Xbox Fallout 4 is a perfect balance between two different kinds of games.
By Jordan Ryder
I surveyed empty streets of Lexington through a sniper scope. Everything was still, no raiders, no ghouls. I swept the street again, not wanting to be caught unwary. I needed supplies for my home base, but towns are a risk. Wishing I was wearing my powered armor, I slunk through the streets, building to building. Gunshots echoed in the distance while I grabbed scrap metal. Getting on top of a roof, I found the source of the commotion. I broke my sniper rifle out again; a couple of easy kills could get me some good gear.
Fallout 4 managed to create this immersive atmosphere every second I played. And it was amazing.
I hadn’t played the previous Fallout games, so I came to this without any experience. Then I discovered how much my many hours of Bethesda’s other series, the Elder Scrolls (specifically Skyrim), prepared me for the wastelands. For example, the lock-picking mechanics were transplanted from those games into this one, as was the grab-everything-that’s-not-nailed-down-to-sell-later mentality.
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Fallout 4 achieves something rare: It is a perfect balance between two different kinds of games, open world role-playing and tight first-person shooting.
The wasteland world to be navigated is huge and varied, with plenty to do and see. This might be the first game since Skyrim in which I just stopped and looked at scenery for a bit.
Despite being a massive world, the details and people still stand out. None of the major or even secondary characters I met on my journey were dull, which helps keep the game enjoyable.
The quests I carried out had variety as well. A lot of the missions in previous Bethesda titles were basic “go here and kill this.” Those still exist in Fallout (this is a nuclear wasteland after all), but there are almost as many involving interactions between characters. I like shooting things, but it was a nice change of pace.
As for the shooting itself, that works very well, which surprised me, because Bethesda is not known for its shooter mechanics. But the combat is fun and organic. I had a lot of encounters in which I was wandering, half-dead with radiation, only to be ambushed and desperately have to shoot my way out. Aiming feels like it requires more precision than in other games, demanding more skill and discipline on the player’s part. I found that quick selecting equipment feels awkward, to the point it’s almost easier to just open the inventory instead and pick what you want.
Fallout 4 has a more hopeful feeling than I had expected. I thought it was going to be dreary and everyone would be miserable, but it’s really quite lively and colorful. I like that. That you can build settlements to live in makes it feel like I’m rebuilding civilization from the brink of annihilation.
Despite being as large as it is, I ran across few glitches in Fallout. It crashed once on my Xbox but otherwise ran smoothly. The only weakness I found is that it is terrible about explaining things to the player. It would be a good idea to peruse a few articles for tips before playing to avoid silly errors. But this has become one of my favorite titles I reviewed this semester, and if you haven’t grabbed it yet, what’s wrong with you?
9.5/10