Fallout 4: Love Shack, Baby

As anyone who isn't living in a real nuclear wasteland knows, the mighty Fallout 4 was unleashed yesterday, sent to run riot in the wild like a ghoul strung on Jet. To non gamers this news was a mere passing trend on social media, but in the gaming world it landed on shelves like...well like a mini nuclear blast of its own and if you happen to be a fan of Bethesda's games you are no doubt still feeling the aftershock.
Its been a while since I splurged on a special edition but that Pip Boy edition was always going to be mine and I had it on preorder for months. Aye, its nothing more than plastic tat that will gather dust on a shelf but who cares right? Right? Only live once and all that jazz.
Now anyone who has played an Elder Scroll or Fallout game (especially on consoles) are well aware that as far as bugs and glitches go, Bethesda titles have been plagued by them In fact I replayed Fallout 3 to fuel the hype and the game still freezes so when I slid the disc into the PS4 last night, I didn't have the usual excitement big releases usually bring (which is kinda sad because being gamers the hype is part of the ritual.)
So imagine my surprise when two hours into Fallout 4, digging through the ruins of Boston, I had no issues. None. Nada. In fact it felt the complete opposite and played smooth as mammoth cheese (oops, wrong game that's Skyrim.)

FF 3 days

I don't want to be 'that guy' or anything, but still no bugs and I play a good few hours of an evening. Sure ive read about floating shacks and companions getting stuck or lost but Fallout 4 has been buttery smooth whenever I boot up (PS4).

Teh Nerdgasm

Face it, Fallout 4 is harder than FO3 and New Vegas and if you are going to stay alive then you'll be needing skills/perks. Here's what ive been topping up as priority skills.

Become Shadow

Like I said, this game is harder than previous games and early on your rookie ass would be better off avoiding Fallout's happy campers like raiders, Super Mutants, Ghouls, Mirelurks and and... look just everything okay. Invest in some sneak skills, your pretty ass will thank you for it believe me.

Gun Nut

There are times when stealth just doesn't cut it and your club footed guy/gal WILL kick off a floor trap or worse a landmine. So either be ready with a stockpile of stimpacks and chems, or learn to shoot. Fast.

Physician Heal Thyself

Some gamers think firearm skills more important than medicine but the wise man knows better. Nobody is getting help if you have more holes than Swiss cheese, so lap up those medic skills.


So, Any Downers ?

Sure! Fallout 4 is not the perfect game we all hoped it would be. Granted everyones opinions differ but for me? The inventory system can be very fiddly, especially when facing a crew of psycho raider scum. If you aren't ready then prepare thy doom (its worth noting Fallout 4 is harder than previous games too). Then there is the map. It feels smaller than Fallout 3 despite wandering the wilds and discovering loads of new settlements. I just don't get the same wow! This game is huge feeling. Of course this might be down to 'sandbox fatigue', play enough open world games and they all shrink due to not being fazed any more.
Settlers camps>. When I first saw Preston Garvey (current leader of the Minutemen) I thought he'd be a badass like Isran from Dawnguard, the Skyrim DLC. He's not. Indeed from the moment you set him and his chums up at Sanctuary, he begins to irritate. All settlers do. Bunch of whiny, demanding yoghurt knitters looking to me to help them survive. If they helped, I wouldn't care but the basttards leave everything to me. If the game allowed it, I would have killed them all long ago.

Anyway, im heading back to the wilds of Boston and kill more sh!t. Lock and load.


Fallout Onesie? I'll Take Two

When Dog Chews the Tale

As a gamer now for over three decades...hold on, let me say that again, gamer for over three decades gulp! *reaches for the Botox* It is fair to say that I have played more than my fair share of videogames. Ever since rescuing Xenon princess Roz in Zorgon's Revenge on the Oric 1 inbetween my half hearted attempts at homework, I was addicted (and despite what Daily Mail scribes would have you believe, videogames have never done me any harm).
During that time, I must have spent a gazillion hours shooting zombies, raiding toms and solving bizarre puzzles (cheers Silent Hill). And so its natural that from spending so much time with your pixelated hero/villain, a bond is forged. A bond which makes turning a successful game into an equally successful movie very difficult, and rarely is a director enough of an alchemist to pull it off. Indeed from all the game to film releases, it is only the Resident Evil movies that have held my interest (and even this is because I find them entertaining in their own right and not because they are equal to the cool of the videogames).
So when I heard about The Last of Us movie that is evidently in the works, my little 'ol heart, that heart which has shared many a nervous jump with Joel and Ellie, was not exactly thrilled. And who can blame me? I still shudder when anyone mentions Street Fighter and Kylie Minogue in the same sentence. And less said of Uwe Boll the better.
All the best men know. Even the genius that is Hideo Kojima, who is a major movie fan, will admit deep down to being a tad wary of turning his beloved Metal Gear Solid into a motion picture because he knows like the rest of us know, 9/10 films of games are garbage. Just drop the aforementioned Mr Boll's name into a conversation with Kojima san, you'll get the picture (or not if you happen to be Uwe Boll). Why do you think a MGS movie has not been made yet? Despite being offered multi million deals? Hideo understands man.
Like I said, we gamers forge a special bond with characters over many hours of play, and seeing those "magic moments" reduced to a 2 hour romp ruins it. Take games like Skyrim and Fallout 3 for example. How many hours do we spend in the company of our newly created badass? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say 200+ hours. You go through many different challenges together, notching up a heroes portion of triumph (and deaths), and all personal to you the gamer. Were someone to come along and turn Skyrim into a fantasy film it would fail, and fail hard because none of your private victories would feature. All those little things you see/hear/feel as you clutch your controller and add up to make a unique overall experience is gone, replaced with a directors vision which so often feels like huge disappointment. No more hero than a bit part player relegated to the side lines, and to be blunt, it f**king SUCKS! Its almost like the movie is invading "our" space. (Similar to books but games go even deeper as they put YOU in the action).
So forgive my failure to get all hard and excited (ooer!) over another game-to-film cash grab, but history shows we videgame fans are always better off sticking with the game. We have too much time invested to see it be reduced a film extra.

The Next Gen Consoles

Xbox One (or XBone as its 'affectionately' become known to gamers) was released just 15 minutes ago. Playstation 4 out next week. But most gamers I know on forums are waiting until next year until they get one because there are still great games out for PS3. Oh and there are not many new titles worth the splurge, especially at £50 a pop :o Killzone is the only one I would be interested in. Watch Dogs too but thats been delayed.
Ive still got loads to finish myself: Sly Raccoon 4, Heavy Rain, Killzone 3, Hitman Absolution, Arkham Origins, Borderlands 2, Bioshock Infinite, Far Cry 3 etc, not to mention the awesome The Wolf Among Us series, so even though I will be getting a PS4 (I was offered a special exclusive deal) I can't see me playing much on it for its first few months of life.
The graphics jump this time around are not going to be as spectacular either. Gone are the days of SNES to Playstation 1 improvement, or even the PS2 to PS3 which still feels like yesterday (was only 2007 remember). Going from PS2 (still a [b]great[/b] console) to PS3 was very impressive; jaws were indeed dropped when Motorstorm first hit our screens after MGS3 or Hitman: Blood Money on PS2 (again still fantastic titles) but the PS4 and XBone don't look to be much different to what we have now. Oh the number crunchers will notice for sure but yer average player will not.