prog: (galaxians)
prog ([personal profile] prog) wrote2008-11-06 10:53 pm

Fallout 3

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 [livejournal.com profile] prog-LJ.
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[identity profile] prog.livejournal.com 2008-11-09 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
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.