10 Awesome Gameplay Features in Fallout 4
Fallout 4 is an RPG you can leap into and lose yourself for hours on end. And the experience never tires. What is it about this post-apocalyptic adventure that keeps us coming back for more?
Well, there are a lot of factors. Such as a big, open world to explore that's chock-full of intriguing stories. But as with any video game, gameplay is where it counts. And playing Fallout 4 always makes for an incredible time.
Here are 10 gameplay features in Fallout 4 that make this game amazing and will keep it fresh and exciting for years to come.
10. Using V.A.T.S. to Take Out Enemies
A veteran feature in the Fallout franchise, V.A.T.S. allows you to slow down the game during a fight. You can unleash critical strikes and aim at specific body parts, sending limbs and heads flying. Once you execute your planned attack, the camera enters a cinematic third-person mode.
Brings a whole new meaning to "Reach for the sky!"
For just a flash you get a movie moment in the middle of combat. You get to see limbs fly and blood spray in illuminating slow motion!
V.A.T.S. is also good for pausing the game when things get too hectic. Since everything slows down, you have time to gather yourself and figure out your next move. But let’s be honest—it’s mostly about the bloody mess!
9. Donning Power Armor to Become a Death-dealing Juggernaut
If you’ve ever wanted to roleplay a space marine, you can capture that feeling by stepping into a heavy-plated suit of power armor. Fueled by a fusion core, power armor allows you to wreak havoc on enemies while resisting damage from attacks, falls, and radiation poisoning. The entire HUD changes as though you’re looking out from inside a battle helmet, and you clank around with every step. You become a weighty soldier inspiring awe and fear on the battlefield.
Posing for his portfolio shot.
You can make power suits even better by customizing and upgrading each piece. Mods include bonuses like increased resistances, improved damage, unique paint schemes, targeting, and more. If you have a flair for drama, you can slap on a jet pack and leap straight into the enemy horde!
8. Deadly Boss Fights
Everything is out to get you in the Boston Wasteland. But nothing will rattle your nerves like an encounter with one of the game’s many menacing bosses. Super mutant behemoths, rough and tough leaders of raider gangs, horrific creatures, and veteran killers are ready to put you down.
Where's Godzilla when you need him?
Battles with Fallout 4’s worthiest adversaries are as action packed as they are deadly. You’ll be pushed to your limits as you employ every skill, item, and weapon in your arsenal. You’ll die—a lot—only to come back to the fray faster, harder, and with a fresh strategy in mind.
Think you can take the bosses of the wastes? Good luck scraping yourself out from under a behemoth’s shoe!
7. Stealth Combat
There are many different ways to employ stealth on the battlefield. Creeping around a corner to fire a carefully silenced pistol, only to dart away into the shadows as the remaining enemies panic over their falling comrade. Perching up on a highway ramp or a roof, taking out targets with precise, long-distance sniper shots. Or quietly tiptoeing up to your victim and whacking the fool in the back of the head with your power fist.
"No one will know..."
A character built around stealth can deal massive damage. And taking out entire platoons of panicky raiders and super mutants while never once being discovered is pretty much the greatest feeling ever. Interested in building the ultimate silent killer? This stealth guide is a great place to start!
6. Building Settlements from Fortified Fortresses to Decked Out Houses
Now you too can recreate Bioshock Infinite's Columbia in a Fallout game!
Building in Fallout 4 allows you to create a home base where you can gather your companions and store gear and crafting materials. When a town is fully functional (with water, food, and housing), settlers move in and traders pass through. Establishing trade means big bucks for you!
Honestly? Even with all the benefits settlements bring, the true fun lies in the actual building. Unleash your creative potential and make your mark on the Wasteland!
A fresh feature in the franchise, settlement building blends the gray, dilapidated world of Fallout 4 with the imaginative creative tools of the Sims. (No deleting swimming pool ladders and watching your sims drown, though.) You’re given a wide array of buildings, utilities, resources, and decorations to construct your dream town using the materials you scavenge throughout the wastes. Be that a bustling farming community, an impenetrable citadel surrounded by walls, ramps, and turrets, or a giant light sign flipping off the rest of the Wasteland as you kick back in your own private lap of luxury.
You’re free to go wild. And while there is a learning curve, there’s a dizzying range of what you can build. By the time you get the foundation of your grand plan laid out, half the day will have already flittered away.
