Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. November is my busiest month of the year thanks to the Holiday Gift Guide. So you can imagine the clash emotions I had when Bethesda announced Fallout 4 was being released November 10th. Fallout 3 is my favorite video game of all time and the sequel instantly rivaled Star Wars: The Force Awakens as my most anticipated geek event of 2015.
Fallout is the kind of game you don't just play for a little bit, so knowing it was releasing right smack dab in the middle of my Holiday Gift Guide prep filled me with dread. How could I possibly give time to both?
I still don't have a solid answer to that, but I did start the Guide work a little earlier than usual and set aside one week to just lose myself in the wasteland. Right now the game's on the backburner until I finish the Guide, but I wanted to put some thoughts down on it before it fades from memory, lost in a haze of geek item pricing and Black Friday sales.
The reason Fallout 3 had such a huge impact on me was I never really dabbled in open world gaming. Role Playing Games weren't really for me, but there's something in Bethesda's unique melding of First Person Shooter and RPG gameplay that hooked me enough to keep playing to the point where I stepped out of Vault 101 for the first time and saw a giant world in front of me. And no direction on where to go.
That's the moment something flipped in my brain. I had complete freedom to go anywhere in the world and had no clue where to start. Like Dorothy, I decided to follow my own yellow brick road... except mine was broken and leading past mole rats instead of Munchkins. That road led to a town named Megaton, built around an unexploded bomb, and from there I discovered the world of side quests, main quests and seemingly endless looting.
All told I played through the game 3 times, putting in over 200 hours in that time. The deepness of the world's mythology and the blackly funny undertone to everything worked on me in a way I was not expecting.
If you've never played the game, it takes place in a world that split off from ours during WW2. Atomic energy was harnessed in a way that never happened in our reality. Some 100 years later tensions between China and the US causes a nuclear war.
Some citizens found refuge in massive Vaults, underground sanctuaries provided by a fairly transparently evil company called Vault-Tec. In both Fallout 3 and 4 you are a resident of one of these vaults and have to go into the Wastes in search of something, meeting people, good, bad and somewhere in-between on your quest.
Because of the alternate world setting there's a fantastic future retro design to everything. Lots of Art Deco, '50s designs and old timey music that juxtaposes the Mad Max style wasteland beautifully.
I'm in love with this world and can lose hours just walking around in it, finding random houses to loot for ammo, new weapons and little trinkets that boost my character's skills.
My expectations for Fallout 4 were unrealistic, to say the least. I was in that fanboy realm of wanting something new, but not wanting them to change anything that I loved about the previous installment. I don't know how, but goddamnit, they did it.
Now, I wanted to write a proper review, but after one day of playing I knew that there was no way in hell I would finish the game before I finished the Holiday Guide, even if I rushed myself and with this game in particular I didn't want to do that. I wanted to soak it in. Lose myself as I wander. Discover random places, complete side quests... absorb the world I loved so much.
I weighed my options. I could finish the Guide and then finish the game, but then I was looking at writing something up 3-4 weeks after the game had been released. That didn't work. So, I started taking notes about my day to day progress and jotting down notes about what I was learning as I progressed. I'm going to try to break down my week with as few spoilers as possible, offering advice when I can.
DAY ONE
Because I'm dumb I bought the game twice. I couldn't help but order the Pip-Boy Collector's Edition, but I didn't want to wait for it to be delivered sometime Tuesday, so I also pre-ordered the game digitally through the Xbox Store.
One upside to that is the game unlocked midnight Eastern time, which meant I got to start playing at 11pm my time while all the poor bastards who ordered their physical copies from Gamestop were still in line.
I studied the Perk Chart way in advance and had my plan of attack of where I was going to strengthen my stats. Knowing that all the junk had value (containing materials that could be broken down to help build settlements... but we'll get to that later), I knew I wanted to put a lot into Strength (so I could carry more stuff). I also wanted to be able to max out lockpick and hacking early on because nothing frustrates me more than seeing a safe or door or computer terminal I can't get in to.
I'm also a sneaky player. I like to use long distance weapons and hide in the shadows.
By the time the game actually starts (after the bombs drop) I had a pretty high Charisma, Strength, Intelligence and Luck.
When the music started and you're walking around Vault 111, looking for the way out, I already felt at home. Graphically the world might not be mindblowingly photo-real, but I'll happily take getting the feel right over some pretty character interactions any day of the week.
That first night of gameplay I met Preston, the leader of a group called the Minutemen who are the goodie two-shoes of the Commonwealth Wasteland. Which fits with my play style because I feel really shitty when I play evil in these games.
