Robots. All of the robots
Fallout 4 released to millions with resounding reviews for the depth of play and evolution of the standard set by its predecessors. The amount of content is near over-whelming as well as your ability to make your experience your own with an insane amount of customization. The first DLC for Fallout 4 is here and it expands more so on that tradition.
I’ll start with the bad first here; I don’t believe the price point is fair for what’s included here. It only includes a handful of quests, new items, and indoor areas. Compared to additions to prior games as well as what’s promised to come down the road for 4, $10 seems a hard sell. Don’t come to Automatron expecting it to change or completely refresh your Fallout experience.
Automatron sees the addition of a new foe threatening the people of the Commonwealth. Bands of murderous robots now wander the hills mowing down innocent and raider alike while pronouncing the wisdom of the new villain, the Machinist. On top of this new mysterious foe, a new group of bandits named the Rust Devils will appear wearing and wielding parts of the new robots you’ll see through the campaign. Once you’ve reached level 15, you gain the ability to start the quest chain that will see you through the story content of the DLC as well as unlocking access to the ability to build and mod your own robots.
Yes, you read that right. Robots. Crafting. Contain yourself. Robot crafting works much like the rest of the workbench crafting, in particular: Power Armor. Each arm, legs, torso, head and weapons can all be crafted or added as well as modded for near endless combinations. Needless to say, I immediately set out to craft a pink Assaultron with dual exploding miniguns. But I digress. These robots are treated very similar to companion as they can follow you in lieu if one of the vanilla companions. As well as they can be dismissed to your settlements although they cannot be assigned to tasks and they only add to the defense of your settlement based on their weaponry. So you can build that murderous robot army you’ve always dreamt about but they just have to stay at home and defend your mutfruit farms. Robot parts and mods are discovered by looting the chassis of the robots you defeat. So make sure to check those corpses if you want to build a few hundred sentry bots; you’re going to need those parts (and lots of adhesive).
Speaking of loot, the new Tesla rifle is more badass than you can shake a stick at. This bad boy shoots lightning at a foe which will then arc to another nearby enemy (or explosive item). Throw in the fact that the quest line basically hands you Tesla power armor pieces, you’re going to feel like a radioactive cross between Iron Man and Thor. Honestly, besides the new robotic armor pieces, there isn’t a lot to go on as far as base item additions.
Having early access to the DLC, I’ve docked quite a few hours in with the new content and I have to say it’s quality work even though there’s not a whole lot there in this first batch. If you’re highly leveled you can expect to blow through the quest chain in maybe two hours tops. Although I’m sure that hunting down packs of robots to help you flesh out your perfect robot companion or manufacture your ideal army of destruction could definitely add many hours to the experience.
All told, I would say that this isn’t a DLC for everyone. It’s definitely a worthy and valid expansion to an already solid game, but definitely not worth the price of entry. I’m of the opinion that this is almost a waste of a slot on that season pass ticket that was offered before the games launch but that’s just me and my experience with prior Bethesda RPGs. I’d suggest Fallout fans pick this up but more than likely you’ve already grabbed that season pass.
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
Available on: PC, Xbox One (reviewed), Playstation 4; Publisher: Bethesda Softworks; Developer: Bethesda Softworks; Released: March 22, 2016 ; MSRP: $9.99
This reviews is based off of Xbox One code provided by Bethesda Softworks
