Zach Goodier
Fallout
4 is
the latest
installment in the classic franchise, and it places us in the shoes of a pre-war vault-dweller who, on the eve of nuclear war, signs up for a place in
vault 111 for their family. Just as the news alerts the local area to the
nuclear attacks, the people all flee. It is a moment of panic and fear as
people desperately try to escape the impending apocalypse. Your character makes
it to the vault at the last moment, along with their spouse and infant son.
Just when it seems that they have reached safety, they are lured into cryogenic
pods, and frozen without their consent. 200 years later, you awaken to a
mercenary escorting a scientist, as they awaken the occupants and steal your
son away and kill your spouse. What ensues is a great quest to track down your
missing child, exploring the ruins of the Commonwealth in the wake of nuclear
war.
"Deathclaw, meet minigun. Minigun... Deathclaw." |
If you’ve played Fallout
games before, then you know what the general tone of these games is, and that
hasn’t really changed much. You’ll explore ruins, fight ghouls, raiders, and
many other threats. As you explore the ruins and search for your son, you’ll
meet up with multiple factions, like the Minutemen: a group of militia that
seeks to protect the peaceful inhabitants trying to rebuild civilization. Other
groups include the Institute: a group of elite pre-war scientists whose descendants
are looking to use technology to rule/secure the Commonwealth, The Railroad: a
group of people seeking to save the synthetic humans the Institute
creates/enslaves to try to dominate, and the always popular Brotherhood of
Steel returns, looking to eradicate the Institute and all its creations, innocent
“synths” included.
The Minutemen are old-fashioned guardians of the Commonwealth. They even use laser muskets... true story. |
The story is fairly decent, by Fallout standards. That is to
say, you will probably feel the story is similar to previous installments
(mainly 3), so it won’t blow you away. There are a couple of nice twists here
and there, but it’s the atmosphere and exploration and side-quests that hooked
me. There are so many stories to uncover, and experiences to be had. Old subway
tunnels feel eerie and are often crawling with feral ghouls, while the surface
is home to raiders and super mutants, all looking to attack anyone who comes
near. It probably took some cues from Mad
Max in polishing the already “Mad Max” feel to this world, but you
certainly feel more ruthlessness and desperation in this than previous titles.
You can even mod power armor, including mixing and matching pieces from different sets to create your own custom armor. |
One of the best ways of doing this is by having settlements.
If you help the Minutemen, one of your primary tasks is to secure potential
areas for resettlement. By doing this, you can build and place structures in
order to feed, protect, and put settlers to work. This can yield things like
caps, travelling merchants to trade with, or simply a safe-house for when you
need to stop and rest. Special abilities for each faction can be unlocked as
you earn trust with them. Minutemen unlock cannons for settlement structures,
which let you use smoke grenades to call in artillery when enemies are dug in
too tight. You can also use flares to call Minutemen troops to aid you. Similar
abilities exist for the other factions, like the Brotherhood of Steel allowing
you to call in a vertibird transport to travel between locations.
And yes, one of those upgrade IS a jetpack. I know you were about to ask. |
Visuals are better than any previous game, but once again,
you have to know and love Fallout to
understand exactly what I mean. If you nit-pick, then you will see plenty of
reused textures and a lack of definition to a lot of walls and such, but this
isn’t a game that tries to flash you the highest resolution textures on the
market, it’s a game meant to be experienced through its vast world and
fantastic gameplay. So if you are one of those that look at graphics above all,
then you might not see this game as impressive.
There are several endings (so minor SPOILERS on the this paragraph), which correspond to what
faction you side with. You can even side with any of the 4 main factions, but
two will be destroyed in the process of ending the main story. I’ll leave it to
you to discover, because it can be a mess trying to explain the gist of it all
if you haven’t already gotten at least half way into the game. There are moral
impacts to each, making you prioritize between order, freedom for the
Commonwealth, freedom for synths, and/or your family. Like the factions
themselves, there is no perfect choice, only the belief that certain ideals are
more important than others.
This game is a masterpiece, plain and simple. The ability to
modify gear and build settlements makes it feel like we’ve graduated from
simply surviving the wastelands to actually mastering it. It makes you more
involved in the world, and while you are out exploring and resettling, you also
get to build your customized arsenal that truly feels unique. The main story
isn’t all that original or deep, but the world is what you’ll be most
interested in, anyways. It’s the most beautiful Fallout by a mile, and with both new and familiar groups, there’s
never been a better time to explore the wastelands.
Good:
-Beautiful open world that will have you looking under every
rock and climbing every hill.
-Settlements are a brilliant way to add depth to the world.
-Combination of old and new groups really help players to
understand the desperation and moral conflict of life in this world.
Bad:
-Main story isn’t as original as some might be hoping.
Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10
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