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Fallout 4
Fallout 4 pairs open-ended exploration with quests, factions, character development, and settlement building. At the recorded low, it costs $3.47 from 
Eneba; its single-player focus suits an adventure you can tackle at your own pace.
Choose between real-time combat and V.A.T.S., while scavenging and crafting shape your progress. If that combination is what you want from an RPG, the current low is a fitting opportunity, with no need to rely on multiplayer. At $19.99 from Eneba, the recorded low makes this a timely chance to take on its solo open-world adventure.
All-time low ~ $4.23across Steam & third-party storesat the recorded all-time low
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Price History
Past 36 months · Updated dailyHistorical Low~ $4.252023-10Current Low Across Stores~ $3.47EnebaAt its historical low now
Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.
DLC
DLCFallout 4 Season PassLoading store offers
DLCFallout 4 Far HarborLoading store offers
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01About Fallout 4
As the sole survivor of Vault 111, you emerge into an open world devastated by nuclear war. Explore locations, take on quests, join factions, or go alone. Shape your character with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system and develop your own playstyle. V.A.T.S. slows combat for targeted attacks, while scavenging and crafting let you build and manage settlements. Steam players rate it 81% positive from 292,213 reviews. The Steam PC version supports English interface, full audio, and subtitles. Full controller support is available.
Credits
DIRECTOR
Todd Howard
American video game designer, director, and producer (born 1970)
E
Composer
Inon Zur
Art Director
Istvan Pely
Developer
Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher
Bethesda Softworks
Voice
[Q106008117] · Stephen Russell
Lowest recorded in 36 months
$4.252023-10-23 · GreenManGamingBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.Language support
| Language | Interface | Subtitles | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | Yes | Yes | — |
| English | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| French | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Show 7 more languages
| Language | Interface | Subtitles | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italian | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| German | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spanish | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Polish | Yes | Yes | — |
| Portuguese-Brazil | Yes | Yes | — |
| Russian | Yes | Yes | — |
| Japanese | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Steam PC edition data · 2026-11-14
02Before you buy
Play mode and controller
The Steam PC version has full controller support and a single-player mode.
Language
English is supported for interface, full audio, and subtitles.
03Frequently asked questions
What is Fallout 4 about?
You play the sole survivor of Vault 111 in a world devastated by nuclear war.
Can I craft and build settlements?
Yes. You can craft weapons, armor, food, and other items, and build and manage settlements.
How does combat work?
V.A.T.S. slows time in combat for targeted attacks; you can also fight in real time.
8.8
Overall Score
Graphics7.5
Audio9
Gameplay9.2
Story8
Content9.5
“A decade-old Bethesda RPG thrives on seventy thousand Nexus Mods, pioneering series settlement building and branching faction narratives that redefine open-world freedom.”
Our Verdict
The Big Picture: 10-Year Evergreen Bethesda Sandbox Classic and 2024 Series Revival
When the title launched in November 2015, it was the biggest gaming launch of the year — first-day global shipments hit 12 million copies and first-day revenue topped 750 million USD, making it Bethesda Game Studios' best-selling role-playing game ever. Ten years later it still sits at the top of Steam's role-playing category by positive rating — Steam 87 percent positive, around 25 million cumulative sales, IGN 9.5/10, PC Gamer 88/100, 3DM 9.0. It is one of the representative works of Bethesda's many years of sandbox role-playing games, sitting alongside The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas as the "Bethesda sandbox four pillars."
April 2024 brought the title's "second spring" — Bethesda pushed a free next-gen update (PS5/Xbox Series X|S native support plus 60fps), and the Amazon "Fallout" live-action series launched simultaneously to massive success. The double-up pushed Steam concurrent players to a near-9-year high, returning the title to Steam's top 10 sales chart. It is one of the successful cases of "live-action series reviving an old game" in PC gaming, sitting alongside Elden Ring, Black Myth: Wukong, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Red Dead Redemption 2 as "PC's open-world evergreen representatives." In 2026 Bethesda is working on The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5, but the title remains the most-revisited Bethesda role-playing game in their current catalog across the wider community.
