Fallout 76 (2018 Video Game) User Reviews (62)

I have always played Bethesda games.

[smilodon142 · 3/10 · 14 November 2018]

I've played every Bethesda game and every Fallout game.

After 30 hours of game play I can say this game isn't worth sixty dollars.

The story is limited to notes and recordings in a medium that's "Let the player do" instead of "Tell them what happen", normally that kind of story telling is an optional addition to the games experience.

Fallout 76 and Fallout 4 both have lore that goes against established cannon, retconning those previous games is disrespectful to the writers and developers of past games.

The PC edition launched without a number options typically found in sixty dollar triple A titles. From the options menu you cannot, turn off depth of field, bloom, god rays, bloom, change the Anti Aliasing settings, or set an ultra wide screen resolution. The strange thing is the game does support all those settings if you change them from the configuration files. However the normal user would have a difficult time figuring out how to go about that process. Bethesda omitted those options from the game for seemingly no reason.

After exploring the map, the size of which is one of the games few positives, the gameplay would consist of mostly building your camp and controlling public workshops. The building mode in the game while aggravating at times does work and is improved slightly from Fallout 4.

Other players from my experience will have voice chat turned off and will ignore you after a wave. After twenty hours of leaving my microphone on in hopes that I would make a lasting connection with someone I decided to turn it off so I could listen to an audio book without having to worry about others at all.

All of the good things in Fallout 76 can be better found in Fallout 4, and basically this game is Fallout 4 striped of it's substantial story elements and combined with the restrictions of a multiplayer game.

Not a Fallout

[pitureka · 3/10 · 19 November 2018]

Fallout is a game about being part of a world a making your own path in it. Fallout 4 got rid of regular choices in your story but was not that bad, this? This is a whole lot different. The map is 4 times as big, but is 100 times as empty in substance, there's no feeling to it, I would enjoyed a same size map but with more life to it. As is, Fallout 76 is a co-op nature exploration game set in a fallout theme, it's not a fallout game, I just want a falllout 2 but with modern graphics.

Potential Wasted

[Phoeniloculus · 3/10 · 23 March 2019]

This game really had potential at first glance and when playing the beta demo. I was stoked for Fallout 76, but it didn't deliver any promises.

I can understand that Bethesda's aim was to have the game mainly ran by players, but I didn't realize there'd be no NPC's. There's not much of storylines to play off of. The in-game lore is different compared to the other games. It may feel like a Fallout game at first, but is a crapfest of a sandbox game.

One of the selling points that was not fulfilled (and can't be) is the whole game being based around, "People coming together to rebuild America." It's a total anarchy. There's no form of overheads or "leaders", just look behind your back 24/7. Plus, the world seems lackluster.

That all leads into of the PVP system turning out poorly. Someone shoots at you, you shoot back, and a firefight occurs. Someone kills you, you decided to not fight back, they have a bounty on them. Sounds fine, right?

Whoever that said adversary is, can respawn close by. So, it can be an on-going cycle. Pacifist mode sounds like a nice way to avoid fighting other players, but they can still kill you. You just can't kill them in pacifist mode.

Did I forget to mention that players can acquire silo codes, put them together, and launch nukes? "Great way to rebuild America", my ass. It's a frequent thing as well.

There's not much of storylines when doing quests, since it's only told on holotapes, and doesn't tell a whole lot.

That's the best way it can be described, aside from it's ridiculous glitches and bugs. If you want to play a good mmo, The Elder Scrolls Online is surprisingly really good. They made an awesome Elder Scrolls mmo, but made it fail with Fallout.

A swing and a miss.

[haydenjgiles · 1/10 · 23 November 2018]

Bethesda should stick to making single player games. Fallout 76 has numerous bugs/glitches and unappealing quests. It's basically an empty map and a pathetic shell of a Fallout game.

An insult to the former games

[applemacco11 · 1/10 · 19 November 2018]

I cannot believe how BAD this game actually is, it's not worth playing at all, even if you are a die hard fallout fan...because this will would just be a complete disappointment for you. Todd...what happened?

Sucks Ass

[thewaveofthes · 1/10 · 1 February 2019]

Empty map rude players 😡 boring quests no settlers impossible to find food and water. I hate it can't wait until Monday to play this boring crap of a game

It doesn't Just work Howard! It breaks!

