Fallout 3 First Impressions

[Gorgon]

Some of the perks appear to grant dialogue options and there appears to be a lot of them. So if you don't buy dialogue perks, a lot of the options won't be available. I don't see why you would need special training to talk to people. I mean, one or two of those would be acceptable, but it really looks like there's too many.

[jaguars4ever]

Some of the perks appear to grant dialogue options and there appears to be a lot of them. So if you don't buy dialogue perks, a lot of the options won't be available. I don't see why you would need special training to talk to people. I mean, one or two of those would be acceptable, but it really looks like there's too many.

There are only two perks that provide additional dialog options: Lady Killer/Blackwidow (depending on your sex), and Child at Heart.

 

And the lack thereof doesn't prevent you from otherwise talking to an NPC - they merely add an alternate means of completing quests...or obtaining other rewards.

 

To use a V:tM analogue, think of Lady Killer/Blackwidow as Seduction, and Child at Heart as Malkavian dialog.

 

Nb - Lady Killer (and I suppose Blackwidow) is awesome! It also adds an extra 10% damage to the opposite sex in combat!

[Pidesco]

How are the big guns' fatalities? Can you rip half of someone's chest apart?

 

Also, can turn someone's head into red mist with your fists?

[jaguars4ever]

How are the big guns' fatalities? Can you rip half of someone's chest apart?

 

Also, can turn someone's head into red mist with your fists?

1) Not half...but all of it I think.

 

2) A critical hit with a Power Fist uppercut will take off their head with a spray of blood emerging from their neck. Add Bloody Mess to the picture and the decapitated head will turn into red mist.

 

[Zoma]

I hope the dreadful out of place conversation mini game from Oblivion is gone? Far far away gone? No more bribing people to make them happy after pissing them off?

 

What is with this news I read that some weeks ago that killing peeps in town and becoming an outlaw in the said town will be forgotten once you stay away from the town for a day and your deeds will be forgotten by the people?

 

How are Choice & Consequencess implemented in the game?

 

God, I'm still stuck in the 90s gaming age. I miss the golden age. Being the sequel of one of my first favourite western RPG games during the time when I am washed by JRPGs, this is a very sensitive issue for me personally.

Edited October 29, 2008 by Zoma

[Tigranes]

I want to see what you think about some of the more recent, specific, play-based criticisms, Killian:

 

1. One reviewer said that yes, there were high-level areas with high-level mutants, but with VATS you could still kill 'em. In fact, kill super mutants within 6 hours of play. Whereas if you tried to do that to a Unity patrol or the Enclave, you wouldn't succeed with a thousand reloads. How is it for you?

 

2. There were numerous mentions of the VATS hit % being weird - i.e. 65% but hits like a charm all the time, hitting the weapon is easier than hitting the torso, etc. Any sign of that?

 

3. There was some severe criticism of how 'packed' the world seemed; how you can see a bunch of things all close to each other, way too close. How is the scale and proximity of events, encounters and towns compared to Oblivion and/or Morrowind? i.e. Morrowind had a lot of walking and felt quite realistic, and going from one place to the other was really a trek (fun for some, not for others); Oblivion was a lot closer, though it was rare that you'd see two towns or events in one or two screens.

 

4. How are choice & consequences OUTSIDE megaton?

 

5. Todd or Pete or someone at Beth said that after 72 hours, everyone in town forgives/forgets your bad deeds, even if you shot half the town or something. Is this true? Can you shoot old men and ladies, come back in 72 and they will still deal with you (though saying some un-nice thingies)?

[Starwars]

I think we need a dose of negativity in this thread!

 

1. One reviewer said that yes, there were high-level areas with high-level mutants, but with VATS you could still kill 'em. In fact, kill super mutants within 6 hours of play. Whereas if you tried to do that to a Unity patrol or the Enclave, you wouldn't succeed with a thousand reloads. How is it for you?

