Stepping out of Vault 111, and finding a world reduced to ashes but yours to rebuild.

When the community picks on gut feeling, Fallout 4 sits ahead of just 30% of games, a modest score, though to confirm on a single duel. And that's the whole surprise, because criterion by criterion, the game takes off. Desert island peaks, ahead of 98% of titles, almost nothing in front of it. Attachment and art direction follow, ahead of more than eight games in ten, that post-nuclear Boston that sticks. The rest holds solidly above the middle, from fun to controller feel, no weak spot. There's the tension: a game you'd take to an island almost without hesitation, that you cherish piece by piece, yet that struggles when you have to prefer it in one snap of instinct.

In Bethesda's sandbox RPG, Fallout 4 bets on building and free exploration, more generous in systems than in tight storytelling.

So, for who? For you if you love combing ruins, tinkering with your base and rooting yourself in a broken world. Much less if you want the game that imposes itself instantly, no thinking.