[haydenagain · 1/10 · 2 July 2019]

Todd Howard seriously tried to lie his way out of this one, but that couldn't save him from this. A Fallout game that has a big world but literally has no plot, no NPC's to interact with, eye-gouging graphics, overreliance on PVP elements and crawling with millions of bugs and glitches that even firing three nukes would blow this entire game back to Nuclear Winter where it came from. Do I even need to mention the whole Canvas Bag incident too just to prove a point? If this hasn't taught Bethesda a damn thing about their failure, then Elder Scrolls 6 is in DEEP trouble.

Horrible game in 2018 but amazing game in 2021

[kobeterk · 8/10 · 10 May 2021]

Fallout 76 was a horrible game in 2018 because of bugs and glitches and it was new at the time it was a online game and it's hard to make an online game good so it was Bethesda usually has a lot of glitches in their games so My cousin said to not play it because it's not good so I heard they fix the glitches in fallout 76 and the gameplay is great in 2021 but 2018 it was bad because of bugs and glitches and in 2020 I heard it is a great game to being a glitchy online game in 2018 to a fixed online game in 2021 I really enjoy it a lot it you like online games you will like fallout 76. I will give it a 8 of 10 because of the gameplay and you can play with other people in the world and I really like it to meet new people in the world but in 2018 it was a different story in 2018 I will give it a 2 out of 10 because of bugs and glitches and please people give the Developers a chance to fix the game and it can be some great in the future like fallout 76 I really like Bethesda fix the game quite a bit it's a different game now without most the bugs and glitches there was some in the game but not as many as in 2018 and this game is great one of the best online games by Bethesda.

Enjoyable for what it is!

[gingertwin-82567 · 7/10 · 25 April 2019]

There's an endless line of people willing to complain about this game, but I enjoy it for what it is. Here are ten reasons I'd buy Fallout 76 again: 1.) The Bugs Have Been (Mostly) Handled. You've probably heard a lot about the bugs and whatnot, but through regular updates, the majority of them have been handled! The game is playable; you don't glitch out any more than you would playing Fallout 4. (And, honestly, it's pretty miraculous that an online server like this holds up in the first place.) 2.) So Many Locations to Explore. You can explore so. much. The map is huge, but not impossible to get around in. Just like the previous games, each location still has lore and it's own vibe! 3.) The Lack of NPCs Isn't As Bad As It Seems. I was pretty disappointed when I learned there weren't any NPCs, but I'm actually surprisingly satisfied with the dialogue and backstory you can dig up through holotapes, notes, and terminals. 4.) CAMP Building. Building is still super fun- I've spent ages building in Fallout 4 settlements, and I'm actually really enjoying the 76 CAMP opportunities. 5.) The Graphics. Seriously, I might actually play this game even if I was completely unable to interact with anyone or anything, just to walk around and look at this world. The graphics really bring it all to life; walking through the forest, sun beams coming through the trees- it's really brilliant. 6.) Other Players Aren't Intolerable. People aren't actually as obnoxious as you'd expect! Now, I'm not saying you won't run into jerks, because you totally will, but you'll find some cool people, too! You can also just ignore everyone; it's not too hard. There are things in place (pacifist mode, bounties) to keep people from going to far with griefing. 7.) You Feel Like Part Of A Community. Surrounded by other Fallout fans, you can talk about the games, trade with each other, teach each other things you might not have figured out on your own. I get all happy even just when someone gives a wave emote when they pass by. 8.) There's Stuff to Do. There's actually a good amount of stuff to do, if you're the type to follow quests. There's not as much as the previous games, but still; my friend plays a lot, every day, since it came out four months ago, and he's just recently ran out of quests. (Not including the daily ones and the quests you can repeat, of course.) And Bethesda releases new quests every now and then, so there's always something to do. 9.) New Lore. You get to learn about new creatures, new radiation effects, new survivor's stories, etc. 10.) Continued Lore. Even without your favorite NPCs, even being across the country from the previous games; the lore is continued! You get to explore the Enclave's beginning, the Mistress of Mystery, Vault Tec, etc. In conclusion; don't let the uproar from disappointed fans drown out what matters! The game isn't perfect, but it's fun and enjoyable, and isn't that the point of games in the first place?

Bethesda Game Studios worst game.

