The Red Tide
I’ve owned fallout 4 now for just over 2 months. for the first month and a greater part of the second, I played until the early morning, sleeping little and regretting nothing. Right around the new year, my body started rebelling and I was forced to obey. Since then the game has lost its iron grip on my brain, and I’ve been able to enjoy the game in a much more responsible manor.
Ahoy! There be Spoilers past here for the weak of heart. Not likely Story spoilers (because I’m not at all far in the story) but spoilers none the less.
Up to now, I’ve gone over basic Character Construction, Basic Hints, Settlement Building, and General Impressions. With 7, and closing on 8, days of game time in the bags for this game, I’ve done and explored a lot of the game, but what I’ve not done is the story line. Instead, I’ve wandered the wasteland as a hired gun, taking down all sorts of monsters and villains, and even doing some good here and there.
I’m surprised by how much I enjoy leading the settlements, and how strongly I want to try and create a unique and interesting environment for my settlers to live in. That has driven a number of interesting quests I’ve taken on, including a set of Companion quests that I’ve enjoyed; Cait and McCready, and one that I very much did not (Nick)
Having played the amount I have without really touching on any of the three main quest lines, I do have to say that the game has a sense of sameness to it after a while. Super mutants get harder, Ghouls become faster, Raiders become deadlier and gunners become more numerous. This sliding scale keeps the difficulty level at a consistent challenge, but it also makes simple discovery exceedingly hard at times.
Big nasty monsters lurk around every corner, and for all of my power and skill with my 10mm and my Plasma Pistol, sometimes I’m just blindsided by a Suicider or Gunned down because I forgot to stimpack. This creates a ton of tension when wandering most area’s, but can really put a crimp in your plans when you’ve been walking outside for 20-30 minutes and get blown up from out of no where.
It has, at this point, driven me to start following the story. I know, its only 7 days of played time in, but its time to get to the meat and potatoes of the story.
Story Spoilers
to let you know how little I’ve actually accomplished, I want to tell you how far I’ve gotten.
I’ve refused to join the Brotherhood of Steel. They are not my type of people in this game, and that’s ok with me. I’ve found, and decided to side with, the Railroad. I’ve killed the courser and taken his pathway chip. Thats it. Thats the whole of it. I’ve yet to do a single brotherhood, Institute, or Railroad quest, and I think its high time I got down to it and started getting my hands dirty. I think I want to pick up Hancock and Curie here shortly, and get down in the ditches with the actual problems that plague my character.
Come to think of it, I probably should have been more worried about my son. its been almost 2 months in game (I assume) and I’ve barely started tracking him down. What do they say about the first 48 hours?
Stay tuned as the General of the Shadow Legion attempts to crush all who attempt to meddle in the lives of the citizens of the Commonwealth. Except him, of course.
