Looking at the other user reviews on Gamespot, the majority are either 1 or 10. No matter what the opinion, anyone giving it either of these extremes is just wrong. It's far from perfect, but it's far from terrible, too. My 8 may be a bit charitable given the current glitches, but I have confidence it will be an 8 one day.
It's a beautiful and lonely world out there in Appalachia. Fallout 76 captures leaving the vault and walking out into a desolate world with questions waiting to be answered. Those questions are different than Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, but they are no less interesting.
I have been playing single player first person games for years. I have tried multiplayer games in the past, but have probably logged no more than a dozen hours (mainly Call of Duty) total in 20+ years of gameplay. Contrast that with Fallout 4 where, as of today, I have played 820 hours (per Steam) of that one title. My time with Skyrim, Fallout 3, and Fallout New Vegas is similar. I am a plodder when it comes to open world single player games. I am never in a hurry and like to explore. I have no goal of just finishing a game like Fallout 4.
With all of that said, I should not like Fallout 76. It makes you go faster...not necessarily fast...but faster than the previous Bethesda titles. You die "differently," you have these weird "events," enemies respawn way quick, VATS is not the same...I could go on. And there are other compromises to the multiplayer platform that are all foreign to me and an anathema to my style of play.
So, why am I enjoying it? I am enjoying it because it is still Fallout and feels like it should. And there are some things that are a step forward from the other Bethesda titles. This may be based on Fallout 4 in terms of graphics, but it looks so much better. It is the most compelling world yet with great visuals and wonderful sound and music. I like the extra pressure to keep moving and not just pause with my Pipboy open until I make a deliberate decision. I also buy into the premise of Vault 76 and the timeline. It just somehow works.
I love the over encumbered using action points. I like the crafting changes. The Perk Cards are a cool innovation. The sleep recovery system is a nice tweak. Bethesda has put some real creative thinking into this game.
I don't love everything, though. I wish the enemy respawn was different. I wish when you are alone at a location that the enemies didn't come right back (or even change) like they do. I wish the events didn't retrigger like they do; I don't need to kill the Grafton monster over and over again just because I'm passing through again. I wish there was a way to go somewhere and be safe for a few minutes. And, yes, I do miss the NPC's.
All in all, I do not buy into the notion that this was a cash grab. I do think it was an experiment on Bethesda's part and we are the guinea pigs. This would be a bad thing if it was a bad game...but it's not. It's a successful experiment as far as I'm concerned.
I have not mentioned PVP or any of the other multiplayer aspects. I don't foresee I will ever play this as a multiplayer. It is playable as a lonely single player and that will be me. Will I play 820 hours like Fallout 4? Only time will tell.
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Update
Just read the Gamespot review. While I can't argue against the points made, it is still an enjoyable game for me and certainly better than a the 4 rating it received. A 4 rating implies that there is more to dislike than to like...and I just don't feel that way. In terms of bugs, I've seen a few, but none that prevented my progress. In terms of the compromises made to walk the middle of single player and multi-player...yeah they are there, but they don't break the game for me.
As I have read other places, Elder Scrolls Online (which I have not played) had a relatively poor reception (not as bad as this, however) and went on to be a longstanding success once it was improved and enhanced. I hope that Bethesda will follow that same line and continue to work on Fallout 76 and make it a better game. There is SO much good in this game and I don't think it will take massive changes to make it more what the majority of people want. However, I fear that the reception has been so toxic, that nothing will recover those that have expressed their displeasure and walked away from 76. It's a shame. For me, I will keep on exploring Appalachia.