Since 2006 I have had an itch. It’s an itch that was created after playing hundreds of hours’ worth of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. And it can only be scratched now and again. Some games numb it slightly, but usually only going back to a Bethesda created Elder Scrolls universe can completely satisfy it. To this day I still go back and play Skyrim from time to time. There is something about these games that resonates with me more than any other in the genre. Fallout is a game that should be able to help with my itch, but it has never drawn me in in the same capacity. For some reason I haven’t be able to get lost in the wasteland in the same way as I could in Tamriel. I got up to the infamous point in Fallout 3 where you need to decide whether to nuke Megaton, but after that I only played a short while before putting the game down. Thankfully, Fallout 4 has changed the trend, and I’ve got a game that has eased my itch for a long while to come.
If you’ve somehow managed to avoid anything on Fallout over the years and the premise is unknown to you, let me give you a brief run down. The game is based in a post-apocalyptic world 200 years after a nuclear war all but destroyed the planet. The remains, are a tattered carcass of what the world once was. Remnants of a previous civilisation remain, with animals, humans and monsters that have been ravaged by the effects of the nuclear fallout wander the wastelands. Luckily, Vault-Tech had seen the war coming, and some humans were lucky enough to get access to a safe Vault to survive. You take control of one of these vault dwellers.
I really enjoyed the brief look at pre-war life given at the start of the game. This is a first for the Fallout series. Seeing what it all looked like and how people lived before the bombs fell. It may have been all too brief but it served its purpose, introducing your character in a new way before the fantastic character creator takes centre stage, and the use of a salesman to define your skills was a fresh take on what could easily have been drab menus before the game even started. Then you’re quickly required to get to Vault 111 as the world falls apart around you. You soon realise that this vault isn’t quite what was expected, and you wake up 200 years later, everyone else in the vault is dead, and you need to find your son.
The trouble with Bethesda RPG’s (and this isn’t a negative depending how you want to play the game) in my experience is that the main story tends to play second fiddle to the desire to explore the expertly created world, to discover it’s secrets, to create your own stories and help NPC’s in the massive amount of side quests. The need to find one’s son should really feel urgent, and desperate, but I got to a point when I have forgotten the son’s name after taking a long while doing my own thing. There are so many other distractions in this game, that the main narrative doesn’t feel important. I am totally ok with that, because everything else is very well crafted, but by introducing a baby son into the fold, it feels like Bethesda may have wanted to make you care more about him, but he becomes an afterthought very quickly.
I would say, that I don’t really feel like I have made a dent in the main story as of yet. I’ve put a lot of time into the game, but I’ve much more enjoyed doing side missions and wandering to the next undiscovered marker on my map to uncover what hidden treasures it may or may not have. But that’s how I’ve always liked to play this type of game. I’ll happily explore and aimlessly wander before realising I’ve lost 4 hours of the afternoon and haven’t really achieved anything at all. I’ve had great fun, but I’ve only actually finished 2 mission. I have however found an amazing new weapon, a rare grenade and a sweet new piece of chest armour. And that’s the beauty of the game. It can be what you want it to be. If you want to purely do the main story, then that is most definitely an option. You can feel like a hero of the people and help everyone you come across. You can work your way through the faction missions. You can kill everyone you see and be a right horrible bastard. You can even spend hundreds of hours building.
Yes, building. Fallout 4 features an in depth crafting system where not only can you make attachments and upgrades to guns and armour, but you can also build houses and settlements. You need to think about power, water, defences and of course, how many bedroom you want your houses to have. Of course you need to make sure you have the correct resources, so looting every last desk fan and pencil is more important than ever. It could be a game in itself, and the possibilities are limited only by ones imagination. I’m not much of a creative person, so my attempts look more suited to serve as a leaky garden shed, but I can definitely see the draw here, and some of the efforts that can already be found on the internet are pretty sensational.
Having not really put many hours into a Fallout game in the past, I was still not really sure what to expect as I delved deeper into the world. But I was happily surprised that it peaked my curiosity in the same way as the Elder Scrolls games have in the past. I wanted to explore. And the interesting characters, well written dialogue and well-acted personalities drew me into their stories. Even the written text in the game is great. It is very rare that I feel the need to read through lore, or books in games, I generally just want to play. But here I was hacking into computer terminals to read through data entries to find out just what had happened in Vault 111, or in the run down factory that had been taken over by ghouls. I spent ages just reading. And Bethesda need to be commended here for making such an engaging backstory to locations.
I don’t really want to go into every detail of the game, it really needs you to experience it yourself, and make it your own. Turn into the sneaky thief, be the guy that spends as much of the game in power armour as you can and become the walking tank. Whatever you do make sure you LOOT as much as you can, drop the stuff off, and loot some more. Find and create the best items, level up your character, give them a silly haircut, just have fun! Fallout 4 will consume you if you let it. I’ve lost hours and hours and I have no regrets. There are recent games that have not lived up to expectations, but with Fallout 4, you can believe the hype. If you have any interest in it, pick it up and play, even if you haven’t enjoyed previous Fallout games. It might not be the best game graphically, but the art style more than makes up for it. And they’ve improved the controls and third person view a whole lot compared to the last generation games. I can’t put my seal of approval on this enough. I can feel an itch coming on…where’s my controller?!
**Thank you to XCN for the opportunity to review the game**