Fallout 76 Review: War Has Changed

After months of speculation and weighing the pros and cons of the massive changes coming to everyone’s favorite post-apocalyptic RPG series, Fallout 76 has released. As someone who’s been a fan of the series since Fallout 3, I was a bit apprehensive as I walked into the Beta. I was unsure of how a solo experience perfectly suited for the world Bethesda had crafted would stack up against an always online version. While the final results are not nearly as bad as I was anticipating, even after playing through most of the pre-release Beta sessions, it still feels a bit lacking when compared to the previous entries in the series.

There is a story for those worried about that, but it’s not delivered in the tried and true method Bethesda fans have grown to love. Even after spending upwards of 40 hours playing, I can’t begin to tell you a thing about the story beyond the fact that you begin the journey into the foothills of West Virginia on Reclamation Day, the scheduled opening of Vault 76. The inhabitants exit the vault and set off to rebuild America post nuclear war. The story is exclusively drip fed by means of audio logs, computer terminals, and NPC robots. The problem with this lies in the fact that due to this being an online only game, you are always open to attack, leading you to rushing through reading the terminals or trying to follow the voice overs while enemies and gunfire drown out the sound, essentially creating an unneeded distraction from the narrative. This not only affects the pace of the story, but the way the quests are structured when playing in a group.

Fallout 76

Fallout 76 requires a great deal of patience when playing with friends, assuming you give a crap about the rest of the group. This ignores the progression system multiplayer RPG games such as Borderlands or Dead Island set as a standard, where progress for the group was made once a single person completed an objective. In the wasteland each and every member of the party will have to complete the same objective to receive credit. While I fully understand the desire to make the player put in work to progress, it grows tiring early on having to wait around on your party members while they interact with the same terminal you just did, with the overly long faux loading screens. This makes up roughly half of the objectives I’ve come across, including making your way into a building or killing everything in sight, only to loot resources and interact with a PC. The annoyances don’t end there – some missions will send various members of your group to alternate locations to complete the objective at hand, despite entering the quest at the same time, requiring you to break away (which is a death sentence, but we’ll come back to this later) or do the same objective twice. This issue becomes even more problematic on quests that require you to interact with or kill certain high level, uber difficult enemies. If a member of your party fails to complete a specific action prior to the group killing the enemy, or they happen to die just as the enemy is vanquished, that player will have to return the area solo, relaunch the encounter (doing so with a group will cause the enemy to fail to spawn), and hope that the team can make their way back to the location in time to help you.

The waiting game doesn’t stop there, since crafting is a huge part this time around. You’ll need to visit work benches often to scrap junk, repair weapons, and obviously craft/combine items. These are available at your C.A.M.P. (we’ll talk about this in a bit as well), as well as littered about the game world. While anyone in the group can scrap items/junk at these at any time, only one person can actually modify items at a time, leaving the rest of the group to hover and protect them, move on without them, or meander around aimlessly. I found it extremely tedious when trying to catch up with my group if separated at any point. While you can quick travel to any place on the map (structures take Caps now), including your teammates or C.A.M.P. (for FREE!!), the lengthy loading times coupled with the singular spawn point at many locales leave you just as far away as before. I know, I could’ve asked them to wait or meet me somewhere, but who wants to be “that guy?” Not me, the system should simply work better.

Fallout 76

So what did I do when wasting time waiting on my wife or friends to finish so we could move forward? Well, I took a lot of photos in the new camera mode. This can be used at any time (you’re still open to attack) and allows you to take photos of anything in game, with a crazy amounts of options, such as filters, frames, and poses (you can only change your character, not everyone in the group). I found this to be my favorite change (of many), as I would take big game style trophy photos of my character standing atop the carcass of one of the more challenging enemies, capture glitches, or just killing time. One of the cooler aspects of this feature is your photos will be included in your load screens, allowing you to spend some down time reliving nostalgic moments from your journey. More costumes, poses, frames, and items can be purchased using Atoms, a new form of currency that can be bought or earned by completing challenges. Rest assured, these are simply cosmetic and do not offer any type of pay to win incentive as of yet.

The overall economic system the game throws at you is similar to past games, with caps being the primary currency. With all human NPCs being removed, the duty falls onto robots similar to the ones found in the heavily secured areas in Fallout: NV. These are placed few and far between, with only one major settlement I’ve found including more than one, each with limited caps. As of this writing, I have yet to accumulate more than a hundred or so of these previous tin bits, and selling the items found within the game world rarely yields any payout in the double digits. I found myself often weighing the decision between that snazzy robe to make my character resemble The Dude or the much needed stimpacks. Sadly, I always go with the latter, thanks to the underwhelming survival mechanics.

