Matthew Byers | Staff Writer
Sequel to a popular franchise
Fallout 3 was one of the highest rated games the year of its release, and it set the bar high for future Fallout games. Fallout New Vegas set the bar even higher, by solving many of the problems associated with Fallout 3; extra skills, wider range of areas, more factions, and an end-game boss fight that couldn’t be over in five seconds. The Capital and Mojave Wastelands were able to revitalize the Fallout series, and with the current release of Fallout 4, can it live up to the hype?
The answer is definitely a strong probably. If you are looking for a direct sequel to either Fallout 3 or New Vegas you won’t find it here. It’s not even a real expansion pack (similar to New Vegas to 3), it’s an entirely new game that has taken a few more elements from Bethesda’s other top-selling game Skyrim. There is no need to collect enemy weapons to cannibalize them into parts for weapons you already have, you don’t need to worry about finding a safe-house to keep all your loot as you can build your own settlement complete with traders to bring the caps in, you can modify weapons far more greatly than 3 or New Vegas, and perhaps the biggest difference is the removal of skill points. No longer is there focus on medicine, small guns, lock-picking, or science skills that influence your actions in game, it’s all about perks. Luckily the game doesn’t have a level cap, so if you want to play until your level three thousand two hundred and twenty five than you can.
The graphics are clean and pristine, somewhat ironic in a game about surviving the apocalypse. Character models have a wider variety, so you aren’t always facing the same twelve cloned raiders, and animals/monsters look far more beastly. Creatures, such as the rad-mosquitos or mole-rats, look far more mutated than their incarnations in 3 or New Vegas. And standard of all Fallout games, the music is specifically set in the 1950’s. Of course this is entirely purposeful as the game is retro-futuristic.
In terms of difficulty the game is much harder than its two predecessors. Radiation does more than fill up in a secondary counter that can be removed easily enough, now every bit of radiation is a risk at it can lower your health bar. Super mutants are also a more serious threat; rather than idly wandering specific areas Super Mutants can lay traps, and have the new added ability of *spoiler* mutating on the spot into legendary status – this means they can give and take more damage, have a special ability, and often can quickly turn the tide of battle *End spoiler*. Even if you have the best gear available battles always have risk.
After playing a few hours the game is certainly engrossing and fun, but it often seems strangely hard. Rockets coming out of nowhere with low-level raiders, super-mutant traps, and new enemies posing even greater threats. Luckily you can always try and focus on level grinding and getting enough perks to give your weapons and armor significant advantages. Instead of scrapping parts you can scrap tires, burned out houses, cars, toasters, and even milk bottles to raw materials that can be used for building settlements (and reinforcements) or giving a shotgun longer barrels and a revolver a sniper scope.
It’s up to you to rebuild a decaying civilization and fight the irradiated boogeyman that stalks the night. Just don’t go running head first into danger, a radscorpion or two can easily pick off low-level players, so playing battles smart is important. Always keep an eye on your health and rads, it’ll make all the difference. Build your settlements, give yourself guns with bayonets and sights, give yourself advantages that even the nastiest super mutant behemoth something to think about.
