Far Harbor, the latest DLC for Fallout 4 , is out now and it’s positively massive. Featuring the largest area seen in a Bethesda DLC, Far Harbor is going to take some time to finish. iDigitalTimes will be running a review-in-progress, so you know how we feel as we make our way through the game.
The DLC starts off with a new case to investigate with our favorite synth detective Nick Valentine. It seems a teenager has run away from home because she’s got herself convinced she’s a synth. The girl’s parents are worried, and hire you and Valentine to find her and bring her home.
After snooping through some of her stuff, you learn you need to hop on a boat and ship yourself north along the coast to the mysterious island of Far Harbor.
Life in Maine is similar to life in the Commonwealth, with a few minor differences. There are new enemy types up north, creatures waiting to rip off your limbs and new weapons and gear ready to stop that from happening.
Politically, people are generally split up into four factions in Far Harbor: you have the synth refuge in the remains of Acadia National Park, the Children of Atom cult, the normal people living in Far Harbor town and a faction composed of the raiders, looters and other brigands. Naturally, everyone is at each other’s throats for one reason or another.
The synth refuge is where the teen has run off to, convinced she is a synth herself. Without going too much into the story, everything is wrapped around a much bigger story than a simple runaway. There’s all sorts of mystery and intrigue awaiting in Far Harbor. And fog.
That’s just the main storyline, however. There are a ton of new sidequests to spend hours on, mostly you helping the members of Acadia and Far Harbor. These quests are nothing too special, but the characters and stories involved are definitely interesting enough to keep you hooked.
One mission does stand out, however. Again, without spoiling too much, make sure you follow Pearl the robot to the Cliff’s Edge Hotel. This mission really differentiates itself as something unique, breaking up the more traditional Talk To Person -> Go to place and kill monster / collect item -> Return to Person loop found in many other quests. Add a bit of absurd humor to the mix, and it has quickly risen to one of my favorite Fallout missions of all time.
It also adds new settlements. If you’ve played a lot of settlement management in the Commonwealth, starting fresh in Far Harbor is really nice. All the little lessons you learned about supply lines and task management mean you’ll set up the most efficient settlements you’ve built so far. However, you do continue to get bombarded by settlement rescue quests while in Far Harbor. It’s annoying, because you’ll either be doing a lot of backtracking to put out fires, or you’ll keep seeing discouraging “You failed such and such” notifications when the timers run out.
Far Harbor is mindblowing in terms of both its scope and quality. Taking what made Fallout 4 fun, and adding in more meaningful storylines and decisionmaking, Far Harbor really shows what could have been with the main campaign. If you were a fan of Fallout 4, getting this DLC is a no-brainer.
We’ll post a full review when we’ve completed the Far Harbor DLC.
So what do you think? Are you enjoying Far Harbor as much as we are? What’s your favorite new creature roaming the Island? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
