Fallout Mania!

As I mentioned last week, the Amazon Prime Fallout series is a video game adaptation that's actually worth watching.  I found it to be a faithful representation of the games with just enough new plot twists to keep it engaging.  Due to the popularity of the series, many people are feeling an urge to check out (or re-play) the games.  Fallout 4 and the semi-doomed multiplayer flop that was (emphasis on the was) Fallout 76 have seen a burst of player activity.  (Fallout 76 was bad at launch, but when I played it, I found it to be an enjoyable experience--you can read my review here) Fallout is having a moment and I've got to admit, I've felt a bit of an itch to go back and give some of it a re-play.

On of my beautiful creations in a settlement.

Bethesda has also decided to capitalize on this moment by releasing the "next gen" update to Fallout 4.  You might've noticed the almost 14 gig update when you popped open your Steam library.  Now, you might be thinking "YESSSS! It's the perfect opportunity!"  however...I'm here to rain on your parade just a little bit.  According to several sources, the PC update is a bit of a crapshoot (this PC Gamer article breaks it down)--at least if you're on PC; the console updates seem to be much better.  If you don't want to read the article, here's the gist of it:

1.) There are basically no graphics updates.  They added widescreen support but it seems to be screwed up and causes a weird, stretched look.

2.) Like any major update, if you use mods (which many PC gamers do) they are all also broken.  This is to be expected, but it means having to wait until the makers of those mods have time to get them compatible with the new update.

3.) Certain settings can cause crashes--apparently RTX cards are impacted by this.

So, if you were feeling extra excited about diving back into Fallout 4, it might be worth waiting until the update gets patched to address some of these issues.  Personally, I'd recommend diving into one of the older titles--Fallout 3 or New Vegas come immediately to mind.  If you're feeling VERY nostalgic or haven't experienced the OG games, I'd also recommend giving them a whirl (Epic Games game them away for free at some point, but you can get all three on Steam for $19.99--worth it, in my opinion).

Happy wasteland adventures!