I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't. Every time I try to play this game, I'm immediately reminded why I uninstall it every single time. There's not a game I've played that fills me with this much vitriolic dislike towards every aspect. The voice acting is just as stiff and emotionless as to be expected from a Bethesda Fallout, but made even worse by having your playable character be particularly wooden, and made even worse by the devs making them talk at any possible instance. Skipping dialogue becomes irritating just because of the model/face glitches and the "uh huh yep soooo hmm"s from your character. It's not enough for the game to let you know that you don't have bobby pins, your character has to mention it, too! This may seem nitpicky, I know, but it's just a constant reminder of Bethesda's consistent ability to absolutely obliterate any possible immersion I can experience in the game. I have to be reminded that I'm playing a character that doesn't sound (nor emote) like I do, that my stat selection and point allocation don't matter, that the world of Fallout is nothing more than a big playground with cool armor, that story takes a backseat to being a cool badass wanderer, that nothing that ever happens matters. It's the same sin as Fallout 3, but unlike 3, this game doesn't even get the half-excuse of "well it gave us New Vegas and was an impressive transition to 3D!" Speaking of 3 and New Vegas, I'm kinda shocked at how many people say that this game has good gunplay, when... it doesn't? At all? It feels like an uncanny valley between a smooth AAA shooter and the clunky days of 3/NV, and it just makes every combat encounter feel sluggish and weak. There are some interesting concepts (i've always liked the idea of power armor making you a literal walking tank), but they're always executed in the worst possible ways that makes me not even want to give them credit for the initial idea. Everything in this game is wrong to me, and it marks the final nail in the coffin for Fallout as a series, 76 just lowered the casket.

If you like this game, great. If this is your favorite game, great. I'm glad you can enjoy something that I loathe so much. But, unless I eventually bite the bullet and pump this game full of QoL mods that make it even mildly tolerable, it will remain as my least favorite game that I've played, for reasons both inside and outside of itself.

Reviewed on Jun 19, 2023


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