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Ever since Fallout 4’s DLC roadmap was unveiled, it was assumed that Automatron would be considered one of the smaller DLCs, or at least until Far Harbor is released in May. With a price of $10 (unless you bought the season pass) it seems rather steep, especially when it is compared to what was advertised. By comparison, each of Fallout 3’s DLCs were $10 each, from the rather short Operation: Anchorage to the expansive Point Lookout DLC that introduced an entirely new area.
Quests and new areas
Just based on pure numbers alone, Automatron has roughly the same number of quests as Operation: Anchorage. This means that there are around four to five quests (depending on if you count the repeating quest). However, the four main quests in Automatron feel longer than the Operation: Anchorage quests. Assuming that you ignore the travel time between quest locations, it would take somewhere between three to five hours to finish the main questline, depending on your playstyle and difficulty level.
A large amount of that time will be spent in a couple of entirely new indoor locations, but being indoor locations they aren’t exactly incredibly unique. After all, there’s only so many ways that you can model a dilapidated, dimly lit interior.
New weapons, armor, and more
Automatron adds two new melee weapons (the Assaultron Blade and the Mr. Handy Buzzsaw), two new “guns” (an Assaultron head and the Tesla rifle, which shoots bolts of electricity), one unique set of armor, one modified set of T-60 Power Armor, and one set of normal armor. While the weapons and armor pieces are unique in how they look and function, their usefulness is entirely dependent on your personal preference. This puts Automatron more or less on par with Operation: Anchorage in regards to new weapons and armor.
New gameplay mechanics
The main selling point of Automatron is an entirely new gameplay mechanic that lets you create your own army of customized robot companions. As such, you can Frankenstein together a robot made of parts from almost any robot that you see, and that is no exaggeration. Want to mash a Mr. Handy thruster onto a Sentry Bot torso and mount Gatling Lasers on its arms? Go ahead. Want to improve upon the standard Sentry Bot by adding Fat Man nuclear catapults onto its back? No reason not to. Want to make some kind of Assaultron that has flamethrowers and buzzsaws? Go wild.
That being said, how often you will be able to enjoy the presence of your new murder-machine is based entirely upon where you are in the story. If you already beat Fallout 4’s main quest, your kill-bot realistically won’t see much action. But if you are somewhere near the opening of the game, you might be able to spend dozens of hours with them, at least until you decide to switch them out with a humanoid companion.
