Just when you thought Bethesda was down for the count with Fallout 4 – not including the Fallout 4 VR title that was showcased at E3 2017 – the company announces Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition and Pip-Boy Collector’s Edition for release in September.

Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition includes all previously released DLC including Nuka-World, Vault-Tec Workshop, Contraptions Workshop, Far Harbor, Wasteland Workshop and Automatron. Players will also avail of free updates like Survival mode and high-resolution textures, not to mention support for the heaps of mods developed thus far.

As for the Pip-Boy Collector’s Edition, it will available in North America at a few retailers. Along with a real world version of Fallout’s infamous Pip-Boy, it will also contain Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition and retails at $99.99. Both editions will be available on Xbox One, PS4 and PC on September 26th.

Meanwhile, Fallout 4 VR will release in Q4 2017 for HTC Vive. Find out more about it here.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Shipbreaker – Fallout 4 Far Harbor

Compared to the Enraged Fog Crawler, Shipbreaker may not seem like a big deal. And it’s not, though it’s still several tiers above the Ghostly Fog Crawler. Its ability to scale to the player’s level and immunity to Poison and Radiation still make it a force to reckon with in Far Harbor. Regardless, consider this one of the “weaker” bosses in the series.

After reports came out of Fallout 4’s Far Harbor running rather terribly on the PlayStation 4, Bethesda Softworks announced on Twitter that it had submitted an update to Sony to fix the same.

As noted by the developer, “We’ve submitted our update to Sony to resolve performance issues affecting some within Far Harbor. We will notify everyone when it’s live.”

Far Harbor has been out since May 19th and complaints of its PS4 performance have been pretty consistent since then. Digital Foundry noted in its recent analysis that a thick layer of alpha transparency effects, thanks to all the fog included with the new area, were to blame.

Despite the frame rate being fixed at 30 FPS, it would often dip to 15 to 20 FPS. Performance on the Xbox One was also problematic but noted to be better than the PS4 version. We’ll keep you updated when the patch goes live so stay tuned for more information.

Despite some relatively good content, including an interesting story and a fun new area to explore, Fallout 4‘s new expansion Far Harbor isn’t without its issues. A new technical analysis by Digital Foundry discovered that the frame rate performance on the PlayStation 4 could be improved.

After patch 1.6, it was discovered that the new areas run at 20 FPS and can occasionally dip down to 15 FPS. Compared to the Xbox One version, which “consistently runs at a higher refresh”, the PS4’s performance for Far Harbor is perhaps the most sluggish in the entire game. Both console versions are meant to target 30 FPS.

This is primarily due to the new fog effects. The analysis notes that alpha transparency effects are rather thick and while the Xbox One isn’t perfect either, it doesn’t suffer as much as the PS4 version.

Performance issues are nothing new for certain PS4 titles (remember how The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt faced performance issues on the console for months?) but Bethesda should address the same soon so stay tuned.

"It may not represent the most morally traumatic experiences in gaming but it does offer a good amount of variety, especially in how you choose to handle some objectives."

Interestingly, you’re on a quest to search for a missing woman – Kasumi Nakano, who suddenly up and travelled to Far Harbor to rendezvous with a colony of Synths in a place called Acadia. Upon arriving in Far Harbor, you’ll find plenty of trouble plaguing the island. The citizens of the dock-town are busy fighting back the horrors of the mutated wildlife while also combating a radioactive fog that’s slowly consuming everything. If that weren’t enough, the Children of Atom are on the prowl, praising the fog as the will of the Atom and looking to convert all non-believers in the process.

But wait, there’s more. Traveling to Acadia puts you face to face with an old Synth named DiMA. What are his plans? How do the other factions factor into it all? More importantly, which side will you choose and what consequences will you bear?

Many felt that Fallout 4 didn’t really do consequences all that well, especially when it came to the ending. Far Harbor remedies that by quite a bit – the Children of Atom and Far Harbor‘s folk are directly in contention with each other but even Acadia has stakes in who could potentially win. You can take on quests for each faction and try to improve life for the folks in each town. However, you’ll also come across instances where your direct decision influences how things can ultimately play out. Do you ultimately travel to the Children of Atom’s submarine base and retrieve those valuable memory banks? Do you sell of those tools that the Mariner in Far Harbor asked you to retrieve for the sake of Caps?