Who Should Buy: Role-Playing Players Accepting Bethesda Sandbox Philosophy
Three audiences. Bethesda sandbox veterans — players who have played The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, or Starfield; the title is the continuation representative of Bethesda sandbox role-playing games. Post-apocalyptic sci-fi fans — fans of the Amazon "Fallout" live-action series plus I Am Legend, The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, and other post-apocalyptic media; the title's "1950s retro-futurism" aesthetic is the genre ceiling. Building school players — players who love building, decorating, and managing; the settlement system is a first for the Fallout series, the "post-apocalyptic mayor" gameplay.
If you fall in any of these three audiences, the title remains a must-play and the value is extraordinary. The Game of the Year Edition (with all six expansions) at the typical -67% discount is 130 RMB — one of the best-value PC triple-A entry combos. The title has long sat in the Game Pass library, and subscription players can try at zero cost. After buying, the first thing is installing the localization optimization pack plus Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch plus Full Dialogue Interface plus Boston FPS Fix — the "four essentials" mods that the Chinese top streamer "Wasteland Escapee" repeatedly recommends for "newcomer must-installs."
Who Should Skip: Players Seeking Story Tightness and Top-Tier Graphics
Three audiences. Story-tightness seekers — the title's "4-option simplified dialogue" is repeatedly mocked by the Chinese community as a design failure. Compared to Fallout: New Vegas's "complete dialogue text plus multi-ending depth," the title's story tightness drops noticeably. If you want story depth, play Fallout: New Vegas or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Top-tier graphics seekers — Creation Engine is showing age, and the title's visuals lag behind same-generation triple-A titles (GTA V, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt). If you want top-tier rendering, play Elden Ring or Red Dead Redemption 2. Perfectionists who cannot tolerate bugs — Bethesda's bugs are famous, and the title has frequent crashes, physics engine glitches, NPC floating, quest deadlocks. Although the mod community has built Unofficial Patch covering most issues, problems still arise occasionally.
Bethesda makes no attempt to please everyone. The intended audience is sharply defined: Bethesda sandbox veterans, post-apocalyptic sci-fi fans, building school players. If you are not in that picture, walk away — you will not enjoy it and will only leave a bad review. This is also why the 87 percent Steam positive rating, while high, has not pushed the title into universal visibility — the title is the "Bethesda sandbox philosophy" representative, with a clear target audience of adult players willing to accept Bethesda style.
Recommended Edition and Discount Floor: Game of the Year Edition Plus Four-Essentials Mods
For entry, the Steam Game of the Year Edition (base game plus all six expansions bundle, original 60 USD around 400 RMB) is the choice, and patient buyers can wait for Steam seasonal lows at -67% (around 130 RMB). This is one of the best-value PC triple-A entry combos. Xbox Game Pass subscription players can try 30 hours at zero cost to confirm whether they like it before committing to the Steam buyout.
PC players should install the "four-essentials" mods as the first step after buying — Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch (unofficial patch), Full Dialogue Interface (complete dialogue), Boston FPS Fix (performance fix), Sim Settlements 2 (settlement story expansion). The second step is installing the localization optimization pack — the community maintains comprehensive Chinese localization resources. The third step is joining a Chinese Wasteland Escapee guild — mainly active on Discord and Bilibili. Console players can pick PS5 or Xbox Series X to enjoy the 2024 next-gen update's 60fps and 4K experience — the most cost-effective entry path for console players. The bottom line: discounted price plus 30-hour mainline plus all six expansions plus four-essentials mods still makes the title one of the most worthwhile PC sandbox role-playing games to pick up in 2026 across the entire genre.
Popular Steam reviews
Native-language selection · 10 reviewsSelected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.
