We already had a chance to read several early and in-progress reviews for Fallout 76, but now that the game’s been out for a couple of weeks, we can check out some additional ones in order to get a clearer picture of what Bethesda’s multiplayer Fallout offering is all about. In short, very few critics seem to like the game, citing bugs, server issues, and questionable design decisions as their biggest gripes with it. Have a look:
Eurogamer Avoid:
If Fallout 76 isn’t really a solo game, and it isn’t really a multiplayer game, then what is it? There are survival elements, but they’re so basic and easily dealt with that you forget they’re a part of the game at all (you’re always only a no-cost fast-travel to home camp away from rest). Once you reach the higher levels, Fallout 76 settles down into a grind of loot-hunting and crafting, shooting and item repairing, all the while you’re wrestling with the limits set on how much stuff you can carry at once and how much stuff you can store in your camp. I think I’ve worked out the core gameplay loop: identify a thing you wish to build or craft (for me I’m after endgame power armour, so I’m looting rare junk), go out into the game world, fill your boots until you can’t carry any more, go back to base, stash, repair, craft, rinse and repeat. That’s about it. I’m not sure this is what Vault-Tec had in mind when it tasked Vault 76’s inhabitants with rebuilding Appalachia.
This is not the role I want to play in a multiplayer Fallout game, and this is what worries me most about Fallout 76. Bethesda can update the game to fix bugs and increase the stash limit and open Vaults and add faction-based PvP, but Fallout 76’s fundamentals are deeply flawed. Fallout 76 is in desperate need of a hub – a town or a city or something filled with NPCs – a place players can visit safe in the knowledge they will run into other players. Without one, it’s hard to ground yourself in the game world. Everything here is a means to an end rather than meaningful; surface level rather than deep-rooted. Even after tens of hours of play, Fallout 76 has failed to claw its way under my skin. All of Bethesda’s games – from Fallout to The Elder Scrolls – instantly got inside my head, so much so that I’d think about them even when I wasn’t playing them. I haven’t thought about playing Fallout 76 since my last game-breaking bug.
USgamer 2/5:
I’m not going to say things like “Fallout 76 shouldn’t exist,” or “there’s no saving Fallout 76.” Zenimax Online was able to turn around The Elder Scrolls Online from its launch state into an excellent massively-multiplayer game that I think lives up to the name. Bethesda can potentially do the same here. But Fallout 76 isn’t even a “jack of all trades, master of none” scenario right now, because it’s missing the average mark in some areas, especially in terms of online connectivity options.
Fallout 76 isn’t particularly indicative of the best of the modern Fallout games, nor is it an amazing survival game given its competition. It’s not the worst game in the world or anything, but it very much just exists. It merely says, “I’m here too,” instead of standing out. Fallout 76 in its current state is the game version of the Amphicar Model 770: it sometimes works, but it’s still the worst of both worlds.
GameSpot 4/10:
Bethesda has stated it intends to continue supporting the game for a long time, but at launch, Fallout 76 is a poor experience. There are echoes of the series’ admirable qualities, but look past that facade, past the cute Vault Boy animations, past the familiar radio tracks, and you’ll find no heart–just an inconsequential wasteland doomed to be nuked over and over again.
GamesRadar+ 2.5/5:
Fallout 76 is like meeting up with an old former friend you haven’t seen in forever. At first you’re ecstatic to see them and hear about everything they’ve been up to, but as the conversation goes on you realise that they haven’t changed that much, but you’ve grown up. A lot. Just like a former friend, Fallout 76 has some new quirks, but they mostly serve to show how out of date the rest of the game is. What it comes down to is that in Fallout 76 you don’t just want to survive – you want to live. With its temperamental quests, technical issues, and out-of-date engine, Fallout 76 lacks the life that made the post-apocalypse a beacon of hope in previous games. Yet when it pushes into new territory, sometimes literally like in the case of The Mire or Cranberry Bog, or presents you with brand new enemies, you see some of the spark that makes Fallout… well, Fallout. If only there were enough sparks like that to set Appalachia on fire. But there aren’t.
WCCFTech 5/10:
Fallout 76 lacks the heart and soul of what is a Bethesda RPG. The exclusion of NPC’s and, in general, decent quest givers makes an emotional (or any) connection to the world near-on impossible and manages to shatter any immersion. The inclusion of other humans does nothing to remedy the fact that these core elements are missing. What it does do right, though, is having built by far the most varied and engaging Map yet, which is a pleasure to look at and explore – even if it looks dated up close. Furthermore, teaming up with other people to take on high-end creatures, particularly after the launch of a nuke, makes for compelling gameplay. As can be expected from a Bethesda title, it’s riddled with bugs and glitches, many are game breaking, though Bethesda is already working on fixing them. What Fallout 76 really needs is an infusion of NPC’s, even if only at a single hub, to give the game purpose.
RPG Site 5/10:
At this point, it’s relatively easy to conceive hypothetical scenarios where Fallout 76 either languishes into irrelevancy or turns around into an interesting, engaging experience. Bethesda’s initial response is somewhat promising, but it’s clear that the road ahead is a long one. Some of the core mechanics like the new perk system and pure gameplay loop are actually an okay foundation to build from, but they’re mired in questionable design decisions made worse with several technical shortcomings that could take a significant amount of time to fix. Until that happens though, Fallout 76 is a difficult game to recommend to anyone except for maybe the most ardent fans of post-apocalyptic playgrounds.
Trusted Reviews 3.5/5:
Fallout 76 is one of the most interesting entries to the series since Fallout 3. The addition of multiplayer elements to the apocalyptic wasteland should on paper make for a wonderfully immersive, tense experience, and for a good while it does. Playing with buddies looting collapsed shopping centres and derelict towns is a blast and the robust crafting and character development mechanics are excellent.
However, quests’ repetitive nature and a lack of human players filling the vast world can make Fallout 76 feel a little sterile and hampers its long-term appeal, especially if you don’t have friends to accompany you on your journey through the wasteland. This makes Fallout 76 a good, not great, entry into the iconic franchise.