It may not represent the most morally traumatic experiences in gaming but it does offer a good amount of variety, especially in how you choose to handle some objectives. For example, you can choose whether to hack into Faraday’s computer or simply eavesdrop on a meeting by unlocking a door (failing to do so prompts the hunt for a key, which again requires a skill check with regards to your Charisma) to discover DiMA’s plans. How about when you track down that missing Synth into a den of Trappers who’ve cannibalized his body and use your own cannibal perk to appeal to them? It’s a nice change of pace from the base story.

"From the noble Captain Avery, the no-nonsense Mariner and the sardonic Cassie in Far Harbor alone to Acadia’s DiMA who poses perhaps one of the more solidly written moral dilemmas in the series, there’s no shortage of interesting people to meet."

Far Harbor itself is an intriguing location, smothered in fog – constantly nagging at your radiation meter but never really plunging you into danger at a moment’s notice. The fisherman culture pervades every aspect of the island, from ruins of ships to nets and discarded tools lying around. Its uniqueness is further enhanced by the enemies roaming about. For the traditional foes like Ghouls and Wolves (essentially the wild dogs from the Commonwealth), you’ll come across Anglers who fire incendiary blobs at you by condensing the radioactive fog around them. The most frightening enemy has to be the Fog Crawler, a mantis-like creature with heavy armour and who are best dispatched with heavy weaponry.

While combat isn’t any more tactical than the base game, there’s a decent balance between the traditional enemies you’ve fought before and these new monstrosities. It also offers ample opportunity to try out some of the new weapons. Go for the Harpoon Gun first as it launches a massive harpoon into your foes, annihilating them quickly, as opposed to the lever action rifles which suffer from an odd glitch whereupon you reload all bullets individually (even if you only fired one).

Of course, it wouldn’t be Bethesda DLC without your routine “go here, do this, collect that” variety of side quests. To be fair though, such quests aren’t usually a problem if they’re backed by solid writing and interesting characters, something which Far Harbor has in spades. From the noble Captain Avery, the no-nonsense Mariner and the sardonic Cassie in Far Harbor alone to Acadia’s DiMA who poses perhaps one of the more solidly written moral dilemmas in the series, there’s no shortage of interesting people to meet.

It certainly helps when you’re directed to a place to simply murder a target or collect some missing tools. You may still find yourself annoyed with the standard cookie-cutter nature of many side quests but there’s enough unique content here to keep you coming back. That being said, for all the interesting characters, the newest companion – Old Longfellow – is kind of boring. Maybe it’s just the monotone speaking pattern or the triteness of his personality but suffice to say that you won’t be using him for much more than learning about the island’s history.

"Fallout 4 has needed something like Far Harbor for a long time. It’s needed a fresh injection of fun content in a new area with new things to do."

Also, for the interesting mechanics that Bethesda does introduce into the game, there’s one puzzle sequence that will doubtlessly annoy many a player. It’s not game-breakingly stupid but it really does make you ponder as to why it was included.

Far Harbor is a beautiful place and unique in its layout but the fog itself may begin to wear on players after a while. I know, I know, it lends a unique atmosphere that you won’t find in the rest of the game and not every area is a slave to it. Regardless, the fog’s main appeal is to nag you with radiation throughout. The radiation itself isn’t enough to overwhelm you and honestly, I’m wondering what impact it could have in Survival Mode. For now, it simply feels like a means to add something special to the area rather than having any real impact on gameplay.

Fallout 4 has needed something like Far Harbor for a long time. It’s needed a fresh injection of fun content in a new area with new things to do. Far Harbor accomplishes this task for the most part even if it faces a few issues along the way like animation glitches (fortunately, I haven’t encountered the case of missing face textures just yet). I’m loathe to tell Fallout fans if this game is really “for” them though. Will Far Harbor get you into Fallout 4 if you didn’t enjoy the base game? Is it a “true” role-playing experience like Fallout 4 apparently wasn’t with the freedom it offers? Has it “fixed” Fallout 4?

