The Commonwealth seems to occupy itself with one rule - you can either die fabulous or live ugly - it's your choice. I can understand some of the thought process behind layered armour, but in reality it makes no sense as it just restricts the player's ability to really hone their look to them and them alone. You can't put armour over awesome outfits like the duster jacket or the Longshoremen's garb, but instead have to make due with the vault suit and some really tattered rags to ensure the best defence possible. The game itself has so many of these clothing items that don't allow armour over the top, which leaves the player with a tiny selection of clothes to choose from - lest they visit Tinker Tom in the Railroad's hideout and chance their luck getting some armoured suits instead. It's a bit weird, especially since the game operates under the logic that armour can only be equipped on the basis of how 'thin' clothing is, yet won't let players place it underneath a coat. It completely impedes a person's ability to individualise their character to the best of their ability, and by restricting the ballistic weave to the Railroad alone funnels players to that faction each and every playthrough. Whilst these problems may not quite ruin Fallout 4 entirely, they are irritating for their immersion-breaking nature. It's still an absolutely fantastic game, but I fail to see the logic that compelled these elements into its final build, particularly when its predecessors of the same ilk had managed to evade them in sequels, spin-offs and more for years. Are there any other minor flaws that keep Bethesda's return to the franchise away from perfection? Sound off in the comments below!
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