Akin to the hardcore mode that was introduced into Fallout: New Vegas, you will have to painstakingly forage for food and water while monitoring your radiation levels, or suffer the consequences of your actions. While these were all things that contributed to your overall HP in previous games, now you have separate status bars for hunger and hydration, and failing to properly manage them will result in a loss of AP (stamina) or HP, as well as how much weight you can carry. These affects can be curbed by using the proper Perk cards, but the constant need to forage becomes grueling early on and rarely lets up. Making matters worse, you’ll often spawn into the game already suffering from dehydration and hunger, even if you logged out at tip top shape.

Fallout 76

Now that I have some of the more pressing issues out of my system, let’s discuss the previously mentioned C.A.M.P., an acronym for something I am too lazy to look up, but boils down to being a settlement similar to those found within Fallout 4. These allow you to customize structures, setup crafting stations, store items you wish to keep but are too heavy to truck around on your person, or basically play Minecraft. This can be used outside of any established location with the game world and moved at your leisure for a small Cap fee. Taking advantage of this early on is recommended, but be careful where you place it, as it’s common for you to spawn in huge groups of enemies.

 

In my preview coverage of the game, I mentioned that the enemies appeared in too few numbers, leaving the game world feeling empty. This has been remedied for the most part, but now falls on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, with enemies spawning in often overwhelming numbers frequently. There are still long segments of nothingness as you wander about larger settlement style areas that should be booming with ghouls or whatnot, but instead offer small numbers of friendly robots. These robots amount in decent chunks of XP if you choose to be malicious towards them, but many will ignore you altogether until you completely deplete their lifebar. If you’re playing in a group, or at least have a single partner, they aren’t too bad should they actually put up a fight, but they become problematic for those who wish to play solo. Circling back to the previous grievances, a lot of item management such as accessing your inventory to use survival items, change out weapons, interacting with NPCs/terminals, etc., leaves you open to attack. Regularly I found myself dying while trying to drink or eat, as the enemies seem to come out of nowhere and attack relentlessly, pursuing you before you see them as the norm.

The game world you face is a lethal one, not just due to the increased number of creatures and enemies you’ll face, but because you now have to deal with other players. When I was testing the game pre-release, I ran into a few jerks that looked to sour the experience for others; however, post-release this has been tamed. It is hit or miss if you run into other players at this time, and while they show up on your map, I found myself having to actively seek out those labeled as murderers or visit the larger named environments to really run into other players. There is a nifty anti-grief measure in place to curb toxic behavior – PvP is limited to those who have reached level five, and once reached, you can attack and damage other players who are not within your team. Until you return fire, their attacks are nerfed, but can end up killing you. If you are killed without returning fire, the opposing player is labeled a murderer, all other players are removed from their map for a set time, and they are shown as a murderer with a bounty placed on their head depending on how severe their infraction is. While I have found it fun to seek out some lower level murderers for fun, I have yet to kill another player to be marked myself, so I can’t comment on how that end works. On the flip side, you can ask the strangers to join you, which is encouraged since friendly fire is a thing if you’re not grouped, opening up the potential for misunderstandings turning bloody. With this being said, I feel like the multiplayer move was one in the right direction, but could use some serious polish.

Fallout 76

Bethesda has crafted an open world that begs for exploration. There are large wilderness filled areas that hide small camps or shacks with notes and fun nods to past games within, all holding precious resources that will be required to excel. Finding basic weaponry is not overly difficult, but maintaining and upgrading it is. You’ll spend large chunks of time looking for duct tape or glass to complete your list for that one upgrade you need to turn that meh gun into a weapon of mass destruction, or in some cases, just keeping it up to snuff, because a broken weapon during battle in West Virginia is yet another one-way ticket to your doom. Death in this version of Fallout is somewhat forgiving depending on the player, as you’ll lose all of the junk stored on your person, requiring you to hike back to where you died in hopes of retrieving it before another player nabs it. The good news is that the loot found within the game world is (mainly, I have encountered a few glitches that cause the opposite to happen in the event someone is accessing the same box/corpse) instance based, meaning the loot found within your game world is yours. This does not apply to randomly placed items outside of containers which spawn at random and are in place as a free for all of sorts.

