Fallout 4 - Far Harbor PC Gamer Review

[Aubrielle]

PC Gamer reviewed Far Harbor and gave it a solid 80.

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The island itself is perfectly enjoyable to explore: gloomy, marshy, shrouded in mist and prone to radiation storms. It’s a spooky and atmospheric setting, weird and evocative even in broad daylight. It’s not that heavily dotted with locations, but there’s enough exploring, combat, and mission running to keep most players busy for 20-plus hours. There are also plenty of raiders (here they’re called trappers), supermutants, ghouls, and some new weapons to kill them with, such as a harpoon gun and a lovely giant hammer equipped with an afterburner to help you swing its radioactive head. There’s also a new companion in the form of a grizzled and salty old coot, and a few new settlements to build (if you haven’t already had enough).

Far Harbor is a bit pricey but worth it for those looking for a good amount of new content and a real departure in setting. More dialogue-based resolutions are also welcome: I feel like I did more talking, and likewise more listening, than in Fallout 4 itself.

More.

More information.

 

[rjshae]

I feel like I did more talking, and likewise more listening, than in Fallout 4 itself.

Which speaks volumes... so to speak.

I wonder, did the DLC have different writers than the main game?

 

[joxer]

8/10?
So it's better to buy this than whole Fallout New Vegas?
My arse.

 

[BoboTheMighty]

Seems like an improvement over the main game, but way worse performance from what my sources keep telling me.
I do find it funny that Bethesda seems to be stuck with 84 on metacritic… the curse lays heavily upon them.
Fearghus and Sawyer must be having a field day with this.

 

[Carnifex]

I finally finished Final Fantasy six yesterday so I might take a dip into this at some point today or tomorrow. Gotta remember where I put the backpack with my four favourite melee weapons in it.

 

[Deleted User]

I have been watching my pal Earl Man Fu play some Fallout 4 on YouTube.

Yes, I'm sort of a non-gamer right now. I go through phases. Haven't played a game in over a month and a half. But I still enjoy watching gameplay and Let's Plays now and then.

Anyway, things I noticed about Fallout 4 and am a bit worried about.

1. It seems like each "dungeon" area has armies of enemies that come at you. Surely there are more enemies in this game than any other Bethesda RPG to date, right?

2. The dialogue system looks really bad. And frankly, I haven't seen a whole lot of dialogue or interaction with NPCs in the game other than mowing down countless enemies. Is this how Fallout 4 is or did I just miss the NPC interaction/dialogue bits?

I dunno. I enjoyed Fallout 3 a lot and still to this day haven't explored that entire map. Fallout: New Vegas I was a bit underwhelmed with.

But anyway, continue.

 

[Thrasher]

Yes you can get overwhelmed quite easily early on, which is why a meat shield (i.e. companion) is needed. After you level up, you become a killing machine and they go down so fast it doesn't matter. VATS makes it even easier. Great for relieving the tedium after the 1000th ghoul.

 

[wolfgrimdark]

I have been watching my pal Earl Man Fu play some Fallout 4 on YouTube.

Yes, I'm sort of a non-gamer right now. I go through phases. Haven't played a game in over a month and a half. But I still enjoy watching gameplay and Let's Plays now and then.

Anyway, things I noticed about Fallout 4 and am a bit worried about.

1. It seems like each "dungeon" area has armies of enemies that come at you. Surely there are more enemies in this game than any other Bethesda RPG to date, right?

2. The dialogue system looks really bad. And frankly, I haven't seen a whole lot of dialogue or interaction with NPCs in the game other than mowing down countless enemies. Is this how Fallout 4 is or did I just miss the NPC interaction/dialogue bits?

I dunno. I enjoyed Fallout 3 a lot and still to this day haven't explored that entire map. Fallout: New Vegas I was a bit underwhelmed with.

But anyway, continue.

I have over 500 hours logged now and there is plenty of dialogue. Some folks dislike the way its handled so there is a mod that transform it into more a list of responses with the full text. I am fine with the way it is myself.

The game has a ton of lore - journals, terminal posts, notes, etc. I love reading all of it. Also really fun to sneak up on NPC's (raiders, gunners, even friendly ones) and listen to all the conversations that go on between them.

Of course if someone plays this by just mowing down everyone they meet and not chatting then you would not see a lot of dialogue. Depends on play style - you can focus on SIM aspects with settlements; focus on RPG elements by doing quests, role playing a character the way you like, talking with everyone and digging into the lore, exploring all the great places with lots of secrets and easter-eggs, and building up your character through levels, perks, crafting, etc.; or play it more like an FPS and just go in guns blazing and ignore most of the other features.

But if you prefer FO3 over FNV then maybe you are looking for more of a shooter. Having played all three I find FNV the best for quests, writing, and companions. FO4, compared to FO3, is light years better. I had to struggle through FO3 and finally had to give up and never finished. I am on my third play through doing survival mode with FO4 and its one of those games I get excited about getting out of work for as I want to go home and play.

Felt the same way for Skyrim as well so if you didn't like Skyrim probably won't be big on this one either.

 

[Deleted User]

I have over 500 hours logged now and there is plenty of dialogue. Some folks dislike the way its handled so there is a mod that transform it into more a list of responses with the full text. I am fine with the way it is myself.

The game has a ton of lore - journals, terminal posts, notes, etc. I love reading all of it. Also really fun to sneak up on NPC's (raiders, gunners, even friendly ones) and listen to all the conversations that go on between them.

Of course if someone plays this by just mowing down everyone they meet and not chatting then you would not see a lot of dialogue. Depends on play style - you can focus on SIM aspects with settlements; focus on RPG elements by doing quests, role playing a character the way you like, talking with everyone and digging into the lore, exploring all the great places with lots of secrets and easter-eggs, and building up your character through levels, perks, crafting, etc.; or play it more like an FPS and just go in guns blazing and ignore most of the other features.

But if you prefer FO3 over FNV then maybe you are looking for more of a shooter. Having played all three I find FNV the best for quests, writing, and companions. FO4, compared to FO3, is light years better. I had to struggle through FO3 and finally had to give up and never finished. I am on my third play through doing survival mode with FO4 and its one of those games I get excited about getting out of work for as I want to go home and play.

Felt the same way for Skyrim as well so if you didn't like Skyrim probably won't be big on this one either.

Thanks. So there is plenty of lore, dialogue, etc. Good to know.

I was a bit disappointed in New Vegas because I felt it just didn't have the amount of fun exploration and gameplay to offer as FO3 did. Sure, more story, choices, etc., and the story was fun and I finished the game, but I wasn't compelled by it like FO3, which had so many interesting locations and nooks and crannies to explore. Literally after 40 hours or so, I felt like I saw most of what New Vegas had to offer. 300+ hours in FO3 and still haven't seen it all.

To each their own and all that. I still enjoyed New Vegas but have no desire to go back there, would rather play FO3.

I'm certainly not looking for more of a shooter but the writing, quests and companions in FO:NV doesn't make that game superior to FO3 for me. I do like different games for different reasons and don't have a definite list of "needed features" to enjoy a game. I just felt like New Vegas was a bit underwhelming to me coming from FO3.

FO4 sounds better now that I know there is plenty of lore and exposition and stuff. I was a bit worried it was more of an FPS with a few RPG elements rather than the typical "heavy RPG" stuff I like.