[typing] [music: "Fallout 4" theme]
"Fallout 4."
Bethesda Game Studios' long-awaited addition to one of my favorite game series of all time.
So, is "Fallout 4" the game that I wanted in a sequel?
Eh... Well, I mean, yes and no.
At this point, I've spent 70 hours with the game
and it still seems like I've got a lot more to do
before I can fully appreciate all of its changes,
but I'll explain in detail as we go along.
"Fallout 4" begins with a captivating live-action intro
detailing the story of your character up to this point.
Assuming you pick the main default dude as your character, that is.
Anyway, the narrator reveals that the year is 2077.
You're a soldier in the U.S. military,
the world is on the brink of large-scale nuclear war
because... war.
War never changes.
Except for the change where Ron Perlman isn't doing the narration
which bothers me more than it probably should.
After this, you're greeted with a view of both playable protagonists looking into a steamy mirror,
going about their morning ritual
of watching each other change races and bone structures.
Through a similar system to that of "The Sims 4,"
You simply click and drag to customize your face and body type.
Once you've molded something resembling a human being,
you then choose one of them to continue your routine in pre-war 2077.
Talking to your handy robot, Codsworth,
attending to your baby, Shaun,
[raining] [screaming] "Shaun!"
And humoring the Vault-Tec representative that won't leave your doorstep.
[Vault-Tec Rep] "You have been pre-selected for entrance
into the local vault!"
This is also where you choose your initial stats
using the revamped SPECIAL system,
but more on that later.
All of a sudden...
Boom! The nukes hit.
You make a mad dash for the vault you conveniently just signed up for
and...
I don't want to reveal anything more here because spoilers.
In fact, I'll be using footage mostly from the earlier sections of the game for the rest of this video
to keep this as spoiler-free as possible.
I will say this, though.
Once you're out of the vault, the world is almost entirely unrecognizable,
as you might expect.
What's not expected is that something like 200 years have passed since you entered the vault.
And something's happened to your family,
resulting in a multi-faceted mystery right off the bat.
Your only clues in the beginning are gleaned from your old robot Codsworth,
who, by the way, will verbally say your name, if you've chosen one he knows.
"Codsworth..."
CODSWORTH: "Miss Fucker."
Yes, completely immature ones as well.
CODSWORTH: "Mister Boobies."
This brings me to my first complaint:
He knows names like Boobies, but doesn't know my name, Clint?
Or even more common names like Brandon or Jill?
I see where your priorities are, Bethesda.
After this, you're free to do anything you want in the Commonwealth,
which at first is going to be a lot of aimless wandering.
Followed by running for your life.
And dying. There's a lot of that, too.
"Fallout 4" takes place in post- apocalyptic Boston, Massachusetts,
and with it comes an impressive array of enemies
that want nothing more than to see your body parts separated from one another.
And my word, did they do a great job with the enemies this time.
Even at 70 hours in, I was still getting annihilated by ghouls and radroaches on occasion.
And don't even get me started on raiders and super mutants.
Granted, I am playing the game on the next-to-hardest difficulty–
which I totally recommend, by the way. It's a fun challenge.
But no matter what, you're presented a highly enjoyable threat
from the way "Fallout 4's" nastier citizens try and murder you.
Ghouls play dead and they charge you at full speed,
radroaches swarm the walls and ceilings,
mole rats and radscorpions pop up from underground,
and the raiders and other humanoids
use surprisingly good AI tactics to flank and outmaneuver you.
Each enemy can come attached with a unique action and ability,
like suicide super mutants wielding small nukes.
So if you're not paying attention,
it doesn't matter if you have the best weaponry in the world.
They can still take you out like nothing.
Legendary enemies will sometimes appear to completely ruin your day.
These punks are exponentially tougher to kill,
although they'll always drop a special item if you succeed,
making for some higher stakes,
even in what initially seems to be just another by-the-numbers encounter.
And that's the next big change in the game: the combat.
This time around using V.A.T.S. doesn't stop time for you to apply your action points,
it merely slows things down.
They've countered this by making the real-time combat a far more viable alternative.
Compared to "Fallout 3" and "New Vegas," the gunplay is much improved.
