Fallout 76: Glow of the Ghoul Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

There isn’t an unhinged ticking time bomb (sorry, post-nuclear holocaust survivor) that’s as universally adorned as the common Ghoul. In Fallout lore, the Ghoul is several things—a disgruntled companion, a lopsided nomad, and even an anti-social knucklehead with an unnatural fixation on the far corners of the obsolete wastelands. Regardless, the Ghoul has been a permanent fixture in the IP since its inception—a fact that has now fortified its image with the latest arrival of Fallout 76’s twentieth season, Glow of the Ghoul. In case you’ve been isolating in a vault for several months, Season 20 of the live-service successor to Fallout 4 has just about established the focal point for the next wave. And yes, it’s oddly but rather fittingly Ghoul-shaped. It’s about time, too; the Ghouls have been itching for a moment in the spotlight for, well, decades.

Of course, with an entire roadmap of seasonal events, reward tiers, and level-locked perks still in the works, there is only so much that we can touch base on here. Like scraping the dust from the tip of the iceberg, we can more or less stare directly into the translucent glass from the outside looking in, but we can’t really talk about the shards etched within without feeling them in the palms of our hands first. But, there’s an upside to this: Season 20, despite being, what, two days old, is already teeming with fresh updates, QoL overhauls, endgame changes, and even a nifty Double SCORE weekender, to boot. So, more than enough content to chalk up a review, from the looks of it.

If you’ve been itching to delve back into Fallout 76 for another stab at the wasteland, then be sure to take these details into account before donning the Ghoul mask and jumpsuit.

Too Cool for Ghoul

Glow of the Ghoul adds to the pre-existing layer that Fallout 76 has been molding, finessing, and evolving over the past several years. And it doesn’t just staple a couple of general touches to the core infrastructure of the game, either; it brings Ghouls into the mainstream—an instantly recognizable crossbreed post-nuclear fallout being that, thanks to the inclusion of the latest season’s character arc, can now be accessed. But that’s not all. Oh no, Glow of the Ghouls also fortifies its core with the added bonus of several lavish, albeit highly radioactive set pieces that can be added to your C.A.M.P, too. Moreover, the season fills its stocking with other seasonal goodies—Double SCORE sessions, Ghoul-centric weapon and armor skins, Murmgh’s Special Pick, Double Mutations, and a brand-new Ghoul Photo Mode Contest, with the latter idling in receipt of some genuinely interesting rewards.

Let it be said that, while there is clearly a tremendous amount of content to sift through here, Glow of the Ghoul is still in its teething phase. In other words, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to cover everything in its world. But that isn’t a major issue, because quite frankly, there’s more than enough to sink your teeth into in this initial serving. Plus, thanks to the previous season continuing its tradition of dishing out leftover perks to active users, there’s also the added benefit of mopping up the previous season’s bits and pieces, too. To cut a long story short — Fallout 76 hasn’t forgotten its long-term users; it’s just changing the world a tad, one little radioactive fragment at a time, apparently.

The Radioactive Wanderer

Suffice it to say, the perks of sporting the Ghoul skin are astronomical; the fact that you no longer need to concern yourself with the consequences of radiation exposure is a boon in itself, and is something that, quite frankly, users have been nagging about for, I don’t know, years. But that’s not all; the latest update also allows you to succumb to your feral tendencies—a path that generates its own quest chains, benefits, and challenges for you to peruse. Take the feral meter, for example. In addition to onboarding upwards of thirty new perk cards, fledgling Ghouls must also learn to keep tabs on a couple of new sliders—feral, and glow, with both meters offering a variety of possible options and endgame scenarios to alternate between.

With all of the above in tow, you could argue that the twentieth season is one of the best in the series yet. Having said that, there is something of a novelty to the idea of hurling a Ghoul through the ringer for a few hours. In some ways, it’s one of those things that could become somewhat tiring after the initial bout of joy fizzles out. And yet, with so much more to come in future weeks, it’s hard to imagine that such a novelty will exhaust all of its options before the arrival of the next Season. Here’s hoping, then, that the devs find enough material to keep the cogs in motion for the foreseeable future.

Verdict

Glow of the Ghoul brings about an even bigger, better, and more fulfilling continuation for the endgame tale in the ever-evolving universe of Fallout 76. With the aid of its latest mutations, QoL improvements, and not to mention a jam-packed seasonal roadmap of new and exciting features, Season 20 strikes well and true as yet another fantastic excursion from the wasteland and beyond. As the saying goes, it’s better late than never — and that sort of applies here, what with the Ghouls only just shedding their skin to reprise their roles in a more domestic spotlight.  To think, if the latest season hadn’t cast its focus on the Ghouls, then fans might have had to wait for yet another run at the gauntlet. But that’s just one thing; the theme brings a lot of weight, for sure, but it’s still only a rough fifty percent of the overall update.

To put the rumors to rest — no, Fallout 76 hasn’t been laying dormant for several years, nor has it reached its latter stages of life, for that matter. Naturally, it’s the twentieth season, and so, you can expect to see a few more wrinkles in the framework than your average adolescent survival RPG. Yet, Glow of the Ghoul shows that even old dogs can learn new tricks. And while the latest version of Fallout 76 is still vaguely similar to its original version, there are still plenty of cohesive tricks and improvements over previous branches on the tree.

Glow of the Ghoul paves the way for a brand-new era for Bethesda’s beloved franchise, and it does so with utmost grace and respect. And while it isn’t the next big thing as far as mainline installments travel, it’s still an enormous step in the right direction for the underling of the hierarchy.