Fallout 76 came out last year and it was probably the most disappointing game in the franchise. It was ambitious but it shouldn’t have been as buggy and bland as it ended up being. So since it was, I’m willing to bet that a lot of people decided to get their Fallout fix by going back to Fallout 4. I’ll admit I was one of those that was let down by Fallout 4 but after going back to it later, I dove in deep and fell in love with it. You can do some outrageous stuff in that game, so enter this list!
This list is going to focus on the crazier stuff you can do in the game. It’s one of the most ambitious games in the series with everything it added and what you can do with it. There was a long wait between Fallout 3 and 4 and it showed with all the new mechanics they added. I’m still not huge on the building aspect of it but man you can do so much with that if you really dive in. That goes for the entire game as well and we’ll get into all of that.
I want to focus on the fun aspect of the things you can do in this game with this list. It’s a wide open world and there’s so much that you might not know about unless you are looking for it and experimenting. Let’s dive deep into the Boston Wastelands!
25 Go Anywhere From The Start
It’s been a thing Bethesda has been doing for a while but it’s still impressive that they still do it after all these years. If you want to just walk the entire map right after the opening then you can. Even though I’ve played all the Bethesda games it’s still impressive to see the huge world the moment you get out of Vault 111. And realistically, walking the world is the real way to play this game. You see so much that you wouldn’t if you just do story mission after story mission.
24 Take Out NPCs
A major thing that separates Fallout games and other RPG games is that, if you don’t like certain NPC characters…then just take them out! Yeah, you’ll have the entire place come after you for it but it’s an option.
You can’t take out companions, they just get back up.
It’s pretty sinister but come on, you know you’ve done it before in one of these games just to see what would happen. It’s possible to take over entire places if you want to!
23 Make Your Character Look How You Want
This game doesn’t have just a normal character creator, you can go as deep/detailed as you want. If you want to just have a standard character and play the game then go for it, or if you want to go to YouTube and get a tutorial to make a celebrity you can do that too! I’m the kind of person who normally just goes with the standard look but I’m boring. I’ve seen people spend over an hour creating their character so they can get immersed more.
22 Steal Fusion Cores
A thing they added in Fallout 4 was that power armor worked as kind of a mech that you have to get in and power up instead of it just being armor. It can be a chore but I think it was a decision that worked out.
You need fusion cores to power up power armor.
So you can actually sneak up on people that are wearing power armor and steal the fusion core off them. It’s kinda tough but if your sneaking is high enough, you can do it.
21 Collect Power Armor
You get power armor if you choose to join the Brotherhood of Steel but if you don’t then you’re going to have to find some. Not only do you have to find some, you have to have somewhere to store it when not wearing it. Something you can do is litter your house with different power armor suits if you want. There’s a good bit of them on the map and they look cool spread all over your place. There’s something else you can do with them that we’ll get to later.
20 Build Outrageous Buildings
There are sections of the story where you have to use the building feature but other than that it’s a side thing. Well, if you want to get crazy and build huge buildings, you can.
You need to scrap stuff to gain crafting material.
The building can take a minute to get used to but once you do you’ll see how deep down you can go. You can literally build one of the tallest buildings in the game if you want! It’s kind of wild…see what I did there…yeah.
19 Play Holotape Games
I always respect when you can play games inside of other games and Fallout 4 does this in a very cool way. You find holotapes in the game that are clones of classic old school games. They have a Donkey Kong clone called Red Menace and a Space Invaders clone called Zeta Invaders. The thing about these is that they are entire games, not just a single level or two. It can turn into a whole side thing if you want. There’s also a trophy/achievement for playing one.
18 Scrap Most Things
The amount of stuff you can scrap in this game is kind of ridiculous! Now, you do have to be in a cleared out settlement to do this but still. I mentioned earlier that you can build huge buildings and scrapping all this stuff is how to get the material.
You can literally scrap an entire house.
Anything from old cars to entire houses are on the chopping block. It makes sense seeing all the stuff you can build but it’s a little crazy at first.
17 Wear Power Armor All The Time
You’re going to have to get a lot of fusion cores but you can wear power armor for the entirety of the game if you want. It does the thing I love the most in games like this with not taking off your helmet during dialogue moments. So if you are wearing power armor and get into a serious conversation with someone you talk through the speaker in the suit and it’s great! It’s a small thing but a lot of games auto-take-off helmets during stuff like that.
