to be blown away with how it looks.

After spending roughly 40 hours with the game, I can safely place it somewhere in the middle of Fallout 3 and New Vegas in terms of quality. A lot of the franchise's signature problems have carried over directly into Fallout 4, but all of its charms have come along for the ride as well. It manages to do a whole lot right, but the story drags at times, and glitches...glitches never change.