Fallout 4. Likely the fallout of the franchise
Written by: Scott Beers
Feb 28, 2016, 9:00 a.m.
Tweet to: @SkottBeers
How did this game get rated a 9+ on every media site? *cough* Paid off?
I was a huge fan of Oblivion (2006), Fallout 3 (2008), and even Skyrim (2011). However, Fallout 4 (2015) is still using the same game engine that was groundbreaking a decade ago. The graphics have improved marginally and they’re outdated for sure. Let’s say the graphics look good for 2010, if you’re running maximum settings.
Regardless, the AI is no different than any of the games mentioned above. The FPS controls are garbage compared to today’s standards such as Destiny. I’m not just talking about the AI, but also the way the guns handle. The loot system hasn’t changed, and the horribly clunky user interface that forces you to pause mid-combat to navigate your 2008-Pipboy inventory to find a piece of rat meat to eat in order to keep your health up remains.
Who the fuck wants to play a game when you’re spending 60 percent of the time in your inventory, 20 percent of the time sneaking around hoping not to spook any high levels, and the rest of the time trying to run past enemies in order to get to the next quest quick point? Sure you can slowly grind your level up by fighting random bandits, but the combat is so mundane that you’re better off throwing rocks into an outhouse shit hole. A better title for this game would be RPG Inventory Manager 2015.
If you played Fallout 3, which was great for its time, Fallout 4 is basically a waste of your time. They had seven years to produce this heavily marketed “game of the year” which is far from it. Metal Gear Solid V or The Witcher 3 clearly take the cake for 2015. You could even make the argument that Halo 5 was better, and that game was a bigger dud than Late Night with Larry Wilmore and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah combined. Fallout 4 is essentially a slightly graphically improved version of a game created nearly a decade ago.
*SPOILER ALERT*
The story starts off interesting, but takes a strange turn less than an hour in when you’re frozen for X amount of years. In the midst of that freeze you see your wife and your baby escape their freeze pod. You then get frozen again for an unknown period of time. Somehow he wakes up thinking he’s going to track down his infant son, yet he doesn’t know when his son was unfrozen. You go on this ridiculous journey across a very inaccurate portrayal of Boston (I went to college there, so I know the layout of the city, and it’s way way off).
Your character’s quest is to track down his son, but he seems to have no haste in regard to doing so. He’d rather being fighting bandits to save some random farmer’s locket or go digging through the sewers for a giant crab claw instead of going about his primary objective in reuniting with his son. He seems to believe his son is an infant for some reason. I wasn’t sure either. In my mind, his son was rather too old to still be alive or possibly the same age as the main character. I don’t know the answer to that question, and don’t care to continue playing to find out.
Fallout 4 is a huge disgrace to anyone who has played the previous three Bethesda RPGs. If you haven’t played the others, have fun! Otherwise, be prepared to give up between two to 10 hours due to unsatisfying repetitiveness.
If you want to, try some enticing action RPGs from the past decade. Your best choices in my opinion would be Oblivion, Dark Souls (super hard), Dark Souls II (not as hard), Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Diablo III (with 2-4 friends), Borderlands 2 (with 2-4 friends), and Dark Souls III (in April, 2016).
Wow, you must really dislike Fallout 4. I personally disagree with most of everything you’ve written, but I can understand your view on things. I feel that the graphical element of the game doesn’t decide whether it is a good experience or not.
The thing is, Bethesda doesn’t use its engine for next gen graphics, it uses its engine for next gen details. The amount of detail in Fallout 4 is astounding, from the world itself, to the specific dialogue lines, to the mechanics, and even the crafting systems. I also feel that when you mention how the main character should be looking for his son but ends up doing other stuff, that you may not realize the game is all about letting you decide on how you personally go about what you do. It’s all about choice and whether YOU personally feel it matters. The game is set up relatively perfectly regarding finding your son if YOU choose to go about that way. This isn’t a linear experience, and the game doesn’t choose for you. If anything I think this is among Bethesda’s top games. However, video games are subjective and all of the above is just my opinion.
Good read nonetheless.
Thank you. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
If there is a Fallout 5, what would it be like?
I’m glad someone agrees with me because no other media site will tell this sort of opinion.
Thanks Tessa,
I believe Tessa was talking about my response. Considering her comment is a reply to my specific comment.
This is exactly how I felt playing Fallout 4. I kept hearing how great it was, but within 30 minutes I was disappointed. I kept going to see if it got any better, but after about 6 hours I was done. Haven’t played it since.
Thanks for the comment. Any thoughts on which direction Bethesda will go with franchise?
Let’s just hope Fallout 5 uses a better engine than what was developed a decade ago when it comes in in 2023….