11th Nov2015

‘Fallout 4’ Review (PC)

by Paul Metcalf

NOTE: This review/initial thoughts is based on 10 solid hours of gameplay…

Fallout4_E3_CityVista

There has been so much hype around Fallout 4 that it would be hard for the game to live up to what people expected it to be. One thing I noticed before its release though was the complaints around the game, mainly around the graphics. Now that I’ve put around ten hours into it, are the graphics a problem? Does the game live up to the hype? Here are my initial thoughts.

With the plan to review the game as quickly as possible, I tried to concentrate on missions that concentrated on moving the story along. At this point, I do feel I’m well into it now too, but that desire to explore is kicking in and I’m starting to feel the cost of not grinding up my levels more than I need to. For the most part though I’m hot on the trail of my mission and making good progress.

On the subject of the graphics, I decided to give my graphics card a workout and stick the quality onto Ultra. Thankfully, the frame rate is playable so I’m not having big issues. The scenery is impressive, but as many people are saying, the problems with the games are in the character models. This is something I can live with though, because of the quality of the world itself.

Much was made about the fact that you could run across the map in about eleven minutes, but really, this is not an issue. Once you actually take the time to explore the cities and buildings around the map you realise just how deep it really is. There are dangers around every corner and it is easy to be totally out of your depth at any minute so for the most part, especially on lower levels, you find yourself using alleyways to bypass any problems. When you get more adventurous though you can’t help but get into battles and discover extra stories just waiting to be played through.

When it comes to building settlements I’ve completed my first and now it is left to survive as it is, with adequate defences to help them survive. I often go back there, and it is always on my mind to pick up supplies that can be used to further the settlement. Right now though I’m too busy on the main missions, though I know I have to level up a bit soon to be able to handle things that are coming up.

On the subject of whether it feels like “Fallout 3.5” the answer to that is yes, but in a good way. If you’ve played Fallout 3 and New Vegas then you know there are certain things that tend to be lacking. In Fallout 4 the world doesn’t feel as sparse as in previous games, and it feels even more dangerous. For people who loved Fallout 3, this should be just what you wanted from Fallout 4.

So ten hours in, I am very happy with Fallout 4. I’m not sure it lives up to the hype that Bethesda threw out about it, but what game could? What it is (so far) though is a very enjoyable Bethesda roleplaying game that further extends the strengths of not only Fallout, but also Skyrim and that makes me a very happy Fallout fan.

Review originally posted on PissedOffGeek
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