Fallout 3 First Impressions

[Strix]

It's better than the originals by a mile.

 

I disagree. It's the best game Bethesda has made but not on par with the two original games.

[Aristes]

The quest solutions might go south after the Vault, but I managed to use speech to my advantage almost immediately. I noticed some speech related options in other dialogue outside of the Vault. Currently, I'm in Megaton. So, I don't know about quest resolution throughout the game, but I can tell you at least one resolution doesn't seem to entertain the possibility of a combat resolution. I'll play more and I'll be brutally honest if there isn't some chance for non-combat resolution. However, if you create a slack jawed Yokel with low intel and charisma and high strength and endurace, with melee, heavy weapons, and energy weapons as your tag skills and bloody mess as your perk, well.... don't think you're clever when you say the game doesn't offer any non-combat resolution. I would probably have believed some of these claims if I hadn't witnessed the contrary aleady.

 

The game might go downhill as I progress, but some of the statements folks have made are proved bunk in the damned tutorial. Things like profanity. What the hell? First of all, this is really a big issue for folks? How stupid can you get? Okay, so you think a setting can only be gritty if folks use profanity. Then the ten year old girl swearing in the tutorial, the the beggar outside of Megaton should count for something. Sure, the girl only says @$$, but she's ten years old. If a sheltered ten year old girl living in the vault started throwing around four letter words in every sentence, it would have been jarring. The beggar says s**t. Oh, I still haven't encountered the f-bomb. That must be it! Saying s**t doesn't count, but f**k does? Or every character should pepper every exchange with a large assortment of profanity? And not just in one language either, right? I mean, how puerile can you be? Being bombarded with swear-words is not fun or clever. Sure, use enough to get the point across, but don't beat us over the head with it. Profanity is really a deal breaker? I guess I've heaped enough scorn on that idea for the time being.

 

...And you know what sucks about all this, it just underscores how unreliable these outside reports are. You know, at least the regulars around here have to look out for their rep. If someone flat out lies about the game, then they'll have to face some serious accusations later. Now, to be fair, I don't think anyone here relies entirely on internet reviews. I wouldn't have gotten the game based on them, although the good reviews I've seen gave me some encouragement. I'm glad because I'm having fun after some hours of play. Even if the experience goes downhill, I won't hold it against folks like jaguars and Killian. Their reviews have been honest and I have not encountered anything so far that contradicts them. however, folks cite reviews that cannot be called anything less than either complete lies or rumor mongering to such an extent that it constitutes a lie by negligence. Good Lord, how shameless are people that they'll literally make these sorts of stupid lies? I mean, I'd at least expect folks to fashion clever, insinuous lies. I wouldn't expect them to lie about things that are proved false in the first half hour of play. I'm not going to go back over what folks wrote in earlier threads in regards to the game pre-release. ...But I think calling folks out for flat out lying is fair game.

 

/nerd-rage rant

 

Anyhow, Volourn or some someone can come put me down because I should have been wise enough to be entirely cynical from the very beginning.

 

It's ironic that I doubt I would be defending Fallout 3 so strenuously if it weren't for the egregious nature of the complaints.

[alanschu]

That must have felt good

[jaguars4ever]

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.

 

I second that! Post some pics, Bok!

 

(I would myself but the st00pid 360 isn't screenshot friendly...it needs a HD PC gfx card - if I had that, then I wouldn't be playing it on the 360!)

[Wombat]

That must have felt good

That hardly helped as information, though. I'd stick to the plan of waiting till the internet boards calm down/mods make some adjustments for my liking. There is absolutely no reason for me to jump into playing the game.

[Aristes]

EDIT: Aw, hell, what's the point in flaming folks. This is a game and I won't let it drive me to act like child picking fights on a playground. I'll edit out my more hostile comments, but I would like to keep one point.

 

About the helpful information... You can use dialogue to bypass combat. There are swear words. The dialogue isn't stellar. It isn't completely terrible, but I haven't encountered anything memorable so far. So, what sort of useful information did you need? I've addressed tsome of he issues you cited in your earlier post. I could even post screenshots, but only in the spoiler area if someone wants to create a thread.

