Fallout 76 Review: 4 Ups & 7 Downs

3. Multiplayer Is A Massive Disappointment

The big selling point of Fallout 76 is obviously the multiplayer component, and perhaps if this was as strong and persuasive as fans hoped it would be, then the game's abundance of flaws wouldn't feel quite so overwhelming.

There are definitely times where the multiplayer can be fun - especially with friends who have microphones - but unless you're lucky enough to have three pals who own the game and run on a similar schedule to yourself, you're likely to spend most of your play-time either alone or with randoms.

The frustrations and limitations of this set-up quickly become apparent: there's no matchmaking for single missions and an annoying majority of players don't use microphones (and the emotes aren't really good enough for communication).

It's painfully obvious that Bethesda is relying too much on players generating their own fun through "emergent gameplay", a complacent move which similarly plagued Sea of Thieves earlier this year.

Even PVP is a bit of a bore once the initial sheen wears off: almost nothing is lost from dying (just a little scrap), so there's absolutely no sense of stakes or tension when a fight kicks off.