Power armor doesn't work like like it did in Fallout 3 and I'm still trying to decide if I like it. They're more like vehicles now. You can swap arms, legs, helmet and torso for better armor as you find more and it needs a battery to actually work it, which means you can't be super powered all the time. I've been probably way over cautious about using it, but as a result I've banked a ton of cores so I can play the later parts of the game in style (and with max protection).
Speaking of max protection, here's a little pro-trip: You can equip leg, chest, head and arm armor... but the game doesn't tell you that you can wear some outfits underneath. I thought something was up when I seemed to be at my most powerful looking like this:
So, a Vault Suit or Army or Military fatigues can be worn underneath and they also give you a bonus to one of your core attributes (ie make you stronger, more perceptive, more intelligent, etc). Also, you can wear eyeglasses/sunglasses while wearing a helmet and they'll give you a boost, too.
I ended up putting about 9 hours into my first round of playing, found my first Bobblehead (a special collectible that gives you a permanent skill buff), got to level 8 and entered Diamond City, a colony set up in what remains of Fenway Park. Diamond City feels a whole lot like Megaton, so I knew it was a good stopping point. I was in a place I could call home soon enough (and I would).
DAY 2
Tuesday afternoon/Wednesday morning was my first real “lose yourself in the game” run. I played for 14 hours and it was everything I wanted from the game.
I wasn't in a rush to do story missions, but I wanted to get the first batch out of the way, so I went looking for the bastard that kidnapped my son and found a few companions. I dismissed Dogmeat (the cool German Shepard you meet right outside the Vault) because he wasn't doing much for me, but the game really does seem to want you take companions with you on missions. They carry stuff, draw fire and attack for you.
My favorite companion so far is Nick Valentine, who is a deteriorating android in the mold of a Sam Spade gumshoe type. His design is great... he's got the fedora and trenchcoat and since he's a syth his eyes glow yellow in the dark... and his skin is deteriorating a bit, which means he's got a neck flap that I can't help but think was inspired by Jack from American Werewolf.
Pro-tip: When you take your companions out with you they start to like you. You get them to the point where they really, really like you can get a special, permanent perk. Each one is different, but if you're just starting out I'd go with Piper or Preston. Piper's perk is a permanent XP boost for passing speech tests and discovering new places. Preston's perk gives you a damage boost and damage resistance when facing three or more opponents. Both come in very handy in the early stages of the game, but it takes a while to level up that relationship.
You can also get freaky with some of them, too, but we'll talk about that in a bit.
Another big discovery I made on this day was I was really, really squishy. I'd get killed easy and wasn't doing much damage. It took me all day to figure out why, so hopefully I can help a little here.
Put points in Armorer and Gun Nut. Trust me. You pick up some good armor as you progress, but in order to actually not feel underpowered you need to be able to upgrade the armor yourself, something I put off and wish I hadn't. Gun Nut allows you upgrade your weapons, which is crucial because that's how you get real damage dealers.
I gotta say, after having my Fallout 3 re-play strategy down to a science it was actually pretty nice to be walking around the wasteland scared of running into stuff again. It's been a long time since I've felt like I was vulnerable while exploring and it added an edge to playing that I didn't realize I missed until I felt the fear again. I ended the day at level 14.
DAY 3
This was another marathoner, but this time I was focused on side quests and exploring, which made this my favorite time playing so far.
The beauty of Bethesda games is the weird neverending puzzle feeling you get in the early days of playing. For example, my miscellaneous quest was to visit the Pickman Gallery, which ended up being the home of a serial killer who was murdering raiders. He's a psycho, but he's at least aiming his skills at the bad guys. Anyway, it was a great level that went from his creepy serial killer shrine-filled house to the creepy catacombs below it, but even though I started the day with that quest it took me about 6 hours to get there from Diamond City, even though it was only a three or four minute walk away.
I would discover new locations on the way and get sidetracked searching and looting. “Oo, what's over here? A hospital. Nice! I bet I can get a lot of stimpacks in there and boy do I need 'em...”
I also discovered that the more names a gun has the better it was. I would have known this earlier if I paid more attention to gun-building, but it's true. You pick up a Short Combat Rifle it's okay, but if you pick up a Recoil Compensated Powerful Combat Rifle you're going to do some damage. The more modifiers it has, the better it's going to be.