 

Keep in mind that I'm playing on Normal. I haven't yet encountered Enclave soldiers but yes, the Super Mutants feel rather weak. I did a quest which involve killing quite a few of them at a rather early level, and I had no problem whatsoever. But the difficulty among enemies seems a bit weird. At about the same level when I was killing Super Mutants, I was having much more trouble with Mirelurks (those Crabmen things) and small Radscorpions. That's fine of course but what's not fine is how weak the Super Mutants feel in the scope of the gameworld.

 

2. There were numerous mentions of the VATS hit % being weird - i.e. 65% but hits like a charm all the time, hitting the weapon is easier than hitting the torso, etc. Any sign of that?

 

I haven't noticed anything like this. However, for long distances, it feels way easier to hit enemies using the regular FPS mode rather than using VATS. I'm not entirerely sure how it's calculated but I think when using FPS mode, your skill sin weapons *mainly* affect damage dealt (though it does affect aiming a bit as well) whereas in VATS its completely skillbased. So from what I'm experiencing, it feels like you can really override your characters skills over long distances if you're good with aiming at the head. When enemies get close though, VATS start to feel almost like a last-way out cheat mode where you can easily launch of volley of shots into someones head without them really being able to do anything about it.

I don't know if this was the attention of the modes, but I think the balance feels rather weird.

 

I will say also that I use VATS very rarely.

 

3. There was some severe criticism of how 'packed' the world seemed; how you can see a bunch of things all close to each other, way too close. How is the scale and proximity of events, encounters and towns compared to Oblivion and/or Morrowind? i.e. Morrowind had a lot of walking and felt quite realistic, and going from one place to the other was really a trek (fun for some, not for others); Oblivion was a lot closer, though it was rare that you'd see two towns or events in one or two screens.

 

I can't remember much of Morrowind but yes, it feels a bit like Oblivion in this regard even though Fallout 3 is set "only" in the DC area. It feels rather cramped which hurts the idea of the vast, sunbleached and empty Wasteland. The earliest example is that Megaton lies almost next door with the Vault, it feels weird. The Wasteland is also full of enemies, whether it be mole rats or Robobrains randomly wandering around. Again, it feels a bit... schizophrenic. The high level of combat encounters in the game would probably be my biggest complaint.

 

4. How are choice & consequences OUTSIDE megaton?

 

Can't comment on consequences much, but there are definetely choices in many (most) quests I've encountered so far. There are a fair amount of skill checks in dialogues.

 

5. Todd or Pete or someone at Beth said that after 72 hours, everyone in town forgives/forgets your bad deeds, even if you shot half the town or something. Is this true? Can you shoot old men and ladies, come back in 72 and they will still deal with you (though saying some un-nice thingies)?

 

No clue.

 

I think much of what I don't like about the game lies in the execution. For example, it should obviously be praised that Beth have skill checks and the like, but the implementation and writing is often clumsy. A good example is how I handled Mr Burke in Megaton.

 

*spoilers for Megaton*

 

 

I play a female character and I chose the Black Widow perk. This will get you special dialogue options when speaking with male NPCs sometimes. I got this for Mr Burke which was nice. But the whole situation is rather strange. Mr Burke basically wants me to blow up Megaton, and I (through the Black Widow option) say something "oh Mr Burke, you don't want to blow up the town while I'm in it right?". This makes Mr Burke call off his mission rather unbelieavably and return to his boss. Later on I got a love letter from Mr Burke which was quite amusing. But later on again, I am ambushed by Mercenaries hired by Mr Burke to kill me.

So yeah, the Black Widow option feels a bit to "magical" in how you can convince him to call it all off like that. And while the later parts feel a bit weird all together. While one can certainly assume that Mr Burke was ordered to hire mercenaries, it still feels at odds with the love letter.

 

 

*end spoilers*

 

But at any rate. I don't think the game lives up to the older Fallout games at all, and it most definetely doesn't feel very related to them. It feels more like an Elder Scrolls game with Fallout things thrown in there. But also, I will say that the game is the best game Beth has made since Daggerfall (well ok, can't remember much of Morrowind but I did enjoy it though didn't love it). Certainly much better than Oblivion.

