Things that Fallout 3 did right!

[Atomic Postman]

There is a lot of well deserved hate for Fallout 3, so for a twist, lets talk about things Fallout 3 did well!



Uh, it introduced a better map system?

*cough* maybe you guys should go first...

 

[woo1108]

placed far from west so beth's POS can't touch west

 

[Wumbology]

The Pitt was acceptable and Point Lookout, or so I've been told, was far better than the main game.

What else? Uh, pretty much nothing, excluding the good exploration game design that J.E Sawyer has commented on before.

 

[Makta]

If the game would have been put in an earlier time the map is quite aweomse with several nice locations wich New Vegas is missing.
The Pitt and Point lookout equal/better than most of the NV dlc's.
Even if i'm no fan of the V.A.T.S is is a nice idea from the old aimed shots to FPS.

 

[Akratus]

Personally I don't think Beth should be commended for the Pitt. I mean, finally finding out how to do a proper choice in a quest isn't anything praise worthy when you just jam it into a dlc with mostly filler content and with the rest of the characters/quests and especially the setting being mediocre. I know some people like the brown decrepitude of Pittsburgh but I found it hamfisted and unrealistic, as well as the slaver settlement.

Ah but yes, yes, positivity! Need to spread the love. . .
Well I liked a lot of the art design, of clutter, cars and most of all buildings quite a bit. I also thought whilst not very exciting content wise, visually Operation Anchorage was. And while I loathe much of the content, enemies etc. I thought the combat was satisfying, when using one of the visually well designed weapons like the sniper rifle, which coincidentally also is one of the weapons with great sound design, along with a lot of the other weapons.

 

[Makta]

Personally I don't think Beth should be commended for the Pitt. I mean, finally finding out how to do a proper choice in a quest isn't anything praise worthy when you just jam it into a dlc with mostly filler content and with the rest of the characters/quests and especially the setting being mediocre. I know some people like the brown decrepitude of Pittsburgh but I found it hamfisted and unrealistic, as well as the slaver settlement.

Ah but yes, yes, positivity! Need to spread the love. . .
Well I liked a lot of the art design, of clutter, cars and most of all buildings quite a bit. I also thought whilst not very exciting content wise, visually Operation Anchorage was. And while I loathe much of the content, enemies etc. I thought the combat was satisfying, when using one of the visually well designed weapons like the sniper rifle, which coincidentally also is one of the weapons with great sound design, along with a lot of the other weapons.

You disslike the dark theme of the Pitt but you like the bland crap called Anchorage?! And admit it! You wouldn't like all the cars if you couldn't blow them up..

 

[Akratus]

Personally I don't think Beth should be commended for the Pitt. I mean, finally finding out how to do a proper choice in a quest isn't anything praise worthy when you just jam it into a dlc with mostly filler content and with the rest of the characters/quests and especially the setting being mediocre. I know some people like the brown decrepitude of Pittsburgh but I found it hamfisted and unrealistic, as well as the slaver settlement.

Ah but yes, yes, positivity! Need to spread the love. . .
Well I liked a lot of the art design, of clutter, cars and most of all buildings quite a bit. I also thought whilst not very exciting content wise, visually Operation Anchorage was. And while I loathe much of the content, enemies etc. I thought the combat was satisfying, when using one of the visually well designed weapons like the sniper rifle, which coincidentally also is one of the weapons with great sound design, along with a lot of the other weapons.

You disslike the dark theme of the Pitt but you like the bland crap called Anchorage?! And admit it! You wouldn't like all the cars if you couldn't blow them up..

How very wrong you are. I didn't find the pitt too dark, in fact I like my gritty darkness. I just thought that the slavertown wasn't portrayed very realistically. I don't feel like going in depth here though. I found anchorage showed a side of Fallout we never saw before, and I appreciate the use of colors. Also I LOATHE exploding cars.

 

[Makta]

How very wrong you are. I didn't find the pitt too dark, in fact I like my gritty darkness. I just thought that the slavertown wasn't portrayed very realistically. I don't feel like going in depth here though. I found anchorage showed a side of Fallout we never saw before, and I appreciate the use of colors. Also I LOATHE exploding cars.

