Review: Fallout 4

G'day there guys and gals!

This review has been a loooooong time in the works due to the massive undertaking that is Fallout 4: a giant world with many things to keep you going, addictive creative system and more side missions to shake your hat at. This was my first Fallout game that I've played straight on release, but I've experienced Bethesda's glitchy releases first hand before. But as a reviewer, I must be fair and judge each game for its merits as well as its faults.
Fallout 4 is by far one of the best games you will play this year, but it is riddled with issues beyond bugs that may cost it its GOTY.

For those unfamiliar with the world of Fallout, Fallout 4 would be the best game for you to pick and and enjoy as for the first time in the series, the game takes place shortly before the bombs falling on futuristic America. You play as either a male or female in the town of Sanctuary in Boston, basking in the glow of your loving family and newborn son when it is shortly interrupted by a Vault Tec worker asking you to officially sign up with the program. Either way, the warning goes out over the television that the bombing has begun and you race with your family to the vault and enter it in the nick of time.
To avoid any further spoilers, skipping ahead, you have awoken to a destroyed world and the Commonwealth is holding together by its bare bones. Something very precious to you has been taken and lost and now you scavenge the outside to survive in an unfamiliar Boston and to find what has been taken from you.

So let's begin with the standard. Storyline; overall I would personally say I am satisfied with the ending I made for myself (There are currently 4, which vary very slightly which is a small disappointment) but for the first time ever, I also both regret my choices and felt dirty. All the endings possible, in some way or another, never fully satisfy. It's clear that this is what is intended by the development of the game overall and to that, I tip my hat to the writers. Although the faction you choose to aid do make significant changes to the game, the ending you'll get will repeat only with slight dialogue differences.
Voice acting is phenomenal; Bethesda has clearly taken the advice of the community and added a lot of detail into every character, from the main cast to the NPCs, every character is singled out for their own issues. Yes, their dialogue can repeat and the typical one-voice-guy does make a comeback (this time its Brandon Keener, better known as Garrus Vakarian) but you'll barely notice this in the midst of so many characters. A huge props to the voice of the Sole Survivor Brian T Delaney and Courtenay Taylor for their brilliant performances as the protagonist. While I generally play as paragon in many games, I couldn't help but choose the sarcastic voice option in some moments.
Sound effects were beautifully done and I rarely came across a squish or a bullet sounding the same even being shot/punched multiple times. Musical score is also just as beautiful, I honestly turned off the radio just to enjoy the strings or piano during dramatic scenes; the hopelessness and struggle of the protagonist was captured to the point of sublimity.
Graphics, while sometimes appearing off, on the whole were also incredible. While some in the fandom don't support the bright, colourful Wasteland, I fully support the new weathering system. Seeing a perfect blue sky change into a Radiation Storm for the first time is a beautiful yet terrifying experience. Character models are also greatly improved, especially the ghouls. A ghoul's melting skin is terrifying, even more so now that Ghouls have become a much bigger threat this time around.

Finally, onto the main attraction, gameplay: admittedly, old fans of the series may be turned off by how the game now leans more towards a FPS standard, but the gameplay as a whole is a delight to enjoy. I was lost in the character crafting system for over an hour, creating my house and my base in Sanctuary became a ritual after every mission and for the first time ever, I became more dedicated to the side missions than to the main storyline. The sad point about this is that most of the side missions involve the Minutemen and after a while, they will repeat. A lot. I attempted to try to get the Minutemen missions out of the way, but the formula for their missions are just too similar: travel to a new area, take out a nest of Ghouls/Super Mutants/Raiders, tell the settlers, travel back to the Minutemen. This formula, and especially the dialogue, repeats WAAAAY too often to be enjoyable. Then if that isn't enough, eventually you'll be asked to travel back to an area and build new supplies or fend off an attack wave of enemies. There is also a glitch with some settlements where these missions will repeat even after immediately finishing them!
But I digress. What about the other things in the gameplay? All enemies are now much harder than before; Feral Ghouls now charge and inflict Radiation damage, Deathclaws attack you and interrupt your attack with an animation, and the input of legendary/named enemies to indicate their level is a great move by Bethesda. Crafting is addictive and fun, farming for food and creating buildings is also a bunch of fun and both the paragon and renegade options will leave you with a body count incredibly high. The mini-games on the Pip-Boy are reminiscent of old Arcade difficulty which I adore, and the radio is brilliantly done as well. While some songs do make a comeback this time around (Which admittedly felt a little cheap), the addition of more radio stations with varying music (from classical, strings, 50s rock and roll and beyond) is also a definitely plus.

At this point of time, what else more can be said about Fallout 4? The game itself is a definite must buy; I had wracked up nearly 40 hours by the time I was done with the campaign and I still had a bunch of side missions to enjoy. Fallout 4 gives you way more than what you pay for the disc and then some. Sure, there are glitches and bugs and many issues with the game, but I haven't experienced any game crashes or freezes in the game as of yet. Believe me when I say this; it is near impossible to completely 100% bug proof sandbox games. All variables and scenarios are hard to track. But in saying that, it misses a perfect score because of this, purely out of fairness.

HOWEVER, does that make it a bad game? Absolutely not! In my eyes, the game is worth your purchase, your time and your social life. Bethesda has made Fallout 4 an absolute necessity to own.

Out of 10, I give Fallout 4 a 9/10

Fallout 4 is out now for the standard price of $90