During my time in quarantine, I have devoted my life to finding my kidnapped son and avoiding nuclear radiation.

Fallout 4 is a video game that came out in 2015 and while I may be late to the party, this game is still “bringing the house down.” Its flawless storyline has me at the end of my gaming chair, its graphics are visually captivating, and every second of its gameplay is a moment to be treasured. Despite being five years old this game is still worth playing.

The first reason Fallout 4 is worth playing stems from my childhood. When I was little I used to play on the PlayStation 2. Those games were so hard and glitchy that I would often end up in tears. That said, after countless hours of struggling and I finally saw some success, I felt like I was unstoppable. Fallout 4 reminds me of the feelings I had when playing PS2 games. Everytime I think I know what I am doing, the game throws me another curve ball draining my time and sanity. Despite the challenge it provides, Fallout 4 gives its players a sense of accomplishment for their time and efforts.

A second reason Fallout 4 is worth playing is the storyline. In my first thirty minutes of playing through the story I was already sick to my stomach with anticipation and suspense. Every moment was valuable and carefully crafted, but what really sucked me in was the role playing aspect. The game lets you design the characters to your liking and puts their decisions in your hands. This aspect is not new, as it has appeared in games like the Sims and Dark Souls, but Fallout 4 goes the extra mile by making all your decisions have significant (sometimes negative) repercussions on the storyline.

In addition to its tough gameplay and gut-wrenching storyline, Fallout 4 also has some pretty amazing graphics. The game takes place in Boston and a number of its iconic landmarks are done justice by the game’s beauty. Another aspect that makes the game so visually pleasing is all the 50s style architecture. There are plenty of carefully crafted dinners, drive-ins, and drug stores that are so authentic I feel like I am getting a virtual tour of the 50s.

As much as I love Fallout 4, it has three big issues that need to be fixed.

Issue one: The game offers third-person play, but it is designed to be a first-person shooter. Third-person is so bad I cannot land a single shot with any gun. Everytime I play third-person my character ends up dead or hanging on for dear life. RIP virtual Blake.

Issue two: The game has a built in skill tree called S.P.E.C.I.A.L. S.P.E.C.I.A.L stands for strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck. When you first start the game it asks you where you want to focus your S.P.E.C.I.A.L points. My first time playing the game I put the majority of my points into charisma and intelligence. The game told me if I did that my character would be a suave genius who could solve any problem with his brains and smooth talk. What the game did not tell me is that most problems cannot be fixed with either intelligence or charisma. What I discovered was most problems in Fallout 4 can only be solved with guns, grenades, and a whole lot of ammo. As a result of my initial decision I had to restart the entire game because I couldn’t kill anything. I do not care if the perks I picked on the first go round were useless, but I should not have to rely on Youtube to figure out why. Fallout 4 should not lie about the perk tree as it is unfair and can waste a gamers most valuable resource, time.

Issue three:  The outfits for characters in Fallout 4 either look really good or offer a lot of protection, there is no middle ground. This kinda goes back to issue numbers one and two. The game will let you wander the post-nuclear wasteland in a tuxedo, but you will pay for it when things start going south, which is never long in Fallout 4. I typically can’t make it five minutes before things get messy and I am forced to whip out the “big guns.” Unfortunately, gun size does not matter because at a certain point enemies do too much damage for me not to have armor on. Armor in Fallout 4 is so ugly and sometimes it does not even cover your whole body. As for the tuxedo it offers no protection and even if it did I would not be able to see it because playing the game in third-person is a nightmare and I will die, thus rendering my good looking character useless. I wish the game would allow my character to be deadly and good looking.

Although the above critics seem harsh, I really had to nitpick to come up with them. Fallout 4’s pros outway the cons any day. If you like heavy action, explosions, unforgettable characters, suspenseful stories, and great graphics Fallout 4 is definitely the game for you.