RecommendedSteam player
People have demonstrated consistently since Fallout 4's release how dangerous expectations can be. To expect great things from the game, and to be disappointed when those expectations are not met, is quite normal. When judgement is rendered solely on the result of those expectations, the fatal mistake is made. It in turn leads to a propensity for jumping to conclusions, and from that point it's a rapid descent into ignorance. Back when Fallout 4 was released, most of the Steam reviews consisted of incoherent, furious ranting that tarnished the whole title after only a few hours worth of gameplay. After being shocked by the overwhelming amount of negativity, I decided to make my own and openly condemned the bad reviews for what they were: baseless and devoid of perspective. It was quite obvious the authors made that fatal mistake, which is unfair to the many developers who put their soul and passion into creating the game. In the end, Fallout fans will almost assuredly find disappointments with Fallout 4, as did I. But if the ignorance of the older reviews and reception of previous games ought to teach one thing, it's that those disappointments are no excuse for blind judgement or jumping to conclusions. If an opinion is to be rendered of this game in the form of review, let it be guided by reason and supported by logic. It is in the pursuit of that fairness and clarity that I chose to write this review. ---------------------------------------- Fallout 4 is a deeply enjoyable and well-crafted game. However, it definitely has its issues. Bethesda tried new things in this title, some more ambitious than others, and not all of them were successful. It's true that dialogue has been watered down as the devs chose to forgo text conversation choices in favor of a voiced and much more simplified dialogue wheel, which is further hampered by boring choices and weak voice work. Character advancements have been combined into a single perk/SPECIAL sheet. Settlement building, while certainly fun, is mostly aesthetic filler that has little impact on the game world. Side quests far too often amount to just killing some mandatory enemies, particularly with the Minutemen (who are supposed to be the "good guys" of this installment), and can become repetitive. My most prominent grievance with Fallout 4 is the dialogue overhaul and removal of the karma system, which I found unnecessary and contrary to the philosophy of the series. Unlike the previous flaws, this thoroughly irks me. I realized that this ties in to the primary weakness of Fallout 4: its lack of meaningful dialogue in comparison to most Bethesda titles. Far too often, your dialogue choices are short, shallow, meaningless, or all three. The only choices that have any outcome are blatantly outlined as persuasion options, a lot of which only help you get some extra caps. It's not that you should be making major decisions all the time; the problem is that you, as a speaking character, now have a voice that carries no power. What you decide to say is almost always inconsequential. The dialogue system is highly reminiscent of Mass Effect except watered down; the reason it doesn't work in Fallout is that the two games have totally different approaches to conversation. The previous Fallout games had much better dialogue options because they meant something. Sometimes, your choice of words just made someone hate you, allowed you to entice or inspire others, or developed your reputation through the karma system. Now that karma is gone, your choices are just that much more pointless. The bottom line is that Bethesda sacrificed a tremendous amount of RPG dialogue elements to accommodate full voice-work. While it was an ambitious attempt, it was an all-around mistake and it sticks out like a sore if you're a fan of Bethesda games or RPG's in general. The dialogue wheel system could have worked out just fine, but Bethesda carried it out in the wrong way. ---------------------------------------- All the aforementioned flaws are some of the most central complaints naysayers have about Fallout 4 and yet not a single one of them has been horrific enough to ruin my experience or let me down. Despite the few bugs I've come across, despite the certain questionable and sometimes idiotic design choices Bethesda made here, this game is still extremely well done. I still feel that incomparable thrill that only Fallout can bring. Even though Fallout 4 falls extremely short on dialogue and all aspects associated with it, it's still an improvement over its predecessors in almost every other way imaginable. The game suffers some graphical issues like muddy textures and poor lighting at times, like any good Bethesda game, but it's still astoundingly beautiful and even breathtaking at times. Movement, melee, gunplay, and physics are better and smoother than they've ever been. People were quick to judge the Commonwealth map based on its size and I was prepared to be disappointed as well, but it's surprisingly the best one Bethesda has