Fear's Take on Fallout 4
So after 2 years I finally went back to and finished Fallout 4 and I wanted to write down a review for it. While it isn't out of the ordinary for me to play and review a game a few years later, Fallout 4 isn't a game I
waited to play, I started playing it when it came out and then put it down. When I put it down, it was due to other games I wanted to play and FO4 had some issues that made it easy for me to put down, and honestly tough for me to pick back. Then in October I figured I'd force myself to just play for a day or so, and bam, I was hooked. So with that said, let's look at what I like, what I didn't, what forced me to step away, and ultimately my final thoughts on FO4.
I want to first go back to November of 2015 and talk about when I first started FO4. Initially I was loving the game. I really enjoyed building up my settlement, I had a lot of fun just exploring, and while the graphics have never won any awards, I really enjoyed the art style of the game. During the first few weeks of playing, there were several times that hours would be lost in the world of FO4. But there was an issue that became 2 issues that forced me to walk away. See I don't mind leveling up and unlocking skills; I had no issues with the way it worked in FO3 or Skyrim, but I couldn't stand the way it worked in FO4. The idea that you worked hard to level up, only to have to choose between upgrading one of your basic stats or picking a perk really bothered. For one I felt like you should be able to upgrade a stat AND pick a perk. Let's be honest, a lot of the cool new features that were advertised, were really locked away behind perks, or they were very elementary without them. I wanted to jump right in to
upgrading armor and weapons, but you had to upgrade the perks, which I'm fine with. But I also have to make sure my guy's regular stats can handle the challenge that comes with the game. I'm just not the player that will play a game like this or Skryim with one style in mind, then create another character to play a different way. I want the ability to upgrade as I play and become a Jack of all trades. So what did I do as the more and more I played I was getting frustrated? I cheated. I used the magazine glitch to make several copies, thereby I was able to max out all my stats and when I upgraded I was able to pick which perks I wanted. This kept me enjoying the game. But I noticed I was dying a lot and running out of money, so I exploited the "ammo" glitch and "Honest Dan" glitches and made a ton of money. I was even at the point that I wanted to load up on XP so that I could unlock even more perks so I wanted to do the statue glitch, but then it happened. Bethesda decided they didn't that, and they patched all those
exploits. At this point I had about 40-50K worth of bottle caps, full stats, but only a few perks that I had legit earned (never got to the statue exploit), but I was pretty mad about it. I just don't get why they felt the
need to "correct" those issues. It's a single player game, I wasn't hurting anyone or getting the advantage over another player, Mods were available on the PC (I play on PS4) for the exact benefits I had, and by doing these
things what had started to frustrate me with the upgrading system was now gone so I was back to loving the game. Besides, I will admit in the 6 years
I have played Skryim, I have pretty much used the hidden chest the entire time and not once have I ever felt like it ruined my game or stopped me from
enjoying it. Looking back I had plenty of bottle caps and I didn't need the XP since any upgrades went to the perks anyway but just the way they did it really bugged me to the point of saying screw it. I won't go into too much of a rant about it since I talk about it in my "Trends" post, but I really had an issue with this.
So after 2 years I finally went back to and finished Fallout 4 and I wanted to write down a review for it. While it isn't out of the ordinary for me to play and review a game a few years later, Fallout 4 isn't a game I
waited to play, I started playing it when it came out and then put it down. When I put it down, it was due to other games I wanted to play and FO4 had some issues that made it easy for me to put down, and honestly tough for me to pick back. Then in October I figured I'd force myself to just play for a day or so, and bam, I was hooked. So with that said, let's look at what I like, what I didn't, what forced me to step away, and ultimately my final thoughts on FO4.
