Fallout 3 - I was (partly) wrong

[tekhedd]

I've been playing F3, and while I am only part way into the game, and I expect there are probably more things to hate later in the game, I have these things to say:

1. I like playing Fallout 3
2. It is a Fallout game, as long as you don't play on easy.
3. It is not entirely true to the lore, and definitely has some painful script writing here and there.
4. It probably doesn't quite deserve a 95% metagamer score, but it's quite good.
5. Except that it crashes an awful lot.

The worst thing (not counting crashing) about the game has been the occasional cheap death, but hey I get the occasional cheap victory, so that's OK. The best thing IMO is the energy weapon effects.

So. Having expected a pretty good game that wasn't really a Fallout game, I feel like I got a very good game that really is a Fallout game, right down to the incessant crashing.

However, I am barely a quarter of the way through the game. Remember Hellgate? I liked that too... for a while. Still. It's good. There. I said it.

[snowkissed]

I realize that Fallout 1 and 2 set a sort of "Fallout standard", but at the same time...who are you to judge whether or not the creators of Fallout made a "Fallout game"? I've been playing it as well and so far I love it. It's crashed exactly twice on me, but in both cases it wasn't at an inopportune time. Might just be stupid luck and I know other people have had problems.

What made you have such negative expectations upon starting the game? I know that sometimes, I'm afraid that my expectations are too high, so I'll try to lower them so that I hopefully end up in a "pleasantly surprised" situation in regards to a game or whatever else. I know you mention that you were expecting a "pretty good game", but at the same time, you pretend it's so difficult to admit that you like it...

As you mentioned, the cheap death thing has to do with the occasional "cheap" victory. You can get critical fatalistic hits, it seems only fair that the enemy can as well.

[Sensational]

I don't get alot of the crashing, it seems to lock up when I pop someone's head of in VATS, as if it is trying to find the animation on the disc or something, but that solves itself after a few seconds. There have been a few bugs though, one time I was supposed to kill a guy, and when I came back to get my reward the NPC didn't have that option in his dialogue menu, so I went and completed another quest, hoping that that would fix it.
Instead the second quest's NPC ended up killing the one who was supposed to give me my reward, which in turn made the first quest tell me that I was supposed to talk to the guy that I had already killed for that quest. I guess I completed a "hidden" (One that I had not discovered yet), optional path, by killing the quest giver. That didn't exactly help me when they were both dead though.

I don't seem to be having this cheap death problem that you're talking about though. Playing the game on normal and it's still extremely simple, I have pretty much no points at all put into combat either, my character is based around speech/repair/etc so that I could experience all the things which that unlocks. I don't know how far I've gotten, but really, there has only been two challenging (Well almost challenging, up until the point when you figure out how to beat them easily) enemies, the Deathclaws and the Nukalurks.

I'm really loving the game though, the setting is absolutely perfect, the gameplay is fun (Although a bit over the top, but it wouldn't be Fallout if it wasn't), the humor is there. It's a great game.

[Dem]

Haven't picked up the game yet, figured they'd ruin it. Didn't want to experience the Oblivion letdown again. But you guys say they actually managed to keep it a fallout game? I've been reading / hearing lots of nasty stuff about it NOT being a fallout game. Don't get me wrong, none of them are calling it a BAD game, theyre just saying that the raw fallout atmosphere with dodgy humor has made for a shiny polished world with a crap story and 'different' lore. When I heard that I immediately thought of Oblivion, which was exactly why I was reluctant to try it. Oblivion with guns, *shivers*.

But hey, it's still fo3 I guess lawl. Finally hearing some positive reviews (as in "its true to fo1 and 2"). Will play it thursday

[tekhedd]

Originally Posted by Dem

Haven't picked up the game yet, figured they'd ruin it. Didn't want to experience the Oblivion letdown again. But you guys say they actually managed to keep it a fallout game? I've been reading / hearing lots of nasty stuff about it NOT being a fallout game.

Well... it depends a lot on how dedicated you are to the lore and classic turn-based play. Because they take some liberties with the lore, and ... while I feel that VATS really guides you into Fallout-style decision making (what will I shoot first?), it's not turn-based. It's not a thoughtful, slow experience, and the plot doesn't have a lot of depth. But that hasn't ruined it for me. And I think a lot of the humor is funny (although their preoccupation with "gore is cool" is a sad commentary on the average human). It's more or less what you would expect in a Bethesda interpretation of the experience; it feels to me like they put a lot of effort into it; I don't think they think they are doing anything disrespectful, although at some points it does sting a bit.

Your mileage may vary--I think it depends not just on what you expect, but on what you demand. People who really can't stop thinking about what the game should have been will be distracted by that, and I can't really blame them. I'm lucky, I guess. I may be a cynical pessimist, but I can also let go and enjoy something for what it is. (Although I have been accused of "falling for the lie", which just confuses me.)

