Game #35: Fallout 4

Fallout 4
Platform: PC
Duration: 69 Hours

Fallout 4 is a good game. I think with a few more months of development and some further iteration on some systems it could have been a great game, but that just isn't what was presented with the final product. What we got was a story that ends an entire act before the game does, an abysmal UI, a serious hit to player choice, and the trivialization of a number of classic Fallout themes. In short, it felt like a simplification of something who's complexity used to bring me a lot of enjoyment.

But I still had fun.

I've been trying to distill down why I still enjoyed my time with the game. I think the core gameplay is so familiar to me at this point that it is hard not to enjoy getting progressively stronger and blowing the crap out of mutants with my laser rifle. V.A.T.S is a fun system, that gets more rewarding as you invest perks in it. Crafting was interesting too, and it was cool putting the junk items to use. I mean, I don't think there has ever been a video game that made me excited to find an aluminium tray factory before.

I think this is like when I watched Star Wars Episode 1 as a kid for the first time. I enjoyed it, but I felt something was off. It was only later that I sat down and pieced together everything that was bothering me. Fallout 4 is the same. Well, not as bad as Jar-Jar of course, but still.

I think what bugs me is how this just doesn't feel like a Fallout game to me anymore. There's no way to play an evil character, just a sarcastic asshole. Power Armor, which took a herculean effort to earn in previous games, is now just given to you before the two hour mark and is just a glorified vehicle. Even joining the Brotherhood of Steel, which again took a lot of effort in previous games is now accomplished after completing a single mission and you get fast tracked through promotions constantly. Skills are gone. Creative solutions to problems are gone. The whole game just feels...simple.

It feels as if it was designed peacemeal across numerous developers and then just thrown together into one whole right at the end without a lot of integration testing. I'm sure the designer working on the Railroad quests thought it would be awesome to add in the ability to modify your clothes and hat slots as a quest reward, but I don't think anyone stopped to think if it would be a good idea to gate an upgrade that effectively triples your defense behind doing two side quests for an optional faction.

I mentioned it earlier, but the story? Ugh. It resolves way too quickly, the individual faction stories are incredibly weak, and the ending is a huge letdown. It completely killed my desire to replay this game.