“Always online multiplayer” – that statement in association with the unveiling of “Fallout 76” rocked the gaming world as long-time “Fallout” fans were shocked by the thought that a series full of single-player experiences would feature MMO qualities and no NPCs to provide quests and lore. Instead, the players themselves would populate West Virginia’s Appalachia and interact with each other thanks to the developer’s intent of a living economic system controlled solely by the community. The controversy surrounding the game pre-launch was outdone by what occurred afterwards: underwhelming design choices, a dated engine running the entire game & server issues aplenty. But is this just a case of people jumping on the hate bandwagon or do players have legitimate gripes with a game that should be another immersive experience full of post-apocalyptic action now with friends & strangers? I was ready to find out even if it would take me hours to download the fifty-gigabyte update.
Did I Complete “Fallout 76”?
To put it bluntly – no. Though “Fallout 76” is an online experience with the majority of its gameplay being connected to exploration with others while completing quests, challenges & timed “Events” (scenarios that start in certain areas of the map ranging from shooting waves of enemies to starting machines shut down by Molemen), the game actually does have a story that can take the player upwards of forty hours to complete based on leveling & the amount of people playing together (the more partners the easier the game is a majority of the time). Unfortunately bugs & server issues ruined my playthrough as a mission following the midway point in the story saw my character die after completing a certain objective featuring mission-specific items. Upon respawning the game not only froze (ruining my save somehow), but also reverted back to the point where I had to recollect the items; yet the items were nowhere to be found in both my inventory or on the map where they were originally found no matter what server I entered. With this game-breaking glitch I couldn’t complete the story without restarting everything – flushing over two dozen hours of gameplay down the drain that included moving around two-thirds of the map, playing with others & encountering a bunch of glitches along the way.
Did “Fallout 76” Live Up to the Hype?
Similar to “Fallout 4” before it, “Fallout 76” is relatively easy to get into as the game begins with the player creating their own survivor looking to rebuild society after the bombs dropped. Character creation is pretty much on par with “Fallout 4’s” and gives players a chance to make some unique looking people to enter the incredibly beautiful environment presented in the form of West Virginia’s Appalachia that is definitely different compared to the real thing, but is just as beautiful. Unlike the dreary & bland color scheme seen in a majority of “Fallout 4”, the surroundings of “76” are bright, vivid & varied with areas stereotypical of a “Fallout” experience such as destroyed urban living quarters to toxic farmlands & fiery coalmines; though some textures such as foliage are incredibly flat. Each section of the map is unique and a testament to Bethesda’s fantastic visual world building even if the exposition for things such as why Super Mutants have taken over a prison isn’t explained as it would’ve been in previous “Fallout” games. After leaving Vault 76, the player is tasked with various quests including the main storyline where the search begins for Vault 76’s Overseer as she attempts to save the world. While the main narrative’s premise comes across as a great idea, “76” doesn’t have the luxury of presenting a story in memorable ways considering the developers decided no towns would be inhabitant by living survivors outside of the players. Instead, every mission is started & completed by interacting with computers & robots and/or listening to holotapes – a tactic used sparingly in regards to older “Fallout” games; making those experiences unique. The stories both main & side are well told in terms of dialogue, but feel lifeless & underwhelming due to the way they’re presented; producing one of the most boring narrative experiences of this generation.
The basis of “Fallout 76’s” gameplay is rooted in the systems established in “Fallout 3” where the game takes more of a first-person shooter approach without the nuance & tight handling of an actual FPS game. One of the previous games’ biggest benefits was the execution of Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.) – a gameplay mechanism that stopped or slowed down time (the latter being attached to “Fallout 4’s” gameplay) so the player could target the limbs of enemies while making things easier to shoot – a necessity in regards to how the game’s gunplay handles. V.A.T.S. in “76” doesn’t stop or slow down time with the target percentages fluctuating wildly due to enemies still moving in real time. V.A.T.S. essentially becomes a hazard in battle if an enemy is approaching. Shooting & melee combat is just as rough around the edges as the previous “Fallout” games with guns feeling loose and melee being unwieldy in both first person and third person views especially when enemies glide around the screen; though the lack of time stopping to change weapons by bringing up the PipBoy definitely adds to the tension of being in battle unlike the last few “Fallout” games.
Easily the biggest travesty in regards to the action is the AI. Enemies that aren’t actual players prove to a mixed bag of dumb, blind & broken. AI enemies will easily miss gunshots, get confused when there is more than one player to confront, and even stand in front of a character while waiting for the sweet release of death. To top off the gameplay issues is a response time delay in correlation with enemies dying. There will be many times an enemy won’t die upon being hit by a fatal shot, land an attack on a player, then fall over in death after the game finally registers all of its health is gone. With the game’s leveling system comes the randomization of enemy levels across the map. Instead of enemies being at certain levels in correlation with specific areas of the map, enemy packs will feature a wide range of levels including level five enemies working alongside level twenty-plus adversaries no matter what level the players are – something made worse when someone is playing alone. For all the unique enemies based on folklore like the Grafton Monster the main Scorched enemies are dull as a box of rocks.