I want to first go back to November of 2015 and talk about when I first started FO4. Initially I was loving the game. I really enjoyed building up my settlement, I had a lot of fun just exploring, and while the graphics have never won any awards, I really enjoyed the art style of the game. During the first few weeks of playing, there were several times that hours would be lost in the world of FO4. But there was an issue that became 2 issues that forced me to walk away. See I don't mind leveling up and unlocking skills; I had no issues with the way it worked in FO3 or Skyrim, but I couldn't stand the way it worked in FO4. The idea that you worked hard to level up, only to have to choose between upgrading one of your basic stats or picking a perk really bothered. For one I felt like you should be able to upgrade a stat AND pick a perk. Let's be honest, a lot of the cool new features that were advertised, were really locked away behind perks, or they were very elementary without them. I wanted to jump right in to
upgrading armor and weapons, but you had to upgrade the perks, which I'm fine with. But I also have to make sure my guy's regular stats can handle the challenge that comes with the game. I'm just not the player that will play a game like this or Skryim with one style in mind, then create another character to play a different way. I want the ability to upgrade as I play and become a Jack of all trades. So what did I do as the more and more I played I was getting frustrated? I cheated. I used the magazine glitch to make several copies, thereby I was able to max out all my stats and when I upgraded I was able to pick which perks I wanted. This kept me enjoying the game. But I noticed I was dying a lot and running out of money, so I exploited the "ammo" glitch and "Honest Dan" glitches and made a ton of money. I was even at the point that I wanted to load up on XP so that I could unlock even more perks so I wanted to do the statue glitch, but then it happened. Bethesda decided they didn't that, and they patched all those
exploits. At this point I had about 40-50K worth of bottle caps, full stats, but only a few perks that I had legit earned (never got to the statue exploit), but I was pretty mad about it. I just don't get why they felt the
need to "correct" those issues. It's a single player game, I wasn't hurting anyone or getting the advantage over another player, Mods were available on the PC (I play on PS4) for the exact benefits I had, and by doing these
things what had started to frustrate me with the upgrading system was now gone so I was back to loving the game. Besides, I will admit in the 6 years
I have played Skryim, I have pretty much used the hidden chest the entire time and not once have I ever felt like it ruined my game or stopped me from
enjoying it. Looking back I had plenty of bottle caps and I didn't need the XP since any upgrades went to the perks anyway but just the way they did it really bugged me to the point of saying screw it. I won't go into too much of a rant about it since I talk about it in my "Trends" post, but I really had an issue with this.
So last year when Mods came out I loaded up the game and fooled around with a fully maxed out character and had access to all kinds of goodies, but after a few hours I just couldn't get connected again. As petty as it might sound, I was still upset with the upgrade system so I was ready to just close the book on the game for good. I can't lie though, I felt guilt about not playing through the game. I did really enjoy the game, and I wanted to get back to it. So last month I decided that I would squeeze in a day or two of playing into my "schedule" of games I had been playing. I should also point out that I just couldn't do the mods, at least not until I finished the game on my own. As much as I am ok with the exploits, the mods felt like they were cheating, and if I'm being honest, I wanted the trophies.
I gotta say, while the graphics have never been top notch compared to other games this generation, I actually really like what they have done here. Everything is solid, from the art style, the way the world looks, and
I esp enjoy the way that everything is future but also retro. The way that armor would go over different outfits really made some interesting options, both for combat and for visuals, and then you also had some cool and fun outfits like my favorite, the greaser option. With it equipped, and a barbed wire baseball bat, the game became my personal Negan from The Walking Dead game. So while not the best or even in the top 10 of this generation, the style is really impressive.
The gameplay is well done. Sure the shooting in 3rd person isn't perfect, and really 1st person isn't as great as I'd have like, but it gets the job done. What really helps it is the fact that you can take a regular
shotgun and with the modding system in the game, make it a beast. Another thing that is well done is there are plenty of times when you are surrounded, but you never feel like the difficulty has spikes. Sure you might be over your head, but with the right weapons, armor, and skills, it might not be that bad. There is also a really cool system to build and mod your armor, power armor, craft healing items, mod weapons, and also build up a spot into a really well defended settlement. Now I'll be honest and say that due to the way a lot of cool options and new skills are locked away behind upgrades, I didn't get too deep into most of these systems. However I did spend a fair amount of time on the settlements. My original settlement Sanctuary I took the time to really set up. It's a fun system that I'm sure in the last 2 years, people that really enjoy killing time doing that type of game have made some awesome settlements. Personally I love it but I wouldn't say I could spend a lot of time at any given point just doing this. I also wish a top down perspective would have been implemented to help get that full view. While nothing was done perfectly, the sum of the parts add up to a great amount of fun just exploring, looting, and fighting.
