Honestly thought about putting a higher rating but there is too much holding fallout 4 back from being a truly great game. Let me just start by saying that fallout 4 can be quite fun. The gameplay loop of shooting and looting and using you're resources to modify and upgrade you're weapons and armour is pretty fun. The settlement building system whilst flawed is a fun and creative addition to the game. All that wasteland junk is actually useful now. The clunky, robust feel and just the overall size of the power armour really makes you feel like a walking tank. And the gunplay is a lot better and smoother than it was in previous games. Like I said for what it is fallout 4 can be a fun experience but what it is isn't fallout. There's a lot wrong with this game. It is so streamlined and dumbed down from previous titles. Skills and special stats are simplified or removed with everything being rolled into one big perk chart. Weapon and armour degradation is gone with the exception of power armour. Weapon variety is awful. The main story is very poor and I know Bethesda aren't exactly known for great writing in main storylines but it is exceptionally bad here. Even the side quests are bad with most boiling down to go here kill this, retrieve this whilst killing stuff or go here and help this settlement OMG THE SETTLEMENTS!! Aside from far harbor all the DLCs are mediocre at best. The factions had potential but it was ultimately wasted with the same repetitive quests and poor writing that plagues this game. There are some good characters but again the potential is wasted here. Dialogue system is terrible, another thing that's just dumbed down. RPG elements are almost non existent and it doesn't help that you play as a voiced protagonist with a pre set background and morality that seriously limits roleplay options and freedom for players. A severe lack of meaningful choices and consequences. In previous games you're choices actually mattered and could affect not just you but other characters and the world around you. This carries over into gameplay where you can be a jack of all trades and it doesn't matter what perks you invest in. In previous games what skills and perks you chose mattered and they could alter you're entire playthrough and the way you played. Even the atmosphere, aesthetic and art style are all done wrong here in my opinion. Previous games looked and felt gritty, ominous and apocalyptic. Fallout 4 looks and feels like a glorified theme park with bright blue skies, colours and buildings. Many of the enemies look less disturbing and intimidating than in previous games, hell even the guns look worse. Don't get me started on that god awful assault rifle design. Whilst fallout 4 can be a fun game I think it was a huge step back for the fallout franchise and Bethesda. A more streamlined, dumbed down game with the thinnest layer of RPG elements clumsily folded over it, lacking the cool unique mechanics, storytelling and nuance of previous games.

You have to push through a few issues in this game (loading times, clunky design, and a sometimes annoying main quest), but in return you get a game with strong strengths.A beautifully crafted open world, great environmental storytelling, excellent crafting, a world that constantly offers surprises, good implementation of companions (if you choose to use them), and a solid skill system. The criticism directed at the game is justified, but in my opinion greatly exaggerated—especially by fanboys who prefer Fallout 1 through 3 and New Vegas. I don’t think New Vegas is better than Fallout 4. In fact, I find the post-apocalyptic atmosphere in Fallout 4—like when you’re walking through the devastated streets of Boston—outstanding and better than anything I’ve seen in New Vegas. If I were new to the franchise, I would actually start with Fallout 4. Fallout 3 and New Vegas are simply hopelessly outdated in terms of graphics by now, and what one prefers ultimately comes down to personal taste.

I love Fallout. I loved editing the towns, especially the castle. I loved the story.