I have played Fallout New Vegas , but not very extensively . The overall gameplay style of 4 is very similar to NV , but improved and streamlined in many ways . It ' s much prettier . Combat is better I was . not very good at NV . Combat improvements helped . Your character is voiced , and complex settlement building is introduced increased encouragement of hoarding miscellaneous objects for parts , my weakness . VATS doesn ' t freeze time , but slows it . No overall karma , but your actions will affect how much your companions like and respect you . A big difference , as I understand it , is that there ' s less flexibility and option in choices you make as an RPG , in dialogue as well as how factions interact . Overall I really enjoy Fallout 4 though , it ' s still a very large world with lots of different things to discover and explore . But you can ' t romance the robot detective .