This Fallout 4 no-hit 100% permadeath run took more than 2 years, 415 attempts and over 2,000 hours: 'this is by far the most challenging Fallout 4 run that will ever be completed'

27.10.2023 - 15:03 / pcgamer.com / Will

Speedrunning is a catch-all term that, as games themselves have grown in audience and scale, now applies to everything from fastest completion times on 2D platformers to slightly unhinged self-imposed challenges with any game going. This Fallout 4 speedrun certainly falls into the latter category, to the extent you may find yourself wondering how the heroic Vrexia ever came up with the idea in the first place.

Explaining this thing needs its own paragraph. The run is permadeath as well as no-hit, meaning Vrexia runs a mod that will cause even the tiniest bit of damage to kill their character (in a previous run he was killed by a microscope falling off a desk). It is also 100% completion, including the game's DLCs, meaning Vrexia has to complete all quests, collect all Fallout Boy bobbleheads, magazines, Nuka-cola recipes, and unlock all followers and settlements. Just to make things even more fun, Vrexia banned himself from using legendary weapons and armor, and all drugs barring antibiotics are banned for good measure.

If I was set this challenge I would never complete it: in fact, I wouldn't even get out of the first hour. But for whatever reason the near-impossibility of completing the game under these conditions struck Vrexia as a personal affront, and he has spent the last two-and-a-half years on-and-off attempting to master it. Along the way he was sometimes killed by scenery glitches («invisible Wasteland Lego») while just walking along, bugs that bounced him into the sky, and, on one agonising occasion, he reached 99.5% completion before dying on the last mission.

Vrexia had in fact announced his intention to move on, and focus on streaming other games. But there's nothing like one last try. At the start of October, and with a nod to PCSX2 developer refractionpcsx2 for tipping us off, Vrexia finally did it.

This is, it almost goes without saying, a world first. It's also probably going to be a world last. Vrexia achieved this with unremarkable equipment, basic clothing with a minor AP buff while running and standard weapons, and the successful run was timed at 52 hours, 20 minutes, and 23 seconds. The reaction of his chat, many of whom have followed the streamer on this quixotic journey, are a mix of hype, astonishment, and sheer respect for the achievement.

Vrexia has a bot that explains to confused viewers the exact conditions imposed on this run, which are as follows:

No VATS, power armor, armor, clothes with SPECIAL stats, legendary items, drugs, food/drink buffs, radiation removal, perks that outright prevent damage, hits from enemies or damage taken from any source including glitches.

The following are listed as the only exceptions, several of which are because the run would be