Recent reviews by Zombina

There's a big learning curve, and map knowledge is important to the game, but if you hang in there it's a really fun way to spend your time. Playing with friends and coordinating definitely makes things easier if you're playing survivor.

I have sunk almost 2k hours into this game. I can say definitively that this is the most fun way to hate yourself and your friends.

I'm nowhere near finishing the game, but I'm a little ways in and I've already made a list of things I like and don't like. I'm sure there are potential spoilers (which I'll try to flag), so continue at your own risk.

Let's start with my disappointments so far, to get it out of the way.

• Dialogue is over-simplified. There used to be special dialogue you could choose in certain situations as a character with high intellect, high weapons skill, etc. The only thing you can really use in FO4 is charisma.
  
  
• I took one look at the weapons crafting system and didn't look at it again. It seems a bit over complicated, but I might revist that later in game.
  
  
• The skills seem a little too simplified for me. You'll see what I mean if you get the game.
  
  
• Because of the simplification in dialogue and skills, I feel like my character has some generic good guy/♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ identity. Nothing really makes characters special aside from appearance.
  
  
• In other FO games, you could click right through a terminal and get what you needed. Now you have to hit enter to get to the next page of a log, and it's just weird. Potentially for immersion? A minor grievance.
  
  
• Typical Bethesda glitches. More often than I'd like my first person gets glitched, I don't see my weapon, and my Pip Boy screen doesn't display, but the background blurs like it does. Have to go back to the main menu to fix it.
  
  
• I had this weird issue where if I left my PC alone with FO4 up, and the monitor has been asleep for too long, the monitor won't wake up when I get back. Have to restart my PC to fix this. I changed my settings to try and avoid it.
  
  
• I was a little bit sad to find out there are no longer targeting parameters on turret terminals anymore. In other games I would switch off the parameters, let it do the killing for me, then switch it off. I need to experiment more with just turning the turret off and back on, to see if that wipes the "parameters."
  
  
• When I would trip a mine and die, the mine wouldn't be there anymore when I reloaded. This might just be a problem I have, but maybe it will happen to you, too.
  
  
• Settler management needs improvement. I should be able to look at a settler and know what their assignment is. It's annoying to assign a settler only to realize they had been assigned elsewhere. I'm looking for the deadbeats!
  
  
• The Pip Boy workshop monitoring can be very wrong. So far the only glitches I've had are with Sanctuary. It'll say there are only 2 beds, no defense, and no water when there clearly is plenty when I get there.
  
  
• There's no more karma system, which makes me sad. All you have is your companions to go by as a karma system. Leave them behind and you can do whatever you want without being recognized for it.

Now for the likes!

• BLESS YOU BASED NEW SEARCH SYSTEM. Now you don't have to spend time opening up every container because you just NEED to know if there's something useful inside. You place your cursor over it and you know what's inside, and can take what you need immediately.
  
  
• The new armor set up is pretty cool. Kind of like a create-your-own survival gear set.
  
  
• Watching the character you created in animation is really cool. My only gripe is that you cannot customize the voice at all, as Bethesda had two actors voicing all the dialogue.
  
  
• Settlements are pretty damn cool, enough said.
  
  
• The animations in the skills tree and on quests are neat, and they please me.
  
  
• The customization you can get on your character's face is pretty phenomenal. I've seen some amazing character recreations of real people and characters from outside Fallout.
  
  
• Holy mother of shootouts. Shootouts are SRS BIZNES in FO4. So much fun.
  
  
• Along with 7, VATS is vastly improved, in my opinion. No more having your bullets blocked by invisible edges on the environment. You also don't shoot THROUGH things when they're in your face anymore.
  
  
• You can quicksave during dialogue. This saves me so much time being a scummy cheater.
  
  
• Power armor has become what it always should have been, a robotic suit you can climb into and out of, and not clothing. The only reason I don't use it more is because it's a bit noisy, and the readings overlay makes me visually claustrophobic.
  
  
• I really like Diamond City radio. I found the host endearing, and I enjoyed the result of making him a better host.
  
  
• Burning bodies. Just... really. Wow.
  
  
• Radstorms are pretty cool.
  
  
• You can hold your breath to take a steadier shot without using VATS. Technically, it should be a slow exhale, but I'm grateful for the mechanic. It seems like Bethesda decided to take mods from their previous games and use them to improve FO4.
  
  
• Followers really try to stay out of your way, which is much appreciated.

To be honest, I feel the hype for this game was a bit overstated, but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. Just keep in mind that a lot of elements are unlike any other FO game.

I love the game itself. I was a big fan of Trouble in Terrorist Town on GMod, and I'm a big fan of this. But I was slightly disappointed by the launch on to steam. You still have to sign in to your Salem account every time - It should be doing this for you automatically - and you can't leave a match unless you close the game. Needs more tweaking to be steam worthy. But other than that, it's still a fun game.

Garry's Mod is the bomb diggity, yo.