Fallout 4 Fridays Part Six: Cover and Audio
Oft-forgotten mechanics and brilliant sound design
Did you know that Fallout 4 has a cover system? Because I forget about it all the time. In a game so rife with systems, sometimes it’s important to remember the fundamentals. This week, I’ll be explaining how easy-to-overlook aspects of the combat system are actually vital to player success. I’ll also talk about how Fallout 4 is the first Bethesda game to truly focus on top-flight audio design.
TAKING COVER
Fallout 4 totally has a cover system. It’s well-integrated into the game…and entirely easy to forget about.
In order to take cover, you just ram yourself against something either while standing or crouching. That’s it. When you’re at the edge of an object, and you press the aim-down-sights button, you’ll pop out a little bit to aim around the object. It works similarly to cover in other shooters, but without any kind of sticky mechanic or obvious on-screen prompt.
Since Bethesda is often hammered for how clunky their mechanics can be, I’m actually surprised at how well this works. And how often I forget about it. Like many things in Fallout 4, it’s casually mentioned to you through some text in the corner of the screen…and then never brought up again.
Now, on the one hand, if you’ve played a bunch of other games like this, you’ll probably notice that prompt and/or just expect the game to have a cover system since they’re so commonplace.
On the other hand, newcomers might miss a mechanic that’s vital to achieving success in the game’s many combat encounters. Indoor combat spaces are built with plenty of objects and corners to take cover behind, and although it’s entirely possible to sprint around or stomp everyone with the power armor, without cover the combat can be daunting.
Hopefully, now that I’ve written about the system, I’ll actually remember to use it.
I got pretty kitted out thanks to all of my looting and combat in the last installment, so I don’t need to worry as much about using the power armor now…even though I look like a nightmare of metal bits and hoses.
There’s something strangely charming about the pile of junk I’m wearing, though.
BRILLIANT SURROUND SOUND AND MUSIC
If you’re considering playing Fallout 4, I’d suggest doing so either through a surround sound speaker setup or a nice pair of headphones with virtual surround.
If you just got bummed out that I’m not a stereo purist, I’m sorry.
I’ve been mostly playing the game with a Logitech G433 headset and its DTS Headphone: X technology turned on.
Fallout 4 has some really amazing positional audio mixing, so you’ll be able to hear bandits running around on floors above and below you. You’ll hear battles in the distance, which will allow you to get the drop on foes. And every gun shot has a nice powerful impact that the earlier Fallout games never got quite right.
Also, the music is wonderful.
Just like New Vegas and Fallout 3, there’s a collection of licensed songs here you can listen to through radio broadcasts…but like Skyrim, there’s also a huge library of original music tracks that try to match your current situation.
And this is great!
The soundtrack weaves its way in and out of your consciousness, and really amps up when combat is rolling, or brings in a little bit of atmosphere during important story elements.
Bethesda has never been a studio known for their sound design prowess, so I wanted to commend them for their work here.
ODDS AND ENDS
I wish I could shoot through fences and grates.
I had a pitched battle with a raider on top of a slatted platform for five minutes.
I need to remember to use throwables. I spend a lot of time picking up grenades and Molotov cocktails…and then I don’t ever throw them. Or even equip them. At one point I had 23 Molotov cocktails, and I dropped some so I could pick up more bullets.
I finally did some building.
I still don’t love the whole settlement building mechanic, but I think it’s pretty darn amazing that Bethesda was even able to make it work. Some folks out there have done incredible things with this, and maybe one day I’ll have the patience to try my hand at it outside the mandatory quests.
Sanctuary settlers were happy to finally have some beds.
It’s possible to collect additional hairstyles in the game, but in the 8 or so hours I’ve played I haven’t found one yet. I don’t know how I’m going to find these magazines without cheating and looking up a guide, as finding a single magazine in the giant world of Fallout 4 feels like an impossible task.
Bethesda totally crushed other modern character creators from a certain studio called Bioware with their hair selections in Fallout 4, and the notion that there are even more out there that I don’t have to pay extra money for is a very enticing thought, indeed!
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This article was written by Super Jump contributor, Alex Rowe. Please check out his work and follow him on Medium.
