Preview Fallout 3 preview at Game Revolution

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Fallout 3

<a href=http://www.gamerevolution.com>Game Revolution</a> has posted a <a href=http://www.gamerevolution.com/preview/ps3/fallout_3>preview</a> of Fallout 3. Judging by the quality of the screens, the preview is based on the original Bethesda presentation and not on the GI article.
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<blockquote>The gorgeous (? - VD) wasteland is populated with grotesquely mutated creatures of all kinds, from giant ants intelligently attacking in waves to cannon-wielding Behemoths who charge with abandon. ... Because, as executive producer Todd Howard put it, "It's fun to be able to kick a little ass"...</blockquote>Grow up, Todd.
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<blockquote>If you already have a weapon of the same type, you can bust out some engineering skills, break it down into parts, and use them to beef up the strength, precision, and firing rate of your own weapon.</blockquote>Sounds promising.
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<blockquote>...you'll have to decide which is the way to eliminate the biggest threats fast, because the V.A.T.S. runs out of action points. Once they're gone, you'll be fighting in real time and without assistance while your action points regenerate.</blockquote>The VATS system oozes depth and tactics.
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<blockquote>You'll also be struggling with moral dilemmas through voiced NPC dialogue choices.</blockquote>Because Pete said so.
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<blockquote>The number of NPCs in Fallout 3 is about 300 (as opposed to Oblivion's 1000), so Bethesda has put alot more alcohol and devtime into making their individual A.I. more realistic and natural. Instead of NPCs walking around doing very simple tasks talking basic gibberish, they will roam with more personalized agendas and socialize with other people about topics that interest them. </blockquote>
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I hoped to hear that Bethesda has put a lot of time into developing these NPCs personalities through dialogues, but who needs that when you can have topics of interests and all the "roaming" you can handle?
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<blockquote>One rather more evil quest we saw at Bethesda's dev studio in Maryland was to detonate a warhead at the center of Megaton, a large town filled with people going about their daily lives. Triggering the bomb from a distant rooftop, the entire city was destroyed, all the townsfolk we just talked to died in the blast, and the mushroom cloud looming overhead all happened in real time - to the city we just left. Needless to say, there was some drool on the floor...</blockquote>That's what usually happens when you invite drooling morons to a party.
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<blockquote>As your choices change and quests are knocked out, news of your fame (or infamy) will spread to. NPC reactions to you will also change as your title shifts from "Noob Vault Dweller" to "HaXXor - Nuker of Cities".</blockquote>Charming.
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<blockquote>...you can zoom out even further to get to the franchise-beloved 3rd person perspective.</blockquote>How thoughtful.
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<blockquote>After the hour long gameplay presentation, we were all equally surprised how far in development Fallout 3 was, even with more than a year left to finish it. It has all the makings of being <font size=4><b>the first solid bridge between the rapidly growing RPG genre and the immensely pop FPS category...</b></font size></blockquote>Rapidly growing? Anyway, folks, you have your answer to the question: what kind of game Fallout 3 is?
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Thanks, Brother None

 

[Koby]

Rapidly growing?

Are you serious?
In case you are, which part of rapidly growing don’t you understand?

 

[Brother None]

Are you serious?
In case you are, which part of rapidly growing don’t you understand?

It is true that more and more games refer to themselves as RPGs, true.

 

[Ryuken]

"the franchise-beloved 3rd person perspective"

...

Let's see if they can at least make the same "solid bridge" as Bloodlines did, I think that's the best we can still hope for...

 

[cares]

You'll also be struggling with moral dilemmas through voiced NPC dialogue choices.
Because Pete said so.

you got it all wrong...let me highlight the relevant part...

 

[merry andrew]

As your choices change and quests are knocked out, news of your fame (or infamy) will spread to. NPC reactions to you will also change as your title shifts from "Noob Vault Dweller" to "HaXXor - Nuker of Cities".

elowel these are dark times

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Hey, I enjoy ass-kicking. There's nothing wrong with watching a neophyte grow into a force to be reckoned with and administering different levels of ownage. The key difference here is how Toddler - or the previews - imply that ass-kicking is all about guns and violence. Well, it's not. That was one of the cool things about Fallout. You can kick ass in many ways other than the standard and drab action hero. Want to get rid of the Super Mutants in Broken Hills? Sure, you could pump yourself with some Buffout, whip out a Bozar and unleash a hail of bullets. But you also could join the human racists and slowly work your way towards eliminating the Mutants in other ways, culminating in the mine's explosion.