The story is kind of hit and miss. Here's the thing I thought right at the beginning of the game I had figured it out. I knew where and what the twist was with the son, and I was somewhat right. Now did I expect it to go so deep into slavery, what it means to be human, and what it takes to survive. Don't get me wrong, those issues are there and talked about, but never in the same way that say a game like Bioshock delves into those issues. This is a game that you can answer the "nice" way to someone, then go off on a murderous rampage. The factions are all cool and each have their
own personality. As they go on I easily identified with one more than the others. I will say it was disappointing that gameplay wise, the 3 major factions have the same basic outline to their last few missions.
I don't feel like I need to go too deep into a game that has been out this long, has been well received and talked about. Its also hard for me to really remember the first 20 or so hours I invested in the game. Overall
I really enjoyed this game, more than I enjoyed FO3 honestly. Had the upgrade system not been as restrictive, really a skill point and a perk for each level increase would have been great. And maybe not have so many of the cool features locked away. Overall I give this game the solid 8.5
I gotta say, while the graphics have never been top notch compared to other games this generation, I actually really like what they have done here. Everything is solid, from the art style, the way the world looks, and
I esp enjoy the way that everything is future but also retro. The way that armor would go over different outfits really made some interesting options, both for combat and for visuals, and then you also had some cool and fun outfits like my favorite, the greaser option. With it equipped, and a barbed wire baseball bat, the game became my personal Negan from The Walking Dead game. So while not the best or even in the top 10 of this generation, the style is really impressive.
The gameplay is well done. Sure the shooting in 3rd person isn't perfect, and really 1st person isn't as great as I'd have like, but it gets the job done. What really helps it is the fact that you can take a regular
shotgun and with the modding system in the game, make it a beast. Another thing that is well done is there are plenty of times when you are surrounded, but you never feel like the difficulty has spikes. Sure you might be over your head, but with the right weapons, armor, and skills, it might not be that bad. There is also a really cool system to build and mod your armor, power armor, craft healing items, mod weapons, and also build up a spot into a really well defended settlement. Now I'll be honest and say that due to the way a lot of cool options and new skills are locked away behind upgrades, I didn't get too deep into most of these systems. However I did spend a fair amount of time on the settlements. My original settlement Sanctuary I took the time to really set up. It's a fun system that I'm sure in the last 2 years, people that really enjoy killing time doing that type of game have made some awesome settlements. Personally I love it but I wouldn't say I could spend a lot of time at any given point just doing this. I also wish a top down perspective would have been implemented to help get that full view. While nothing was done perfectly, the sum of the parts add up to a great amount of fun just exploring, looting, and fighting.
The story is kind of hit and miss. Here's the thing I thought right at the beginning of the game I had figured it out. I knew where and what the twist was with the son, and I was somewhat right. Now did I expect it to go so deep into slavery, what it means to be human, and what it takes to survive. Don't get me wrong, those issues are there and talked about, but never in the same way that say a game like Bioshock delves into those issues. This is a game that you can answer the "nice" way to someone, then go off on a murderous rampage. The factions are all cool and each have their
own personality. As they go on I easily identified with one more than the others. I will say it was disappointing that gameplay wise, the 3 major factions have the same basic outline to their last few missions.
I don't feel like I need to go too deep into a game that has been out this long, has been well received and talked about. Its also hard for me to really remember the first 20 or so hours I invested in the game. Overall
I really enjoyed this game, more than I enjoyed FO3 honestly. Had the upgrade system not been as restrictive, really a skill point and a perk for each level increase would have been great. And maybe not have so many of the cool features locked away. Overall I give this game the solid 8.5
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