Fallout 4 - A New World on Fire

Fallout 3 came out in late 2008, just in time for the holiday season for all the little children to have their parents buy it for them come Christmas. That's how I acquired my copy of the game at least. Since then Bethesda has released many titles under their banner as producers from Fallout: New Vegas, Brink, Rage, Dishonored, and many more. Then, there is Skyrim, Bethesda Game Studios latest installment in their famed Elder Scrolls series. Within the first week, Skyrim sold more than 7 million copies across all three platforms. Skyrim is now one of the most beloved games and has sold over 23 million copies (Ref.1).

Then there is Fallout 4, the long awaited prodigal son of Bethesda Game Studios was released eleven days ago, and it has taken me these eleven days to become fully acquaintedwith this game to give you a thorough review. Skyrim's 7 million copies sold in week one pales in comparison to Fallout 4's staggering 12 million copies sold in day one. The game has had one of ­ if not the most ­ successful game launches we've ever seen.

Gameplay

Fallout 4 is fun. It's stupid fun. The game moves and feels and breathes like it's alive and fighting to survive, much like we would be in the case of being in an actual post­nuclear war world. The gunplay in this game is a leap beyond what it's predecessor offered, and handles beautifully. Bethesda improved on their quick selection mechanic from Fallout 3 by eliminating the awkward inbetween slots, and thier UI is as clean as ever.

Dialogue has come to play a much larger role in Fallout 4 than it was in Fallout 3, or even Skyrim. The player has always had choices, but now they feel like they might actually have conciquences. The issue I have with dialogue is that from time to time the choices won't show up on screen, and I have to walk away and reinitiate conversation to progress. A small hick­up, but one that can be annoying none the less.

Other than that, I'm happy to say that my Fallout 4 experience has been relatively bug free (boatfly's, bloodbugs, and radroaches excluded) There was only one instance where the game crashed and I had to restart from my last save, which with the quicksave function being so awesome, my last save was about four minutes prior to the crash.

Narrative

Spoiling Fallout 4's narrative would be cruel, and evil, and would earn anyone who does so a place in a very special levelof hell, a level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater. That being, the story is good. A might predictable at a few of it's twists and turns, but all in all I've greatly enjoyed it.

The game is full of side quests and smaller missions to chance across in the wasteland, all of which make the Commonwealth feel alive. You can help the ragtag team of Minutemen build settlements, or you can militarize with the Brotherhood of Steel, or even help synths follow the drinking gourd. Or...if you're like much of Fallout 4's player base. You can pick up a baseball bat and bludgeon some bandits. It's up to you.

Conclusions

Fallout 4. What a game. Despite the rare bug, some minor muddy visuals (honestly folks, move on), and the tendency to turn you into a hermit, Fallout 4 will not fail to deliver on some good and bloody wasteland action. And I didn't even touch on the house building aspect of the game (yes, you can build your own home, it's pretty legit.)

Final Score : 90/100

Ref. 1 ­ http://www.statisticbrain.com/skyrim­the­elder­scrolls­v­statistics/