One of the biggest changes to the franchise is the leveling system, which replaces the perks offered upon completing certain levels with cards. You’ll still earn XP as normal, and upon each level you’ll be given the option to upgrade one of your stats, in addition to applying perk cards based off of your attributes. The cards are earned by reaching certain levels or completing quests and offer a decent variety in terms of new and classic perks, with varying levels that allow you to upgrade perks if you acquire duplicate cards. Some of the cards offer buffs to the entire group, or in some cases reward you for going solo. There’s an option to share specific perks with the group that are not automatically applied as an additional treat for those who wish to play in a party. The change works well in execution, but the randomized aspect could use some improvement, as it leaves you with the option of building a character with what you have, opposed to using the perks you want, as you cannot trade or store the cards between characters or other players.

Fallout 76

Combat has been changed a bit as well, as the VATS system that previously allowed you to slow down time and attack specific areas of enemies has been revamped to match the online functionality. VATS is still an option, but it no longer slows time since this would annoy participants as other players enter and exit the mode regularly. It’s a handy guide for finding enemies that may be otherwise hidden or lurking outside of your field of view; it makes the gunplay much more reliant on the player’s skill, requiring you to have at least some FPS skill going in. The combat plays out mostly as you remember it from past games other than that big, noteworthy change. The arsenal at your disposal hasn’t changed much from Fallout 4, with most of the same options being offered, with only a few new weapons being available as of this time.

The presentation is up to par by Bethesda standards, with glitches and bugs being regular issues, at some points making the title downright unplayable.  I’ve spent hours on end with choppy, laggy visuals, that come and go with no rhyme or reason until you reboot the software completely. Other troubling issues such as players appearing as random floating heads/hands, invincible enemies, wonky quest progression and the clipping/texture issues that the developer is known for are in frequent as well. When the title does work as it should, it offers some slight visual improvements over past entries, with more pronounced textures and lighting patterns that help to add a sense of immersion other facets fail to deliver on. In past games from the Fallout or Morrowind franchises, the subterranean areas always felt like winding caves that looked generic and devoid of many details to make any of the locales standout from the others, this has been remedied with Fallout 76, as each cavern, mine or cave stands out as it’s own unique little area. While they still boil down to stone walled mazes, they are much easier to navigate and rarely evoke the sense of dread caused by previous instances that often left the player checking their map constantly for a way forward.

Fallout 76

I particularly like the amount of detail put into the enemies, allowing for more variations on the ghouls, scorchers (replacements for bandits, who look like burnt ghouls, since there are no human NPCs), and super mutants. The new creatures you face make way for some terrifying additions to the list of things that want nothing more than to eat your face, including some West Virginia folk legends such as the Mothman and Wendigo. With the change of scenery, there are now giant toads, salamanders, ticks, and other mutated versions of true to life animals. There are a few that feel a bit out of place such as the not native rad scorpions, which attack in gigantic packs and have been upgraded to allow for popping in and out of the ground for stealth based attacks.

The one major area the presentation fails in is the HUD and map. Unlike previous games, minor miscellaneous quests cannot be deselected from the Pip-Boy menu, which means you’ll likely have a half dozen or more markers pointing you in various directions at any given time. Making matters worse, your party’s open quests will also show, requiring you to pay careful attention to where you are going, or to take time in getting your bearings in the event you stop to check out something off the beaten path. While this may have been yet another glitch, I turned these off through the menu multiple times, resulting in my primary co-op partner (wife) directing us on our adventures. Yes, I have already forfeited my man card after this, so don’t bother asking.

Fallout 76 B.E.T.A.

Almost a full month after release, after multiple post launch patches, Fallout 76 has become less and less enjoyable the more I play it. I’ve updated my review a number of times prior to being published since I first entered Appalachia, with each draft essentially cracking and peeling, leaving a husk of what used to be one of my favorite series prior to this release. Originally the game was a 7, buthas dropped considerably. While I know some close friends who have enjoyed their time with this iteration, the experience seems to vary player to player, mainly due to the luck of the draw on what version of Fallout 76 you’re going to get when you log in each time. What used to be exciting and fun has devolved into a buggy mess that is more frustrating than it is enjoyable. I believe at some point Bethesda will get the game onto a (somewhat) acceptable track, but it’s nowhere near it currently and should be avoided at all costs.

3 out of 10

Pros

  • A Glorious Open World Setting
  • Tons of New Enemies
  • Photo Mode!
  • A Great Co-Operative Experience

Cons

  • Some Questionable Changes
  • Glitches As Far As the Eye Can See
  • Waiting on Teammates Negatively Affects the Pace

Fallout 76 was developed and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released on November 14th, 2018 for PC, PS4, and X1. The game was not provided to us for review on X1. If you’d like to see more of Fallout 76, check out the official website.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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