Fallout 4 Locks An Important Mechanic Behind DLC & It Hurts The Base Game

There’s a lot to enjoy in the base version of Fallout 4, but one particular feature that didn’t show up until DLC definitely should have been included for free. Fallout 4 has always had a somewhat contentious space in the franchise, and a big part of it is a feeling that the game falls into a one step forward, two steps back problem. Enhanced gunplay and settlement building are just a couple of the significant new attractions, but missing Fallout roleplaying elements and fewer narrative complexities can be disappointing compared to prior titles.

When it comes to DLC, Fallout 4 follows the other games in adding several significant story expansions, and Far Harbor in particular certainly has its share of fans. Less fundamentally involving are the several workshop add-ons available for Fallout 4, which mostly add extra content for settlement building. These can be exciting for fans of that particular aspect of the game, but anyone who doesn’t spend much time on the settlement side of things might easily look past them. Unfortunately, however, ignoring the workshop add-ons entirely ends up missing out on a key game feature.

Ammo Crafting Shouldn’t Be In Fallout 4 DLC

The Contraptions Workshop DLC Features A Core Mechanic

The mechanic in question can be found in the Contraptions Workshop DLC, which grants purchasers access to the Ammunition Plant in-game. True to its name, this provides the only method of crafting ammo in Fallout 4, a nice complement to the weapon crafting options found in the base game. It’s hard to understand why it’s locked behind an extra purchase, however, as ammo crafting would have been a useful feature to have in the base game. At any rate, it’s a feature with wider appeal than additions focused purely on settlements, making the way its bundled a generally frustrating choice.

Fallout: New Vegas Included Ammo Crafting For Free

Fallout 4 Regresses From One Of The Best Fallout Games

An unflattering point of comparison can be found in Fallout: New Vegas, which showed Fallout 4 up by including a robust ammo crafting system in the base game. It’s an improvement from Fallout 3, which also stuck the feature into a DLC, and returning to the DLC approach feels like a regression in a series that should continually be moving forward. New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment rather than Bethesda Game Studios, but considering its rushed development, this kind of addition should serve as a challenge for the in-house games to meet and exceed rather than a development to ignore.

The lack of ammo crafting in the base game definitely isn’t a breaking point for Fallout 4, and the Contraptions Workshop DLC comes in at a modest $4.99 price tag that isn’t likely to break the bank. It’s still a sore point, however, and it’s unfortunate that many players may never even know it exists by merit of skipping out on the DLC. Fallout 4‘s approach to DLC overall isn’t a terrible one, but when it comes to ammo crafting, there’s just no good reason that it shouldn’t have been there to begin with.