Overman on 10/1/2009 at 23:26
I've been holding back on getting Fallout 3, as there seems to be mixed reviews.
I never played F2, but completed the original several times when it was first released. The screens and feature descriptions I've heard are wonderful, but I'm wanting to know the pros/cons from anyone who has played it extensively.
'Is it 'too open-ended' like some say Oblivion was?
Do the NPCs and story have any depth to it?
Is there replay value...meaning, can I play the game as a stealthy type once, then a tough/fighter type the second time through and get relatively diverse experiences?
Jason Moyer on 10/1/2009 at 23:37
Pros: Maybe the best game ever made
Cons: Doesn't give you head
Toxicfluff on 11/1/2009 at 00:42
Quote Posted by Overman
'Is it 'too open-ended' like some say Oblivion was?
Never played Oblivion, but they could have cut a lot of content out of F3 with a
gain in quality as a result, to put it one way. One problem is the indoor sections -- there's probably hundreds of these areas in the game, with the majority decked out in 1 of around 10 sets of prefab structures. You might be screaming for mercy inside by the time you fight through utility tunnel #142. I know I was. Still, nothing says you
have to go these places.
Quote Posted by Overman
Do the NPCs and story have any depth to it?
Not that much, but enough. There's some good backstory to be had here and there, with some decent characters too amidst an army of forgettable ones. Par for the course as far as RPGs go, I'd say. They can't all be Planescape Torment.
Quote:
Is there replay value...meaning, can I play the game as a stealthy type once, then a tough/fighter type the second time through and get relatively diverse experiences?
Yeah, I'd say so. Combat is unfortunately more or less unavoidable in many of the indoor sections of the game though. Precious little difference from the originals in that department, but I do wish stealth was more viable here. Apart from character specialisation there's a hell of a lot of replay value I'd say. I'm still finding lots of new things on my second run.
Overall, it's got plenty of flaws, but it's that good and that expansive that you can't help but look past them. You can't get everything right, after all, and the more everything there is the more some things are going to suffer.
In short, buy it. Games like this don't come along often. I'd recommend loading in some mods early on, myself, because there are some things that really are shite. For example, you'll hit the level cap before you know it if you do anything but the main quest and spend the rest of the game with no level-ups -- I wish I'd heard of the better pacing mod
before I'd reached level 18.
Oh yeah, and:
buy it.
Xenith on 11/1/2009 at 09:39
Well I'm one of the incredible unlucky ones that get so many crashes it's unfair. I'm currently waiting for the next patch to see if things sorten out a bit (and don't give me the crap about something being wrong with my pc config or something, everything else works as it should).
Anyway, from what I've played (episodes of 10 minutes with crashes between them) it's fairly fun but it left me with the "Oblivion with guns" feeling. But since I only managed to do just one quest so far (need I say why again?) I can't really say much about it.
If you do get it, I hope you won't be a part of the people that end up checking for a new patch release every day (yours truly). So here's to good luck so Fallout 3 works better for you. Cheers.
steo on 11/1/2009 at 10:55
Wipe all memory of previous fallout games from your brain and make sure you don't go back and play any of them while you're still playing FO3 or you'll be constantly reminded of how much they ruined it! Dare I now make the Bioshock/Invisible War comparison?
Not having played Oblivion would also help because the games share certain flaws.
I feel FO3 had the potential to be an amazing game if it weren't for that revolting Oblivionesque glaze of nothing really being worth anything. By nothing I mean most stats, perks, skills and items.
But hey, give it a try, you might still love it and the flaws can hopefully be reduced with mods.
Toxicfluff on 11/1/2009 at 13:37
Quote Posted by steo
But hey, give it a try, you might still love it and the flaws can hopefully be reduced with mods.
They can. Unfortunately F3 is in the same boat as Stalker where the dev make the game, and the community fix it.
F1/2 style stats mod was also one I loaded early, as well as removing enchanted armours.
van HellSing on 11/1/2009 at 14:32
I actually don't mind the "enchanted" armor. It was strange at first, but I learned to rationalize it. It's not that the clothes are enchanted. It's you. Wearing specific clothes has an effect on your personality. Wear a cowboy hat, tap into an archetype, and you're suddenly John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. It's roleplaying.
PeeperStorm on 11/1/2009 at 16:57
My verdict, from someone who fires up Fallout and Fallout 2 at least once a year to replay: Get it, It's good.
1) It's a good game.
2) It's disappointing as a sequal.
3) It's got a ton of replayability. Want to run and gun? Go for it. Or you can sneak around, hack computer terminals to bypass difficulties, or even talk your problems into submission. And, like in the original games, you can choose to be good, evil, or something in between.
3) How long the game lasts depends on you. If you only do the main quest, then the game will be over fairly quickly. If you want to explore the whole huge game world, do side quests, and mess around, then the game can last a very long time.
4) I would only recommend playing the PC version of it at this time, because there's some nasty bugs (quest-critical NPCs disappearing for example) that require cheats to get around. Maybe future patches will fix.
RyushiBlade on 11/1/2009 at 17:51
Quote:
Well I'm one of the incredible unlucky ones that get so many crashes it's unfair.
Want to know the crazy thing? My girlfriend and I both built computers. Since she didn't know what she was doing she very cunningly ordered one of everything I had. Two identical computers running identical copies of Vista. And you know what? Her FO3 crashes all the time.
As far as the game goes, I think it's pretty good. Not great. But good. It'll be one of those games you play obsessively for a week, then only come back and play once every couple months or something. That's what I do.
Toxicfluff on 11/1/2009 at 18:07
Quote Posted by van HellSing
I actually don't mind the "enchanted" armor. It was strange at first, but I learned to rationalize it. It's not that the clothes are enchanted. It's you. Wearing specific clothes has an effect on your personality. Wear a cowboy hat, tap into an archetype, and you're suddenly John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. It's roleplaying.
Right. I rationalised my +10% 'I feel like a scientist' lab coat as an unwelcome holdover from Oblivion. Some of them make sense, like the Recon armour's stealth boost, or the hat's perception increase (nowt covering your ears, for a start), but most of them don't.
Plus, I was getting bloody sick of getting dressed for the occasion every time I wanted to pick a lock, repair a weapon or hack a computer. And then invariably run off and get killed because I forgot to get back into my combat armour.