There is nothing as fun as luring a few people next to a few cars and blow them up!
And Anchorage was nice because of the story.. But it was bland and boring with some really OP loot.

 

[Akratus]

Well the story is invalidated when you learn that the general in charge made something completely different from reality. Hence the Vertibirds.

 

[pyroD]

Positivity? Well it technically does make a nice tourist spot. I also really enjoyed The Pitt and Point Lookout

 

[SnapSlav]

What did FO3 do right? Well, you could take just about everything I said of the game, shortly after its release, in my Fallout 3 review that I posted years ago, but then re-posted again on this site (Page 19, 6 posts from the top) and considering I was overall receptive to it at the time, that's a good place to start. But, for those who value brevity, I can take out particular snippets for this topic, instead.

"In the ashes of Brotherhood of Steel, 4 years later, comes Fallout 3! In the wake of such a tragic bombshell, this title has ONLY room to improve. So, from that perspective, this game has done nothing short of fulfilling the emptiness in our souls that many of us Fallout fans were left with, after BOS."

"Unlike Fallout 1 or 2, armor gives your character various skill boosts, here and there. A jumpsuit might enhance your repair skill slightly, while a pre-war business suit would enhance your charismatic sway over people. But wear these out in the field in the heat of battle? Surely not!"

"The VAST menage of outfits you could adorn yourself with, the infinitely unique appearances you could generate for yourself (well, close to), being granted such a wide variety of aesthetics is hardly a bad thing, at all! Sure, my damage resistance may suck, and I have no combat bonuses whatsoever... but c'mon! A raider just got slashed to pieces by Freddy Krueger!!!"

"While it provides no challenge to your average gamer, and definitely zero for a Fallout veteran... Even though it merely simulated the SPECIAL system, and none of the stats had much of an impact on your character... Despite the fact that the voice cast of hundreds of Wastelanders seemed to be comprised by all of FOUR voice actors... Although every single ghoul, and every single mercenary, and every single Mutant sounds alike, with no audible distinction from one another... Fallout 3 is fun. It may not have NEARLY as much replay value as its predecessors, but as you've doubtless been able to gauge by reading my review, I played it A LOT!"

 

[Onholyservicebound]

But, for those who value brevity, I can take out particular snippets for this topic, instead:

"It doesn't suck as much as FO:BOS"

"Wearing a lab coat means you can do science."

"You could play dress up."

"It was fun."

Basically this. I would probably have a few more things to add, but the problem with that is, I ask myself, what has FO3 done right that NV didn't do better? The answer is: nothing.

A couple of people references the DLCs, although I did like PL and didn't hate the Pitt,(zeta was shit and anchorage was the worst CoD simulator in existence.) I still believe NV did them much better. Visiting new areas is cool and all, but FNV dlc expanded upon the base game, through additional perks, weapons, level cap, and even traits. It also helped flesh out the world of NV, characters that were only scarcely mentioned had their back-stories expanded upon, and they all helped enforce the theme of the game, and potentially help you make important decisions later on. For the story fags, they also had deeper stories and better characters.(Besides HH, which was my least favorite.)

OH! I thought of something! The racemenu/face editor, all the character presets in NV were hideous, and also really shitty racist stereotypes for minorities.(Message to Obsidian: Asians aren't actually yellow, ffs.) So yeah, it was easier to make characters that didn't make you cringe every time you seen yourself firing in vats.

 

[BigBoss]

The way they portrayed Vault 101 and vault living for someone who lived in a "normal" vault.

I loved it. The technology in the vault, the life of a vault citizen, the "school" and kids, I couldn't get enough of it. It made me feel like I was truly in a retro-futuristic 50's world as a teenage.

Everything outside the vault (besides the landscape)... not so good.

 

[2house2fly]

I ask myself, what has FO3 done right that NV didn't do better? The answer is: nothing.

Combat progression. For all the problems level scaling has, later on in Fallout 3 you're fighting tough Super Mutants and power-armoured Enclave troopers who pose a challenge. At high levels in New Vegas you're fighting the same Legionaries and Fiends as ever, and the only real challenge past level 20 or so is deathclaws. The only really challenging vault is 34; vault 11 is full of rats and mantises and the enemies in 22 are creepy but not difficult. Broken Steel ruined this with bullet sponge enemies, but then the New Vegas expansions had their problems with this too.

