Posted - 2008.11.10 14:30:00 - [31]

 

Originally by: FireFoxx80

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Open-ended games are much, much, better than RPG-on-rails like FFVII. However, when there's no reason or benefit of stepping off the path, what's the point*?

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What kind of reasons or benefits are you looking for? Visiting new places in Fallout 3 has several benefits like rare weapons, apparel, interesting information about the fallout world through quests and of course new scenery. Gaining access to better items and more experience benefits progression with the main quests aswell.

Are you looking for something that would change the main plotline? Personally I find it more interesting to do all kinds of side quests than advancing the main plot. I like the more realistic approach of doing what you fancy over the deterministic 'you are the chosen one who has to save the world' kind of advancement.

Posted - 2008.11.12 14:46:00 - [33]

 

Originally by: Jin Entres

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Originally by: FireFoxx80

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Open-ended games are much, much, better than RPG-on-rails like FFVII. However, when there's no reason or benefit of stepping off the path, what's the point*?

---

What kind of reasons or benefits are you looking for? Visiting new places in Fallout 3 has several benefits like rare weapons, apparel, interesting information about the fallout world through quests and of course new scenery. Gaining access to better items and more experience benefits progression with the main quests aswell.

Are you looking for something that would change the main plotline? Personally I find it more interesting to do all kinds of side quests than advancing the main plot. I like the more realistic approach of doing what you fancy over the deterministic 'you are the chosen one who has to save the world' kind of advancement.

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Fallout 3 has a lot of immersion breakers there, the problem is that they built a world that seems very large and complex, but in the end it's like a fake town in hollywood and the closer you look, the more you stumble over things that are broken/incomplete/show stoppers. And I don't mean the dead horse of not being able to shoot children, but things like sledge hammers not having an effect on doors that have been nailed shut. Why does it even try to look realistic when it isn't? Sure, it's hard to make everything work as expected, but personally I'd have preferred a simpler world that is more consistent or one that doesn't try to look more real than it is.

I guess it's fun for some people to go find the easter eggs planted by Bethesda amidst this unreal facade, but it's not so appealing for me.

Posted - 2008.11.12 18:13:00 - [35]

 

Edited by: Kyanzes on 12/11/2008 18:35:25

In general I liked the game.

Some cons:

- level cap: you max out in no time then wander around gaining no XP anymore, and it comes very fast
- no vehicle: they could have added a static "quick travel" car so no simulation would have been necessary
- you cannot play on when you finished the storyline: in earlier games you could go on exploring
- armors generally look uninteresting (except for the power armor)
- you cannot join with the bad guys (you can do tasks for them but you cannot really belong)
- interior maps are unusable most of the time
- no option for far-up third person view
- WATS aside there's no turn based fight
- PC version has some incredible amount of stability issues and memory leakage (Box version is nearly flawless in this regard)
- is it just me or there weren't any wind effects? I surely saw a few twisters but aside from those I can't recall seeing the effects of the wind blowing (nor hearing it for that matter)
- no "real" clouds
- you cannot really function as a sniper. I played the game twice and never found sufficient ammo for the sniper rifle. Yeah, surely there could be some hidden place where you could tank up but frankly, after playing it twice I can tell you that sniper ammo is not abundant.
- you never get medium powered energy weapons (again, there could be some special weapon inside the game somewhere but there's no general medium level energy weapon available) Like a laser carbine or something.
- unarmed combat is a joke, no special moves. And you cannot beat the Dragon in mortal kombat (so the sun isn't shining brighter for you )
- no arena
- they shouldn't have put "Dad" in the game. The problem with Dad is that you cannot feel truly alone and abandoned. It also bothers me to steer a 19ys old guy around (ofc this restriction comes with Dad)
- the Alien Blaster is ridiculously overpowered. I'm all in for awesome weapons but this one really was a serious oversight. You could basically pwn the toughest opponents in a few shots at most.

Posted - 2008.11.12 22:47:00 - [37]

 

The game can be summed up easily. Reskinned Oblivion with the player made "deadly reflex" and Red Sonja mods, free Frostcraig spire, and a VATS system. Seriously, damage bonus while in stealth? Sound familiar? Stand still and listen to some of the background music (turn off the radio) and its the same. Character interaction, sleeping, behavior etc... same. Character bodies and armor are drawn the same. Even the way you enter the cheat codes are almost identical.

I mean after a while you wonder why they even added the VATS, then you remember you're playing FALLOUT.

About the only thing different are the cutscenes when using the VATS. The bullet chase is nice. However, the exploding bodies gets old..fast (I never thought I'd say that) as they are waaaay too common. It will only be a matter of time before people mod a nude patch or "Elven Brotherhood" armor comes out.