whipped up thus far. The suburban locations are more organically dispersed and things become more compressed as you near the cities. Streets are narrow, buildings are tall, and locations are absolutely jam-packed alongside a ton of unmarked ruins and buildings you can enter. There are hardly any copy-pasted environments and they all show great attention to detail. I was also worried that granting access to power armor and a minigun within the first thirty minutes of the game would be a huge balancing issue as well, but it really isn’t. Power armor relies on uncommon fusion cores for power and you’re not an unstoppable god while wearing the suit, especially not at higher difficulties or levels. You can acquire some strong weapons like the minigun or Fatman relatively early but finding sufficient ammo is another matter entirely. ---------------------------------------- Skyrim was a simplification of the Oblivion formula, but it was still a fantastic game. In much the same way, Fallout 4 is a simplification of the Fallout 3/New Vegas formula and is still extremely good. Even in light of its issues, this game has not been a disappointment at all. RPG elements can be enhanced through the wonderful modding community and will eventually make up for some of the game's weaker points, a perk of the PC version. Bethesda has, however, been on a recent trend of simplifying their games too much and I hope they change course. Truthfully, the negative Steam reviews had me partly worried that I’d be disappointed but I chose to disregard them and arrive at my own opinion. I’ve learned that nearly every point of contention was blown out of context. The few issues that haven’t been redeemed in my eyes still pale in the face of the tremendous work that was done to bring this new and beautiful Fallout world to life. I have no doubt that the naysayers worked up their expectations to heights beyond reason, and it’s therefore no mystery that they hit the ground so hard afterwards. I chose to see Fallout 4 for what it is rather than what I expected or imagined it to be: a lovingly crafted game that, despite being marred by some of its shortcomings, has that same engaging splendor that far supercedes its flaws. I highly recommend you try the game and approach it with a neutral and reasonable demeanor, and you won’t be disappointed. ---------------------------------------- EDIT I'm grateful that so many people have found this review helpful and I'd like to thank you all for commenting. I can't reply to everyone's comments but I've certainly read every one of them. I hope that my review has given you some useful perspective, either good or bad. EDIT #2 Reworked the intro to be less confrontational, as it was no longer needed. Changed some undesirable sentences.Show moreShow less
241.6 hours at review11,728 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
tl;dr Fallout 4 is a huge leap backwards from Skyrim in every regard. Its not a bad game per se, but keep your money until next year's christmas. The modders will have to work double shifts to finish this console port. With the exception of the first ten minutes and what you saw in the trailers, this review is spoiler free. The Pro's: --------------- * there's a lot of Fallout in here * modding support should be decent since its based on the Skyrim engine * the combat feels fluid enough for a RPG * ironsights for most guns * VATS now slows down time instead of pausing the game (I like it) * so far no gamestopping bugs except for constant crashes when I exit the game * borderless fullscreen mode * Apple/Android app is a nice touch for people who like to have the map open at all times, it works for me * animated hair (PhysX?) * not a single CTD so far * Achievements not working (one of the stupidest reward methods ever conceived), Steam Overlay not working either so probably connected (Edit: Achievements suddenly started working, possibly because I started Steam in Admin Mode or they fixed something, Overlay still not working) * Dogmeat is kinda useful now, he pins down opponents, occasionally finds loot piles and won't die five minutes after you found him (like he did in Fallout 3) * Dogmeat goes into "sneak mode" when you do, looks very cute * Dogmeat generally behaves like a "real" dog, he runs away from you to sniff at things, runs ahead or stays back for a bit ... he's no DD yet, but close * conversations are much more natural than in previous Bethesda games (more than 2 actors involved, actions happening, etc,), but they're bugged to hell, more on that below * you can move the camera arround freely during conversations and even run arround, the talker will continue to talk and wait until you focus him again to present your four response options, no more being tidally locked to a single NPC * interesting armor system (you can strap armor on top of your armor, like shoulderpads) * you can use the Minigun from the Power Armor without actually using the Power Armor (weird, but its Fallout) * Ghouls have become semi-zombies, some are laying