Fallout: London

I got the game as soon as it came out as I had been excited for the release for quite some time. Like many, I struggled to even get it to run, but eventually I got in and played a bit. The game itself seems promising, and I almost got my character to level three. However, I just can't get over how poorly this game runs even after jumping through all the hoops of downloading extra programs for stability. Indoors it is noticably choppy and sluggish to respond, outdoors it is basically an unplayable slideshow. This is even with all the graphical settings turned down to the lowest point and with a computer that has no problem running more graphically intensive games. I felt like waiting to leave this review as I figured maybe they'd release a patch to sort it out. I have downloaded the update and I feel like there is no improvement, might even be worse. The team definitely should have waited until these issues were sorted before release, as now all the hype has turned to disappointment and seemingly I am far from the only one who has had these issues. Maybe one day I will get a new Fallout experience after all these years, but for now I will have to move on.

Deserves to be canon

First, let me say that I am reviewing this from the perspective of a fan-made mod, not a AAA game, so I'll forgive a fair bit more jank than I would were this an official Bethesda DLC campaign. First, let's get the jank out of the way: As of patch 1.02, yes, there's still some jank in there -- still some NPCs who don't do or say anything, doors that open into the white void (but you can't go through them), visible seams or outright gaps in the geometry, invisible walls, doors you should be able to open to complete a quest but can't (the NuSkin quest in Westminister, for example), but most of the major issues are fixed, so playing through is a lot better now. Now to the good: This game is expansive! There are more POIs on the map than the entirety of FO4, it seems, and the game is larger than just the main map. Westminister, Camden, and other locations, have their own enclosed areas with their own maps and POIs to explore, so it really is larger than it seems at first blush. There are quite a few side quests, though fewer than I'd have expected so far. Still, more than enough to keep me busy. Numerous settlement locations, some quite large, can be found and built upon. The main story is pretty great. There are tube stations to explore, but just the stations themselves; there's no interconnected Underground network to explore like there was in Fallout 3, and some aren't real station (Mornington Crescent Station, which is a very British gag, which leads to Camden, is one such) Tons of new weapons, armour, and gadgets to be found, too -- some a bit OP. (The bow you find in the British museum, coupled with fire arrows you can craft at ammunition stations, are absolutely OP as they can take out multiple enemies with fire from only one shot.) All in all, this is probably the best fan-made mod I've ever played, and is really worth a go, especially now that a majority of issues have been fixed. Just follow the install guide to the letter!

This is a mod rivaling the size of standalone fallout releases. An enormous amount of time and dedication went into this mod, clearly inspired by the love for the source material. Similar projects of scale oftentimes fall apart before they see the light of day, but Fallout London emerged and boy am I happy to see it in the limelight, thanks to GOG! The new custom textures, voice-overs and amazing musical pieces produced by Seph Bentos bring London alive and each gaming session ends with longing for more post-apocalypse Britannia. Fallout London doubles down on the RPG elements the community sorely missed from the original Fallout 4 and only got a taste of in the Far Harbor DLC. This is most relevant in the revised dialogue system, which went from the good-neutral/sarcastic-evil-tell me more of the base game to a more fleshed-out system, with skill-checks sprinkled-in to reinforce your character's personality. London is full of interesting locales where exploration rewards you with collectibles, unique weapons or interesting stories on holotapes and terminals. The main quest invites the player to discover their mysterious origin, chasing the enigmatic figure of Smythe throughout London and change the status quo between the inhabitants and their Gentry overlords who are helped by the mysterious Angel organization, while the side quests vary from engaging in philosophical debate with a German submarine's AI, exploring the cultural heritage of the British Museum to discovering the mysteries of the Cult of Cutethulhu. The settlement system takes the backseat in this mod, there are still settlements, but there are also player homes which substitute the need for building up workshops and elaborate contraptions to farm raiders and radgers for free loot. Technical issues are regrettably omnipresent in the game, hindering quest completions and resulting in quite a few crashes, which create the Gap the developers have to mind on their journey to make FoLon legendary.

There are quests that cannot be completed due to poor game design.