[connberto · 2/10 · 26 November 2018]

I am honestly a huge fan of the Fallout franchise and have been for quite a long time. It honestly sickens me that Bethesda has gone down the same path as EA and Activision. This game had potential but was wasted because Bethesda was too busy rushing it out before Christmas. It's not a completed game and it was just poorly executed on Bethesda's part. The "game" itself also has problems other than just not being finished. First of all, the performance is atrocious. Every time I played the frame rate would drop immensely when in combat. Not only would it drop in combat, but it would also drop whenever I was in an area with a few buildings. The problem is mainly their horrible engine that their using because it's outdated. I also find it funny that their going to being using this engine for The Elder Scrolls 6, as well. This just goes to show that Bethesda really doesn't care about the quality of their game, when they're too lazy to create a more updated engine. Second of all, the PvP is actually bad. Bethesda tried to make the game work for different playstyles, but ended up just ruining PvP in general. What they did is they made it to where if a player shoots another player first, they only do a fraction of the total damage. But if that second person shoots back, it does full damage. That pretty much destroys any incentive to fight another player, as you're probably going to get killed with ease. Not only that, but the loot is cancer. All the other person drops is their junk. That means all of that trouble is only going to get you some useless garbage that is pretty much used for base building. And Base building also sucks, so that makes it even worse. It's funny because I was going to put a yes for spoilers, but then I remembered that this game doesn't have a story! The game pretty much has you following the overseer, which is really boring. The side quests aren't even that great either, so you can just tell that Bethesda was really going for an entertaining game. The reason the game is boring is because Bethesda was trying to go for no NPCs but NPCs are what make a good story. All in all, this game is trash.

Amazing game

[gordonfreeman-32618 · 10/10 · 14 February 2022]

Am only 6 hours in and love it. It has a great story and is my 3rd favorite fallout game ever and has great gameplay and easily makes the day fly by one moment it's 10 am and next it's 5 pm.go by this game now.

Underrated

[Mrman69420 · 7/10 · 4 January 2019]

75% 👍 Bethesda aren't good with multiplayer, even though that's the main thing in this game, it is still a decent game and very underrated.

A complete DISASTER

[ernestotriant · 1/10 · 19 November 2018]

• No introduction story/plot

• Bases are temporary so no point to build them

• there are no npcs !!, so the players should be able to form their own societies (towns,groups etc) cause the game is boring/dead
• 0 impact to the world/no dialogs without options which was key feature for all fallouts

-very boring quests that u need to spend hours reading huge texts in the computers

-low stash limit (bethesda announced that they will slowly fix it ...)

Worst Fallout EVER

[djzisumbo-652-811293 · 1/10 · 20 April 2019]

To call this game Fallout is an abomination. News flash. Horror able. Go back and maybe Make it a Co-Op but gameplay like fallout 4

Not fallout

[kieranlee039-900-964330 · 1/10 · 11 February 2019]

Not like any fallout I've played before, complete disaster.

Buyer Beware!

[djzisumbo-652-811293 · 1/10 · 27 December 2018]

Totally changed from Fallout 4. The game has no NPC and play is so petitious. I fell board after only level 14. I pre-ordered and wish a refund was still active.

Meh... 50 hrs in and it's not any better

[jrmuldoon-35445 · 1/10 · 5 October 2019]

Excluding the bugs that come standard with all Bethesda games. It is insulting to me as a consumer that Bethesda would treat us like children in the way that they do, I'm speaking of the atomic shop and recent business blunders I'm sure you're all already aware of.

This game is a walking and/or trash collecting simulator. The progression system is stupid. Nothing you do makes you stronger because the game completely scales to your level. Grinding is mandatory, but absolutely useless as every few levels you're forced to change to new weapons because of how the scaling works. They're just trying to waste your time and get you to buy stuff via micro trans.

Came back after three years and..

[jtttpearson · 8/10 · 19 October 2021]

Game has gotten a whole lot better with NPCs it breathes life back in to the world (why they didn't do this is beyond me when it first released). From a story point of view it's ok at least your not chasing down a long lost relative or some sort. As a true fan to the series it ain't the best but for what you get the plus side is the custom worlds with your friends. The shooting mechanics roll over from Fo4 and the dialogue we all loved and missed is back from Fo3. The choices ain't the best for the end part but it's understandable being an online game with its mechanics.

