Some feedback, constructive criticism,
and a few cool suggestions.
As any fan of the Fallout series, I've
been very excited about Fallout 4 ever since I've heard the first and
very vague rumors about the development. I have to say, we've all
been surprised when they announced it, even though we sort of
expected at least something, but to have Todd Howard basically tell
us the game is almost done and delivered by the end of the year,
that's astonishing. The mindblowing feat is that they managed to
somehow keep the whole development a secret. Even though we've all
knew the gossip around the setting and the script, nothing was really
certain until it was unveiled. That's a good thing and a cautionary
one at the same time. I, personally, will be more inclined to believe
rumors from now on. But enough about me...
Let's talk about the game. I found the
start to be a bit too quick. It's not really a big issue, but I still
to this day prefer the slower, more contextual opening of Fallout 3.
It had development to characters other than your own, and you get to
spend time in a Vault Tec vault enough to almost learn its layout,
creating a familiar connection between the player and the setting.
Fallout 4 doesn't give the player the same chance, but does enough in
the context of what is happening to appreciate the "show, don't
tell" approach. For example (no spoilers, I promise), in the
first few seconds, in the very first "War... War never changes"
cutscene, we get the info that our character (at least the male one)
is a soldier who's preparing for a sensible speech. It's a smart move
the writer made, and we also understand why Ron Perlman doesn't
reprise his role as the narrator. We do get to see what the life
before the nuking was like, or pre-war, but only for a brief
sequence, which is indeed disappointing. But the game has a powerful
start even so. We get enough info to get the fun started, in a sense.
To be honest, I was impressed and surprised by subtle and not so
subtle details. Color, one of the most criticized elements, gives
life to the world. Since the game starts up by incorporating the pop
culture of the late 1940s through mid 1950s, it's more than obvious
that the game would incorporate the colorful lifestyle of that
period. Some might argue that things rust in a couple of century, and
it is mentioned early in the game, but not everything turns into a
greenish mist. Others might argue that color breaks atmosphere, and
they'd be wrong. The game gets atmosphere right from the very start
and sticks to its power tightly. Not only that, but the atmosphere
changes with subtlety and great effect, not to mention the night-day
cycle.
I need to say something about the
combat, the role-playing elements and the crafting, all in that
order. The combat has been generously improved. We've heard about
Wolfenstein The New Order devs helping out with the shooting
mechanics, and if you've played that game you can really tell. It's
indeed a blast to shoot stuff, we've got the aim down the sights
working well, and enemies are really strong, at least as far as I've
played. Deathclaws are a force to recon with. And then there's the
highly customizable Power Armor you get early on, plus lots and lots
of insane weapons. Bravo, Bethesda, it can be done! Can you believe
the fact that we get to find legendary and rare loot? It's like an
actual RPG. Talking about RPG, I really don't understand why almost
everyone is upset about the voiced main character. Okay, the argument
most used is that it limits conversation and dialogue options, but I
disagree. I've yet to find an instance where I wanted to say some
other thing that was not in the dialogue wheel. Shameless or not
really, the dialogue wheel is ripped from recent Bioware games. That
means there's an approving answer, a negative answer, a neutral
answer, and at least one interrogative option where you can deepen
the conversation. Now, in the same effect, you can't really back out
to previous options, since it's not a list. However, the voice actors
are amazing, and I found myself drawn into the conversation, I felt
connected, even though maybe not always relating. I like it so much,
I place my Fallout 4 character next to Commander Shepard and Geralt
of Rivia, two of my favorite video game characters of all time. As
far as choices go, I haven't reached a moment where I could do that
yet, and that kind of worries me, but I have taken my time with the
game as much as I could, and I heard that the choices have deep
impact on the ending. Hope it is so.
Finally, even junk is very valuable and
useful. When you start cleaning up mugs and forks, now you know
they'll be worth something more than measly caps. All junk is used
for crafting, and crafting is so awesome and overwhelming – in such
a good way – it becomes a game on its own. You can craft weapons,
armor, food, not to mention base building, which is also a crafting
thing. Although nothing the level of Minecraft, building is enjoyable
for those who enjoy that kind of stuff, like I do.
That's all good and awesome. The devs
learned a lot from their past mistakes and successes, but also from
the community, especially the modding community. Weapons, crafting,
building, survival, it's all there. About the subtle details that
surprised me in a good way, I found the new usefulness of the Pip-Boy
to be a true revelation and an actual companion. Also, the Power
Armor is finally a big thing. While the PA doesn't change the
gameplay by much, it's does feel like controlling a hulking machine
of war, but not devastation. Maybe not the Power Armor, but maybe in
the future we actually get to control a force the size of Liberty
Prime. A DLC perhaps, eh Bethesda?!
You might be asking yourself why I'm
not saying anything about the graphics. I won't say graphics don't
matter. I am a hypocrite, but not that big of a hypocrite. I already
wrote a bit about it, and my point still stands. The graphics are
good enough, They aren't a pain to watch, like some I've heard
saying, my eyes didn't melt, and I've found the stylistic choice to
be fair and nice looking. Now, we'll obviously get very soon an
official HD texture pack, and I hope I'm not wrong, but as always
modders will make it look better even if the game looked like
reality. So I'm hopeful.
I know Bethesda and Todd Howard are
watching the community and fans and trying to put out amazing content
for the players. So I'd like to make some suggestions. I won't ask
for the Moon, I promise! We've all been trying to get vehicles to
work in the game, but the engine is just too unforgiving in that
aspect. Modders tried, all gaming gods bless 'em, but there was just
no way to get a decently functional vehicle. Now, I don't know about
the lore, I know Fallout 2 had a fast travel car, but I feel like it
would make the most amazing DLC. Bethesda, give it a thought, why
don't you!? And a thing to cater to us old fans, both accepting, like
me, and die hard old-schoolers who won't touch anything that's not
isometric. Guys, if there's something I've learned from my time as a
gamer is that small things can be just as appealing as big stuff, if
not more in some cases. I'm talking about Fallout Shelter and XCOM
Enemy Unknown. "What?" Yes, let me elaborate. We're
impressed by that one gameplay of The Division in which the guy
closes the car door. We're not hard to impress, we just want to seem
like that. When 2K announced that they're making an XCOM game as an
FPS, everyone screamed in despair. "Yeah, 'cause that worked
well for EA's Syndicate." People started asking for a good 'ol
turn based isometric XCOM, and probably 2K just asked Firaxis to make
an XCOM game just for the gigs. And it was good. So good, it
surpassed what they thought would be the flagship XCOM game – The
Bureau: XCOM Declasified. I could say much more about XCOM and how
excited I am for the XCOM 2, but I'll get to the point. Bethesda,
just do a spin-off isometric turn based/real time RPG in the veins of
Fallout 1, Fallout 2 and Tactics. It's the best move. I know it's
hard to make a game, no matter what perspective it's played on, but
it won't be a failure, I just know it.
With all that being said, I'm eager to
find out what expansions await us. I hope I haven't forgot any of the
things I wanted to talk about. This was not a review, by the way. I
really want to hear if you have any feelings on what you've read
here, so please let me know. Let's talk about it.
#WelcomeHome
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