Fallout 3 discussion

[Sarmatian]

Hmm. I'm not thrilled with the game but I don't find myself in agreement with that review. It's very ... ah, well if I say it's very no mutants allowed does that make sense to other people? Far too hung up on the fact that this is a new game, and therefore it can't possibly be much good because everyone knows new games are shallow, dumbed down, derivative and aimed at people with an IQ of 3.

I get your "NMA" point but I'd say the review doesn't suffer from that syndrome. It acknowledged good points of the game. It awarded it 72/100, which is a fairly good game. The game you play through once or twice and then forget about it. Contrary to other RPG legends like BG or original Fallouts, which hardcore gamers played again and again.

Even my limited (not quite 10 hours now) playtime proves some of his points inaccurate. Teleporting about the map without penalty? Sure - until you drop into an area which has repopulated with enemies. Dead on arrival isn't that much of an understatement for the time I dropped into the midst of a raider group via fast travel. Fast travel out into the wastes is a gamble; you'll be fine most of the time and you don’t know disaster awaits until it is too late. The spoiler point about the sheriff? If you're good enough then you can intervene and stop that - I managed it. Karma does have an effect: I noticed NPCs being nicer to me after I started to reach higher karma levels, and my halo-sporting character gets random gifts from people for "being a hero". I've been attacked on sight by evil folk, and had assassins sent after me.

Teleporting without danger refers to the fact that nothing can happen to you while you travel. There is no danger of a random band of raiders and things like that. Sure, every once in a blue moon you'll teleport somewhere where bad guys are, but that can hardly be called consequence.

People giving you several caps, bits of food and 10 bullets isn't what I consider "karma having an effect". When you're good, bad guys randomly spawn to kill you, when you're bad, good guys randomly spawn to kill you. Not because you've wronged someone or something. They just want to kill you. Again bad game design.

Other points are nonsensical. As unimpressed as I am with the voice acting, the comment about "characters in a post-apocalyptic world spoke with the same tone (and occasionally, the same pronunciation) as the fair gentle folk of the Victorian age." is pure hyperbole. The ability to choose whatever path you like at the ending regardless of the moral alignment you have taken throughout the game? It's been in nearly every western RPG I have played, including those classics which people like this reviewer don't class as dumbed down for the idiot masses. It's present in games for a reason: player choice. Even the evilest of characters might have a change of heart when they find that pushing the big red button fills the world with fluffy bunnies. You're unable to create your character for the long run because it's impossible for you to regret perk choices? Amazing; I regret 2 perk choices already. Planning is vital for the better perks: they have pre-requisites. I tried to plan ahead from the start, and I have still made quite a few decisions I regard as mistakes.

Voice acting is generally bad. Alistair Tenpenny has the perfect British aristocrat accent. Where did he acquire it when was either born in the Vault on the east coast or in the wasteland, remains a mystery.

Change of heart is possible, but unfortunately in FO3 most of the times it's used as an excuse for bad game mechanic.

Although there are few good points, it still boils down to: uninteresting quests that in 99% are simple dungeon crawls, half imbecile dialogues, boring NPCs and uninspiring main quest. Pretty much everything that makes RPG an RPG. Not everything is that bad, it's an enjoyable game. But compare that to Fallout 2 which is a legend, classic, even a cult game for some, and you'd see that just an enjoyable game is a big step back. Yes, FO3 is a new game, it's not FO2, but you can't make a sequel and expect people not to compare it to original. That would be silly. It will always be done. We can't say "hey, let's not compare prequel Star Wars trilogy to the Original, those are new films". No, we can and we should.