Fallout 3 was also better at portrayals of racial equality; New Vegas is lily white almost all over. The only non-white companion you can get in NV is a ghoul, as opposed to THREE non-white human companions in F3;I get that Arcade is based on Sawyer's old RP character so fair enough, but what was keeping Cass, Veronica, Boone from being some other race? Just about every major character in the game is white as well. I love New Vegas to death but this always niggles me.

 

[woo1108]

Combat progression. For all the problems level scaling has, later on in Fallout 3 you're fighting tough Super Mutants and power-armoured Enclave troopers who pose a challenge.

Are you serious? beth's level scailing is always horrible since Daggerfall. fo3's level scailing? also idiotic. and there's no challenge since vats is always cheating. DR system makes game really horrible too. if the game is turn based, DR is reasonable since you can pierce DR with armor piercing bullets or burstshot to just deal big damage. but realtime? shooting sponge with bb is funier than that.

ummmm..... the dlc was already noted on this..... it revived Fallout as a game?

No it's just prototype of skyrim for some aspect. and it's just TES with gun overall.

for reviving Fallout, using name is meaningless like nobody say that Sydicate by EA revived Syndicate series. fo3 selled far more copy and have some fanatics that want sequel but what they want is just tes with gun. if there's reason they don't like skyrim, it would be there's no gun or there's no post apocalyptic theme that's all.

NV did better job to revive Fallout but there's lots of limits.
the answer always showing in dialog or message, automatically using item to solving situaltion, automatically using skills to solving situation and fuxxing quest marker.

beth's fallout is just zomie of fallout. there's no spirit but just looking fallout. fallout isn't about shooting or meaningless dungeon crawling. it's more like advanture or puzzle game that player has to solve or find the way with skills, attribute, item and dialog. and lot's of choices that makes lots of output. fo3? there's no real puzzle or adventure. for adventure, tes is ruined by quest marker and since oblivion. and for puzzle, NV's problem is heritage from fo3.

 

[Wumbology]

Fallout 3 was also better at portrayals of racial equality; New Vegas is lily white almost all over. The only non-white companion you can get in NV is a ghoul, as opposed to THREE non-white human companions in F3;I get that Arcade is based on Sawyer's old RP character so fair enough, but what was keeping Cass, Veronica, Boone from being some other race? Just about every major character in the game is white as well. I love New Vegas to death but this always niggles me.

Counting Lily, that "only one non-white follower" statement is wrong, given she's not even human. And Veronica's last name "Santangelo" would argue that statement too.

I don't think race is relevant here. This is the same universe that has hulking, muscular uber-mensch. You know, super mutants.

As for every major character being white, um, Ulysses? Ambassador Crocker?

 

[Languorous_Maiar]

What?
Someone ever noticecd something like colour of skin?
Not nice...

And actually, F3 was retarded with all those Asians... considering all post-apo-Asians in America are in San Francisco.

 

[2house2fly]

As for every major character being white, um, Ulysses? Ambassador Crocker?

Go have a look at the Collector's Edition playing cards. One of them is Crockett, and he looks a lot different than he did in the final game. Turns out his race was changed at the last minute because they accidentally got a black voice actor to play him.

On the other hand, think of all the NPCs who are involved in the main quest or side quests that most players are likely to do, and count how many of them are white. Spoiler alert: it's most of them, the vast majority in fact. It's a problem that most games have (not to mention movies and TV) but it's still a problem, and it still bugs me. And the game world including super mutants and ghouls is different from the developers making a conscious decision to disproportionately represent one race among the characters in their game for some reason.

Fallout 3 may have the same problem, to be fair. I don't remember many of the characters. But I'm pretty sure the percentage of important ones who weren't white is higher than New Vegas.

 

[Languorous_Maiar]

It's a problem that most games have (not to mention movies and TV) but it's still a problem

It isn't problem... why it should be?
You're little racist, when you have problem, when in game/movies most people are of one race.
It's little funny for me, because it's first time when I see, that someone have such problem.

 

[BonusWaffle]

Spoiler alert: it's most of them, the vast majority in fact.

Spoiler alert: most people in las vegas are white