7 years!  It’s hard to believe that we’ve been waiting 7 long years for a direct sequel to our beloved Fallout 3.  So after feeling like we’ve been napping in a cryo-chamber located deep within an underground vault, Fallout 4 is finally here and I can tell you straight off the bat fellow Vault Dweller, its more than worth the wait.  Let’s venture the post apocalyptic nuclear wasteland to get harassed by Deathclaw’s once more!

In terms of story, I’ll keep this section brief to avoid any spoilers and if you’ve managed to avoid any so far, Kudos.  In a nutshell you begin the story post-nuclear attacks in the signature alternative Fallout retro setting.  After being convinced to retreat into the Vault with your family, you awaken 200 years later to find that the world has changed around you to devastating effect.  You must now embark on a journey to reclaim what you hold most dear, thankfully, you’re gonna have a real blast while you get there.  So much so that you may find that the main story missions take a constant backseat to Fallout 4’s well thought out side-missions.  I never thought that I would see a game with such invested side-missions so soon after the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which also only released this year.  It’s certainly a great time for the RPG fan.

While much of the gameplay mechanics will fall into familiar territory for returning fans, the biggest gameplay improvements in my opinion come in the form of Fallout 4’s vast customisation options.  For starters, every single weapon can be customised to suit your needs, as long as you have the required parts.  In total there are 50 base weapons in the game, giving you around 700 possible modifications.  While it might not be to the same level as the weapon customisation in the likes of the Borderlands series, it’s certainly a worthy addition to the Fallout series and one that I’m sure will be seen in future Bethesda titles .  On top of that, the way in which the firearm combat handles feels fantastic, in fact it is said that Bethesda inspired this aspect of its gameplay from the likes of Destiny.  Ok, it’s nowhere near to the level of Destiny, but it’s an improvement on previous games none the less.

If you’ve played Fallout 3 or New Vegas recently, the chances are that you’ll clearly notice and feel the improvements first-hand.  And no recent Fallout title would ever feel quite the same without the VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System).  Not much has changed in comparison to previous outings (if at all), but it still feels just as satisfying as you land that crucial slow-motion headshot.  Unfortunately the melee combat of Fallout 4 still leaves much to be desired, which is why my melee combat has been practically none existent during my playthrough.

Joining the weapon customisation is the crafting of your very own settlements.  At first the whole process may feel daunting, I myself tried to avoid it as much as possible.  Then it wasn’t until I unexpectedly satisfied my strange and unexpected desire when I discovered that I could tidy up my settlement locations by clearing up debris.  You will have various settlement locations and you will be able to make them as big or as small as you’d like.  You can build anything from little huts, to multi-story buildings.  However, it’s not just the settlements and its buildings that you’ll need to look after, as settlers will be taking sanctuary in your haven and the population number will increase as your settlement expands.  It is then up to you to supply your settlers with clean water, electricity, somewhere to sleep, security and so forth.  It’s really up to your whether you build a cosy village or your very own empire.

Living among your settlements or accompanying you on your journey will be your companions.  Dogmeat being the most famous of them all, as he’s featured in previous outings and in the many Fallout 4 trailers.  However, Dogmeat is just one of many and each come with their own personalities and traits.  They will not only aid you in battle, but Dogmeat for example will sniff out goodies such as ammo and stimpacks.  But you must be careful about the choices you make in the presence of your companion, as it can affect their opinion on you, for better or worse.  And if you’re worried that companions such as Dogmeat will die, fear not, as they are practically indestructible.  Yet, this won’t make a blind bit of difference when you see a Raider attacking your mutt, because I promise you that will see red when that happens.

Fallout 4 runs from the same engine as Skyrim and while the visuals do not hit the dizzying heights of other new gen games, don’t let that put you off.  Visually Fallout 4 is still a nice looking game, even though the facial animation can seem a little off at times.  But when you consider the shear scope of this game and all of what you can get up to, it’s a great achievement by the developers over at Bethesda Game Studios.  The world itself is vibrant with life and strange goings on, with some glitchy oddities to boot (thankfully the glitches are minor and in most cases quite humorous).  The developers have given Fallout 4 so much love and attention, and it clearly shows.

One of the other biggest introductions into the game is that our playable protagonist now has a voice.  It’s hard to believe that he (as he was in previous outings) once roamed the wasteland silently communicating, with the use of text to interact and the reliant of NPC’s to help further the story.  In a way, it kind of reminds me of when Travellers Tales introduced spoken dialogue into their Lego gaming series.  Yes it’s a matter of taste, but I find it hard to think of a Lego game being any other way.  Again, it comes down to taste as to whether you prefer the protagonist to have a voice or not, for me, I prefer it as it helps me feel even more invested in my created character and it aids the storytelling progression.  To boot, all the voice-cast of Fallout 4 do a super job and really bring each character to life, no matter how seemingly small their role may seem and as an added bonus, Inon Zur returns to provide a superb supporting soundtrack.

While Fallout 4’s map may not be to the mass of games such as Just Cause 2 or The Witcher 3, its still huge and much like the later, the Boston wasteland is packed with missions that all feel like they belong, I’ve not come across any mission that feels like filler.  It’s practically impossible to give an estimate as to how long you can get lost in Fallout 4 for, as much like GTA V, you could easily put in 30 hours and get nowhere in terms of main story progression, there is just so many awesome distractions.  Put it this way, Fallout 4 could easily become a game that you will not only be playing for months on end, but it’s likely people may still be discovering new things a year or two later, and there’s not many games that can boast that.

Before the game even hit the stores, it was already been tagged with Game of the Year, just based upon previous instalments and what was shown at E3 this year.  Week’s after its release, it’s quite clear that Fallout 4 is a superb game.  Is it my game of the year?  Possibly, however I could give you a different answer this time tomorrow.  But is it one of the best games to release in 2015?  It’s certainly one of my favourite games released in recent years and we’ve been blessed with some gems lately.  Fallout 4 is a result of a game that the developers clearly loved making and while this particular genre might not be for everyone, fans of previous Fallout games should instantly fall in love with this outing.  Now if you excuse me, I have some debris to tidy up in one of my settlements and there’s a hat that I need to kill a Raider for.

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