Before we get into it, I want to emphasize that everything I say in this article does not excuse Bethesda’s deceptive practices following the launch of Fallout 76 or the unfinished state in which it was released. From a myriad of bugs to shady monetization schemes, Fallout 76 had an understandably rough start. But what I do want to say is that Bethesda has learned from their numerous mistakes, and while Fallout 76 is still not perfect by any means, it can be really fun to play, and now is a better time than ever for new players to jump in.
I can back up that statement because that’s exactly what I did. As a longtime fan of Fallout, I stayed away from Fallout 76 initially because of all the negative press that surrounded it. And since Respawn Station wasn’t around back then, I didn’t feel the need to go out of my way to suffer through it for a review.
But that isn’t the case with Nick, one of our other writers on the site. Nick is an even bigger Fallout fan than me and he went as far as to pre-order the Collector’s Edition of Fallout 76 when it was announced. (Yes, for those wondering, he did have to deal with the duffel bag fiasco.) Since release, Nick has put over 700 hours into the game, and his main character is about the same number in level too.
I reached out to Nick at the end of August in search of a large game for me to sink my teeth into in between my ever-changing list of titles to review. Speaking of which, this isn’t my full review of Fallout 76, that may come much later if so decide, but I want to share my thoughts on it having played about ten hours so far because, as Nick told me, and as I now tell you, now is a better time than ever to play Fallout 76. You can watch me playing through the start of Fallout 76 below, and about halfway in, Nick pops in to say hello if you want to see what flexing in this game looks like.
Let’s talk about technical performance first. I have been playing through the game on the PlayStation 5, and though I wish the game had a next-gen patch for improved performance, I have luckily not come across any major bugs or glitches. There is occasional pop-in and minor desync when in melee combat on servers with larger player populations, but as of now I only have two major technical issues: the really rough-looking water and server availability.
Fallout 76 can look nice at times, though a more appropriate word would be atmospheric, but it can certainly look just as bad given the right circumstances. The water is a particular low point because, unlike the rest of the visuals, I have not had a single instance where I thought it looked fine or even passable. I have seen AA open world RPGs with better water than this. (Case in point: ELEX II.) As for servers, their availability is unpredictable. On more than one occasion, I couldn’t get in to play the game I paid for because the servers were down. Which, needless to say, sucks.
Speaking of sucks, how about them microtransactions? This is admittedly not something I spent too much time with since I abstain from most in-game stores completely. However, it’s clear that Bethesda plans to milk this game for every penny it can. Along with the Atomic Shop (and the Atomic currency), which sells a rotating roster of player cosmetics and base decorations, there is also Fallout 1st, a monthly membership designed for hardcore players. Subscriptions cost $12.99 a month and provide members with custom worlds, private adventures, free Atoms, and customization packs.
That’s a pretty harsh start for an article where I am trying to tell you that the game is worth checking out, I know, so let’s get to the good stuff. For starters, the core concept of Fallout with friends is great. Roaming the map, getting into a bit of trouble, and chatting after a long day is the best way to experience this game. The first time I played Fallout 76, I had Austin and Nick jump on with me, and those opening hours were made a lot less stressful because of it. And much like that first session, every subsequent session with friends has ended with us playing for a lot longer than we intended.
Part of why Fallout 76 is so easy to pick up and play now that there have been a few updates is that any Fallout player should feel right at home. Despite the online features of the game, for better or for worse, 76 plays like a Fallout game. For some players, it might mean the game is just as slow or clunky as the last game in the series. For us, it meant we didn’t have to spend a lot of time learning things. Quests and inventory are managed through the Pip-Boy, and the buttons do exactly what you expect them to do. Other than VATS functioning more for hit-chance boost than bullet time, there are no real curveballs to the Fallout experience.
Now, I have mentioned Nick a lot so far, and not everyone has a Nick of their own to guide them through this wasteland. (Though everyone should.) Bethesda did make a handy beginner’s guide for these players; however, this brings me to the best aspect of Fallout 76: the community. I have played a lot of multiplayer games, from the salt fields of League of Legends to the sunsetting planets of Destiny 2; I have travelled them all, and the Fallout 76 community is one of the most welcoming I have ever come across. I won’t claim that they’re all great; that’s too large of a vibe check for me to clear, but several times in my journey I was stopped by strangers with triple-digit level counts and dropped a bag of goodies that I really needed.
Because of this, Fallout 76 captures a different perspective on the open-world post-apocalyptic sandbox genre that even the other mainline games cannot really attain. After seeing other players’ bases, finding a corner of Appalachia for yourself and settling down gives life to the wasteland like never before. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed seeing other players around the map and peeking into their bases when I could.
All that to say, I’m having a good time with Fallout 76, and if you’re a fan of the series, then you might too. It was probably best to have avoided the game for a bit after launch, but with major issues patched up, the game runs like any other Fallout game. Which is to say, good but rarely flawless. The biggest boon to this game, though, is actually the community. They fill the map with cool-looking bases and are friendly to boot. In a game series so often drenched in gloomy survival of the post-apocalypse, 76 offers a breath of less irradiated air. Fallout 76 is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.