I think most people can probably figure out whether they'll like the game or not. If you really don't like the TES style of free-roaming, then you should skip this game. If however you're not completely opposed to it, and you could fancy a post-apocalyptic TES game then I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just don't expect a game that feels like a follow-up to the older games.

 

EDIT: Also, while the world doesn't really feel like Fallouts, I will say that there is some wonderful post-apocalyptic atmosphere going on. Megaton at night looks absolutely great, with lamps on wires kinda lighting the place up. Overall, I think something like STALKER is much more consistant and well, I think it's better. But Fallout 3 definetely does have its moments as well where you sort of think "yeah, this is what it's about".

Edited October 29, 2008 by Starwars

[Zoma]

Thanks Starwars. Your answers is helping alot here. Guess I'll give it a miss for now until I can get over with my fatuation of the older Fallout series.

[newc0253]

2. There were numerous mentions of the VATS hit % being weird - i.e. 65% but hits like a charm all the time, hitting the weapon is easier than hitting the torso, etc. Any sign of that?

OMG, if this is true then i'm never ever ever gonna buy this game!

 

i can't believe they dared to call this game FALLOUT if the VATS hit % are weird!

 

this is just Oblivion With Guns!!

 

uh,

 

uuuh, beeearURGH.

 

sorry, i'm better now. i just had to get that anti-Bethesda knee-jerk rant out of my system.

[Calax]

i have noticed that I can usually blow a raiders head away in one shot with VATS where as I tend to take forever with regular shooting.

[Aristes]

I'm not trying to pick a fight over the issue, but using called shots in Fallout did the exact same thing. If I just shot at the guy, it took longer to kill him. Once I upped my small arms or energy weapon skills, I could consistently hit with a called shot to the eyes and cut my enemies down like sheaves of grass. The fact that random crits made such a huge difference in the earlier Fallouts has been one of the most vigorous avenues of attack against the game. Seriously, having played the originals when they first hit the streets, I can tell you that it seems silly for ol' skool Fallout fans to go after Fallout 3 based on this unsubstantiated idea. Hell, you could crit on a miss and ice your own people if I remember right. At least, I think I can remember wondering why I bothered taking Ian into my party when he crit missed and blew me into a pile of assorted sized chunks o' Aristes.

[Bokishi]

OMG I barge into the clinic with my knife and I cut the doctor's head off

[Killian Kalthorne]

OMG I barge into the clinic with my knife and I cut the doctor's head off

 

You know, that isn't a very nice thing to do.

[Bokishi]

But I needed meds and he charges 100 caps, how do you earn caps in this game can't you get a job?

[Killian Kalthorne]

I have had a half dozen jobs already and currently doing research for a book. I think you are talking to the wrong people.

[Bokishi]

Are you trying to be funny again

[mkreku]

OMG I barge into the clinic with my knife and I cut the doctor's head off

But I needed meds and he charges 100 caps, how do you earn caps in this game can't you get a job?

Damn, this made me laugh out loud. I would LOVE to watch you play this game, Bok.

[Calax]

I'm running around in the air and space museum trying to get a radio transmitter and doing my best to stay alive. I've run out of Stims and general food and have to rely on beer to keep me from being overencumbered. (beer gives you +1 Str and end and -1 int)

 

I've been using the fatman WAYYYY to much.

[Dark_Raven]

My boyfriend blew the Overseers head off with the 9MM. It was cool.

 

Any how.

 

The music sounds good.

[Tigranes]

OMG, if this is true then i'm never ever ever gonna buy this game!

 

i can't believe they dared to call this game FALLOUT if the VATS hit % are weird!

 

this is just Oblivion With Guns!!

 

uh,

 

uuuh, beeearURGH.

 

sorry, i'm better now. i just had to get that anti-Bethesda knee-jerk rant out of my system.

 

Gaze into the abyss too long, and the abyss gazes into you...

 

Anyway, starwars, thanks for the answers. As I suspected there seems to be a pretty good game in there (I enjoyed Oblivion, despite its various crippled limbs), if quite different.

[Killian Kalthorne]

I enjoyed Oblivion a lot more on the XBox 360 than the PC. I think that VATS would have been cool in Oblivion, along with the bloody ends the enemies get.