Handguns, shotguns, rifles, rocket launchers, energy weapons
and unique things like the junk jet and gamma gun, they all feel super solid.
But it's also still a bit unpredictable.
Even when aiming down sights, or using V.A.T.S.,
there's always a chance that you'll miss, even with a high hit percentage,
and I love that!
It's a pleasing mixture of dice rolls and dexterity
and it rarely leaves me feeling cheated by the result.
Sniper rifles and melee weapons also finally feel amazing to use,
which has completely changed how I approach long-range and close-quarters combat.
You can even use cover
and look around corners now by plopping against a wall and aiming down sights.
A nice touch, indeed.
But great combat doesn't matter if the world sucks.
And initially, "Fallout 4's" map seemed pretty weak to me.
It looked small and wasn't very interesting where you start out,
but thankfully looks were decieving.
I can now say with confidence that this is my favorite map in the Fallout series to date.
And it's a whole lot bigger than it looks on your Pip Boy's map.
Not only is it bursting at the seems with fascinating ruins
and a diverse set of locations to explore,
but there's a sense of verticality that is most refreshing.
Huge factories, skyscrapers and secret facilities
all allow you to explore up and down and out
in a way that none of the previous games have.
These precarious heights and complex passageways up there just
make me feel vulnerable in a way that I never have in a Fallout game, and I love it!
And many of these areas are aesthetically gorgeous when it all comes together,
with excellent art direction, sound design and dynamic weather conditions
creating some of the most compelling game locales in recent memory.
Plus the soundtrack by Inon Zur is freakin' excellent, if you ask me,
making subtle use of accordions, organs and bagpipes,
along the traditional piano, strings and drums.
[music]
As a fan of urban exploration and chilling ambient soundscapes, ugh!
This is all brilliant fun to soak in.
At least, that is until the frame rate plummets
and hideous low-res textures show up, and–
I'm playing this on a PC, so that stuff stands out even more.
This is my next complaint:
the graphical fidelity and performance.
It's just wishy-washy.
Most of the time it looks pretty fanstatic,
but there are several notable areas that feel
half-baked and reek of optimization issues,
with the frame rate dropping from a solid 60 FPS down to the 30s or lower.
Even on my superclocked GTX 980 Ti video card.
Combine this with the inability to change the FOV in-game
and other options I would expect to have, and–
Yeah, the PC version leaves a bit to be desired.
There are also the usual Bethesda bugs,
like weird pathfinding for NPC companions,
and moments where the physics go berzerk.
I have no doubt that patches and mods will help some of this stuff later on, but still.
I'd hope this kind of crap would be ironed out by now
seeing as it's like the 37th time Bethesda's used this game engine.
Another issue I have is that the main story is
uninteresting at best and disjointed at worst,
*especially* in the beginning.
One of the first things you do upon leaving the vault is
grab a suit of power armor and shoot the crap out of a death claw with a minigun.
Okay...
I mean, don't get me wrong. It's pretty fun I guess,
but it just doesn't mess with the protagonist's story so far.
If this messes with your plans,
you can wait as long as you want to do this stuff
and of course, there are the huge number of side quests to complete.
Side quests are where Fallout games shine the brightest, anyway,
and man, there are some excellent ones on offer here
that provide some captivatingly unique dilemmas to solve.
And when things start getting really tough,
don't forget that that power armor still exists from earlier,
even though it was practically useless after the first battle
since it required a power source to function further.
When you do get around to being able to use it again,
the new power armor is a sight to behold.
I really dig what they did with it this time.
It's like an Iron Man, walking tank, mech suit type of thing
with the ability to swap out pieces of armor and upgrade components
with things like paint jobs, spotlights, jetpacks and specialized armor.
They also just look badass all set up in your home base,
like a 23rd century "Jay Leno's Garage."
If you equip yourself properly and level up enough,
you probably won't need power armor most of the time anyway
due to the copious perks you earn.
And yes, the perk system has changed from previous games,
which has been a huge point of contention among long-time Fallout fans,
and understandably so.
Strenth, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck stats
all start at the bottom now.
And skills have been replaced by this new perks system.
When you level up, you'll be able to apply one of 70 attribute-based perks
with 229 ranks between them.
