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It's almost been one whole year since Fallout 4 launched, believe it or not. Thanks to a total of six downloadable content offerings, it's safe to say that Bethesda's done a good job of keeping Fallout 4 relevant over the last 10 or so months. Every new DLC release has been met with widespread media coverage, and the title continues to be a huge hit over on YouTube, where you can find tons of channels dedicated solely to the post-apocalyptic adventure. There's no doubt that Fallout 4 has been a commercial success, and its steady stream of additional content throughout 2016 has certainly helped contribute to that fact.

But has Fallout 4's DLC lived up to expectations? Has Fallout 4's season pass, which got a price hike back in March, been worth the money? These are just two questions that we'll be attempting to answer in this very article, as we take a look back at the game's post-launch support, which concluded with the recently released Nuka World.

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To start with, let's take a quick look at the content that Fallout 4's season pass includes:

Fallout 4: Automatron
Release date: 22nd March 2016
Price point: £7.99 / $9.99
Click here for our review

Fallout 4: Wasteland Workshop
Release date: 12th April 2016
Price Point: £3.99 / $4.99
Click here for our review

Fallout 4: Far Harbor
Release date: 19th May 2016
Price point: £19.99 / $24.99
Click here for our review

Fallout 4: Contraptions Workshop
Release date: 21st June 2016
Price point: £3.99 / $4.99
Click here for our review

Fallout 4: Vault-Tec Workshop
Release date: 26th July 2016
Price point: £3.99 / $4.99
Click here for our review

Fallout 4: Nuka World
Release date: 30th August 2016
Price point: £14.99 / $19.99
Click here for our review

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Essentially, Fallout 4's DLC swings one of two ways: it's either a traditional expansion, adding new quests and new locations, or it's a Workshop add-on, which focuses on the game's settlement system. The three most expensive DLC packs, namely Automatron, Far Harbor, and Nuka World, can be considered expansions, while the cheaper packs – Wasteland Workshop, Contraptions Workshop, and Vault-Tec Workshop – put an emphasis on adding new stuff to fiddle around with in your settlements.

Given that Fallout 4's settlement system divided opinion in the vanilla game, it's no surprise that many players have expressed disappointment with the title's season pass. Three of the six DLC packs come in the form of Workshops, and while Vault-Tec Workshop does feature a small set of quests, it's ultimately just another creative outlet.

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However, is it really fair to disregard Fallout 4's season pass purely because it includes three Workshop add-ons? In our opinion, not really. If anything, the Workshop DLC was thrown in to bridge the gap between each expansion – it's definitely filler, but we don't think that the inclusion of the Workshop trio is the biggest reason to be disappointed with the season pass.

Indeed, we reckon that the overall quality of the more traditional expansions is the real issue here. Automatron largely feels like a standard side quest that's been padded out, Far Harbor launched on PlayStation 4 with some unforgivable frame rate problems, and Nuka World isn't quite the grand finale that it should be.

Okay, so Automatron was never billed as an epic new adventure, Far Harbor's frame rate problems were eventually fixed, and Nuka World is actually a pretty meaty slice of content – but the fact of the matter is that none of these expansions blew us away. Now, you could say that our DLC disappointment is a byproduct of Fallout 4 itself – a game that's been on the receiving end of much criticism for its lack of role-playing elements and often shoddy storytelling – but we'd argue that's just one aspect of the bigger picture.

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With Fallout 4's DLC, Bethesda had more than one opportunity to improve upon the base release – to provide answers to the criticism that had been slung in its direction. In some ways, the studio did just that; Far Harbor, for example, emphasises player choice and branching narratives, offering an involved plot that has you shape its outcome. Likewise, Nuka World lets you go full bad guy – something that's not really encouraged in the base game – allowing you to rule over the Commonwealth as a tyrannical Raider warlord.

Both Far Harbor and Nuka World are solid expansions, and there's no denying that they're nice to have around for the reasons outlined above, but when you consider that they alone are Fallout 4's two main additions, it's hard not to feel like more could have been done – and this feeling partly stems from expectations set by past Fallout titles.

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Looking back at Fallout 3, Bethesda's first crack at the franchise, its selection of DLC still looks enticing even today. Featuring five separate expansions, two of which add whole new settings to explore and one of which expands upon the title's main story, the sheer variety that's on display is impressive. From pre-war virtual reality and giant robots to mutant hillbilly swamps and alien spaceships, it makes Fallout 4's offering seem horribly uninspired by comparison. The same can be said of Fallout: New Vegas' DLC line up, which is arguably every bit as creative.

Expectations are, of course, dangerous things to have knocking about, and can colour your perspective to a significant degree – but with Fallout 4 and its DLC, expectations came as part of the package back when Bethesda jacked up the price of the season pass before Automatron had even released, on the basis that the studio was apparently going to include more content than it had initially planned.

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Originally, the season pass sold for £24.99 / $29.99, which, in hindsight, is a fairly reasonable price when you consider the amount of content that's included – but the revised price of £39.99 / $49.99 now seems a little ridiculous, doesn't it? That's just about the cost of the base game at launch, and for what? Extra crafting clutter, a level pack, and two good-but-not-great expansions. Now matter how you look at it, that's questionable value right there.

So, has Fallout 4's season pass been worth it? We suppose that it depends on what you enjoy about Fallout 4. If you're big into the settlement mode, you'll get a lot more out of the Workshop DLC than most, but if you think that the vanilla game isn't up to scratch to begin with, then we don't think that any of the additional content will change your opinion. And, while the two main expansions certainly add to the base release and are enjoyable in their own right, they're just not quite on the same level as some of Bethesda's previous efforts.

Ultimately, we'd label Fallout 4's post-launch content as decent, but disappointing, and honestly, it's difficult not to feel as though one last expansion – one last hurrah – may have been enough to tip the balance.

What are your thoughts on Fallout 4's DLC? Have you enjoyed your post-release adventures, or do you think that more could have been done? Vote in our poll, and try not to pick up too many rads in the comments section below.

Has Fallout 4's season pass been worth it? (70 votes)

  1. Yes, I think the DLC has been great14%
  2. Kind of, the DLC has been hit and miss33%
  3. No, I think the DLC has been poor53%

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