Edited October 30, 2008 by Killian Kalthorne

[Hurlshort]

I broke down and bought it, mostly because I needed a new lunchbox.

 

This game is great so far. I just left the vault. It's better than the originals by a mile.

[Gorgon]

I bought the game anyway, I guess I'm just stupid.

 

Key mapping is broken again, I take that as a big screw you to the pc gamers. Pipboy can be remapped, but it can only be closed with tab, and since you need it for everything... No arrow keys for me.

 

Middlemouse minimizes the game, this could just be my mouse I guess. Now I have to figure out how to cram as much of the essential commands into the remaining usable mouse buttons, and look at the damn keyboard every time I need to do something.

 

In the short space of time I have been playing, all the PCS I have talked to have pissed me off, I guess the speech dialogue will eventually dwindle to the usual universal Bethesta bot. I can't wait. Nothing is worse than too much bad voice acting.

 

Can't make any definitive judgments, having barely finished the tutorial, but it ain't looking good.

[Calax]

I hope the Vault and supporting characters come back for the ending of the game. (you marry Amata or somthin depending on your actions)

[Wombat]

First, I haven't played FO3 and, probably, I won't play it at least for a while. However, I made my "research" on the title and wonder how correct they are.

 

1. One reviewer said that yes, there were high-level areas with high-level mutants, but with VATS you could still kill 'em. In fact, kill super mutants within 6 hours of play. Whereas if you tried to do that to a Unity patrol or the Enclave, you wouldn't succeed with a thousand reloads. How is it for you?

 

Keep in mind that I'm playing on Normal. I haven't yet encountered Enclave soldiers but yes, the Super Mutants feel rather weak. I did a quest which involve killing quite a few of them at a rather early level, and I had no problem whatsoever. But the difficulty among enemies seems a bit weird. At about the same level when I was killing Super Mutants, I was having much more trouble with Mirelurks (those Crabmen things) and small Radscorpions. That's fine of course but what's not fine is how weak the Super Mutants feel in the scope of the gameworld.

According to what I read, Bethesda seems to have made an interesting decision on balancing. To keep the free-roaming aspect and game-balance at the same time, they seem to cripple hostiles by giving them weaker equipments and injury when the protagonist is not strong so that the protagonists "happens to" come across to them after they have fought against much tougher enemies and exhausted in the cruel wasteland and they don't have save/reload buttons.

 

3. There was some severe criticism of how 'packed' the world seemed; how you can see a bunch of things all close to each other, way too close. How is the scale and proximity of events, encounters and towns compared to Oblivion and/or Morrowind? i.e. Morrowind had a lot of walking and felt quite realistic, and going from one place to the other was really a trek (fun for some, not for others); Oblivion was a lot closer, though it was rare that you'd see two towns or events in one or two screens.

 

I can't remember much of Morrowind but yes, it feels a bit like Oblivion in this regard even though Fallout 3 is set "only" in the DC area. It feels rather cramped which hurts the idea of the vast, sunbleached and empty Wasteland. The earliest example is that Megaton lies almost next door with the Vault, it feels weird. The Wasteland is also full of enemies, whether it be mole rats or Robobrains randomly wandering around. Again, it feels a bit... schizophrenic. The high level of combat encounters in the game would probably be my biggest complaint.

Some people complained of the emptiness of Gothic 3. Seeing both the new developer and the original developer are working on smaller "worlds," I don't think the decision is stupid. If you don't remember, I point out that you didn't travel all the way in Fallout. When traveling, your party "traveled" through a map, where at a certain rate, you might come across to events, which brings you to area maps. Storm of Zehir seems to have updated this mechanism.

 

PS My main interest in role-playing game is story development, so, if FO3 is faithful to the feeling of table-top-like freedom of the original in this respect, then, it works for me. However, at the moment, some of the reviews complain of dialog, abrupt ending, and the combat-heavy quest solutions. Naturally, my expectation goes to the two Obsidian projects, then again, I wonder if they are capable of reaching even the quality of FO3, of which some bugs are already complained.