Fallout 3

scottf · Mar 30, 2009

Did anyone else play this game? I am not a fan of RPGs as much. Most have too much talking and not enough action. This one is different. It was made by Bethesda Software. They are known for the Oblivion series. It is a first person shooter at its core. You can level up like an RPG and your combat and luck skills improve. You can also get cool armors, like the tesla power armor or the Sentinel combat armor et al... The action takes place from just south of DC up into Pittsburgh, with the DLC pack that is out now. Half of the fun is finding all the hidden easter eggs. Plus you can create your own weapons out of junk you find lying around, provided you have the blueprints. They have a gun that fires rail road spikes and sounds like an old steam locomotive's whistle. The different cities and towns are well done. When you see Rivet City you will be amazed at the beached aircraft carrier it is. Making your way through the tunnels and subways under the DC metro area can be a terrifying experience at times. The Galaxy News DJ is voiced by Billy Dee Williams( Lando Calrissian). When you finally meet President John Henry Eden, be prepared for a shock.

Liam Neeson also lends his voice to the game. Malcolm MacDowell( from Star Trek Generations), lends his voice as well. The most fun is VATS( vault assisted targeting system) if you are proficient with a weapon, you can watch some gruesome enemy deaths...the locations are richly detailed and sometimes spooky. If you haven't played it, pick it up...it will consume you, but it's so good you won't care.

strange_wings · Mar 30, 2009

How much side stuff you do and talking strictly depends on how you want to play the game. You can beat it in a couple days or you can do practically every single side mission.

DH thought the game was ok, but that something was lost since Black Isles turned it over. I can't see it getting the same cult type following that the first two Fallout games have. It will be just another decent console title that people play for a couple years (tops) and move on from.

scottf · Mar 30, 2009

I think when they do FO 4 they should have some sort of multiplayer.

grogs · Mar 30, 2009

I played both Fallout 1 & Fallout 2 as well as Wasteland, which was the original game in the series back in the Apple-IIe / TRS-80 days, so I actually pre-ordered FO3. I've only played it through once, but not because the game is bad, just because the life of a grad student can be hectic. It took me about 2 weeks of playing every free moment to play through once. I kept a save right after I finished up the Enclave and I've been playing from there since I won. I'll just load it up for an hour every couple of weeks and go explore some area I've never seen before. The great thing about a world that large is that it takes a long time to explore. When I have some more free time (hopefully in December after I graduate

) I'll play through it again as a bad guy. Or maybe as a bad girl since I played a male character the first time around.

In general, I think the game was pretty well done. It seems like they did a pretty good job of capturing that sort of sarcastic feel of FO2. Moira Brown's quest is a perfect example - "Oh, I just need you to go out and get seriously injured. And if you can get a crippled limb too, even better!" I also like that they made the attributes much less of a factor than in the previous games. If you didn't take the 'gifted' perk (+1 to each attribute) in FO2 you were penalizing your character pretty severely. And because it's pretty easy to raise the abilities, even if you did make something too low initially (Luck for example) it could be raised by taking a perk or two. I also REALLY like the fact that they made the ammo weightless. Unrealistic, but in FO2 it got really annoying to have to remember to run out of ammo because I was encumbered and left most of it in the trunk.

IMO, the game does have some failings though. They tried to make it both a first person shooter and a turn-based role-playing game. The result is that it's not really either. It's fairly clunky as a FPS, and while VATS is turn based once you've taken 3-4 shots you're out of Action Points and you're stuck fighting in FPS mode until they recharge. There are also some balance issues. For example, Bethesda failed to balance the different weapon types. Energy weapons and Big guns just aren't much more powerful than the Small guns, so there is no incentive to switch by the time you finally get them. Some of the perks are really out of whack too. For example, until they raise the level cap above 20 in an expansion, there's might as well only be 1 level 20 perk.

