Review Roundup: Is Fallout 4 all it was hyped to be?

At midnight tonight, all of the building hype around Fallout 4 will reach its climax, but the question is this, has all that hype been worth it? Is the game that good?

Well, to start – the game is massive, and as our review notes, there's too much in the game to sum up in under 50 hours of gameplay. In fact, 100 hours might not even give you enough to slap a score on the game and call it a day. So, instead of offering a final score, we chose to do a review in progress.

Ultimately, Fallout 4 is widely accepted as a great game. There are bugs in the game, but the bugs are common to huge open world games like Skyrim – the game that Bethesda used to create Fallout 4 on the Xbox One.

The drawbacks are minimal when put up against everything the game offers, but you should be aware of them before diving into the game. The graphics are average, there are glitches, companions can be a bit difficult and the inventory system is just OK.

Other than that, the game feels like home (if you played previous Fallout games), it is entirely immersive, it offers a ton of content and will have you coming back for more.

Without further ado, here are impressions of Fallout 4 from around the web (you can check our review in progress out right here):

IGN

The world, exploration, crafting, atmosphere, and story of Fallout 4 are all key parts of this hugely successful sandbox role-playing game. Great new reasons to obsessively gather and hoard relics of happier times, strong companions, and sympathetic villains driving tough decisions make it an adventure I’ll definitely replay and revisit. Even the technical shakiness that crops up here and there can’t even begin to slow down its momentum.

9.5/10

VentureBeat

I probably can’t give a higher endorsement of Fallout 4 than this: I’ve spent around 50 hours playing between the console and PC versions, and I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near quitting.

And that’s what we want from Fallout, right? A world we can dive into completely and spend days exploring. Well, if that’s what you come to Bethesda products for, you’re going to get it here.

Sure, other publishers have made better-looking open-world games, but I’m starting to think that doesn’t really matter because Fallout 4 is the one I can’t stop playing.

93/100

GameInformer

Fallout 4 didn’t blow me away like the previous iteration did, but it did keep me thoroughly entertained and fully vested in journeying across the wasteland. As Bethesda's "Welcome Home" marketing campaign teases, when fans of Fallout 3 or New Vegas enter this new world, it'll feel strangely familiar. As one of the top games of the previous generation, this isn't a bad thing at all. Fallout 4 has all of the trappings that can keep you engaged for days on end.

9/10

GameSpot

In the grand scheme of things, Fallout 4's minor issues pale in comparison to its successes. When you put the controller down, you think about the friend you betrayed to benefit another, the shifting tide of an incredible battle, or the moment you opened a drawer and found someone's discarded effects, making you wonder how they felt before the bombs fell. In moments like these, Fallout 4 can be an intoxicating experience.

Fallout 4 is an argument for substance over style, and an excellent addition to the revered open-world series.

9/10

PC Gamer

In short, many of Fallout 4's problems, like every Bethesda RPG before it, are a consequence of what makes them unforgettable. That might not be the neatest conclusion, but it explains why, 50 hours in, I'm still having fun. It also explains why, now that I've finished this review, I'm going to play it for many hours more.

88/100

Destructoid

For those of you who are used to this with the past work, it's par for the course — for everyone else who doesn't put up with it, nothing has changed. I should also note that while visual issues were persistently present in the Xbox One edition (reviewed here), I only ran into full-on game crashing twice during my travels. Given how glitchy it is, I can only speculate as to whether or not there will be any game-breaking bugs that completely halt progress, but it seems very likely.

After spending over 40 hours with the game, I can safely place it somewhere in the middle of Fallout 3 and New Vegas in terms of quality. A lot of the franchise's signature problems have carried over directly into Fallout 4, but all of its charms have come along for the ride as well. It manages to do a whole lot right, but the story drags at times, and glitches…glitches never change.

7.5/10