arround like a corpse until they notice you or continue to crawl when their legs are gone, try to jump & bite you without arms * talkative enemies taunt you during combat while you fight your way to them, making the shooter part a bit more organic * tinkering with your Power Armor feels like working on your own car * I was sceptical about the voiced protagonist, but the female does a decent job, it will make modding quite a bit harder though * If you play the standard female player character (the one shown in the trailers), Piper looks almost exactly like you. I'm not sure if this is intentional, but for RP-reasons I will pretend that she is my grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-niece. The Con's: --------------- * boring but also rushed prologue/tutorial in the most ugly environment imaginable * yes, even more boring than the doctor's questions in F:NV * the main plot quickly becomes completly redundant * the forced straight marriage spouse and the baby fail to create any emotional attachment to either of them (How could they in the rushed 5 minute prologue?) * getting the iconic Power Armor ten minutes into the game is an odd design choice * no food/water required, a step back from F:NV * "Survival" difficulty has nothing in common with survival games, not even F:NV * Stimpacks heal limbs again, and you don't even have to target the broken one, just pop a Stimpack into your arm to grow a new foot * not having to train skills to improve in them feels wrong * the village building is vastly oversimplified (I demolished 3 buildings in 10 seconds, imagine woodchopping in Skyrim without ever swinging your axe) and feels like its been rushed on top of the game for feature creep * the village building quickly becomes a chore thanks to the ridiculous UI * still the same outworldy "hacking" of computer terminals (guess 4 times, then get locked out, although this time you can retry after 10sec), reminds me of Sudoku * C-movie quality conversations, at least during the first hours, it gets better the moment you meet Piper but they continue to feel forced and out of place * Bethesda took the easy way out of the problem with followers stabbing you in the back, get a perk that disables friendly fire damage, no need to teach Piper *not* to use that Fat Man next to you * after spending a few hours with my protagonist, its beginning to feel like she has a split personality, mine (during normal play) and hers (during conversations), extremly limited conversation options are not helping here either * holstered weapons disappear from existance * enemies fall out of the sky, Dragon Age 2-style * enemies regulary get stuck, jitter arround, generally bug out * legendary enemies are pretty meh ("Legendary Bloatfly" ... uh-huh) * cars still got built-in nukes that go off if you look at them funny (it's okay if you like it, I don't) * extreme loading times even for small buildings, SSDs are a huge help, but still * tons of loading screens in general, an engine out of its time * ugly, washed out graphics, it could be my imagination but I remember Fallout 3 to be prettier and less cartoon'y for its time * FPS rollercoaster, even though my Skyrim runs at constant 60 FPS with 2K textures * don't even try to compare Fallout 4's landscape to Skyrim, it will make you weep (not talking green meadows, just detail and atmosphere) * wax museum character models * gigantic, oversized console UI (as usual) * literally the most unintuitive UI controls for a PC game of all times, Bethesda tried really really hard to pi** off PC players this time, this goes especially to the Pip-boy handling * EVE Online character creator with bonkers Gamepad-turned-into-Keyboard controls * dialogs only offer four responses with one trying to be extra-witty, like those dumbed down Bioware RPGs * talent tree looks pretty and funny, but also unnessecarily bloated (pro tip: you can scroll down!) * most weapons take up a quarter of the screen, I'm not even talking about rocket launchers, just pistols * loot menu pops up everywhere and ruins immersion, no more opening boxes to see what's inside, especially distracting in combat * talking to sleeping people sometimes makes them stand up immediatly, instead of waking and getting up * NPCs happily block your way in the best of Bethesda's tradition * NPC AI seems to be from the 90's, melee's happily run into minigun fire with a pocket knife, grenades are generally thrown at walls in front of them (incinerating themselves instead of me), animals blindly charge avoid of all fear, etc. pp. Edit: Figured out the console keys on the german keyboard. Its AltGr+Ö. About the missing ACHIEVEMENTS, you may want to google it before falling back to kindergarten insults. My Steam Overlay is not working either and its a known problem. One of many. About the marriage paragraph, let me quote one comment: "Kaiser Fred VIII The fact that you are forced to have a wife isn't a problem of social justice or whatever, the problem is that it forces a backstory on your character. It isn't yours anymore. You can't be a socially recluse engineer living alone, or some widowed businessman or whatever. You *have* to be a married vet with a son. It is not *your* character, it is Bethesda's character. That, combined with a voiced protag, pretty much killed any prospect of replayability and RP in this game to me before I even got my hands on it." I think I will stop playing Fallout 4 soon and wait for the modders to eventually fix this console port. Thanks for all the comments, especially the kindergarten-level haters. You guys have inoculated me against anything the internet can throw at me for the next 100 years! :)Show moreShow less