5. Mines, Grenades, and Mini Nukes Galore
Nuclear explosions may’ve been what destroyed the world in the first place, but that doesn’t stop its survivors from lobbing grenades and mini nukes every chance they get. And with the view of beautiful orange clouds and smoke billowing in HD as your enemies are blown to pieces, who can blame them? Explosive weapons add a hazardous layer to combat that keeps us on our toes—and the toes of our enemies 50 feet in the sky.
Further ravishing the environment.
There are many different explosive types you can employ. When enemies are grouped up like a gaggle of geese, you can chuck a molotov cocktail or grenade and wipe em all out at once. For bigger, tougher opponents, a mini nuke should make a few chinks in their staggering health bar.
Mines are useful for more tactical fighters. They can be laid out as traps to trip up troublesome foes. So the next time someone like Skinny Malone and his girl Darla charge you with SMGs blazing and baseball bats whacking, lay a mine at their feet and watch the now headless gang cartwheel through the air.
4. Unleashing Level 10 Perks
Perks play an important roll in Fallout 4. A literal one if you count toppling over baddies among your favorite pastimes. When you reach level 10 in any attribute, you’re able to unlock the final perk in the tree. For example, investing 10 points in Strength will open up the Pain Train perk—where much like a quarterback on steroids you’ll barrel over anyone in your path while wearing power armor and sprinting.
As you build your character to suit your playstyle, you can pick the final perks that best compliment you. The wide variety will make every character distinct from your next.
A face you can trust.
Nerd Rage boosts you into overdrive when your health is low, slowing time as you get revenge for all those swirlies and purple nurples. Solar Powered turns you into the Man of Steel, granting you the ability to absorb the power of the sun. And Intimidation allows you to pacify and even convert your enemies to follow your bidding—just like a true glib-tongued super villain.
If you’re curious just what sort of havoc you can unleash in the Wasteland, check out this list of all available perks.
3. Commanding Companions
Fallout 4 companions aren’t just there to lug around your wonderglue and military circuit boards like a glorified pack mule. They’ll back you up during fights, pick locks, and hack computers, too. Taking on the enemies of the Wasteland with a pal at your back broadens what you can do on the battlefield.
"What about side by side with a friend?"
A brute strength companion such as Strong the super mutant will back up you glass cannons. Lighter fighters such as Deacon offer a good distraction as they pick off targets while you fight. And the ever loyal Dogmeat is never shy of tearing at an annoying raider’s pant leg.
You can issue commands to further control the battle. Send Strong barreling through the enemy line. Or sneak around with a sniper and order Dogmeat to attack specific targets. Once he’s got them pinned, line up your short and—off with his head!
2. Melee Beatdowns
What do you do when a pack of snarling feral ghouls leaps up from a wreck of rusted cars and bum-rushes you? When bloodthirsty super mutants spill out of a ruined tower, pipe rifle unloading whizzing bullets? When a group of junkie raiders descends from the shoddily built ramparts lining the crumbling streets?
If your answer is “Punch them until they explode”, then melee weapons may be right for you.
"Swing batter, batter!"
There are few things that’ll get your blood pumping faster than a good ol’ fashioned beatdown. Whether you use baseballs bats, knives, power fists, swords, sledgehammers, or a rolling pin with nails sticking out of it, each weighted strike of your weapon feels impactful and satisfying. But don't take my word for it. Knock a head right outta left field with an expert swing of your bat!
1. All-Out Firefights
Shoulder pressed to the hard, cracked brick of a decaying building, you duck as bullets whiz by. Jeering, crude raiders surround you on all sides. The side of the building soaks up their bullets as they open fire, desperate to put you down.
Grab your gun and take aim, cause the ball’s in your court. How will you take on your enemies? Bunker down and wait for your chance? Sneak in quick shots before darting back to cover? Or charge out like a gun toting Clint Eastwood, every shot you take burying between an enemy’s eyes?
Holding the line.
Scrappy firefights take place all throughout the Wasteland—in dilapidated streets, dark and crusty undergrounds, rusted towers, and sickly forests. You’ll face raiders, robots, super mutants, synths, and anything else that can carry a gun and pull the trigger. Whether you’re a lone ranger facing impossible odds or a soldier fighting alongside your allies, each dynamic firefight will have you leaning forward and gritting your teeth as you pull the trigger.
Once you get a taste of battle, the controller is impossible to put down.
Fallout 4 boasts incredible gameplay, and it has a number of cool features to thank for it. What are your favorite moments while playing the game? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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