The 12 months of 2015 resulted in a very good one for Xbox One owners, probably better than others to be fair. We got the Forza we believe we were entitled to, Destiny kind of grew up a bit and became more like what was expected and we saw some half decent Xbox exclusives hit our consoles as well as heading back the way with the much loved backwards compatibility.
For me though, the game of last year came out near the end of it. The 11th of November to be exact. Fallout 4 got me excited in ways that I cannot imagine. It was only because the third game was just SO great. Anyone who has played the first/third person series on Xbox 360 will already know what I'm on about, but for those who don't, allow me to give you an idea as to why I think this game is an essential to everyone, even if you don't like being offline for more than about 20 seconds.
The scenario is a case of grim hope against a hopeless landscape in the post apocalyptic city of Boston. If Bethesda know how to do one thing in particular, it is conveying death, destruction and decay in a convincing manner, albeit with some Feral Ghouls and Deathclaws. The huge plus point is that the game is HUGE and not in an overwhelming "OH GOD!!! I CAN'T DEAL WITH IT..." kind of way. Usually some titles of this magnitude can be daunting and in some cases, off-putting because of the size. So much so that it will stop people from going through the story, but the Fallout series is so clever because things are always close by if you have the daring to explore.
Doing this results in some great discoveries, like alien ship landings, special bunkers with hidden goodies or perhaps a witchcraft museum with a hidden surprise inside. There is ALWAYS something to discover in Fallout 4. You know you'll never get to the end easily. At the time of writing I've put well over a days worth of play time in it and I have BARELY touched the storyline, as you get distracted with all of the other side quests and stories. The mini games in the lockpick and hacker sections are small enough to not be a chore and the addition this time of little games to play on your Pip-Boy adds even more fun to proceedings.
The companions are also well thought out and they do contribute to your mission. For example, Piper, who you meet in Diamond City, can start to become rather attracted to you as time and conversations go on, but this results in a bonus health perk when you sleep to regain health (although they do retain modesty by staying fully clothed the whole time) I did prefer the dog, but I actually started to feel sorry for the little fella, as he kept getting shot at (Stimpaks are so scarce at the start you really don't want to use any, even on a whining animal in pain.)
This isn't to say that Fallout is not without the glitches that the series has become famous for, as the video will show, but we let it off with these issues, regardless of how big they become. I love the size of the game, the storyline, the characters, choices available to you and just the sheer scope of everything else that mixes together to create a storytelling masterpiece. I'd even say it is more of an achievement that The Witcher 3, which is a big statement, seeing as how that is also a fantastic game, but Fallout just feels so natural.
The best thing about Fallout 4, at least with the first few loads, was that it also came with Fallout 3, so you were getting two massive games for the price of one and that cannot be sniffed at, especially as the graphics aren't dilapidated just yet. It would be difficult to go from the fourth to 3 straight away, granted, but the fact is that it proves that the quality of gameplay has survived intact. It may well make me play it again (I have a bad memory of a save game gone bad, put it that way).
The most beautiful thing about Fallout though is the sheer depth of it. The amount of side quests and story content is immense. You could walk around for over a day of play time and not even hit the story in any major way (just like I have), as well as some great characters and companions to help guide you on your way. The bad people are pretty nasty, but the comedy ones are pretty amusing, especially the Japanese Robotron in Diamond City. There are always some things that will test your conscience, but that is what the save games are for. You do not go through a game like this without saving so many times. It is almost as important as breathing, to be honest.
There were some really good titles in 2015, we all know that, but Fallout 4 will have most of us playing well into 2016 easily and maybe even into the year after, especially with DLC coming over the next year. With the fact Fallout 3 had 5 reasonable chunks of it, we can expect a lot more goodness contained within Boston and I simply wanna keep going on and on. You may not be like me, and that's cool, but when I get a game and I play it almost to the point where the disc could melt, I keep it because it has been a good servant to me. This one may well deserve a plinth to rest it in the old age it will get to eventually. It is like an other half, in that it has the odd imperfection from time to time, but you can spend a lifetime with it and it will always make you feel great without even breaking a sweat.
These are how the greats are made and this is a classic, no mistake. However, if you are the one person who disagrees, mainly because you just want to get to the top of a leaderboard because that is your social max, then let us know on the website.