Fallout 76 B.E.T.A

Well after some issues obtaining my pre-order B.E.T.A code… I got a few hours with Fallout 76 on the PS4.
I have to say…..I’m not super impressed.

Time to strap on the old Pipboy and head out....

What was good?

• Familiarity-This has the look and feel of a Fallout/ every other Bethesda open world game.
• The character creation felt like Fallout 4.
• The game play is like Fallout 3, 4/ every other Bethesda open world game.
• A lot of the same perks as every other Fallout game are there  and some new “fun” perks as well.
• PVP is supposed to be a don’t engage won’t be engaged situation. I want nothing to do with PVP so this could make it less of a hindrance.
• You can silence all the players in your little server world and block them from seeing them or  being  seen by them on the world map. It isn’t much, but it makes me happy since I hate most humans.Keep reading to find out why.

Outside the Vault and into the world!
(insert thumbs down motion and mouth fart noise here)

What was bad?

• The lack of NPC’s. Having nobody to toss a quest your way really sucks. Having no little groups or factions to work for/ against really sucks.
• There was no sense of dread while wandering. As I wandered at level 1-2 I was constantly meeting creatures a few levels higher than me. I had no problem basing them to death. Sure I took some damage, but not enough to fear beasties a few levels higher than myself. Will the actual game be harder? I figured if you wandered too far too early you would pay for it with monsters that would quickly cripple you in combat. That was not the case.
• Enemy respawn rates are stupid fast. While exploring I cleared out some ghouls and then discovered a computer with a plethora of info. As I read through files I was assaulted by the same ghouls again in under 30 seconds. I killed them again and went to read the remaining two files only to have to put down the same group of ghouls as I finished my reading. I get that respawn rates are never going to be perfect for everyone. I just thought it was way too fast if you are actually trying to explore and read the info they toss into the game environment.
• Familiarity. It just feels like a mod version of Fallout 4
• Having the ability to make a fun little camp/fort/safe haven….only for people to be able to wreck it. I’ll avoid doing this for as long as possible. What a waste of time to build up a person safe zone only to have horrible human players wreck it for fun. We all know this will be the norm when the game goes live.
• There were frame rate issues in combat that went from annoyingly slow to outright stopping.
• The V.A.T.S. system that makes previous Fallout games fun is pretty useless here. It acts like an cheap quasi auto-targeting system. You still can aim at body parts, but it is all real time so it isn’t the easiest thing to do. The only good part is that V.A.T.S. locks onto the target so it makes hitting those jumpy dodgy molerats easier to track.

What was horrible?

• The need to eat, drink and sleep. It is like survival mode, but without being survival mode. Make it harder or get rid of it!
• Humans! Other players were the worst. There was always some asshat punching or shooting me as I went about my business. Even better is that if you are under level 5 then you are free from PVP. I only made it  halfway through level 4, but it didn’t stop a half dozen people from shooting at me or following me around the first small town hitting me. It was beyond annoying. I can only imagine what it would have been like if I was level 5 and open to PVP. This is what I am going to hate about this game.
• Humans! The fact you are running around with your gaming name is really stupid to. Nothing pulls you out from game immersion like seeing players named: Dr77773, Mitchman88, Arlos Carlos,  El_Noobo, and the illustrious ( I hope I just read this wrong) Donky_Dic# and all manner of other jackassery. By the gods, just let characters have pre-generated names or the ability to name your own guy. It works for every other MMO in the world. Using PS4 gamer tags just looks beyond stupid and annoying!
• Humans! The constant jumping. Why is this still a thing?! Why to players feel the need to just jump all over the board, while in combat, while following you? Gah! Humans are the worst!
• This feels like a Fallout skinned over Destiny. There are constant open world events running where you can grab random gear, supplies and crafting materials. The mechanic feels like the open world events in Destiny.
• This isn’t even going to be a finished product upon release. That could mean annoying patches and updates at wildly inopportune times.

I am not super impressed with this game so far. It didn’t help that I went into this thinking it was going to be annoying, and I was proven correct. I have already pre-ordered and paid for the game so I’ll give it another try. I can always hope that there will be private servers available someday. I had a feeling I was going to dislike a MMO Fallout game and there are signs I still will. It feels rushed. It looks and sort of plays like Fallout, without being Fallout. It all feels like Bethesda is trying to mimic but not mimic Fortnight. You know like every other first person shooting game is trying to do right now too. For some reason people complained that Fallout needed to be available for people to play with “friends” well this is what happens when that wish is made true. I was not one of those people and have never met one of those people. I think I probably wouldn’t like to associate with those people. I’ve seen firsthand how they play and it is beyond annoying!

Fallout 76! Boy I can’t wait until the 14^th!