After one of the worst launches in PC gaming history, Fallout 76 has received its biggest update since its rocky launch with its arrival on Steam this week.

This is usually not particularly noteworthy, but Fallout 76 has not exactly sparked a lot of positive feedback since Bethesda pushed it out the door, perhaps a bit prematurely, in November 2018. It has been heavily criticized for its bugs, business model, and the fact that it doesn't feel like a Fallout game at all. For an idea of what it was like at launch, check out our review of Fallout 76.

It is still quite buggy and the business model is still questionable, but it is finally starting to feel like a real Fallout game. The "Waylanders" update was essentially a massive expansion, bringing the wastelands of West Virginia back to life, filled with NPCs, competing factions, and more quests.

"Fallout 76" naysayers have been waiting since Fallout 76 launched on Steam and showered it with negative reviews. While these came from players who had only played the Steam version for an hour, sometimes less, much of the criticism was directed at issues and design decisions that have existed and continue to exist since the game launched in 2018, and were not completely unwarranted.

Elsewhere, however, the community was more positive: the Fallout 76 subreddit was particularly complimentary about the update, and it didn't take long for those fans to start building a mountain of reviews. The rating was initially "Mostly Negative" but was quickly raised to "Mixed". And now, just a few days later, it has a favorable rating of over 70%.

I couldn't say enough good things about "Fallout 76" last year. My expectations were low, but I was still surprised at how shoddy it was. And every day seemed to bring more problems, new bugs, and Bethesda blunders; it's impressive that it didn't follow in the footsteps of BioWare's "Anthem," and to Bethesda's credit, they gradually made it more than a shoddy survival game, with a series of updates and adjustments It's a game that has gradually become more than a shoddy survival game through a series of updates and tweaks.

So now I'm back and, incredibly, actually enjoying it. I would still cheer a little if Bethesda removed all the tiresome survival mechanics. I almost starved to death the other day because I had to take a 15 minute phone call, but I'm actually starting to feel like I'm playing Fallout RPG again. I have only scratched the surface. I've started a new character and haven't gotten into the proper Westlanders stuff yet, but even the early parts of the game are much improved.

If you're just starting out, you might want to check out this guide on how to find, recruit, and romance allies in Fallout 76, and how to find and craft a new bow and arrow in Fallout 76.