Fallout 4 Review
Vaughn Bassett
Reporter

After years and years of waiting, Fallout fans were finally given what they have wanted since the release of Fallout: New Vegas in 2010; On June 14th, 2015 Fallout 4 was announced worldwide by Bethesda Studios, thus began the hype surrounding the game.

E3 rolled around and along with Doom 4 and Dishonored 2, Fallout 4 was demonstrated again, sparking even more anticipation. Finally on November 10th 2015, Fallout 4 was released to the public. On the day of release, the game made 750 million dollars and the game received high review scores on just about every gaming website along side the past games in the franchise. Does the newest installment in the Fallout Franchise stand up to it’s predecessors?

The story revolves around a soldier who is forced into a vault due to a nuclear apocalypse. While in the vault the soldier and his family are frozen for over 200 years. While frozen, the soldier witnesses the murder of his wife and kidnapping of his son. When unfrozen he embarks on a journey across the wasteland to find his son. Along the way he meets a large cast of characters that determine the path he takes in finding his son. Overall the story is the best in the franchise and is by far one of the driving factors in this game.

The largest portion of this game is not the large map which takes a whooping 1 hour and 45 minutes to cross. No, the biggest section of the game is not its map but its game play.

The largest chunk of the game play is, of course, the combat elements. While in combat the character can either use guns or melee weapons. Combined with the fact that the majority of combat takes place in spread out environments and the fact that about 95% of all the enemies use guns, melee weapons become almost useless. The FPS elements, while improved, are still flawed so the use of VATS, an automatic targeting system, are still drastically needed.
The variety of guns in this game is very impressive, they range from various kinds of pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles and rocket launchers.

Another important aspect of the combat is also the armor. There are also different types of armor that cover the character’s body parts. With both armor and weapons there are legendary variations that are picked up from legendary enemies.

A way to make the weapons and armor better is the crafting system. With weapons, the things you can add onto them, are scopes, mags and other objects that increase the weapon’s damage. As for the armor the only thing that can to be done to them is increase the armor rate and durability. The crafting is very creative and it definitely adds a fresh twist to collecting weapons and armor.

Along with the crafting of weapon parts and armor modification, entire settlements can be crafted. This aspect of the game is the most complex due to the fact that the player has to worry about so many things, like the amount of beds or how much defenses the settlement has. The complexity is done just right, so that the player feels challenged but not so challenged that they will lose interest.

Among the amazing game play, the music also helps this game delve into success. Like prior games in the Fallout franchise, Fallout 4 uses songs by various artists from the 50’s. This game also makes use of classical music for those who enjoy calmer music. A large majority of the songs are great fun to listen to but the biggest problem with the music is the fact that they decided to use songs from Fallout 3 along with the new songs they have added. One of the songs they decided to carry over from Fallout 3 was the song they used in the opening intro, “I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire.” Other than that little complaint though, the music is spectacular and brings the magic of the 50’s to the post-apocalypse.

When Fallout 4 was announced, it promised to be one of the best games released in recent memory. With great game play, a superb story, creative crafting and mesmerizing music, Fallout 4 was able to fulfill its promise to the gaming community. Keep an eye out for Fallout 4 to receive some rewards and be absolutely sure to grab Fallout 4 off of store shelves this holiday.