I'm glad the lore is somewhat relates to the previous entries and the world is stunning but the engine needs a massive upgrade. I could keep going on but to say the least the game redeems itself as a fallout entry. You never know it maybe like wine it gets better with age. Good work Todd Howard and your ever growing team this game is what I hoped it would be three years ago.

Good, not great, not bad

[redapple-47749 · 6/10 · 26 November 2018]

There seems to be a large amount of hatred towards this game. People are talking about how it's the worst Fallout in history and the worst game ever made in existence. I want to give an unbiased point of view on this and from about 60 hours of playing this game I can finally give my own opinion. It's just good, not great, nor is it bad either. There is a story that exists in this game, albeit, not as cinematically told as other Fallout games it is still there and not completely bad. I'd say it's maybe the same quality of Fallout 4's storyline just not told through living human NPC's. There are NPC's that exist in this game, some better than others. But the ones that are good have pretty decent dialogue that shouldn't be underestimated. The content that is in this game is pretty big and it seems odd to hear people say that there isn't as much stuff in this game in comparison to other Fallout games and I say that's just not true. In fact, there's almost an overwhelming amount of content in the game. On the topic of multiplayer I believe that it could have been implemented a bit better. The PVP aspects are buggy and don't really satisfy people that want a good PVP experience. But, the PVE experience with friends is something that can't really be captured by any other games. In fact, Fallout 76 does an amazing job at giving the feel of curiosity and happiness when you and your group of friends are discovering the Toxic Valley for the first time and have to fight a grafton monster. The world here is the biggest Fallout world to date with an extreme amount of diversity in creatures and things to fight with lots of loot. Gameplay-wise this Fallout is at it's peak in quality. But that's where it ends there, with the amount of performance issues and bugs and crappy end-game content it doesn't improve on anything besides just playing with friends. All in all, the game isn't as bad as people say it is but it's certainly not one of Bethesda's best games to date

TL;DR- The game has it's ups and downs, not nearly as bad as some say it is but it's not amazing either, quality of the game greatly increases when you play with friends but that's about it. One should buy it if it's on sale or if you have friends that want to play it.

Fun Initally, but so empty.

[connormanf · 3/10 · 17 December 2018]

The first hour of this game may be fun, exploring this huge Appalachian wasteland. The map may be 4 times as big, but feels like it has half the content as fallout 4.

If you like listening to holotapes, NPCs (robots) talking AT you, instead TO you, then Fallout 76 is your game.

A good game

[amyberesford-96702 · 8/10 · 14 February 2021]

I started playing this game with my dad a few weeks ago (it's 2021) because we both like the previous fallout games and thought we might at least give 76 a try. We both had pretty low expectations going into it from what we had heard about it. However I ended up falling in love with the game within only a few hours of playing. Many (but not all) of the issues that the game faced at launch seem to have been fixed, we have barley encountered any glitches and the ones that we did find really weren't that bad or game breaking, we also managed to both get the game pretty cheap, the locations that you can explore and discover in the game world seem to have a lot of thought and care put into them and I often find myself getting side tracked just so that I can look inside a nearby building. The game also includes things like daily and weekly challanges that you can complete to earn rewards, this often keeps me occupied, there are also "events" that start every so often in different areas of the map and each event features a different type of challenge, these events can be completed with other players or friends. You can complete quests together if you join a team on the game, but you can also do these things alone and complete out of the way of other players if you choose to.

However, there are some things that I have an issue with in the game, like the fact that when playing on a team most of the quests are only completed by the player doing the quest, and the other player would have to re do the whole quest to have it completed for them, but they do get xp and caps whenever their teammate completes a quest. The game also has no text chat, only voice chat and a lot of players don't seem to use their voice chat, unless it's isolated to team members, this paired with the fact that a lot of players keep to themselves while playing could make it harder to play with or meet strangers if you have nobody else to play with. The game have survival elements like having to eat and drink every now and then, a disease chance, and stimpacks, radaway and food and drink also have weight which can be irritating to some people as this mode is not able to be turned off, or included in the game as optional. Speaking of weight, when you build your camp (your house or settlement) you have a box for storage called a stash, and even if you place multiple boxes thay all share the same inventory but they have a weight limit of what can be put inside them, and this is something that I have been struggling with as I like to hoard items, especially unique ones or junk to build with, and I've hit a point where my stash is constantly full and I don't know what to get rid of (this won't happen right away in game though and my dad has not experienced it yet, I think it's because I hoard a lot and I had some things in there that I don't need and just put in there for the sake of it)

Overall I would recommend at least trying the game, especially as wastelanders has come out and there are lots of human npcs and new quests to do.

