There is a reason this is one of the most reviewed updates for Fallout 76. Location, items, quests, great quality of life improvements, and of course faction of real people. Simply an amazing expansion all around, this is what the game should have been, making fallout 76 significantly better then 4 in all regards and truly reinvigorating Fallout 76. Nothing past this point however, raises my view of the game any higher then 4 stars, so this is where I rest my pen on the Fallout 76 series of updates. Truly though, with everything all together this is a very good game now; with lots to do, see, and experience. A good play in its current state.

This is arguably the DLC that saved Fallout 76 and made it what it is today. This is the DLC that finally brought NPCs to Fallout 76 and made it feel like a proper Fallout game. Not only does it add NPCs but it adds factions (Raiders and Settlers), companions, tons of new locations, and an entire new currency in the game for acquiring cool new items.

The only problem with this DLC is, with all these new story quests they made all of them require you to load into solo instances to play or complete them. You can in theory join a friend in an area to help them with their quest, but then that doesn't progress your quest. So in a group of 4, you either all play the quest solo in your own individual instances, or you take turns with everyone helping each other and you do each quest step 4 times. Terrible design especially when games like Borderlands 2 solved this years ago.

So despite the great content in this DLC, it was annoying that my time playing this with friends was more accurately all of us playing the same game at the same time all on our own. Weird choice for a multiplayer-focused game.

With this latest DLC adding in some long requested features, 76 now feels like a more traditional Fallout experience. NPCs have made their way to Appalachia and they've brought with them an exciting new main quest with decision making and humorous writing that feels like a direct response to The Outer Worlds, allies that can live with you at your camp (shame you can only have one at a time), a dialog system straight out of 3 and New Vegas, and skill checks galore. All of which make the game more enjoyable than ever. However, there is a misconception being spread by the community that this update has fixed everything. That's simply not true. It's definitely in the best state we've seen since launch, but Bethesda still has a long way to go to before "it just works."

Wastelanders does patch several outstanding issues, but in the process reintroduces some old ones while bringing it's own into the mix. I feel like the graphics have taken a bit of a hit and gameplay has gotten really choppy in the starting "Forest" area. I've also had a recurring problem with quest markers not showing up and my advancement of the ally Sofia's storyline was repeatedly halted as my progress would fail to load most of the time when coming back after having logged out. With exploits at all time high to boot, 76 is arguably at it's most disappointing on the technical side of things thus far.

While bugs and glitches have always been the no. 1 complaint with this game, another point of contention has been the lack of endgame content. This is something Bethesda tried to address here with a fourth currency and a faction reputation system. Grinding dailies and public events will increase your standing with the locals and allow you amass gold bullion. Both of which are required to unlock the plans for the newly added weapons, armors, and other goodies. This a very repetitive and lengthy process as outside of fairly rare random encounters there are only 3-4 methods of building your way to maximum status with everybody, and they're on a timer that forces you to wait until they reset after completing them. Still, it is nice to have a reason to keep coming back after making your way through the core offerings.

A big question that's been on minds of many since this has dropped is whether or not now is a good time to jump on as a newcomer. I'd say yes, as Wastelanders does offer some legitimately good Fallout gameplay and storytelling. The only caveat being that if you are trying it out for the first time you must make it through a portion of the original's divisive story missions first, as most of this new stuff is locked off until you reach level 20 and have completed all of the tasks for the raider robot Rose. For those who have already seen and done everything in the base game or at least met those requirements, returning is a no-brainer.

This latest wave of DLC might not have "saved" 76, but it has given it the best foundation it's ever had to build upon. With fun new questlines and more promising updates on the horizon, the game's future has never been brighter or it's present more agreeable than it is right now. As a result, I still look forward to seeing where Bethesda takes things from here, which hopefully includes a step up in their efforts to squash all of the bugs in their code because that is the primary concern with this title.

7.5/10