31.5 hours at review8,027 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
I shall start by saying that if you are deciding to buy this game then don't let the negative reviews sway you. In general, Fallout 4 is an amazing game and can be incredibly fun. Pros: -Very immersive and will drain so many hours, days, weeks and months from your life. -Far Harbour, Automotron and (first half of) NukaWorld DLC have really good stories, quests and environments. -Mostly fluid combat system. Everything depends on how you want to play the game. Cons: -WIll drain so much of your life away (might've forgotten my gf's birthday ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) -Main story was incredibly lackluster compared to previous Fallout games -Giving you the option to be literally any kind of character you want to be....except you're always tied to being a parent. -a few repitive quests. (although gives you opportunities to approach these quests, areas and enemies differently All in all, If you're a Fallout fan because of previous stories then you might not feel fulfilled playing this game, however if you love character creations, lore and immersive environments with untold stories then I completely recommend this game to you.Show moreShow less
285.5 hours at review9,675 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
2 GB patch to add paid mods. C O O LShow moreShow less
23.6 hours at review7,266 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
I've nearly finished making my character.Show moreShow less
59.5 hours at review7,856 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
A baby is drowning in the lake: -Fallout 1 Ask for more information Agree to help Decide not to help Accidentally say something that pisses the NPC off, failing the quest Reveal too much information about yourself, causing the Super Mutants to track your vault more easily -Fallout 2 Ask for more information Agree to help Decide not to help Accidentally say something that pisses the NPC off, failing the quest Pop culture reference about the baby -Fallout 3 Yes, I will save the baby Depends on the caps I will not save the baby [Intelligence] The baby is drowning -Fallout New Vegas I will save the baby I will not save the baby [Barter 30] Double the caps and I'll save the baby [Medicine 30] Thanks to my medical knowledge, I will easily be able to save the baby [Survival 15/30] Uh... yeah, I totally know how to swim -Fallout 4 Yes No (Yes) Sarcastic (Yes) Hate babiesShow moreShow less
8.9 hours at review6,905 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Yes, this is best.Show moreShow less
35.5 hours at review5,476 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Paladin Danse looked at the advert for Creation Club filling the screen. "It was corporations like this that put the last nail in the coffin for mankind. They exploited technology for their own gains, pocketing the cash and ignoring the damage they'd done."Show moreShow less
2,015.4 hours at review5,447 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
I've logged a couple hundred hours in both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. After putting in around 20 hours into Fallout 4, my opinion can be summed up as follows: great game, terrible port, with a few misguided attempts at innovation. Pros: + Fantastic character customization. Even without more detailed controls, the system allows for truly unique looking characters. + Great characterization. I've frequently heard people claim characters are "bland" and "boring", but those that I've run in to so far have been anything but. I think that this opinion stems from the first few hours of the game, when you're first getting a feel for things. Preston Garvey is admittedly pretty bland, as well as the inhabitants of every tiny settlement until you reach the edge of Boston. Once you start getting into the nitty gritty of it, you'll find some charming characters. + Good AI, improved companion AI. This is another point of contention. I've seen people complain that the AI is bad, but in my experience, it's above average when compared to most other AAA titles these days, and leaps ahead of where Bethesda was with Skyrim and the previous Fallout. Enemies make frequent use of cover, attempt to flank, etc. Companions position themselves to accurately fire down at people. I've had very few issues so far. + Amazing