In news that should surprise absolutely no one, a recent AAA release does not live up to the performance standards that were boasted before release. In this case, it appears that the console releases for Fallout 4 are struggling to maintain the solid 30 FPS that was mentioned in the weeks leading up to release.

A topic opened by Kenzodielocke on the NeoGAF forums yesterday about Fallout 4 included complaints that the “Game has massive problems holding the 30fps when inside buildings, cages or whatever you have a load time when you get in.”

A video of the issue mentioned was provided, and further edits have since been put on the post providing additional evidence for the claims of dipping frame rates for Fallout 4. He went on to add:

“...in firefights in buildings it affected my aiming and character movement. You may not see it perfectly fine in this video, which has also no firefight in it, but I could definitely feel it. Also, the part where I want to go through the hole in the wall, I couldn't move my character properly.”

Tidux, an industry insider, backed up these claims with a few tweets of his own that also mentioned he was experiencing frame rate problems during his first 15 hours of Fallout 4.

https://twitter.com/Tidux/status/663364355346534400

According to Eurogamer's Digital Foundry, these issues are not necessarily unique to the PS4 version of Fallout 4. The report seems to indicate that in fact the PS4 version outclasses the Xbox One version in most cases; however, both versions seem to include their fair share of issues that result in dipping frame rates. Stutters, usually lasting around a second, are also present in both, typically occur at specific points on the map while moving from area to area.

Destructoid's review on Fallout 4, done on the XBox One, mentions that there were multiple full crashes on the game, and a lot of other bugs with visual issues being particularly persistent. PC Gamer's review on the PC version also mentioned multiple crash to desktops, and some frame drops below 60 FPS even on a GTX 970 with 8GB Ram and numerous loading screens, something that other xbox reviews have commented on being slow to load there.

Quick Take

It is a Bethesda game, and technical issues seem to go hand in hand with those. I doubt anyone expected perfection, given their history, and I also doubt that many people will lose interest in Fallout 4 over the issue. I expect little backlash over this, as performance problems and game breaking bugs just seem to be accepted quirks in Bethesda open world games.