“War, war never changes.” A well known phrase to those familiar to the Fallout franchise. This phrase has been the opening words to every Fallout game that has come out. Since the release of the first game in 1997 Fallout has become a beloved game that gets better with each installment. Originally Fallout was a point-and-click rpg game, but after a switch of companies from Black Isle Studios to Bethesda Studios the series started taking a different approach. It became an open world first person action rpg that used some elements from the older games, but also comes up with it’s own to make it stand out. Fallout 4, the latest installment in the franchise, created hype that would soon be met upon its release on November 10, 2015. The story begins on a peaceful morning at home with you, your spouse, and you infant child Shaun living life normally until a distress signal is broadcasted on the television.. You and your family are rushed underground into what is known as Vault 111. It is here where you spend the next 200 years frozen in a cryogenic slumber until you are awakened in the year 2277 by two unknown individuals trying to kidnap your son. As your spouse refuses to give up your child they are shot by one of the individuals and they take your child as you are unable to stop them. When you are finally free from your stasis you awaken to find you are the only survivor of vault 111. Once you leave the vault your main objective is to find your son Shaun and the kidnappers responsible for the death of your spouse. Fallout 4 takes place in a post-apocalyptic Boston, known as The Commonwealth. There are many things to do in Commonwealth. Many players choose to follow the main objective, but the choice is different for everyone. You can do side quest to level up your character to make progression through the story easier. There’s also the choice to explore the Commonwealth and find rare weapons to help you on your journey. Fallout can be played many ways and can be enjoyed for over 100 hours. Exploration in Fallout 4 is very rewarding, as it it one of the best looking Fallouts in the series. Running at 1080p and 30fps Fallout’s apocalyptic world is brought into new light. The dead forests, eerie swamps, and even the new radioactive storms help to pull the player into the world of Fallout. With the use of new colors instead of the bland and lifeless shades of browns and grays used in older games,
Fallout 4 really improves on from what older Fallout games really struggled with. While Fallout 4 isn't the best in the graphics department because of weak character animations, it makes up for it with the stunning new look of the environment. From Radroaches to Deathclaws, the variety of enemies you will find make the game more enjoyable. When you start off in fallout you will only find weak enemies like Radroaches, which are radioactive cockroaches. As you progress through the game you will find stronger and faster enemies. Some of the enemies you will find are Raiders, Super Mutants, Synths, Deathclaws and many more. There are also many species of each enemy to make the number of enemies greater. Most of the enemies come from the older games, but there are a few new ones like the Synth, which are mechanical humanoids with skeletal appearances.
Fallout 4 uses a lot of the elements used in the older games. For example, Fallout 4 uses a system called VATS. that was used in Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. VATS (or Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) plays a very important part in the combat of newer fallout games. In Fallout 3 and New Vegas VATS would stop real-time combat and allow you to play out an action in a computer graphics version of “bullet time,” but in Fallout 4 time only slows down forcing you to make your moves quickly. Each action cost action points, which limits the moves you can make during a turn. While in VATS, a player can target a specific area on the body of an enemy which has a percentage of hit chance, the closer you are the higher the chance of hitting will be. Character creation has been upgraded since the past games have been released. With a new face sculpting system Fallout gives the player more power over how they want their character. The thing that really makes each character different is how you choose to spend your skill points. Fallout games have had a progression system called S.P.E.C.I.A.L.This system represents seven stats: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Each stat helps to determine the type of person your character can be and the perks you can get. A perk is an upgrade that allows you to learn something new to improve your character and playstyle. This system is a great way to add diversity in a game so you can play it multiple times and every time would it would feel different. While Fallout has lots of strong points it has many weak points to. The weak character animations take away from the action and make it feel like just another game. Inventory management is another weak point. Having to scroll through your menu picking out every single armor, gun, or item you want to use can be a real pain. While there is a sorting system that allows you to sort by damage, weight, or value it still takes time and patience to fix everything. Bugs and glitches often show up and can sometimes ruin the game, but this is to be expected of a game as big as Fallout. The biggest disappointment is the karma system the game is said to have. While trying to be evil there were no repercussions to make the two paths different. The only difference was the dialogue, but these points don’t make the game any less enjoyable. Fallout 4 represents the result of a studio taking seven years and two games’ of learning and implementing each lesson into one of the richest worlds in gaming. While it is a major refinement, it has lost some of the magic that the other games had. This game show a small hand full of Bethesda's flaws, but many of its strengths to. Fallout 4 has been nominated for game of the year and many other awards which show just how good of a game it is. With hours of exciting gameplay and visually captivating environments Fallout will most likely be one of the best games of 2015 and is recommended to anyone who calls themselves a gamer or for those who are into open world first person action rpgs.