BY ANDREW SMITH
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There is something about Bethesda’s open world titles that always seem to give them that edge over the competition. This success primarily lies not in dazzling graphics or gameplay mechanics, but in their storytelling and remarkable ability to engage players in the world they themselves have helped to shape. Fallout 4 delivers here and quite remarkably is able to meet the high expectations of fans becoming a sequel of this magnitude.

In this installment, the post-apocalyptic RPG-shooter travels to the Commonwealth, set in the wasteland that followed the destruction of Boston.

As the lone survivor from Vault-Tec fallout shelter, Vault 111, you are set on a path to find your lost son, exploring the stretches of the wasteland.

A pre-war cinematic creates a protagonist that has a unique perspective in the wasteland, but allows player development based on the decisions of the player.

While this main storyline is strong enough to stay relevant it’s inevitably overshadowed in the Bethesda open world experience. And this is how it’s meant to be.

I wouldn’t want a high action narrative to stray attention from the world at large, as there is so much more to offer in this title than a single storyline.

The developers have put in an enormous amount of effort on the details, far past standards in the genre. This is evident in the diversity and layout of the landscape, which pushes the player forward with deep exploration.

I remember first arriving at the ruins of downtown Boston, cognisant of my setting, I appreciated all that was available, with recognizable landmarks like Bunker Hill or a retooled Fenway Park made into a city/sanctuary from the wasteland. And when provided with these multitude of paths, I decided to walk into a fairly simple two story residence that I soon discovered was full of raiders. I fought them off, picked up a few items, then pieced together a story that led through a series of tunnels to a fully voiced leader of the raiders interrogating the owner for answers to a massacre in a nearby village.

Pacing for this game is excellent with its transitions from high to low action and frequency of quest encounters, an essential for dense open world experiences.

In these areas, Fallout has established a tradition of excellence and is where the game really shines.

What was also expected of Bethesda here, especially making the jump to next-gen was to greatly improve on the simplistic gameplay mechanics of its predecessor even for its time. Bethesda truly has its franchise up to the standards of the modern shooter scene bringing much desired fluidity and customization.

The crafting systems for weapons and armor are done very well, and development with your character is expressed through your choices here, though this sometimes limited customization.

And the extended time for development is really showcased with including features like settlement building.

While building options are somewhat limited for now until DLC arrives, combinations are endless and still allow the creative player a whole other side of the experience.

The few flaws in the game are, of course, just bugs, which I personally avoided the worst of, and a lack of adequate context given in decision making.

The side factions in the game each have their own set of plans and morals that they follow which lead into their storylines.

I would have appreciated for there to have been more clarification on these before you are faced with having to make a definite ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ decision.

This lack of context was also present in cut down dialogue options that often didn’t give you a full idea of what your character was about to say (looking at you “Sarcasm”).

Really any other critiques I have are just personal and I’ve heard some argue the total opposite. I didn’t enjoy getting access to power armor so early on, having a voiced protagonist, the almost Borderlands color palette at times, and really some pretty horrifying character models.

But really this game lives up to the hype and is easily in contention for Game of the Year.

No title in recent memory like Fallout 4 has made me as interested and immersed in the world surrounding a video game.