Bethesda Studios has done a fantastic job over the years with downloadable content to extend their games post-launch, well, at least ever since the horse armor fiasco of the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion days. With Fallout 3 we got an entire new game area for the Point Lookout DLC that brought new items, characters, quests and more to the game, and Fallout 4 is following the same path with the new Far Harbor DLC.
The story of the new content puts your player in the role of detective as you meet with a family whose daughter has run away from home. The parents believe that the daughter was lured out into the wild after fixing an old radio and making contact with someone far away. Over the brief initial quest on the mainland you find that the daughter believes she may be a synth, and is heading to a synth refuge in Far Harbor. Upon learning this, the girl’s parents task you with taking the family boat to Far Harbor and finding their daughter. As always, this isn’t as easy as it seems. Far Harbor has many troubles of its own, and over the hours a sold side story unravels in an atmospheric new island.
Far Harbor itself is a good sized island that is covered in dangerous fog when you arrive. Within the fog lies radiation poisoning, but also massive new creatures lurking around and always attempting to destroy the harbor, which seems to be one of the very few safe places left on the island. As you work through the content you not only meet the daughter you came to look for, but a host of new characters all with a piece to play in why the island is covered in the fog. From a synth “god” to Children of Atom believing the fog is a gift from the god of Atom, all the new characters are interesting and offer solid questlines to complete.
The DLC also brings some new gear. Harpoon guns have been added to the game, along with various armor pieces and items for your character to wear. As soon as I landed on Far Harbor I was able to purchase a new helmet with much better stats than what I had been wearing for the past dozen hours or so on the mainland. As you explore the island there are a lot of new things to find, even including some custom power armor.
There is a lot of story to the DLC so I don’t want to give it all away, but overall Far Harbor is a very interesting new gameplay area with characters that have fun and varied questlines and items that will improve your character overall. It’s a solid piece of content for the price and will last you at least a dozen hours (possibly a lot more) if you love to roam around the island like I did. If you have enjoyed your time with Fallout 4 you will like the new content overall, and it seems a bit more robust than the first Fallout 4 DLC. Although I did enjoy bringing my new robot companion along from the initial DLC missions. If you’re into Fallout 4, go grab this pack. You shouldn’t be disappointed.