1. Grenade Throwing
The V.A.T.S. system worked well for the most part, allowing you shoot at enemy's body parts or target their gun and then switch to standard FPS controls once your V.A.T.S. meter ran out. Although a little clunky, it never felt unreliable.
The exception to this rule was trying to use grenades. V.A.T.S. paid no attention to the environment you were in, which meant the arc of the grenade would be cut off by sandbags, barrels, debris, it would even ping harmlessly off the ceiling and walls. And forget about trying to use grenades without V.A.T.S. It was the one weak link in the combat system and we'd like to see it fixed up for New Vegas.
No, VATS was a decent idea with shitty execution (can't turn off slow-mo...really?) but the combat was nothing special at all and there is a hell of a lot more improvement than just grenades.
2. Less Isolation
There are endless debates over Oblivion vs Fallout 3 and which game is better. Oblivion had the better setting! Fallout had better combat! Oblivion had better music! Fallout had better music!
The argument goes on and on but one thing that can be agreed on is Fallout 3 is bleak. It is unforgivingly bleak at times, as you shoulder the woes of the world alone, with few friendly faces around to perk you up when things go bad. Arguably, that's part of the Fallout appeal, as it helps create a unique atmosphere - but is it necessary to make the game so relentlessly isolating?
You're not talking about isolation, you're talking about the game being devoid of intelligent (rather those with dialogue) NPCs.
3. Better Ending
Goes without saying but hey, let's say it anyway - New Vegas must have a better ending than Fallout 3 did. After battling your way through the wasteland, discovering what happened to your father and finally resolving the main plotline, you're rewarded with... some artwork slides. Huh?
It was a pretty poor reward for such a gargantuan effort and the ending was completely dwarfed by the scale of the final mission that proceeded it. It was a damp firework at the end of a rollercoaster experience and we're sure the ending will be given the justice it deserves for New Vegas.
The entire plot was shit, the ending was just the piece of corn to top it off with.
4. No 'Dead Quests'
Granted, it only ever really happened once in Fallout 3 but it was still incredibly annoying, as you realised you've just spent the last 30 hours doing the exact opposite to what this quest asked you do to. Which quest is it?
The Nuka Cola quest, of course. Having to find 30 Quantum Nuka Cola bottles would have been a lot easier if you hadn't been happily selling them off throughout the early stages of the game when you didn't know any better. It's the kind of quest that's hard to signpost without making it too obvious but some attention clearly needs to be paid to quests that required a certain amount of a limited item in the game world. Especially when the reward are blueprints for a weapon that requires - you guessed it - Quantum Nuka Cola bottles.
This wouldn't have been a problem had it actually used Fallout's barter system... Also NPCs sometimes glitched out and died so it happened more than just with that quest.
5. Stronger DLC
Operation Anchorage was combat focused and did win too many people over. The Pitt suffered from arguably the most botched launch to date. While there are clearly plus points to be found - both offered entirely new areas and The Pitt overcame its teething problems to shine as excellent DLC - there's room for improvement.
There's no word on whether Fallout: New Vegas will even support DLC at this stage but if it does, we'd much rather Bethesda's track record for Oblivion DLC rather than Fallout 3 DLC was the route taken.
First, Bethesda most likely will not be developing DLC for it. Second, Oblivion's track record is arguably worse being chalked full of microtransactions for crap like horse armor. NotN is was the only decent Oblivion DLC from what I hear, remember that Shivering Isles was an expansion. Face it, Bethesda blows at DLC.
What an amazingly shitty list. You failed to ask for stuff like less bugs, better writing throughout, better voiceacting, and better gameplay which includes: revamping SPECIAL so that there are different options by preventing you from maxing out every skill, improve gunplay, improve AI, improve quests, improve level design, improve fast travel, improve random encounters, replace Karma with reputation, etc.. You know, all that shit that was crappy in Fallout 3.
bravo. Can I haz xbox ghame mag job? I need money.
