Fallout 4: Far Harbor (DLC) Review

DLC worth the trip!

Fallout 4 is a game I never completed 100% and yet here I am, having played with its season pass content and having limited fun with it in some capacity. The first DLC saw a new questline and robot building aspect, while the second involved new abilities with the home base building and battle grounds. I’d be lying if I said these were anything worth really picking up though. They were interesting ideas and add some decent flare and fun toys to play with in the game, but overall the season pass has felt rather unsubstantial. Thankfully, Far Harbor is here to qualm those worries about the price of the season pass and it’s offering, and it’s made it all worthwhile for me.

A whole new world… sort of.

Far Harbor takes place on an entirely different land mass that must be accessed via a boat. As long as players have met everyone’s favorite detective in the main storyline, gaining access to the new content is as easy as taking on a new quest. Valentine’s office has learned of a missing girl case, and soon enough we see the duo heading to the foggy, dark island setting. It’s a beautiful thing too, if players are into the darker and creepier side of games.

falloutfarharbor_01

MSRP: $19.99
Price I’d Pay:$19.99
Multiplayer: N/A
How long to beat: 10-15+ hours

The first approach to Far Harbor had me in awe from the start. Once arriving, the town is under attack from the creatures in the fog, and this is just the beginning of the weird stuff going on, which permeates throughout the whole game. After defending the harbor town and getting to meet some lively new characters, both good and bad, it’s more than apparent that this isn’t going to be a simple case of looking for a missing person.

There is more to do in Far Harbor then one might expect, and pretty much all of it fits right in with the rest of Fallout 4, if not a bit better in terms of story pacing and decision making. It’s not to say that Far Harbor plays much differently than prior, but there are more details to the world, the decisions players make, and the feel of having more of an effect via the choices made and the factions that are involved.

The game also has a tendency to cover some more interesting topics of morality and other questionable types, but I’d leave that up to players to discover. One new companion is added into the mix that gets the main plot moving forward, but much like the other companions, can be discarded for player favorites. While the main story could be completed in a handful of hours, if deciding to do the side quests or explore the island fully I’d expect a solid 15 hours if not more. All depending on what sort of Fallout player readers might be.

falloutfarharbor_02

A new, yet familiar visit.

Far Harbor has lots of new content and it’s great to return to Fallout 4. A dark, seedy, and just creepy island with a interesting back story only had me wanting to explore the world more and more. For me, Fallout is all about its world and setting, so this was super important to me and shows that Bethesda still knows how to do expansion content right. It’s an immediate theme and style I absolutely picked up on and loved. It resonated with me, maybe because I’m a fan of horror games and adding this to Fallout 4 just seems like a cherry on top.

That said it still has the same issues the base game had. Weird animations at times, bugs or small glitches that take me out of the experience, and the other warts that plagued the original game. It’s still a very worthy boat trip if players are a fan of Fallout, and one that easily justifies the price. I can only hope to see one more expansion of this size, quality, and magnitude that takes me down another road, or across an ocean, or whatever Bethesda decides to do next… I’ll be there.

My favorite moment: GIANT ENEMY CRAB… you’ll know it when you see/fight it!

Review copy of game provided by publisher. Primary play on Xbox One.

Good
  • New location
  • Story beats/choices
  • New characters and dialog
Bad
  • No huge gameplay changes
8
Great
Written by
Justin is a long time passionate fan of games, not gaming drama. He loves anything horror related, archaeology inspired adventures, RPG goodness, Dr Pepper, and of course his family. When it comes to crunch time, he is a beast, yet rabies free we promise.