Honestly, those are completely different questions. If you enjoy an open world RPG/FPS with a good story and writing, decent characters and some fun quests to complete, then Far Harbor will probably be up your alley. It may not be the shining beacon in Bethesda’s long-running collection of awesome DLC packs but it’s still a pretty entertaining and wholesome voyage to embark on.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Now that the newest piece of DLC for Fallout 4 has launched, players have started figuring out just how big the world of Far Harbor is. Bethesda has been touting this new content as offering the biggest map of any DLC it has ever rolled out, so naturally people are interested to know just how big it really is.

We should have known it wouldn’t take long for someone to come up with a kind of map of the layout of Far Harbor. GamePedia has done just that while also laying out just how large the map of the Commonwealth is in Fallout 4.

Put those two layouts side by side and you start to see Far Harbor‘s map size is indeed pretty decent. It looks like the largest DLC ever offered for a Fallout game and is about 20 percent the size of the entire Commonwealth. Check out the pictures below. The Commonwealth is on the left and Far Harbor’s map is on the right.

As we get closer to the next DLC for Fallout 4 in Far Harbor, we’re finding out quite a bit more about what we can expect when it launches. A brand new video brings the most info yet while also offering a good long look at what the world of Far Harbor looks like.

In the video, Bethesda explains there is a kind of remote community that has managed to rebuild its society. That society is now one that isn’t a huge fan of people from the mainland so players will run into plenty of enemies.

The video also demonstrates a couple of new weapons that will be available to use in the strange land. There will also be a couple of new mutant creatures that stalk the land. You can check out the video below and get ready for Fallout 4‘s DLC, Far Harbor is out now for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Fallout 4‘s first major story expansion Far Harbor will be going live at midnight depending on your local territory’s time. The expansion will add a new region, a new story and tons of hours of side quests to pursue.

There is a catch though. Once the expansion is live, it won’t be downloaded automatically. You’ll need to head to the Xbox Live Store, PlayStation Store or Steam and locate Fallout 4’s page. From there, you should see the expansion and slate it for download (or buy it first if you don’t own the Season Pass).

In Fallout 4, check the Add-Ons section and you should see Far Harbor listed. If it’s not, restart your system and try downloading it from your respective platform’s store again. If you’ve progressed past Diamond City and met Nick Valentine, you should see information for the quest in your journal.

Far Harbor costs $25 and is apparently larger than Oblivion’s Shivering Isles expansion. Looking forward to it? Let us know in the comments.

Unlike the PC version which currently has its mods and Creation Kit in open beta, Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout 4 will have a beta for when its mods arrive on Xbox One.

Registration for the beta is currently open and you can register for the same here. A Bethesda account will be needed along with your Xbox Live Gamertag. Mods for the Xbox One will be going live after Far Harbor releases on May 19th, though Bethesda hasn’t confirmed when exactly they’ll be going live.

The PlayStation 4 beta for mods, which will be out in June, will likely be open for registration after the Xbox One version. When exactly the PS4’s mods will release remains to be seen.

Far Harbor will bring a brand new region to Fallout 4 and will apparently rival the size of Oblivion’s Shivering Isles expansion. Along with new quests, new enemies and new factions like the Children of Atom to deal with, there will be quite a lot to do. What are your thoughts on the mods? Let us know in the comments.

Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout 4 will be receiving its biggest DLC till date with Far Harbor on May 19th. The “expansion” has been stated to be larger The Shivering Isles for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which means plenty of stuff to do.

Along with a new trailer, Bethesda also provided a short summary of what’s happening in Far Harbor. A case from Nick Valentine’s agency sends you off on a search for a woman, traveling off Maine to Far Harbor where a colony of synths resides.

Radiation is incredibly high as is the conflict between the synths and the Children of Atom, the religious cult referenced in the first game. It’s touted as the “largest landmass for an add-on” that Bethesda has ever created and features new dungeons, settlements, faction quests, high-level armour, weapons and more.

What are your thoughts on the trailer for Far Harbor? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.