To me, it's just as much a Fallout game as F2. F2 was buggy, had incomplete quests, made a mess of the "lore", and yes some people argue that it's not really Fallout... but others do. And that's my point. If F2 is fallout, then F3 can not be disqualified just because it messes with the lore.

Don't get me wrong, none of them are calling it a BAD game, theyre just saying that the raw fallout atmosphere with dodgy humor has made for a shiny polished world with a crap story and 'different' lore. When I heard that I immediately thought of Oblivion, which was exactly why I was reluctant to try it. Oblivion with guns, *shivers*.

Well, yes. With hats. Except that it almost seems to me like Oblivion was practice, and this is the real game. Progression is meaningful, you can actually play a character whose primary skill is not "dual wield" and finish the game, etc. Fallout 3 adds actual "role playing" elements that weren't present in Oblivion. I'm not saying it's particularly deep, but it's there. As one reviewer said, it is frustrating because the game has everything it needs to be a great game, but consistently falls short of actual greatness. Very good, but somehow not great.

It's not the game I wanted. But, I don't feel crapped on, like so many other people claim to. (And I know what they did to Harold, but I always felt that was a silly character that didn't fit well in F2, anyway. No love lost there!)

But, hey, they might crap on me in the next few weeks...

Also, the crashing problems I'm experiencing seem to be common to (specifically) the nVidia 8800 series cards. Other series (9800 etc) don't seem to have nearly the problems. The "play windowed mode" workaround is working for me, mostly.

[Sensational]

Originally Posted by tekhedd

But that hasn't ruined it for me. And I think a lot of the humor is funny (although their preoccupation with "gore is cool" is a sad commentary on the average human).

I'd have to agree there, I picked the Bloody mess perk. Big mistake, sure it's fun to see someone explode (Or get completely incinerated and turned into ash), and it's not like I expected anything else, but after a while it gets old. Shooting someone with a pistol shouldn't turn them into a bunch of bloody mushy balls of meat.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't pick it when you do play, not the first time around anyways.

!! LOlzpoilerz:

Some of the humor is spectacular if you ask me, the small things make it great. Like the teacher's tone when he reads the last question during the GOAT test, you can really hear how he has read it a million times and is getting sick of doing it, once the answers actually popped up on my screen that made me laugh, outloud. And his tone during the question about the radiation exposure. Small things like that make it great.

The fact that you at one point get a quest objective where you have to make a small boy cry should be enough to make anyone buy the game.

[Shademonger]

Only huge moment where I had a technical issue was in the quest "Those!". The NPC told me to advance further into the tunnels, so I opened the door on the opposite side of his chamber and attempted to press forward, but it was like an invisible force field blocked my path. So I saved, reset, and it was fine, but only after a few minutes of backtracking to see if I missed something I wasn't quite getting.

Aside from that though, Bethesda has created not so much a game as a world to live in. I don't find myself saying "I'm gonna go home and play Fallout" as much as I say "I wonder what kind of people I'll meet and places I'll go to today"

[Hagan]

You guys are having trouble with lock-up's and crashes? That is strange, as I've played it for two 12 hour blocks (yes, I'm a bum) and not had a single problem. And my graphics are set for high too, so its got more of an excuse to drop out on me (first few days are the teething stages to get the game balanced for me). Fallout 3 is the third (recent) game to play straight out of the Tin, no mess no fuss for me.

As for things like the "Bloody Mess" perk, if your talented enough to use a shotgun 'just right' in combat, you don't need it. Using VATS and the right weapon at the time gives some great results in combat. I've blown off super-mutant heads (literally) decapitated raiders with a .32 Hunting rifle, and sent Feral Ghouls flying through the air with a pistol.

Its a good game, and although its inaccuracies are pretty blatant at times, only real big Fallout fans will notice them. But you have to admit, the games sense of humour is almost spot on.

[Sensational]

Originally Posted by Hagan

As for things like the "Bloody Mess" perk, if your talented enough to use a shotgun 'just right' in combat, you don't need it. Using VATS and the right weapon at the time gives some great results in combat. I've blown off super-mutant heads (literally) decapitated raiders with a .32 Hunting rifle, and sent Feral Ghouls flying through the air with a pistol.
.

I don't think you can get the same effect without the Bloody Mess perk, it doesn't seem to increase the chance of decapitations or dismemberments, it adds a new animation where their entire body splatters into.. meatballs.

[Hagan]

Ah right, fair enough. I get by with the dismemberments I cause with my trusty rifles (yes, I know how that sounds). You come across anyone with a missile launcher yet? Those are fun when you can get them to fire THROUGH there own groups.