Fallout 4: Automatron (PC) Review

The big new feature in Automatron is the ability to create new (and update existing) robots with parts from other robots. Yes, one can take loyal old Codsworth and turn him into a full-featured, fire-spewing, Deathclaw-headed Sentry Bot. The customisation is nearly endless; players can choose a head, torso, left arm, right arm, legs, armour for each of the above, and a new coat of paint. Besides the paint, these each have their own stats; certain legs might increase movement speed, while others increase carrying capacity, for example. Stimpaks can't be used on robot companions, which is where the new item Robot Repair Kit comes in handy. Players get their own new armour set, as well, with robot armour and heavy robot armour now appearing in the wild—especially on the new raider faction, the Rust Devils, who make their own robots out of parts scavenged from others, both robot and human.

There's also a new questline that should take an hour or two to finish, and might end in a series of radiant quests and a new settlement. The writing for this questline is among Bethesda's best, with some deep immersion in the characters (even raiders) and a lot less of the black-and-white philosophy many fans favour New Vegas because of.

All in all, at a price higher than Hearthfire, but lower than the larger expansions like Dawnguard, it's hard to complain about Automatron; the main quest adds about a couple of hours, while the robot customisation will carry through all game experiences, but this leads to the DLC's greatest flaw: unless players have invested in the Robotics Expert perk, the best mods can't be applied to robots. In addition to this, at first, these mods have to be scavenged from fallen robots, which could've provided countless hours of scavenging fun, but BGS decided to truncate that and simply give players all mods for finishing the main questline. For a scavenge-themed DLC, this was a huge mistake, especially since players likely won't get enough experience from the main quest to level up the necessary perk to even apply those mods.