“Fallout’s 4” S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, luck) skill & perk system has been replaced by randomized card packs given to the player upon each leveling up and can’t be bought with real money (microtransactions are solely attached to cosmetics such as power suit armor paint & emoticon taunts). These card packs aren’t as egregious as expected with a majority of the perks being useful even if attained at an early level including making health kits/Stimpaks more effective or gaining double the experience by being alongside teammates in battle. While the skill tree offering from “Fallout 4” was more satisfying thanks to the ability to plan & craft a character to be what the player wants from beginning to end, this version of S.P.E.C.I.A.L. mostly works. Status & equipment degradation is a big part of “76’s” gameplay as well with the prior being connected the player’s need to eat & drink constantly to avoid stamina & Action Point (AP) loss. Weapons & armor will degrade with long-term usage that can only be repaired at workbenches scattered around the environment or in a player’s base. Armor & weapons also have level limits so potential great items may not be used by a player until they reach a certain level unlike in other “Fallout” games. Characters can attain diseases from rabid or irradiated animals, or by sleeping on some random bed to recover one’s health with diseases being cured by waiting them out (which can range from the low double digits in minutes to real life hours) or using a rare piece of medicine. Fast traveling is also available, but for some reason costs caps instead of simply being an option for players to quickly move around the map to areas they’ve already visited.
“Settlement” building also returns from “Fallout 4” in the simple form of C.A.M.P. (Construction & Assembly Mobile Platform) the game’s version of base building. Those who loved collecting junk, scrapping it, and building shelters, “deluxe” homes & simple spots to cook & sleep will find everything they loved in “Fallout 4” in this version. The only real issue for veteran builders is the fact gamers can’t build everywhere as promised with the player having to move around constantly until they discover the perfectly flat spot of interest. “76” has an option for saving a “blueprint” of any created base to place it in another location without having to rebuild everything. Unfortunately, base specifications may not fit a different locale that the player intends to build upon; ruining the benefit of blueprints.
Multiplayer – “Fallout 76’s” biggest draw – is too a mixed bag in regards to planning & execution. Players can team up & trade with friends & strangers alike when stumbling upon them across the gigantic map. Due to the map’s size and that each available server only houses twenty players at a time, the potential of aligning with “survivors” & getting to know them is something of a rare feat as very few use the option of inviting someone to team with them by highlighting the player’s blip on the map. Running & gunning with people is easily the best part about the combat in “76” as it ups the excitement while producing more enemies especially during “Events”. While trying to complete the story or any mission with people who aren’t patient makes for a frustrating experience including other players talking as a holotape plays. PVP is easily the most disappointing multiplayer addition as the game requires a player being attacked to violently retaliate before a battle between opponents can occur. The attacker essentially leaves themselves open for the first official shot that could end in a one-hit kill depending on whom they’re picking on as the process of starting a PVP experience is just bullying. And the loser of any PVP fight can both have their supplies stolen as well as put a bounty on the head of their killer that usually sees the player being hunted leaving the game & going into another server. PVP is totally unnecessary in this form and does nothing to add to the overall experience – the same can be stated about nukes as don’t they affect the entire map, only certain sections in whatever server the nuclear attack was launched upon to spawn higher level enemies and potentially kill anyone around the blast radius via radiation.
But nothing compares to the game’s instability & copious glitches. Beyond the game-breaking glitch that ruined my playthrough mentioned earlier are server issues, frame rate drops, randomly spawning enemies & sheer moments of insanity including enemies stuck in the ground & objects deciding to move on their own are the norm. Situations like broken missions due to other players completing the same mission as you forces people to quit and enter another session are likely, if not numerous. For all its flaws, “Fallout 76’s” technical issues make this for one of the most annoying games created by a major developer in this generation. At least photo mode helps with the long loading screens as pictures taken by the player become the actual loading screens.
While there are definitely some interesting ideas, enemy variations & a memorable environment, the game’s problems are too large to ignore including server & technical issues, V.A.T.S. being nothing more than an auto-aim function & a main narrative that emphasizes the necessity of NPCs in a game featuring so many RPG elements. In a lot of ways, gamers’ greatest fears in regards to “Fallout 76” came true with this release.
Should You Play “Fallout 76”?
It really depends on what you’re looking for from an online “Fallout” experience. If you want to simply run around with your friends & shoot up enemies, collect loot & ignore the story like it’s a poor version of “Borderlands” then this will be a blast for as long as people want to play with you. But for gamers who love “Fallout” games for their narrative & exploration of various locales potentially spawning new scenarios, interesting characters, and glitches that don’t break main quest lines then avoid this at all costs like someone running from a launched nuke’s intended zone of impact.