As for a multi-player version, I suspect it would probably have to be something like Brotherhood of Steel - mostly combat and a lot less roleplaying. You couldn't really have hundreds of 'Lone Wanderers' running around, but you could have lots of Brotherhood squads running around on various missions or maybe something like the battle for Anchorage.

scottf · Mar 31, 2009

Originally Posted by Grogs

I played both Fallout 1 & Fallout 2 as well as Wasteland, which was the original game in the series back in the Apple-IIe / TRS-80 days, so I actually pre-ordered FO3. I've only played it through once, but not because the game is bad, just because the life of a grad student can be hectic. It took me about 2 weeks of playing every free moment to play through once. I kept a save right after I finished up the Enclave and I've been playing from there since I won. I'll just load it up for an hour every couple of weeks and go explore some area I've never seen before. The great thing about a world that large is that it takes a long time to explore. When I have some more free time (hopefully in December after I graduate

) I'll play through it again as a bad guy. Or maybe as a bad girl since I played a male character the first time around.

In general, I think the game was pretty well done. It seems like they did a pretty good job of capturing that sort of sarcastic feel of FO2. Moira Brown's quest is a perfect example - "Oh, I just need you to go out and get seriously injured. And if you can get a crippled limb too, even better!" I also like that they made the attributes much less of a factor than in the previous games. If you didn't take the 'gifted' perk (+1 to each attribute) in FO2 you were penalizing your character pretty severely. And because it's pretty easy to raise the abilities, even if you did make something too low initially (Luck for example) it could be raised by taking a perk or two. I also REALLY like the fact that they made the ammo weightless. Unrealistic, but in FO2 it got really annoying to have to remember to run out of ammo because I was encumbered and left most of it in the trunk.

IMO, the game does have some failings though. They tried to make it both a first person shooter and a turn-based role-playing game. The result is that it's not really either. It's fairly clunky as a FPS, and while VATS is turn based once you've taken 3-4 shots you're out of Action Points and you're stuck fighting in FPS mode until they recharge. There are also some balance issues. For example, Bethesda failed to balance the different weapon types. Energy weapons and Big guns just aren't much more powerful than the Small guns, so there is no incentive to switch by the time you finally get them. Some of the perks are really out of whack too. For example, until they raise the level cap above 20 in an expansion, there's might as well only be 1 level 20 perk.

As for a multi-player version, I suspect it would probably have to be something like Brotherhood of Steel - mostly combat and a lot less roleplaying. You couldn't really have hundreds of 'Lone Wanderers' running around, but you could have lots of Brotherhood squads running around on various missions or maybe something like the battle for Anchorage.

Wait for the Pitt download, raises the level cap to 30

miamaria · Apr 1, 2009

I'm pretty sure the level cap won't be extended until the next DLC comes out, I forget the name of it, but it's the one after The Pitt. The Pitt had a lot of problems when it was first released, but they fixed it and it's a really fun addition to the game.

I absolutely love this game, and I generally dislike FPS's, and find most RPGs boring and too old-timey. This game is amazing to me in every way.

scottf · Apr 2, 2009

Originally Posted by MiaMaria

I'm pretty sure the level cap won't be extended until the next DLC comes out, I forget the name of it, but it's the one after The Pitt. The Pitt had a lot of problems when it was first released, but they fixed it and it's a really fun addition to the game.

I absolutely love this game, and I generally dislike FPS's, and find most RPGs boring and too old-timey. This game is amazing to me in every way.

Did you try Mass Effect? Its sort of Star Wars meets Star Trek, but the combat is more like Rainbow Six Vegas. You have the option to play in turn based RPG style, but it is much easier to play in real time combat. That is another RPG I enjoy. Oh, and there is not much in the way of dialog or talking, your choices are not the EXACT thing your character says, but almost like a thought balloon in a comic book.

miamaria · Apr 7, 2009

Woops I just saw your post. Yes I've played MassEffect but I didn't end up finishing it. It's a really well-made game and there's a lot to it, but I kind of suck at shooters and honestly some of the parts with the rover were too hard for me. I didn't realize you could play it turn-based.. I'll have to check that out. Thanks

Hey and if you like space type stuff, have you played Dead Space? That game scares the crap out of me!

Fallout 3

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