Fallout 4 - Free this Weekend

@PCGamer Fallout 4 is having a free weekend which will expire by May 28th.

The free weekend will kick off at 7 am ET/10 am PT on May 25, and run until 10 am ET/1 pm PT on May 28. During that time, players will have full access to all Fallout 4 base content and mods. And if, when it's all over (or anytime during the freebie), you find yourself hooked, you'll be able to pick up the game and the season pass on sale for up to 67 percent off. Sale pricing will be in place until 7 am ET/10 am PT on May 29.

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More information.

Otherwise known as a demo...

But the game is also reduced by 67% and the Season pass by 40%, which make it about 50€ total. That's still lot of money of course. But it's also more than 300h of game if you do all quests and stuff. The biggest SP RPG I have played yet. And one which doesnt completely break in balancing like skyrim or many other games.

I really need to play this again. I finished most of the quests, but I never saw the ending. I also haven't played the Far Harbor DLC.

Not interested. I did get Fallout 3 recently (on a deep discount at steam), and its a decent open world game - have around a dozen hours into it so far. But regarding FO 4, I know all about this turkey, and this installment holds no appeal for me.

Buy FO4.
Install only three mods: better dialogues, norespawn and noradiantrubbish.
Play the game.

After that you'll forget FO3 even exists.

Meh, I downloaded this free demo but it won't let you add the free HQ texture pack.

Didn't have any respawn issues. Played on survivor though, where the respawn is apparently lower.

I really need to play this again. I finished most of the quests, but I never saw the ending. I also haven't played the Far Harbor DLC.

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I would spoil what actually happens at the end. But the end itself was quite disappointing as there are no slides you might be used to from the previous games.
So playing for the endings alone isn't really worth it.

I suspect it becomes a fairly decent hack & slash game once you fix it with mods.

Meh, still not interested. I think Bethesda would have to pay me to play it.

Bethesda + Fallout = shite

Crap game. Even crappier Fallout game. But if you're bored enough to play it, I recommend this overhaul: Horizon.

Drithius said:

Crap game. Even crappier Fallout game. But if you're bored enough to play it, I recommend this overhaul: Horizon.

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That actually looks interesting. What do you think of using it on the first playthrough?

daveyd said:

Meh, still not interested. I think Bethesda would have to pay me to play it.

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I paid them to play it, and finished the game…but if I knew then what I know now, they'd have had to pay me to play it. It was probably the first Fallout game that was 100% non-memorable. Barely remember the dumb plot already. I'm sure it's a fine game for whatever audience it's intended for, it's just not for old'ish-school RPG'ers anymore, it brings absolutely nothing to the table there.

I don't know if I'm done with the Fallout series for good, but it's possible. Sadly, chances are I'll get suckered in at least one more time.

I liked the story and locations and enjoyed the exploration. Furthermore I also liked the game mechanics (combat and character system) which were a vast improvement over Fallout 3. Also the crafting was nice.

Just the interface is still horrible, there are still a decent amount of bugs in the final version (only very few really bad ones) and I miss the slides in the end.

But I do not regret to have bought the CE and the season pass. I just finished my 344h Let's Play. Imho one of the best Games I played in recent years.
You just have to be fine with the FPS combat.

Enjoyed it in let's see what's dumb around this corner kind-of-way ( a teddy bear sitting on a toilet!...a kid in the fridge!)...but even that quickly outstayed it's welcome.
Don't even mind the change in direction...problem is, game isn't really good at anything.
Not as FPS ( Doom, Syndicate, Titanfall), not in survival ( State of Decay, Stalker), not as dungeon crawl( Soulsborne), and sure as hell not as rpg( either with mechanics or storyline/quests/characters).
I did like improvements to crafting system, but even that became pointless with OP upgrades.

Well, the game is pretty good regarding exploration. An extremely well designed world with tons of non-generic locations to explore and lots of little things to find, and this is also rewarded by mechanics.

While the game isn't really excellent at anything else (I prefer the character system over most other single player RPG character systems though) it's also not really bad at anything.

I think especially compared to Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Oblivion and Skyrim, Fallout 4 has the biggest world, and the best mechanics. Story wise it's a matter of taste but personally I found it more engaging than these mentioned games as well.

To me it looks like - and that's pretty much the same with skyrim - that people just don't like some aspects of the game and then say that everything about the game is bad.

beldurax said:

Bethesda + Fallout = shite

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Based on my exp with FO3 I'm inclined to agree, but you seem to say this about 99% of RPGs so it kind of loses it's meaning after awhile.

daveyd said:

Based on my exp with FO3 I'm inclined to agree, but you seem to say this about 99% of RPGs so it kind of loses it's meaning after awhile.

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Vanilla FO3 is entirely mediocre, but I had a pretty good time once I modded it up. FO4 is a significant improvement imo. Gameplay and writing are still sub-par but not as bad as FO3, and the world is fun to explore if you like the setting.

Fallout 4 on Survival is gaming nirvana to me.

It has everything I adore in gaming:

Superb exploration
First rate immersion
Unprecedented freedom
Very strong and endless progression
Solid game mechanics
Great loot
Meaningful scavenging
Real challenge (rare, these days)
Near perfect risk/reward ratio

I could go on, but it really is one of my all time favorite games.

It's like Skyrim, but significantly better. It has vastly superior challenge and mechanics, and it has much more in the way of distinct locations. Really an absurd amount of themed buildings with a ton of worthwhile stuff to find - including audio logs, journals, terminals and loot.

It's really quite pretty, too. Quite underrated in this way - and some of the NPC models are very, very well done.

Personally, I'd recommend a few immersion-friendly mods to tone down the time-wasting aspects of Survival mode - unless you're a true masochist.

I don't enjoy the limited inventory thing coupled with the total absence of fast travel - as you'll be spending a very disproportionate amount of time on juggling shit and moving back and forth.

I also don't enjoy having to drink/eat every 5 minutes - so I play with a timescale mod that also gives me a more immersive sense of day/night cycles.

Finally, I play with a mod that auto-saves on transitions, because that combines the fantastic tension you get from not wanting to lose progress, with being a realistic option for the kind of time I have available. I mean, I'm ok with losing 10-20 minutes of progress due to a mistake, but I don't enjoy losing hours of progress because I missed a single trap. Traps, on Survival, will kill you 9 times out of 10 - even if you sprint

On Survival, you WILL jump like crazy when a Mirelurk ambushes you from the water - or you're stormed by the undead. It has more tension in one play session than the old Fallout games had in their entirety, combined.

Like any game, it has weaknesses. The most obvious one being the writing - which ranges from laughable to decent. Really, it's not THAT bad - but there are too many WTF moments to carry the otherwise powerful immersive atmosphere.

Beyond that, I think it was a mistake to go with a voiced protagonist - as that goes against the freeform nature of Bethsoft games. I don't think it detracts much, but it represents a ton of resources that could have been better spent elsewhere.

But if you enjoy the strengths - there's no competition.