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| Fallout 4 Automatron DCL Game |
The season pass for
Fallout 4 adds a three-hour new quest and the chance to customise your very own
robot.
Even if there was a general feeling of mild disappointment with Fallout 4, Bethesda’s reputation is such that many gamers were willing to risk a pre-order long before any review appeared. Their track record with DLC though is much more mixed. They’ve produced some must-haves and a few clunkers, but most of their efforts lay in a middle ground of mediocrity that’s neither a rip-off nor anywhere near essential. And despite a few interesting new ideas that pretty much sums up Automatron. If nothing else Bethesda’s approach to Fallout 4 DLC is different to their previous games, with their plans for the season pass apparently having been changed at close to the last minute. Instead of the regimented approach of Fallout 3 and New Vegas the expansions announced so far are of varying sizes, from Far Harbor in May apparently having the largest new area ever added through DLC to Wasteland Workshop adding only a few new features and settlement extras. Automatron falls somewhere between the two, and is closer to the sort of expansion that was released for the previous games. As long as you’re level 15 or higher it starts with a distress call on your radio, from a caravan that’s been assaulted by robots. Not the synth kind, but the 1950s sci-fi style contraptions seen in the rest of the game. Or at least that’s what it seems like at first. As you team up with a more advanced android it becomes clear that these robots are different from any you’ve seen before, and are being customised and controlled by something called the Mechanist. Despite all the cheesy names and robot designs the Mechanist is a real threat, and one you have to battle in kind by building your own robots out of spare parts. To enable this you’re given the plans for a robot workbench, from which to create your Frankenstein style creations. These aren’t half-assed cosmetic changes you’re making either, but allow for genuinely new robots with weapons and body parts unlike anything else in the game. They still need junk for raw materials though, which does put anyone that hasn’t been levelling up with modding perks at a disadvantage. Robots can be equipped with separate hacking and unlocking skills, as well as weapons, and can even be sent to settlements to work the land like any other settler. As you might already have guessed though bugs and glitches are a problem, since it’s been understandably difficult to account for every possible robot combination. Even so, this is the buggiest we’ve seen Fallout 4, and that can be very frustrating. Also included in the expansion are a number of unique new weapons, including a handy lightning gun and what is literally an Assaultron’s head fashioned into a pistol. There’s also a natty suit of Telsa Power Armour, although in the name of balance none are quite as powerful as they first seem. Ultimately, Automatron boils down to around three hours of action, including two major new interior environments and three separate boss encounters. By ordinary DLC standards that’s not bad, although when you consider it’s an experience that costs one-sixth of the price of the main game – which will last most people hundreds of hours – it seems less impressive. The overriding question is whether or not you’d consider this a memorable quest if it actually was just another part of the game. That’s actually hard to answer though, as few quests are quite this long and the robot workbench is a real novelty. But neither of the two new environments are particularly interesting, especially the first one that’s filled with robot-loving raiders. The other problem is that the story doesn’t really sustain itself over such a long running time. Not only does the basic plot run out of steam long before the end but the whole ‘50s cheeseball aesthetic is never fully embraced. Like a lot of Fallout 4, Automatron is peppered with moments of black comedy but never enough to improve the underlyingly bland flavour of the characters and situations. If you’ve already paid for the season pass then Automatron is perfectly enjoyable to play through, but we’re already hoping for bigger and better expansions to come.
Even if there was a general feeling of mild disappointment with Fallout 4, Bethesda’s reputation is such that many gamers were willing to risk a pre-order long before any review appeared. Their track record with DLC though is much more mixed. They’ve produced some must-haves and a few clunkers, but most of their efforts lay in a middle ground of mediocrity that’s neither a rip-off nor anywhere near essential. And despite a few interesting new ideas that pretty much sums up Automatron. If nothing else Bethesda’s approach to Fallout 4 DLC is different to their previous games, with their plans for the season pass apparently having been changed at close to the last minute. Instead of the regimented approach of Fallout 3 and New Vegas the expansions announced so far are of varying sizes, from Far Harbor in May apparently having the largest new area ever added through DLC to Wasteland Workshop adding only a few new features and settlement extras. Automatron falls somewhere between the two, and is closer to the sort of expansion that was released for the previous games. As long as you’re level 15 or higher it starts with a distress call on your radio, from a caravan that’s been assaulted by robots. Not the synth kind, but the 1950s sci-fi style contraptions seen in the rest of the game. Or at least that’s what it seems like at first. As you team up with a more advanced android it becomes clear that these robots are different from any you’ve seen before, and are being customised and controlled by something called the Mechanist. Despite all the cheesy names and robot designs the Mechanist is a real threat, and one you have to battle in kind by building your own robots out of spare parts. To enable this you’re given the plans for a robot workbench, from which to create your Frankenstein style creations. These aren’t half-assed cosmetic changes you’re making either, but allow for genuinely new robots with weapons and body parts unlike anything else in the game. They still need junk for raw materials though, which does put anyone that hasn’t been levelling up with modding perks at a disadvantage. Robots can be equipped with separate hacking and unlocking skills, as well as weapons, and can even be sent to settlements to work the land like any other settler. As you might already have guessed though bugs and glitches are a problem, since it’s been understandably difficult to account for every possible robot combination. Even so, this is the buggiest we’ve seen Fallout 4, and that can be very frustrating. Also included in the expansion are a number of unique new weapons, including a handy lightning gun and what is literally an Assaultron’s head fashioned into a pistol. There’s also a natty suit of Telsa Power Armour, although in the name of balance none are quite as powerful as they first seem. Ultimately, Automatron boils down to around three hours of action, including two major new interior environments and three separate boss encounters. By ordinary DLC standards that’s not bad, although when you consider it’s an experience that costs one-sixth of the price of the main game – which will last most people hundreds of hours – it seems less impressive. The overriding question is whether or not you’d consider this a memorable quest if it actually was just another part of the game. That’s actually hard to answer though, as few quests are quite this long and the robot workbench is a real novelty. But neither of the two new environments are particularly interesting, especially the first one that’s filled with robot-loving raiders. The other problem is that the story doesn’t really sustain itself over such a long running time. Not only does the basic plot run out of steam long before the end but the whole ‘50s cheeseball aesthetic is never fully embraced. Like a lot of Fallout 4, Automatron is peppered with moments of black comedy but never enough to improve the underlyingly bland flavour of the characters and situations. If you’ve already paid for the season pass then Automatron is perfectly enjoyable to play through, but we’re already hoping for bigger and better expansions to come.
Formats: PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, and PC
Publisher: Bethesda
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Release Date: 24th March 2016
Age Rating: 18
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