Fallout 4 part 1

Now over a week into Fallout 4 and I have accomplished so much and so little at the same time.

Holy crap snacks! This game is more of a time suck than I thought. An awesome time suck!

Fallout 4 takes place on the East coast in and around Boston. It is just a stone’s throw away from the events of Fallout 3. The story is very different than the previous game. Well, besides the fact you crawl out of a vault and get thrown into a world of problems. It is a very similar premise from the Fallout series, but it is still different and of course awesome!

Four games in and these guys still scare the crap out of me when they show up!

All is the same, but different

The gameplay is what you know from Fallout 3. There has been very little change to that. It is a first or third person semi-shooter RPG. The V.A.T.S. targeting system is there like always. The weapons and armor we all know and love are there. The beasts and baddies we have fought through the years are all back too. It has a very warm security blanket feeling. However, there is a lot  that is different and I love the changes that have been made!

Character creation is better than the previous version. Gone is the sliding bar to adjust you facial features. It is more of a swap and plug-in now. There are still a ridiculous amount of features you can add to you character’s face. You can also change your body shape from skinny mini up to chunky monkey. A nice touch for those who enjoy the customization stuff.

Speaking of customization, your character can still be tailored for any type of playstyle. You can build a guy to be a brute, a stealthy ninja, a gun bunny, a thief, a talkie, a super scientist and whatever else you can think of. The stats skills and perks are there like usual and they are similar to before. As you level you gain a point every level to throw toward a stat increase or one of the ever popular perks. Sooooo many options and builds for your character.

This time they have added a weapon and gear customization ability. You can tailor weapons for quantity or quality of damage. You can add various scopes and handles to increase accuracy when aiming or firing from the move. You armor can be tweaked to defend against solid shot weapons, energy weapons or a mix of both. You can add layers of asbestos. You can add pockets to squirrel away more wasteland treasures. Hell you can even add paint jobs for fun and profit.

Even better is that your character creation actually matters a bit more this time.

Weapon custom builds are just the best!

Bethesda/Bioware?

When it comes to your guy/gal and interaction with NPC’s there is a big difference. This time around you get to actually see your characters’ front. When there is a conversation you contribute to, there is a side screen shot for your dude talking. You see a face and not just a first or third person view. There is also very familiar conversation aspect as well. Gone are the lists of various sentences. Now there are four choices tied to the X,O, TRIANGLE AND SQUARE buttons. They usually give you a yes, no, and two other generic conversation choices to choose from. It feels very much like a dumbed down Bioware conversation game mechanic and not the typical Fallout talkie-talk.

This doesn’t occur with every conversation either. When hitting up vendors, randos and people you chat with that offer no more quests; then you get the standard first/third person view. It is a nice touch to actually see the front of your guy without just using the in game camera to spin around and look at him/her. A nice bit of change especially if you go through all the time to make a special face for your wandering hero, or super cool bit of armor you want to see from somewhere besides the back.

Save the wasteland looking like Abe Lincoln! Damn  I should have done this!

So much and so little

After 18 hours playing I have barely scratched the surface of the main quest. I have spent more time running errands for the Brotherhood of Steel, exploring and creating settlements for survivors to colonize. There is once again a ton of stuff to do in this game. If I just pushed the main quest line I would probably be done now. However, this is Fallout! There is no time for the main quest until you have tried everything else and leveled your way from wasteland wandered to wasteland demi-god.

The ability to play with or without a moral compass, V.A.T.S., the world, the world building, weapon/armor customization, faithful companions, the new/same old look make and a whole lot more of new tweaks make Fallout 4 a big pile of win in my book!

Next I’ll highlight Pete the lone survivor of Vault …………….

Until then back to reduce the wasteland super mutant and ghoul populations by a few hundred each!