Fallout 4

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.

Institute "Synths" are artificial humans created to serve the Institutes will. Some want to liberate them, others want to exterminate them as abominations of science. New models are almost indistinguishable from humans.

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.

Brotherhood of Steel fans will appreciate how much the group has grown over the years. They're a force to be reckoned with now, with fleets of vertibirds and even a massive airship that serves as they're HQ in the Commonwealth.

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