Fallout 4 is Upon Us.

Fallout 4 made a grand entrance onto the gaming scene earlier this week.  It has been seven years since Fallout 3  re-birthed the beloved post-apocalyptic RPG and fans have been chomping at the bit for the next entry into the series.  I managed to restrain my pre-ordering tendencies...and made it right until pre-loading was available.  I've pried myself away from wandering the wastes of the Commonwealth to cobble together some thoughts.

If you're looking for a Fallout game that is vastly different from it's predecessors, this is not it.  Fallout 4 brings back and improves on all your favorite aspects of the various wastelands--a massive area filled with numerous creatures, raiders, super mutants, deathclaws, and other baddies to destroy; tons of unique building to explore; a plethora of lootable items including funky weapons; and many interesting characters to fight by your side.  The graphics are great and give the Commonwealth just the right amount of post-apocalyptic creepiness.

Diamond City.   I'll make it there someday.

I'll admit that I haven't delved into the main questline very much.  It's really easy to get sidetracked.  Here's what I'm liking so far in Fallout 4:

1.) Settlements--Rather than simply having your own house to decorate you can have an entire settlement!  Once you've unlocked a settlement you gain access to a workshop that allows you to build new structures and items.  The downside of having a settlement is that it requires some management.  Your settlers aren't content just milling about your town and require food, water, and defense.  In order to accommodate them you must salvage items to build the things they need.  Remember all that junk you would never pick up in Fallout 3--coffee cups, clipboards, teddy bears, etc.?  In Fallout 4 almost every item can be turned into various useful parts.  That coffee cup turns into ceramic, that clipboard turns into wood and a spring, and that cute lil' teddy bear turns into cloth.  You will often find yourself looting junk to access various parts.  You're also responsible for defending your settlement(s) from periodic raider attacks.

I have enjoyed managing my settlement but have spent a lot of time salvaging and building.  It's not as exciting as fighting a big pack if super mutants but it's satisfying seeing your settlement grow.  The one aspect of the settlement feature that I don't like is the structure building tool.  You can build your own unique buildings in the settlement and the tool features numerous floors, walls, roofs, and assorted parts.  I found the tools difficult to use as you must rotate and align each part of the structure.  Fortunately, you can also choose from several pre-fab buildings that can be plopped anywhere within your settlement.

2.) New refined talents/perks system--No longer do you have to choose from a huge list of perks!  The points you put into your basic SPECIAL abilities will influence the perks you can unlock.  I made my character into a sneaky/sniper-y type with points in perception and agility.  In the agility tree I can unlock perks that help me sneak more effectively or increased the number of action points I have to spend.  The perception tree offers lock-picking improvements as well as perks to make sniping easier.  This much more streamlined system makes choosing more straightforward than it was in the past.

3.) New and improved baddies to kill--I entered a small cabin that I stumbled upon and found several ghouls lumbering about.  The Fallout 4 ghoul isn't the ridiculous lumbering creature from earlier games and now will charge right at you with impressive speed.  Ghouls also like to play dead and you should never trust that a ghoul laying on the ground is a corpse.  Upon entering the Super Duper Mart in Lexington I found that the store was littered with numerous ghoul bodies.  It was very unsettling making my way through the store and trying to figure out which ghouls were actually dead (I don't want to spoil it for you....just be prepared).  You might get lucky (or unlucky) and find yourself fighting an enemy with a star by it's name.  These are "legendary" creatures and are much tougher to kill but they will always drop a piece of "legendary" loot.  I have only encountered two legendary enemies so far but have read that they are much more numerous on higher difficulty levels.  If you're looking for a good fight with some good loot...crank up the ol' difficulty.

Enemies in Fallout 4 seem to be a lot tougher than in previous games.  I've found myself in pitched battles with creatures who were complete pushovers in both Fallout 3 and New Vegas.  They've also wised up and adopted new fighting strategies that include "suicide" runs.  If you hear the beeping...run away!  It's either a bomb-laden molerat or a mini-nuke wielding super mutant preparing to send both you and it to the big Vault in the sky.

Even though I've really enjoyed my time playing Fallout 4 not everything is perfect.  One thing that is slightly irritating (or great, depending on your perspective) is the lack of tutorials.  Early on you will see a small window pop-up with some friendly advice about how to do something.  The settlement building aspect is very poorly described and I spent time Googling how things worked (I still haven't completely figured out how you connect power to lighting).  Maybe we're in an era where games don't really need tutorials anymore--anyone can write a guide or Google how something works.

Besides this very minor irritation I am finding Fallout 4 to be an enjoyable adventure.