Fallout 4 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows)

IT is the end of the world – so what comes next?

That is what Fallout 4 explores with a vast open world to discover in post-apocalyptic America.

Fallout has always played up to our fears of nuclear war since the first game almost 20 years ago.

But what makes this new title have more of an impact is that you actually see the bomb drop as you and your family are rushed to the safety of one of the series' infamous vaults.

So you get to briefly see Bethesda studios' alternative version of Boston in 2077 which has somehow managed to retain the sleek charm of the post-war 1950s.

Expect music from the birth of rock and roll and muscle cars alongside robots and computers.

It is these contrasts that have made Fallout's world so iconic, an experience where atmosphere and immersion is equally important to the gameplay.

After those brief moments in 2077, you are transported to 2287 where your character awakes after being cryogenically frozen.

Your wife is killed and your son is kidnapped and the game sees you on a hunt for answers in the savage wasteland.

No other game experience really compares to emerging into this ruined world and there is a strange ethereal beauty to the abandoned, crumbling towns you discover.

It is like the feeling you get seeing an old, neglected fairground.

Set more than two centuries after the nuclear war, America is starting to recover and, unlike Fallout 3, this game has more of an emphasis on being part of a community, banding together to survive.

You can help build resources and defences and grow food in a settlement.

But despite the passage of time, Fallout's threats remain – cockroaches and flies have mutated to the size of household pets.

But this is the least of your problems because there are raiders, super-mutants and zombie-like feral ghouls.

As with Fallout 3, the game combines first-person shooter and role-playing gameplay.

You scavenge for armour and all kinds of improvised weapons that you can shoot in real time or use your VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) to slow down time in a bid to hit a particular body part.

Your chance of hitting your target depends on your skills levels that you upgrade as you level up. There is a lot to get to grips with but the game's system is very user-friendly.

Another change since 2008's Fallout 3 is that the karma system has been thrown out.

In the previous games your moral and immoral actions were logged and altered your abilities.

That is a shame because that system worked well and made you think twice about your actions.

Karma is not gone entirely though as choices you make in the game alter your interactions with your companions who fight alongside you.

Fallout 4 is an excellent addition to the much-loved series and, aside from a few minor glitches, its only fault is being in the shadow of its game-changing predecessor.

RATING: 8.5/10

DAVID MORGAN