Author Topic: Fallout 4 - Automatron - Nuclear Robots, gatling lasers, death blades Oh my!  (Read 3963 times)

LaughingAlex

  • Giggling like an
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,019
So it's been a few days since Automatron came out.  I decided to take a few days to gather some thoughts and explore it's potential as a DLC and so far, I will say it's actually worth it.

How does the story stack up?

It's ok.  It isn't quite the main point, but it's decent enough.  There isn't a lot of choice this time, as the DLC is after all only ten dollars.  In a way, the story exists as a non-frontloaded tutorial.  Every quest and even the missions are designed to familiarize you with the new features and enemies.  The main companion is, due to her robotic nature, not all that emotional.  The two most interesting characters in fact are actually your adversaries.  One of which sadly doesn't get to be used as a companion when you would expect it, especially with the dark humor.  The other is the fabled Mechanist, who in a sense is more refined than fallout 3's Mechanist, but I don't wish to spoil much more than that.  Overall, the story is decent, but Automatrons story is not it's strong point.

The dungeons.

The non-gameplay element of the DLC that truely shines, is the two dungeons you get.  It's only two new maps, but they are supurbly done and tell their own individual stories.  Be wary however, and prepare to take a break halfway through one or even both of them: they are fairly long for fallout 4 dungeons.  Expect some very serious combat, likewise.  In fact I would NOT recommend fighting the final confrontation outside of power armor or ballistic weave.  I also highly recommend having padded or even better dense installed on your chest piece or you'll find your ragdoll flying a few yards as if you tried to run through the boomers shooting gallery in the Mojave with no plan buck naked.

Gameplay changes

The main feature of automatron, the robots and enemies.  As you go through the main story of Automatron you will unlock a Robot Workbench.  It's everything you could hope for.  Want to make a simple robot designed for fire support via lasers?  You can do it.  Want a melee robot?  Possible.  Want something with heavy artillery and indirect fire?  The options are there.  Want a robot that farms?  Can do that to!  Locks or terminals a problem?  Install a module for it.  While I encountered one door that the robots would not pick(due I think to a bug), I found that the robot companions you can create have a limitless customization.  But the best parts?

They are better than the human companions.

You probably knew this was coming, but in a sense it's true.  They are actually useful.  Due to the above customization options, the robots effectively obsolete the human companions.  Other than the lack of any perk you get with Ada(in fact her relations shift as much as dogmeat, that is there are no likes/dislikes with her), the robots stats beat the pants off everyone.  And not just in armor/health, but in firepower.  The robots have no dependence on ammunition, and the weapons can get especially powerful.  I quickly found Ada to be a near force of nature just with an automatic laser cannon and sniper laser cannon.  This had reached a pinnacle when I experimented with the Sentry Torso's mortor shoulder weapons, nothing beats an infinite supply of nuclear firepower, let alone two mini nukes fired at an enemy!

And using robots as companions is not the only thing you can do with them.

Need another farmer at a settlement?  Build a robot nearby, send it there and have it farm the new crops.  Want to enhance a settlements defenses?  Robots can do that to.  In fact, with the sole exception of stores, robots can do everything settlers can.  Because they are also somewhat cheap to build for anyone who has the scrapper perk, they can easily replace settlers to a degree.  Not quite though, as they tend to need ceramics which cannot be acquired from scrapping modified guns.

Because of the above, Automatron near completely changes the game for settlement management.  Anyone could easily have two or three robots farm all the crops a settlement could ever need, freeing settlers for stores.  The fact that they have higher health and armor ratings than settlers also helps make a settlement tougher.  In fact, I had begun a project to man a place with nothing but robots.  Other than a complete lack of stores(which I could solve by helping bunker hill ^.^), the town is easily one of my best defended thanks to the presence of combat robots and even modestly armored farmers with laser cannons.

"Thats great, so I am going to need all the help ain't I?"  Yes, you damn well will.

With the ability to build robots yourself, raiders now also build robots.  In fact the new raider gang loves to spawn just about everywhere, and if you thought fighting Assaultrons was annoying, imagine when you fight them routinely now.  So those instant-death lasers are going to be a major problem.  Thankfully the robots you can build serve as excellent counters, but you now have to be ready for a serious firefight anywhere you go.  This also holds true for the Mechanists army.  And while robotics expert can help significantly, the sheer number of robots can quickly become a hassle in some spots.  In fact some robots even initiate self destruct regardless of what you do to them.

And random encounters now very frequently feature red devil or mechanist robot raids.  Not to mention both can and do attack settlements(Although Preston's quests have been deliberately ignored to avoid him also asking me to send me on any fights against the red devils I am unaware of if they exist).

All in all, I'd say Automatron is in a way the Dawnguard of Fallout 4.  As Dawnguard was all about vampires and changes the landscape entirely to be plagued with battles between the vampires and dawnguard, with you caught in the middle, Automatron pins you between the Red Devils and the Mechanists forces.  Only this time, both are hostile to you.  Only it's gameplay is much more the focus rather than the story/companion.  Automatron also hugely encourages you to focus on making robots about as much as Dawnguard encourages you to become a vampire.  It changes the gameplay very extensively.  I feel in a way it's an improvement.  But then I tend to see the new use of robotics expert as a nice alternative to the usual production/economy perk cap collector.  And I'd rather robots over helpless pipe pistol armed settlers any day :).

Edit: And now I realise I misplaced my post, I meant this to go in the Other Games Section.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2016, 05:14:16 AM by LaughingAlex »
Currently; Not doing any streaming, found myself with less time available recently.  Still playing starbound periodically, though I am thinking of trying other games.  Don't tell me to play mmohtg's though please :).  Getting back into participating in VO and the successors again to.

LaughingAlex

  • Giggling like an
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,019
Course there are a few bugs.

Robots set as provisioners for some reason(though it only happened once to me) can revert to their default form.  I don't know how it happened.  I built the robot at The Castle, configured her to be a Mr Handy Thrustered Assaultron with a single automatic laser cannon, and then later she default to a sluggish default protectron.

Robobrain-head armed robots can sometimes fire a psychic blast at you if you kill someone/something as they are about to fire it.  Thankfully the damage is very minor and this usually only happens at the end of a battle.  The same bug affects assaultron heads with the laser, but the laser instantly cancels and does no damage to you.

I also found it harder to dismiss Ava/other robots.  I had to switch to another companion to get rid of her for a moment.
Currently; Not doing any streaming, found myself with less time available recently.  Still playing starbound periodically, though I am thinking of trying other games.  Don't tell me to play mmohtg's though please :).  Getting back into participating in VO and the successors again to.