 

I have to say, in all honesty, I'm not trying to convince you to either buy or play the game. I'm not. I'm trying to convey the idea without being insulting, but I really don't care if others play the game. I'm mostly responding to a lot of what others have said, and what they've said has come second or third hand. The folks who have actually played the game, of whom I am one, should be considered reliable sources unless you literally believe that we're lying. That doesn't make sense, but I'm sure that I'm not the only one who can show dialogue bypassing combat or people swearing (although I will continue to think that's a silly requirement anyhow). I don't hold it against you if you don't play the game, but I do think you should listen to folks who have played the game and can back up their claims before you trust second or third hand information that has already proved faulty.

 

Mostly, Wombat, I'm replying to several posts throughout this thread. I've been lurking here for a while and feel like I know some of the folks already and I don't want to pick a fight with you or starwars. I'm simply saying some of the claims are simply unfounded.

Edited October 30, 2008 by Aristes

[alanschu]

That also had to feel good haha.

[Wombat]

About the helpful information... You can use dialogue to bypass combat. There are swear words. The dialogue isn't stellar. It isn't completely terrible, but I haven't encountered anything memorable so far. So, what sort of useful information did you need? I've addressed tsome of he issues you cited in your earlier post. I could even post screenshots, but only in the spoiler area if someone wants to create a thread.

Thank you for the info. What bugs me is not foul words but the quality of dialogs or the luck of it in general.

 

Mostly, Wombat, I'm replying to several posts throughout this thread. I've been lurking here for a while and feel like I know some of the folks already and I don't want to pick a fight with you or starwars. I'm simply saying some of the claims are simply unfounded.

I agree that it is a part of the problem. Besides, everybody has its own preferences/observation/expressions, which becomes even problematic in games where the experiences vary. FO3 is one of such games, which is why I am gathering information from various sources and cross-referencing them.

 

PS Er..."pick a fight?" Did I miss something?

O.K. I noticed that you had edited your post but, well, I guess it was just misunderstanding.

[Bokishi]

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.

 

I second that! Post some pics, Bok!

 

(I would myself but the st00pid 360 isn't screenshot friendly...it needs a HD PC gfx card - if I had that, then I wouldn't be playing it on the 360!)

 

Ok!

 

My pistol can't kill this thing...

 

So I use a bat

 

Then I watch the sunset

 

And that's the end of a typical Fallout 3 session

[Lare Kikkeli]

Whats up with looking like a square bok

[random n00b]

I take it that's the close to a mullet the game allows for, Bok?

 

Great pics, btw.

[Bokishi]

Whats up with looking like a square bok

 

It's not square it's called "pre-war era clothing"

 

 

I got it after blowing up Megaton city

 

Edited October 30, 2008 by Bokishi

[Starwars]

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.

 

Yeah, I know (and one of the reasons I'm looking forward to SoZ). I think the travel map is a great solution for a game with a big empty wasteland such as Fallout because it gives you some sense of scale (watching days and weeks go by fast when you travel on the map). Whereas the "open free-roam" approach of The Elder Scrolls might be great for feeling a sort of visual connection to the world and feeling like it's all "laid out" for you to explore. However, the downside (which is amplified because of the fact that Fallouts world always was a very desolate one) is that despite the fact that the gameworld may feel huge to the player, the scale seems really off with you encountering enemies every other *hour* or so in gametime.

Instead of it feeling vast, empty and generally depressing, it actually feels like it's teeming with life.

 

Also, as much as I fancy the idea of exploring the DC downtown area, I can't believe that Bethesda chose to put up invisible walls here and there to force the player down certain paths (and through the metro system which are essentially monster dungeons). There are piles of rubble that you can't climb over despite the fact that my character easily makes it to the top of them. Nope, there's an invisible barrier blocking the way.

[Wombat]

Now I remembered where I picked up the info about quest-solving. It's from a review at Gamespot.

It should be noted that unlike previous games in the series, you can

[Gorgon]

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

 

I dunno, I was supposed to save this old lady from a bunch of roaches, I went in bat swinging, and hit her in the noggin killing her in one blow, not intentionally, I guess I should have used the aiming system. After that the grease haired rocker outside, her son, who recruited me for this particular quest, seemed to be permanently stuck in a loop, going, 'hurry shes right inside there, hurry shes right inside there, hurry shes right inside there'.