In order to unlock later perks,
you'll have to have a certain SPECIAL stat level as a base.
And in my experience, it leads to either a super-specialized character
that misses out on a lot of the game,
or a character so middle-of-the-road
that you may as well play as a painted yellow line.
I kinda get why they did it,
seeing as there's no level cap and no arbitrary ending to the game
so eventually, you'll just unlock everything.
And I do like the fact that you're not dealing with vague numbers anymore.
Instead, just have a hard upgrade level.
Things like lock picking and hacking, you're not worrying,
Oh, is 37 what I need? No.
You just have to worry about
am I a novice, an expert, a master, etc.
But that another thing that they've changed
that I'm not 100 percent on is the new conversation system.
Not only is your character fully-voiced for the first time in a Fallout game,
but clearly this was designed for consoles in mind,
seeing as it's mapped to the face buttons of a controller,
allowing for a maximum of four choices at any given time.
I don't mind that controller mapping so much
I mean, I'm using a controller on the PC version for the most part anyway because
I like playing while reclining in front of a big TV.
But what bothers me is that the conversations
seem really bland in comparison to previous games.
Rich, unpredictable conversation has been one of the best parts in Fallout from the very beginning.
I like being able to see everything my character can say before I say it,
and I like being able to say things that are more than a line or two long.
It is kind of useful in the fact that it makes conversations seem a little more immediate,
maybe a little more natural, almost?
But they're really simplified, too, so it's
a "win some, lose some" kind of thing.
There are some neat additions as well,
like being able to press different face buttons to skip dialogue in a snarky manner,
getting drunk and hearing your character slur their words,
and the color-coded speech challenges, which make those pretty simple.
At least the supporting cast of characters are excellent,
and freakin' FINALLY Bethesda hired more than five people to voice everyone.
There are about a dozen companions, too,
each of which has their own story and goals,
so they don't simply play a pack mule and an extra gun.
The longer you spend with each companion, the more they'll like or dislike you,
which kind of replaces the karma system of previous games,
and it results in the unique dialogue and even some side quests and romance options.
And of course, you have Dogmeat,
your canine companion who somehow stuck around in every major Fallout game.
Each of these companions can be commanded to do things like inspect areas,
gather resources,
or perform tasks in your home base,
so they're not just sworn to carry your burdens this time.
They also can't die,
which is a bit silly.
Speaking of home bases,
as the game's marketing tagline of "Welcome Home" suggests,
building a home is a huge part of "Fallout 4."
Pretty early on, you'll be given the opportunity to tear down and remodel Sanctuary Hills,
the neighborhood your character lived in before the war.
You are by no means limited to building in this location,
as there 30 different spots around the map you can build settlements.
However, chances are you'll end up picking one big one to spend the most time on
and the rewards for doing so are huge.
If you've ever played games like "Rust," "ARK: Survival Evolved" or even "Minecraft,"
then this should be pretty familiar.
Building is done from your perspective
and you craft building materials using resources found within the game world.
In fact, practically every single item in-game can be broken down into crafting materials,
from rusted out cars and dilapidated buildings,
all the way down to desk fans and toy trucks.
And the game's looting system has been optimized as well
to where you don't have to open a menu to grab things.
Although it's contantly tripping me up
where I accidentally, uh, bring up my Pip Boy instead.
Old habits die hard, man.
You can also buy and trade resources with vendors in neighboring towns
and even set up your own traders in caravan
so you don't have to do all of this scavenging work yourself.
And the more you level up your character,
the more items and buildings you are able to craft for your towns.
Which leads to the ability to pump water, grow crops,
hire more scavengers and build defenses to guard against attacks
by raiders and wasteland creatures alike.
But the actual process of building can be a bit of a pain, though.
I really wish there was a way to do so from an overhead perspective or something
instead of only from your character's point of view.
Things just get in the way.
But it's an impressive addition to the game
and is one of my favorite things to do in "Fallout 4."
In fact, I spent the first couple dozen hours of the game
building and crafting alone.
I didn't even touch the main story or reach Diamond City
until 30 hours in.
Oh, and did I mention that crafting also applies to weapons, armor, food and chems?
