IMPERFECT CHARACTERS

After a short, cinematic introduction to the Fallout universe, Fallout 4 thrusts players straight into a robust character creation screen, but with all of its depth, the system lacks a straight-forward approach.

It’s clear from the lack of sliders and facial feature lists in the Fallout 4 character creation screen that Bethesda attempted a more fluid and immersive character creation experience than most titles. Usually, it’s enough for a game to include a platter of options for players to create anything and everything they can imagine.

With this iteration of the perfectionist’s worst nightmare, Bethesda gave us two characters to play with. It’s mostly unnecessary to tweak both (you only end up playing through the game as one of them), so the inclusion of a second party isn’t just to give players more work to do. Instead, as you disfigure your playable character, his/her spouse stands over the shoulder, commenting on everything that makes the PC’s image so special. It’s something to listen to while toiling away at the right height for your character’s cheekbones. It’s different from many other character creation screens. Sometimes it can be downright funny.

For my first character in Fallout 4, I decided to completely randomize physical features. I downloaded a free app to my phone and lazily rolled the genetic dice on my PC to correspond with colors and ambiguous details as they became apparent. All of this while Nora, my wife in the background, commented on how our child has my nose (I really hope not).

However, even as nonchalantly as I created my personal masterpiece (his name is Sherman, and no Codsworth can’t say “Sherman”), I still found it difficult to know when it was done. More specifically, I didn’t know if I was using this character creator to its fullest extent. By sliding the cursor over different facial features, they become highlighted and available for shaping. But there’s no list of features to go on. Instead, we’re expected to relentlessly search for details that may not even exist. “I can change the outer brow, the inner brow, and the forehead, but can I change the hairline?”

Even with these complaints, this character creator is deep and capable. Just look at this quick attempt at Robin Wright (The Princess Bride, House of Cards)! People are constantly putting it to the test, and will likely come up with some extraordinary creations as they grow more comfortable with its quirks.

Check out Sherman in the video below as he emerges from Vault 111.

Stay tuned to Middle of Nowhere Gaming as we continue our review of Fallout 4. For more information on how we’re handling the review process, check this out.

Jordan Loeffler is Editor in Chief for MONG. The Boston Wasteland is going to be his and Sherman’s home for a while. You can also follow him on IGN and on Twitter.