 

I decided it would be best to put him out of his misery. All in all I don't think they would be happy to see me.

Edited October 30, 2008 by Gorgon

[Dark_Raven]

It's better than the originals by a mile.

 

I disagree. It's the best game Bethesda has made but not on par with the two original games.

Ah yes not even close to the greatness of the first two. Not even close.

 

And Bok my favorite little Hutt until now needs to be banned. Whats with the ****ing huge pictures?????????????? Holy ****ing ****!

[Hurlshort]

Fallout 3 is definitely better than the originals. I'm not saying the originals aren't great, but they pale in comparison. It's like comparing the first two Batman movies with the more recent ones. Sure, Michael Keaton was excellent, but Christian Bale has modernized the franchise.

 

Anyone who disagrees is a bitter old dinosaur. The game is a work of art and deserves 11 out of 10.

[Rosbjerg]

I'm convinced by now that I'll probably like this game, so I'm tossing the towel in the ring and buying the game today.

[Kelverin]

Fallout 3 is definitely better than the originals.

Have you finished it already?

[Tel Aviv]

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.

 

I second that! Post some pics, Bok!

 

(I would myself but the st00pid 360 isn't screenshot friendly...it needs a HD PC gfx card - if I had that, then I wouldn't be playing it on the 360!)

 

Ok!

 

My pistol can't kill this thing...

 

So I use a bat

 

Then I watch the sunset

 

And that's the end of a typical Fallout 3 session

 

A magical evening.

[Hurlshort]

Fallout 3 is definitely better than the originals.

Have you finished it already?

 

Nah, but I never finished the second one, and I'm still comfortable throwing out my two cents on it.

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I'm really not being completely serious here, I'm just trying to balance out all the ridiculous negativity with some ridiculous positivity. It's a very good game so far, it definitely has captured the atmosphere of the Fallout universe, and Bethesda clearly put a lot of care into it. I honestly don't think you can compare the first two with this one, I think it's silly to try. They are from different era's. Fallout 3 is a fantastic modern game, and anyone who complains about it not being a true Fallout game is only robbing themselves of a chance to enjoy it for what it is.

[Gorgon]

I like the game better now that I'm trudging around in the wilderness shooting things with a minigun. The combat mechanics and the stealth work ok.

[Kelverin]

Fallout 3 is definitely better than the originals.

Have you finished it already?

 

Nah, but I never finished the second one, and I'm still comfortable throwing out my two cents on it.

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I'm really not being completely serious here, I'm just trying to balance out all the ridiculous negativity with some ridiculous positivity. It's a very good game so far, it definitely has captured the atmosphere of the Fallout universe, and Bethesda clearly put a lot of care into it. I honestly don't think you can compare the first two with this one, I think it's silly to try. They are from different era's. Fallout 3 is a fantastic modern game, and anyone who complains about it not being a true Fallout game is only robbing themselves of a chance to enjoy it for what it is.

I have yet to finish the second one as well, stuck in New Reno. I tore through the first game though, could not stop playing it.

 

It's difficult to filter through all the **** and find opinions of people without an agenda though. I'll wait until the hype goes down and see if it has lasting appeal before I spend my hard earned? money. Hell I didn't finish the first Fallout until this year.

[Strix]

Ah yes not even close to the greatness of the first two. Not even close.

 

 

Fallout 3 is definitely better than the originals... they pale in comparison.

 

[Hurlshort]

I also don't think the Elder Scrolls comparison is wrong. The game plays like a Bethesda title. If you absolutely hate the ES games, this won't win you over. However it does seem to be the best of their titles to date. Morrowind and Oblivion were enjoyable to me, but I definitely recognized they had major faults. Fallout 3 fixes many of those faults, and that is something I recognized in just a couple hours. The dialogue and characterization is better, the world has a unique atmosphere and doesn't seem repetitive (yet) and the VATS is actually pretty entertaining.

 

So if you were a Fallout fan but hated Bethesda style RPG's, you are probably going to be unhappy. However if you are fans of both, then this game is a must-by.