Day 3 was the day I deployed my first mini-nuke. The Fallout series has a gun called Fat Man, which is a big sucker that rockets a mini-nuke and does devastating damage. Mini-nukes are rare, so you only use these sparingly, at least you did in Fallout 3. Ammo is still rare for it in Fallout 4, but there are suicide Super Mutants that will charge you and explode. Yeah, they suck, but if you can kill them before they blow up you get a mini-nuke.
I typically still save that for “oh shit” moments. I had my first one on this day and it was because of a random encounter on a mission.
One of the new elements introduced in this game is the ability to get legendary armor and weapon drops by killing random legendary bad guys. One of these appeared and kept destroying me. He had a shotgun and would one-shot me. After the fifth death I finally said “Fuck it” and pulled out my Fat Man.
Preston was my companion and aaalllmost ran in front of the mini-nuke as I launched it down a hallway, but it sailed over his shoulder and hit not only the legendary raider, but the five other dudes around him. The ka-ching sound of my XP recorder made me feel like I just made a touchdown at a high school game. It was glorious and probably the single most satisfying video game moment I've had in years.
Oh, and I got his amazing shotgun, which I've now made even better. It gives me 50% damage boost against animals, which is good since there's a lot of mean critters in this game. I ended this day Level 19.
DAY 4
This was the day that I really committed to figuring out the new settlement system. You can discover places that usually has a resident that'll give you a task. If you complete the task then that becomes a location where you can build up. Grow crops, deploy turrets for defense, build structures, deploy power generators and lights, etc.
Now, Bethesda decided against giving any real tutorial, which is both awesome and frustrating. It's great to figure it out slowly but surely yourownself, but sometimes a brotha needs a hint!
I didn't much care for this aspect early on because I couldn't figure it out, but once you get the hang of it this settlement building becomes a really fun component. It breaks up what could be the monotony of doing fetch and clear quests over and over again. You start getting tired of those, then go build a house or set up a weapon stand and start making caps (the currency of the game... no real money anymore, people use bottlecaps) every day.
I think this is especially going to be fun once the main quest is done.
Here are some settlement tips:
-Focus on these materials: Gears, Springs, Aluminum, Oil and Adhesive. All mats are important, but those are the ones I've run low on and I pick up damn near everything when I loot.
-You can transfer everything to your workbench and it's in your builder inventory automatically, which saves you from carrying too much junk around with you.
-You can share materials between settlements if you make a supply line between them. To do so you need to highlight a settler standing around doing nothing and you'll have the option to pick where you want to send them. I'm trickling everything down from Sanctuary, the topmost settlement and it seems to be working so far.
-You can collect gun and armor mods by building something new in that category (ie if you want a gun's scope, build a standard sight and the scope mod will now be in your inventory).
-There's a bell you can build that will call every resident to you. It's under resources>miscellaneous. This was a gamechanger for me because I kept losing companions. If they're in the settlement they'll come running when you ring the bell.
-Build a Medic Stand early and assign someone to it. The game makes it hard to get rid of radiation damage, so if you don't want to burn through your RadAway you need a Medic stand. It'll cost you 40 caps per visit, but it's much cheaper than buying RadAway.
-Make sure to check your workbench inventory if you set up these stores. The caps they make will appear there.
There's a working calendar in game and it just so happened a big quest moment fell on Christmas Eve, 2287, and it was an epic, epic battle at a place called The Castle, which when you take it over becomes one of the best settlements you can get in the game. Trust me, you'll want this place, but it's not easy. They not only put a big monster in there they also put a legendary creature and I triggered both at the same damn time. My Fat Man only did a quarter damage on the big monster, by the way, so go in there ready for some shit.
I was able to pull myself out of the game long enough to get some real life supplies. I went to Target because they reportedly have an exclusive tie-in soda and I wanted it because I'm that kind of nerd. But they didn't have any Nuka-Cola Quantum at my local Target, so I had to settle for some Mexican Cokes. I ultimately just wanted something bottled so I could feel like I was collecting my own caps. Don't judge me.
Ended this session at level 24.
DAY 5
Today I got gay-married to Preston because why not? He's a handsome man.
My first companion perk achieved and then I promptly booted him away and brought in Piper so I could get her perk. The nice thing about having a “mate” in the game is that if you sleep in near proximity to them (pretty much in the same building) you get a temporary perk called Lover's Embrace that gives you a 15% XP bonus for 12 in-game hours.
I went back to the story a bit today and also backtracked and found safes I couldn't crack early on. I had finally maxed out my lockpick skills and put them to use!
Piper isn't my favorite companion, so I figured I'd make her look silly as hell and dressed her up as a barbarian queen wielding a super powerful axe while wearing a chef's hat. It actually worked for her! She was a much better fighter with that stuff equipped.