gun/armor customization. Glad they added in layered armoring. + Music. Great song choice, cool radio station, funny announcer (though I do hope he'll actually tie into a quest at some point). Non-radio music is also great. + Environment and Level Design. Very pleased with how it turned out. Plus, the increased amount of outer-cell and vertical-gameplay oriented areas makes me very happy. Contested: = Dialogue. I don't like the four-button system, and I don't like the whole "color indicated difficulty" with speech checks. I very much prefer a flat threshold. That said, the dialogue is fluid, the multi-person conversations are a refreshing addition, and I can't bring myself to outright dislike this. = Bugs. This is probably the most bug-free Bethesda release I've ever seen, not counting the problems associated with Gamebryo or the game's status as a mediocre port. Still, the bugs are there, and they are occasionally jarring. Every major release should expect some bugs, and Fallout 4 seems about average for the games industry rather than for Bethesda's historically poor track record. = Story. I can take it or leave it, which may be better to take as a bad sign. If this game were linear, this would be a major downer. Cons: - Controls. Jesus, the control scheme is bad. UI is terrible. This was a case of people reassigning keys to be used on the PC rather than giving it the attention is deserves. This is probably the worst of it. With a decent UI, almost half the problems with the game would instantly disappear. - Voiced Protagonist. Ties in with the above. Personally, I find the voice actors did great jobs doing this, but it still doesn't fit, and completely removes the ability for me to make a character of my own, which was a large part of the appeal. I can't get wrapped up in this character's problems. I can't bring myself to care about his/her plight on the Earth. I think this is mostly a matter of poor execution. A voiced protagonist would work fine if they also managed to keep the character's motivations ambiguous, and not have it so heavily reliant on a preestablished backstory. - They dumbed down the "RP" in "RPG". It's now an FPSrpG. I want my perk/skill based dialogue checks back. I want there to be moral chocies that shape how my character is seen. I want there to be a karma meter that shows how I'm perceived in the wasteland. - Gamebyro and all of the issues associated with it. - Terrible PC options. You'll have to go directly into the preferences & initialization files to change things like mouse acceleration and FOV. - No holstered weapons. This irks me more than it should. (Clarification: I meant that when a weapon is holstered, you can't see it on the player model.) Not Rated: ~ Performance. I have a very high end system, so I can't speak as to how nicely this runs on budget machines, but I've heard good things. I may revisit this and add more with my updated thoughts as I progress.Show moreShow less
42 hours at review5,260 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Fallout 4 is a good game, it just isn't a good Fallout game. They've completely neutered the SPECIAL system since with enough time and leveling up, you can get all stats to 10, all perks and become the almighty God of the Commonwealth which means you can no longer build your own unique character since you can become the master of all trades. They also changed the dialogue system to be Mass Effect-style dialogue wheel, restricted to four choices: Yes, Yes, No (Yes), and a Question. There is no problem with going for a voiced protagonist and restricting the available speech options to four (five if you count Speech checks which almost always boil down to "Pay me more and then Yes") if you can back that up with a solid story and good writing. Things Bethesda seem to be lacking. They give you a pathetically short intro in which they introduce you to your family, and whisk you off to a Vault. Why do I care about these people? I don't, but my character does, which leads me to my biggest problem: the lack of roleplay. You aren't your character, just along for the ride. You can no longer play as an Evil character, or anything resembling such. Diplomacy? Out the door. Guns solve the problems now, and to their credit, the gunplay is a big step up from Fallouts 3 and New Vegas but that's not why I play these games. Gone are the days of playing as a massive idiot who solves all problems with his fists or as a Diplomat who can resolve problems by talking them out whose only skill with weapons is knowing which way to hold them. Or even a compulsive gambler. Want to tell Garvey to go screw himself? Well, you can decline but the quest will not continue until you say yes and get in the damn Power Armor. You can run away but that breaks story progression. Overall the game feels less like Fallout 4 and more like Borderlands 3 to me. I didn't like it. That doesn't mean you can't.Show moreShow less
47.7 hours at review5,223 people found this helpful
Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/14/2026.