Fallout 4 is a fantastic game, and has been since it launched in 2015. Series veterans may have been underwhelmed by its wholehearted switch to a more action-oriented experience, but that doesn’t change the fact that the result is a cohesive, expansive and extremely enjoyable affair despite its few faults. As seems to be the case with any Bethesda title that does well commercially, the medium must be subjected to a minimally iterative edition of this great game…but is this one more ‘definitive’ than the last?
This time around, Fallout 4’s latest definitive edition is titled the Anniversary Edition, commemorating ten years since its original release. The package contains the base game and all six expansions, which were previously bundled together in the Game of the Year edition. The only extra content here comes in the form of 150+ items from the Creations Club — the official platform that hosts modded content for the game and enables it to be sold by its third-party creators. Of this content, 150 of the creations were previously released via the Creations Club, with only nine of them being all-new for this edition. These creations range from Pip-Boy cosmetics to new weapons and a few side missions.
Essentially, then, Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition offers the GOTY version and a handful of mods, most of which are cosmetic in nature and vary drastically in quality. The only new thing here is the nine new pieces of CC content, so it’s fair to say that there’s very little on display to justify a whole new re-release, particularly as there hasn’t been any effort made to further enhance the experience on PS5 and give legs to the argument that this needed an anniversary edition in the first place.
It’s difficult not to be cynical about practices like these, but unfortunately Bethesda has a track record of rehashing its greatest hits with minimal justification. If consumers are expected to fork out again—no matter how good the game is—there needs to be more on offer to make it even worth considering. Bethesda has historically been one of the medium’s great creators, so it is a shame to see the company resort yet again to what at this point feels like self-satire. Whether you’ve played Fallout 4 or not, this reviewer sees no justification in pricing this decade-old experience at the same price as many brand-new games go for these days.
Nevertheless, the Anniversary Edition has also made its way over to the Nintendo Switch 2, where it goes a little further in justifying a purchase given that it’s the only version available on the console. It’s a great port for that system, but here it simply doesn’t offer enough for players who’ve already experienced it on older hardware. For those who’ve never experienced it, the GOTY edition is the better prospect given its significantly lower price tag on the PlayStation Store.