Yes! This game...
The moment I realized I could take any old weapon
and turn it into a total DEATH machine with the right components
and then name it anything I WANT?
Man, that kind of connection to just your normal stuff is wonderful.
I mean, my previous Fallout gameplay strategies went out the window
as soon as I discovered all this stuff.
And I welcomed that change of pace.
You can go full-on Borderlands with these weapons now,
with such a massive variety of arms that it's intoxicating
to keep playing and see what else there is.
And then I figured out that you could not only use full-body armor
but you can find and upgrade piecemeal armor
that goes on top of certain types of normal clothing.
Aw, man. That kind of customization and
open-ended gameplay is precisely what I desire
in a post-apocalyptic game like Fallout.
It just makes sense in this kind of world.
Being able to make your own new weapons out of duct tape and screws or
mixing your own chems into crazy powerful new drugs.
Or cooking the meat from all those irradiated creatures you've killed.
That's just... awesome.
And then once I realized that most places that you visit
will respawn mobs and loot after a while,
I had reason to go back and re-explore the areas I'd already been to,
turning this into a never-ending sandbox.
Finally, there are a slew of neat little additions and changes
that really set this one apart from prior games in the series.
Like improved animations,
weapons that no longer break,
holiday-themed towns at certain times of year,
easier to read indoor maps,
collectible and playable holotape games for your Pip Boy,
and more radio stations than ever,
including an excellent classical music selection.
I am an absolute sucker for a game
that allows for this kind of freedom, replayability and customization
in a dense open world.
Especially a post-apocalyptic one.
I love that aesthetic.
It may not be role-playing in the traditional cRPG sense
and it wasn't even the game I was expecting, to be honest.
But for me, it's the kind of role-playing-ish thing
that I've been unwaveringly drawn to recently,
and it provided enjoyment for me in ways I did not expect.
Rather than the classic Fallout games,
it feels more like a mixture of components of games
I've been really quite enamored with in the past five years or so.
ARK, Diablo, Borderlands, Minecraft,
Day-Z, Dying Light, and of course, Skyrim.
It's not an ideal realization of any of these components, but
it's got such a huge variety of them that work well enough together
that I'm completely entranced by it.
There are some notable disappointments with things like the graphical performance,
the lacking dialogue options
and the at-odds-with-itself perks system.
But in many other ways, it's a respectable improvement on Bethesda's previous Fallout game.
I didn't even experience a single crash or game-breaking bug in my entire playthrough.
Which is a first from one of their games for me.
So from my perspective,
the overall experience has just been one of the single best for me in years
and I got my $60 worth many times over.
"Fallout 4" is a stellar experience
if you're into the type of play it offers.
It's just unfortunate that it often does so at the expense of
things that it did so well in the series of the past.
I know not everyone will be into this, and, dude, I can totally,
absolutely understand that headspace.
I'm a huge fan of "Fallout 1" and "2",
and all the complex interesting things that they did.
This, though, is a Bethesda open-world game
before it's a traditional Fallout RPG,
which rubs some long-standing fans of the series the wrong way.
But if you're like me and wanted something that mixes some of the old with some of the new,
"Fallout 4" could very well be your next gaming drug of choice.
[whistling and explosion]
["Fallout 4" music]
Oh, yeah, and there's also the Pip Boy Edition of the game
and its companion app for iOS and Android.
I bought this thing and – surprise, surprise –
it doesn't fit my huge phone.
Oh, well. At least it looks cool in its display stand all lit up and
the plastic isn't as cheap-feeling as it could be.
The app is pretty much a distraction, though.
For me at least.
I don't really like using a second screen with games like this.
But if you're into that, it works well enough and I have no real complaints.
It also lets you play the Pip Boy mini-games
and listen to the in-game radio while you're taking a dump.
So that's nice.
And if you enjoyed this video, then why not check out some of my others?
I've covered the original "Fallout,"
have a video of me playing "Fallout 3" with a bunch of mods,
and many more are coming, so you can subscribe to be notified
when those come out every Monday and Friday.
There's also Twitter and Facebook for social shenanigans,
as well as Patreon, if you'd like to support LGR financially and see videos early.
And as always, thank you very much for watching.