Fallout 3

[prog]

Fallout 3 is fantastic. I've been in the mood for a wide-open, American-style CRPG and this not only fills the bill, it may be the best example of its class I've played. I've dropped over 15 hours into it since Monday evening - ouch. It's leaning as hard on my addiction button as my last serious Angband streak did last year. Gonna have to ration my playtime.

I created the same type of character I played in Fallout 2 - a small woman with high INT/CHA/DEX. Dumping most skill points into Sneak, Lockpick, Speak and Small Guns. Trying to play "the stealth game" for real. It didn't work out that way in Fallout2, when I didn't try hard to maintain any sort of character-type out of the gate, and so spent most of the game running around in a bright purple robe zapping people with a customized cattle prod in broad daylight. Being a bit more judicious with character-building this time around.

I like that the game doesn't take itself too seriously; it's full of crazy little rules, especially regarding modifiers attached to items. The setting's got a whole lot of logical inconsistencies, but if you put on a lab coat you suddenly become better at hacking into computer systems, and I love that, so I don't care. (Right now my character is wearing a Solid Snake suit that gives her a Sneak bonus, and a gray fedora that lets her detect enemies around corners better. Yes.)

The writing and plotting are so cool and full of delightful surprises - literally from the very first moment you start a new game - that I'm not even reading the list of possible Xbox Live achievements you can get. I find myself as spoiler-averse to this game as I have been to any recent TV series I've enjoyed. That's rare.

I wish that my posts about Fallout 2 from five years ago were easy to find. They're buried deep in the untagged middle ages of prog-LJ.

Comments

[cramerica.livejournal.com]

drool
Fallout 2 was too buggy for me, as in it wouldn't let me finish the game. I imagine this one's had enough QA time to be bulletproof.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Dang. I loved Fallout 2, but my interest waned when the story narrowed down to the endgame, and I know another player who felt the same. I'm not sure I know anyone who has actually finished it.

Fallout 3 has en entirely different publisher and has switched its gameplay genre (more of a shooter/RPG hybrid like The Elder Scrolls than a traditional CRPG), so the QA process had to be much different. I have faith that it'll hold out till the end.

The change is enough that I wish they gave it a better title, because it's really a completely different game, adapting a lot of the gameplay philosophies from Fallouts 1&2 into an entirely new mechanical framework. Fallout: Blah blah subtitle would have been fine. (See also Metroid Prime, Metal Gear Solid, etc.)

[mogaribue.livejournal.com]

Man, I wish my box could run this. I was a big Fall Out fan, never really played 2 though.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Multiple bloggers I read ended up getting the Xbox version of this, either because they despaired the likelihood of it demanding a new round of PC upgrades, or because its copy-protection is some narsty customer-hating bullshit.

2 is totally worth looking into, especially if you enjoyed the first game, since it (unlike this game) is a direct and literal sequel. 3 adapts the setting and philosophy into an entirely new set of mechanics.

[taskboy3000.livejournal.com]

gotta say -- not crazy about the first-person aspect of the game. I'm a grumpy old man. Music is not as memmorable as the first 2 1/2 games (I'm tired of orchestral bombasts for video games). The character creation stuff is interesting, but I'm not sure that I'd want to repeat that mini-game more than once. Working on clearing out Those Ants.

Overall, F3 is good, but it's not really the spiritual successor to the originals. Keep in mind that for me Fallout and Fallout 2 are the best CRPG ever made.

[prog.livejournal.com]

I think this game succeeds in embracing and extending the atmosphere of the first two games - I love how it does a lot more with the crazy 1950s vibe - but you're quite right that it does so in an entirely new framework, so if you had your heart set on a CRPG with boardgame-style tactical combat you're going to be disappointed.

Are you using VATS in combat? I find myself burning up all my action points (now used entirely for shootin', rather than for moving and using items and such) and then playing as an FPS for a while until my AP meter recharges. This kind of makes no sense at all, but I am having fun anyway.

[taskboy3000.livejournal.com]

Yes, I use VATS a lot, because we play similar shooty-type characters. The key to VATS is action points (you can queue up lots of targeted shots at once [I didn't get that for a while]). You do need to take time out of VATS to run away. This regains AP. Dodge your opponent's attack as much as you can then pick your moment for reprisal. That seems to work for me. I put down a super mutant and centaur at 3rd level that way. However, the fire ants are a real challenge for me. Blasts of fire are not easy to dodge.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, I totally couldn't read most of your previous comment. That is how spoiler-averse I am!

"What is this 'kon-sole' you speak of." I'm playing on the Xbox, so no e-z cheats for me. However, I'm having fun treating the weight limit as a challenge, and part of the price I pay for ratcheting up my Batman stats up to the detriment of the Superman ones. I've stopped hoovering up everything that isn't nailed down, for one thing, and only carry around weapons and suits that are always useful.

Should I encounter a major obstacle that needs something extra, I can perform a strategic withdrawal, and then fast-travel back to my house to reconfigure my inventory.

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