Is Fallout 76 good now? It depends what you're into

25.04.2024 - 18:21 / radiotimes.com / Ella Purnell

Like many people across the globe – 10s of thousands, to be exact – I was inspired by Prime Video’s phenomenal Fallout TV series to take a look back at that Fallout 76 game that Bethesda released a few years back.

And, like many across the globe, I was doing so with a hint of trepidation. After all, I splashed an eye-watering sum on the game when it was first released, only to boot up the MMO and throw in the towel half an hour later.

After the thrill of crafting my own settlements, battling synths and super mutants and generally ruling the wasteland in Fallout 4 (still possibly my favourite game to this day), the franchise’s shift to the online space felt underbaked, rushed, and certainly not worth the money I paid for it (the exact figure still pains me to this day).

Yet, after watching Ella Purnell’s Lucy MacLean survive the apocalypse with all the altruism and optimism I try to instil into my own characters in RPGs, I had to get back in there myself – and when I saw that Fallout 76 was free for Amazon Prime subscribers (thanks to a handy website named RadioTimes.com), and having heard rumblings that Bethesda had done a bit of a No Man's Sky redemption tour with the title, I thought I’d give it a whirl.

And it’s safe to say I’m glad I did.

Don’t get me wrong, the release is still sorely lacking in certain departments – I’ll get to them later – but for what I've been craving, a solo jaunt across the entertaining and eccentric post-societal setting, a game I could boot up on my lunch break to slay a few beasts and secure a few caps, it’s proven just the ticket.

It’s safe to say I’m not the type of gamer who sits down for 12-hour sessions on the Xbox. More often than not, I want an experience that requires part of my attention but not all of it, a fun outlet to blow off some steam while I simultaneously watch a YouTube video or take in a podcast. In Fallout 76, I’ve found a great one.

With the game’s willingness to allow new players to skip straight to Level 20, avoiding the usual tedious long-winded tutorial, this is a release that you can dive straight into. Walk around your vault for a few minutes and bam, you’re out in Appalachia popping ghouls and pickpocketing fools.

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There are central storylines, bringing the usual mix of odd characters and moral dilemmas that Bethesda is so well-known for.

But, ultimately, the game acts as a sort of side quest simulator, an opportunity to spend half an hour exploring a cave or clearing out a bandit camp to upgrade your gear or improve