Could be better

[samlloyd1979 · 7/10 · 1 February 2019]

I got this game at £25 as it was cheap I thought I'd give it a go. It's a good game to explore and to tasks and events. I do prefer fallout 4, 3 new Vegas. With non player characters where I can play solo offline. I still think it's s good game to play on your own but not as good as the previous fallout. I hope they update it at dome point where you can play coop play or add non player characters in

You can do better Bethesda!

[wyattwaltenbury · 3/10 · 12 December 2018]

This "Fallout" game, is an unpolished unfinished mess of a game that not only contains many bugs seen in Fallout 4 but, it even creates several brand new bugs that break things that worked almost flawlessly in Fallout 4. Many heavy weapons refuse to work seemingly at random, with enemies healing all damaged taken from the weapon. This glitch also extends to the Gauss Rifle which at times cannot even kill level 1 enemies. I am dissapointed in Bethesda for creating this mess and selling it to us completely unfinished and broken, and i hope their next project is of a higher quality.

Even after the big bugs were fixed, this game isn't fun.

[roaches_97 · 3/10 · 10 January 2023]

I played this game after the disastrous launch because it was free on PS Plus, and I expected something like Cyberpunk 2077, where after the rough launch the game was halfway decent, but that's not what I got here. Fallout 76 is still a disaster. For one thing, the game still doesn't run very well. It looks like a late Xbox 360/PS3 game despite coming out in 2018, and I don't know if this was just a problem with my PS5, but the game wouldn't run better than 30 FPS. To compare it to Cyberpunk again, that game runs at 60 FPS with normal settings and around 30 FPS with ray tracing on. So this nearly 5-year-old game that isn't even close to as visually stunning as Cyberpunk runs worse than that game does on max graphics settings. Fallout 76 also doesn't feel good to play. The controls feel sluggish and unresponsive and it makes it so that combat just isn't fun. Combat has never really been Bethesda's strongest suit, but it's not unbearable in other games like Skyrim like it is in Fallout 76. Bethesda's strength has always been in their detailed worlds, which this game fails to deliver on as well. The map is mostly empty with some enemies or abandoned areas scattered around, but it just feels so boring. This isn't helped by the pathetic amount of stamina you're given at the beginning of the game. It's way too little to explore at any decent pace. One could argue that since it's the beginning of the game you should have less stamina, and I would agree if the default walking speed weren't so slow. Even if you can get this game for free, I don't recommend playing it.

Broken, False Advertisement. More like a Fallout 4 mod for the FULL PRICE. 0 POINTS.

[yunkusbatuhan · 1/10 · 15 December 2018]

A really outdated engine, dysfunctional hit response, broken aiming system, endless bugs and annoying glitches, bugs, bugs, bugs, no NPC's (what makes Fallout a Fallout is the storytelling, you take that out of the equation, you are left with a broken, glitched, non-functioning game). Now, I can write about what is wrong with that game for hours and make a 45 minute review video but, that is not the point. We can all see that Crysis 3 looks like it was made 5 years after this game, not before. Console players may not be used to such graphics but this looks like garbage on PC and the frame rate is locked to 60hz. (You can throw that 144hz monitor away) Most of the rational, non-ignorant gamers already know how bad and unplayable this game is, despite this really interesting 'Bethesda Fanboy' movement. These big game companies cannot treat us like half brained maggots or sheep, putting out an incomplete product with false advertisement and full price while they 'DO NOT OFFER REFUNDS'. What kind of a business practice is this that you cannot return a product you don't like and that is BROKEN. That is why the game is not on Steam or any other provider with first world customer protected standards. If you live in the first world and paid by a credit card, dispute it. If you got a 'code' instead of a 'disc copy' as advertised, if you got a plastic bag instead of canvas, take action and protect consumer rights. Lets not let anyone dilute and corrupt the gaming industry like they do in every other industry. Just move to the side if you cannot keep up with the pace.