16 Go Crazy Decorating Your House
If you choose to get into the house building side of this game then you might want to get into the decorating side of things. It’s kinda nuts that you can spend hours and hours crafting stuff to go inside your house just for the sake of doing it. You can make furniture, paintings, and even a bobblehead display shelf. I’ve honestly never done this, I’m the kind of person that just builds a bed and a storage container but I’m glad they let you go crazy if you want!
15 Using A Fatman
I know the Fatman has been in Fallout games since Fallout 3 but it’s still so fun to use and it’s still ridiculous that it’s a thing that exists. It’s almost like the BFG in DOOM in that it’s so dumb and overpowered but it’s always fun.
The Fatman is basically a rocket launcher that fires mini-nukes.
It’s a weapon that pretty much everyone gets in their play-through and it might be considered kind of “meh” to some but it still gets me that it exists!
14 Never Do The Main Story
Again, this is a thing that has been a Bethesda thing for a while now but it’s still insane how many hours you can put into Fallout 4 and barely touch the main story. What’s interesting is that if you just did the main story you would probably finish the game in like 15 hours but you can put over 100 into it and never touch it. It’s just an insane amount of content that they keep putting out with these games. I also think Far Harbor is one of the most unique pieces of DLC they have done for side content.
13 Catch A Deathclaw
When the Wasteland Workshop DLC came out it came with a bunch of things to build and added some ridiculous things to the game. One of the things was a Deathclaw Trap and it’s huge!
You don’t need to do anything special to get one, just build it.
Literally, all you need to do is just build one, give it some power, and wait till you catch something. If you want to catch one fast then you can sleep for a day or so and one should be in there. It’s so simple but it’s a ridiculous thing to have in the game!
12 Play In Third-Person
I get this isn’t for everyone but it’s something I tried out the last time I played and it’s honestly the only way I want to play the game now. The option to play in third-person has always been an option for these games but it always felt weird and clunky. The shooting in Fallout 4 is better than it ever has been and I think that’s why it feels good and it feels like a different game when playing this way.
11 Survival Mode
This mode was added into the game a while after it came out and it’s a brutal way to play this game. This mode was introduced in New Vegas and makes you deal with hunger, thirst, and even bullet weight. Not only do you have to deal with all that but you can’t use fast travel…yeah. I’m glad modes like this exist so games like Fallout 4 can live on for years but I have zero interest in stuff like that! It’s fascinating to watch people play this mode though!
10 Build Extremely Powerful Weapons
The way to get the most powerful weapons in the game is to find them out in the world and add on to them. The crafting with weapons goes very deep in this game and a lot of time can be put into it.
You need a ton of parts to craft so never sell weapons, scrap them instead.
There is a limit to how much you can add to certain weapons but you can go pretty crazy if you want to. If you haven’t used a Big Boy then you need to change that!
9 Using V.A.T.S. In Interesting Ways
V.A.T.S. is a thing that makes Fallout different than any other game with guns. I know that most people use it on enemies to target body parts but you can go deeper with it.
You can use it to take out grenades mid-flight.
It seems obvious but it’s hard to remember stuff like that when in a tough fight. Landmines can also be taken out and it’s a good way to spot out where landmines are as well.
8 Give Settlers Power Armor
I mentioned earlier that there was something cool you could do with collecting power armor and this is it! There’s no real reason for giving people in a settlement power armor suits but it’s just cool and ridiculous. The settlements will get attacked and if you arm them all and give them all armor then, more than likely, it’ll be well defended. Obviously, this will take a long time to do since you will need a ton of the armor but it’s cool they give you the option.
7 Build Totally Different Play Styles
There are so many ways to play this game that it would take you over 1000 hours to experience all the different play styles on all the enemies and situations. The perk tree is huge and super intimidating at first, but once you choose a style it’s pretty clear cut. It’s one of those games that, depending on the style you choose, most encounters in the game will be different. Like if you don’t put points into sneak then that option is almost off the table. It’s so deep and repayable and understandable why people still play it today.
6 Five Finger Discount
Speaking of different play styles, stealing is a huge part of the game if you want to go down that path. You can pretty much steal anything in the game as long as you aren’t seen, or you can be seen and fight your way out, your choice.
Items in red will indicate you are stealing it.
And speaking of sneaking, you will want a few points in that if you want to do this. There’s a trophy/achievement to put a grenade in someone’s pocket, so it’s worth it just for that.