Sure, it's not a particularly diverse example but it's a glimpse into how "kick-ass" could be anything from "action hero that shoots his way through problems" to "sneaky bastard gets away with the loot and the girl" or "charismatic do-gooder convinces criminals to leave a small community alone". Dealing with the crime families in New Reno was another example. Salvatore in particular could be killed, robbed of his oxygen tanks or have them replaced with poison. That's bad ass - outwitting your adversary, not striking a pose over a Mutant's corpse while holding two Desert Eagles.

People can harp all they want about how one can't judge a game before it's released but every single preview or newsbit I see concerning Fallout 3 has Bethesda go "it's got cool, fast nuclear action and explosions. oh, and there's some words for people who like to read, too". To them and a large contigent of the Fallout 3 apologists, bad ass translates into "gunz".

Cannon-wielding Behemots

Behemots?!

Are these mooks going the Tactics way?

 

[Lumpy]

Back in the day, Oblivion's NPCs were engaging in meaningful and complex activities based on advanced schedules. Now, apparently they were going around doing random minor stuff.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

they will roam with more personalized agendas and socialize with other people about topics that interest them.

Sweet Jesus, mudcrabs.

 

[Relayer71]

"Rapidly growing".... fucking idiots, I swear.

And the article is no longer on the site.

 

[elander_]

Shit ... shit never changes. First VATS and now fame/infamy and roaming giant ants. The great Fallout wilderness with its variety random and special encounters replaced by roaming ants.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Tell me these arent actual titles: NPC reactions to you will also change as your title shifts from "Noob Vault Dweller" to "HaXXor - Nuker of Cities".

 

[Micmu]

Jesus, what a piece of shit Fallout game

 

[Fat Dragon]

title shifts from "Noob Vault-Dweller" to "HaXXor - Nuker of Cities"

My fucking god. Did Bethesda hire their children to work on this game or something?

 

[Micmu]

title shifts from "Noob Vault-Dweller" to "HaXXor - Nuker of Cities"

My fucking god. Did Bethesda hire their children to work on this game or something?

No, it's the famous Bethesda creativity and writing skills. Note how most place names in oblivious had a color in it (yellow road, green road, blue cave, black forest...) and quest items had witty names like TruePaint.

 

[miles foreman]

What's the point of V.A.T.S.? I don't really understand what it does. You pause the game and then you get some percentages on what you can hit, but when you run out you'll be fighting real-time like in STALKER or Call of Duty? If so, why even bother pausing the game in the first place? If you can make headshots in other shooters then what does V.A.T.S. bring to the table?

 

[merry andrew]

What's the point of V.A.T.S.? I don't really understand what it does. You pause the game and then you get some percentages on what you can hit, but when you run out you'll be fighting real-time like in STALKER or Call of Duty? If so, why even bother pausing the game in the first place? If you can make headshots in other shooters then what does V.A.T.S. bring to the table?

It brings RPG goodness, that's what!

 

[miles foreman]

What's the point of V.A.T.S.? I don't really understand what it does. You pause the game and then you get some percentages on what you can hit, but when you run out you'll be fighting real-time like in STALKER or Call of Duty? If so, why even bother pausing the game in the first place? If you can make headshots in other shooters then what does V.A.T.S. bring to the table?

It brings RPG goodness, that's what!

I wish they'd just scrap V.A.T.S. and skip with the fuckin' pretense already. Obviously this game needs more nukes, hookers and dismembering for it to be a true Fallout sequel. And lets not forget that zany Vault Boy!

 

[merry andrew]

I wouldn't be surprised if Vault Boy is an NPC in Fallout 3.

 

[LittleJoe]

Is V.A.T.S a sort of special ability that gives you an advantage for a few seconds, and then the rest of the battle is in real time? I don't get it.

 

[Selenti]

VATS = bullet time.

 

[Bradylama]

Every time I hear about Liam leaving the vault it sounds like he just disappears. Like anybody just disappears from a place where there's only one way in and one way out. Somebody's going to fucking notice.

 

[pkt-zer0]

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Hmm.

Well, some of the excerpts don't sound that great, either. V.A.T.S. is starting to sound more and more like an additional extra you can use every so often than an attempt at an RTwP system in first/third person. Not good.

 

[Brother None]

They pulled it off the site. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say probably by order of either Bethesda or GameInformer, since GI's exclusivity deal lasts until this Monday.

 

[Black]

What's the point of V.A.T.S.? I don't really understand what it does. You pause the game and then you get some percentages on what you can hit, but when you run out you'll be fighting real-time like in STALKER or Call of Duty? If so, why even bother pausing the game in the first place? If you can make headshots in other shooters then what does V.A.T.S. bring to the table?

bethtards thought that they will be able to deceive Fallout fans with 'Falloutish' name and telling them 'hey, you still have APs, see? It's FO combat OH YWAH'.
Turns out nobody is stupid enough to fall for it, well, maybe pete and todd did.