You’re standing on a platform, watching the world burn. Literally. Then the floor drops, the vault door hisses shut, and suddenly you’re two hundred years in the future wondering where your kid is and why there’s a giant cockroach trying to eat your face. That’s the Fallout 4 experience on PS4. It’s messy. It’s huge. Honestly, it’s a little overwhelming if you don’t have a plan.
Whether you’re playing on a base PS4, a Pro, or running the "next-gen" update on a PS5, the Commonwealth doesn’t play fair. You can't just wander into the South without getting shredded by a Deathclaw. You need a path. This Fallout 4 PS4 walkthrough isn't about holding your hand through every single scrap of duct tape you find, but about making sure you don't break your save file or your spirit before you even hit Diamond City.
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The First Five Hours: Getting Your Feet Under You
Don't rush to find Shaun. Seriously. The game wants you to feel that parental urgency, but if you run straight to the main markers, you’re going to be under-leveled and frustrated. After you leave Vault 111, head to your old house in Sanctuary. Talk to Codsworth. He’s a bit of a wreck, but he’ll help you clear out some Bloatflies.
The Concord Trap
Most people go straight to Concord because the game tells them to. You’ll meet Preston Garvey, grab the Power Armor, and fight a Deathclaw. It’s iconic. It’s also a massive resource drain early on. If you’re playing on a harder difficulty, that Deathclaw will one-shot you. Use the buildings. Stay inside the hardware store or the museum balcony and peck away at its health.
Once you’ve saved the settlers, you have a choice. You can follow Preston and get sucked into the "another settlement needs our help" loop, or you can actually go find your son. Pro tip: Ignore Preston for a bit. Go south toward Cambridge.
Navigating the PS4 Performance Hurdles
We have to talk about the technical side. Playing Fallout 4 on PS4 comes with baggage. Downtown Boston is a nightmare for the console’s frame rate. If you start seeing the screen stutter near Faneuil Hall, don't panic. It's not your console dying; it's just the engine struggling with the verticality and the number of NPCs.
- Quick-save often. The PS4 version is prone to crashing in high-density areas.
- Clear your cache. If things get really sluggish, rebuild your PS4 database in safe mode. It actually helps.
- Watch the shadows. Lighting effects in the city are the biggest performance killers.
The Road to Diamond City
The "Jewel of the Commonwealth" is your first major milestone. To get there safely, follow the train tracks. It avoids most of the major raider camps. You’ll eventually hit Cambridge Police Station. You'll hear a radio frequency (AF95). Follow it.
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This introduces you to Paladin Danse and the Brotherhood of Steel. Even if you don't like their "military-chic" vibe, do their first mission, Call to Arms. You get Righteous Authority, a legendary laser rifle that carries you through the mid-game. It’s a beast. Plus, Danse does most of the heavy lifting in that first dungeon, which saves your precious ammo.
Once you actually reach Diamond City, find Piper. She’s the reporter yelling at the gate. Getting her as a companion early is smart because her perk, Gift of Gab, doubles the XP you get for discovering new locations and passing speech checks.
Building Your Character for Survival
Don't spread your SPECIAL points too thin. If you’re playing on PS4, you want a build that minimizes frustration.
- Strength: You need this for carry weight. Loot is heavy.
- Charisma: At least 6. You need the Local Leader perk to connect your settlements. Without it, crafting is a chore because you have to haul copper and wood manually from one base to another.
- Intelligence: Get it to 6 for the Science! perk. You’ll want those high-tech gun mods later.
Making the Big Faction Choice
This is where the Fallout 4 PS4 walkthrough gets complicated. Eventually, the story forces you to pick a side between the Brotherhood, the Railroad, the Minutemen, or the Institute.
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The Brotherhood of Steel offers the best gear and those cool Vertibird rides (great for skipping long walks). The Railroad is for people who like stealth and want the Ballistic Weave—which is arguably the best armor upgrade in the game because it lets you turn a regular suit or dress into high-grade protection. The Institute is for the "greater good" types who don't mind a little kidnapping. The Minutemen are the "neutral" path, but they require a lot of base building.
You can play all sides against each other for a long time. Do it. Milk them for all the XP and gear you can get before the mission Mass Fusion. That's the point of no return.
Dealing with the Glowing Sea
Eventually, you’ll have to go to the southwest corner of the map. It’s a radiated wasteland where the sun never shines and everything wants to melt you.
Do. Not. Go. Naked.
You need either a Hazmat suit (buy one from Fallon’s Basement in Diamond City) or a full suit of Power Armor with lead plating. Bring Rad-X. Bring RadAway. There are Radscorpions out there that tunnel under the ground and pop up behind you. It's terrifying. If you see a legendary Alpha Deathclaw, just run. There’s no shame in it. Your goal is the crater in the center.
Essential PS4 Workarounds for Common Bugs
Bethesda games are famous for bugs, and the PS4 version has a few doozies.
- The "0kb" Glitch: This is the big one. It usually happens if you use too many Creation Club mods or skins. If the game tells you it can't save because there's 0kb of space, your save is at risk. Stick to a few essential mods or none at all to keep your save file healthy.
- VATS Freezing: Sometimes in the Survival mode update, VATS can cause the game to lock up. Try not to enter VATS the exact second an enemy starts an animation.
- The Emogene Takes a Lover Bug: This quest often breaks where the NPC doesn't spawn. To fix it, try leaving the area, waiting 48 in-game hours, and coming back.
Actionable Steps for Your Playthrough
To get the most out of your time in the Commonwealth, focus on these immediate goals:
- Secure the Castle: Once you have a few settlements, help Preston take back the Castle. It gives you access to the artillery smoke grenades, which are basically "delete buttons" for difficult outdoor encounters.
- Find the Overseer’s Guardian: Go to Vault 81 (west of Diamond City). Bring three fusion cores to get in. Buy the Overseer’s Guardian rifle from the merchant there. It shoots two projectiles for the price of one. It is arguably the best non-random weapon in the game.
- Invest in Scrapper: Take the Scrapper perk at Intelligence 5. It lets you get rare components like screws and copper from pipe pistols and raider armor. You will always be short on screws otherwise.
- Max out MacCready’s Affinity: His perk, Killshot, makes headshots in VATS much more likely to hit. Even after it was patched to be less "broken," it’s still incredibly powerful for sniper builds.
- Check your "Misc" tab: Read the notes and listen to the holotapes you pick up. Half the best side quests in the game, like the Silver Shroud or The Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution, start because you happened to overhear a radio broadcast or read a dead man’s mail.
The Commonwealth is a brutal place, but if you stop trying to play it like a linear shooter and start treating it like a survival sandbox, you'll find the rhythm. Keep your gear repaired, keep your Rads low, and maybe—just maybe—you’ll find that kid. Or you'll get distracted building a massive neon sign in Sanctuary. Honestly, both are valid.