The former Black Isle duders come back to their baby...
As I trekked through yet another post-apocalyptic wasteland, I was suddenly hit by a startling epiphany: Fallout is a smart piece of art. Now, this fact was clearly shown by the first two games in the series, but Fallout 3 - As great as a game that it is - wasn’t the most intelligent of games. I’m speaking specifically about the writing here. I can’t say enough good about the writing in this game! It is superb, some of the best in Obsidian’s history, and they’ve made a lot of extremely well written games, albeit full of jank gameplay wise. So, it’s expected that this game turned out the way that it did.
However, the bugs that you’ve come to expect from an Obsidian game, or from a game on the Gamebryo engine are still present. There are crashes, the scripting can break easily, and more animation problems than you can wave a stick at. And even with all of this, it is still an amazing game.
Obsidian could’ve easily made a better Fallout game than Fallout 3 by simply improving the writing and story, so they did that and more. The gameplay is still extremely reminiscent of Fallout 3, but there are some really smart changes. The new ammo types and types armor, while at times can be a pain, also make it a more tactical experience, and a more believable one. But the most important, while small, change to the combat is the addition of being able to aim down the sights. The combat is still determined by dice rolls, but at least this can ease the pain and create a more natural shooter experience.
That’s not to say that this is a shooter by any means, and it never was. This is an RPG, through and through. As you would expect from nearly every RPG, there are companions, and the way you interact with these companions is vastly improved from Fallout 3 by the companion wheel. This wheel streamlines much of the tactical decisions you can give to your companions, and it was so good that it even made me actually want to use a companion throughout the whole game. That says a lot for someone who avoided companions in Fallout 3 like the plague.
Speaking of RPG mechanics, they are improved across the board, albeit in small ways. You get less skill points per level and a perk every two levels. This gets rid of the super-characters that you could create in Fallout 3, and also supports multiple playthroughs if you want to see every way to play. There is also the re-addition of traits, which were featured in the original Fallout games.
Now back to the real meat of the experience. The world which Obsidian created is completely amazing. There is no shortage of content. There are people to meet, ruins to explore, and quests to complete a plenty. There is simply a whole effing lot to do. If you want something to eat up your time, this is your game.
I don’t want to get too much into the story and writing, but I’ll say as much as both aspects are great. The writing is top-notch, and the story, while lacking that personal “umph”, is very interesting and something that is fun to explore and experience.
The graphics are a mixed bag. They look a lot like a game from 2008 still. There are some moments of genuine awe however. The lighting is fantastic, and the game handles dawn and dusk expertly.
The sound is the most solid and consistent aspect of the whole game. The sound of a sand storm brewing on the horizon as the giant-mutated ants crawl their way towards you is expertly crafted. The licensed music, while great, is not very large. So expect plenty of repetition. The score is also great, as it includes music from the original Fallout games, which is a great piece pf fan-service. Obsidian also managed to get a great cast for the voice acting, with people like, Felicia Day, Wayne Newton, and Matthew Perry. It’s pretty darn good.
So, at the end of the day, this is a great game. It may be full of bugs, but the good rises out of the ashes beautifully. As cliche as this must sound, this game personifies a phoenix metaphor almost perfectly. This is a great buy, just wait for a couple of patches if you are OCD and can’t stand jank. (Josh, I’m looking at you)
Five Super Mutants out of five.