It was around this day that real life started intruding in my gameplay. I started getting back to work on the Guide and also spent some quality time with my nephews, but you better believe I still put in some time in the wastes.
This day was notable for me doing my first Edge of Tomorrow like mission re-do. One thing you need to know when you play Fallout is you save early and you save often. You never know what's around a corner and you could easily fuck yourself with a bad save.
In this case I saved right at the end of a mission where I had to pass a speech test in order for the bad guy not to assassinate a friend in front of me. Even with a high charisma that's not guaranteed and I wouldn't accept failing that and watching my Ghoul friend get his brains blown out in front of me, so after failing a few times I finally passed it and saved the day. Yay for me!
But yes, there's no shame in saving often. Do it. You won't regret it.
DAY 6
I reached level 30 this day, which is kind of incredible when you consider that 30 was the level cap for Fallout 3 (and you could only get that far after the DLC... The cap originally was 20). I'm level 30 and I just now am starting to feel like I'm cracking the world. I've discovered over 100 locations, cleared 30+ of them and I still have a long list of side-quests and the vast majority of the main story to complete.
I spent of this day working on the Guide, so don't have much to report game-wise, but I still managed to find some time go on the hunt for 10 holotapes for my Android Detective friend and dipped into the next story level, which actually was surprisingly nuanced. I won't say much, but it's the point where you start to understand who the man was who kidnapped your son and it's done in a way that makes you have sympathy for a guy that so far has just been the pure evil son of a bitch bad guy. It's very smart character development and has already shifted how I think about the main questline of the game.
DAY 7
Had a birthday party to go to and some real work to do, so once again I only played a couple hours. I told everybody expect me to be lost to Fallout for a while, but a week is pressing it, so back to the news grindstone I went.
That said, I did begin a bunch of quests for the Brotherhood of Steel, who have been saving my ass for the last few days. They're a big power armor tech-obsessed faction that patrol the streets and fly by on Vertibirds, taking out bad guys randomly. I stumbled across a couple of them fighting some critters and then crested a hill only to see a Deathclaw, which is the biggest, baddest mofo in the wastes. I would have been screwed, but he was busy with killing one of the Brotherhood of Steel, which the others didn't much care for and they lit up this creature. I helped kill it, but really it was them doing all the work.
That's about it, though. I cleared out a few areas for the Brotherhood, but didn't want to commit to anything major because I knew I couldn't afford to spend the time for even a lengthy side mission.
THOUGHTS:
So far the game is everything I wanted from it. The looting is more refined (you don't have to open everything, you can just look at it), the design of the different locations is both familiar and new. I don't find myself as lost as I got in Fallout 3. They made it really hard to get in and out of Washington DC and gave us a ton of confusing subway tunnels that I still get lost in when I go back to play, even after 200+ hours of playing in that world. Haven't run into that so far in the Boston-set Fallout 4.
There's a lot they make you figure out yourself, but in the internet age if you ever get lost just do a google search. You'll get an answer right away.
I miss Three Dog. The new DJ is fine (and sounds like a Justin Roiland character, which I appreciate), but Three Dog had so much personality he always made me smile. This game is only set 10 years after Fallout 3, so I suppose it's possible he could show up in one of the Fallout 4 DLCs, which would make me jump for joy.
The song selection is great, although they rely a lot on classics from Fallout 3. I can't complain about including Cole Porter and Roy Brown and Ink Spots because they're all awesome and part of what makes Fallout feel like Fallout to me, but it does feel like I get a lot of repeats... of course, I am putting in a ridiculous amount of time, so that might have something to do with that. The classical station is actually great, by the way.
The introduction of early rock tunes is a welcome addition to the playlist, though. That's actually music I grew up with and it strikes a great nostalgic chord with me.
My buddy, Aaron, who is just as obsessive about Fallout as I am, dug up this great Spotify playlist that is 10 hours of fitting songs. Now I pass it along to you so you can have some variation as you wander the wastes.
It's so good to be back in this world. In a weird way I wish the game wasn't as awesome as it is because it'd be easier for me to ignore it so this Holiday Guide doesn't kick my ass so hard.
I can't comment too much on the main story, but the fact that I've now put in over 40 hours and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet should tell you everything you need to know about this game.
Hope you guys got something of value out of this rundown. I'm a guy who likes video games, but I'm by no means a video game expert, so I hope you all bear that in mind.
Now I'm going to get back to the Guide. It's gonna be a biggie this year. Stay tuned, that big sumbitch posts next week!
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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