Preview The Dutch on Fallout 3

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Fallout 3

Fallout terrorist training camp NMA have <a href="http://www.nma-fallout.com/article.php?id=43820">translated a Dutch Fallout 3 preview</a>. Unlike the rest of Europe, they seem pretty happy with it:
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<blockquote>Several bullies harass a girl, what will you do? The moral choices you make here will be the first example what await you during the rest of the game. If you help the harassed girl you lean towards the path of ‘righteousness’, but you could also choose the side of the bullies in order to get in favor with them.
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This black and white situation is a simple first test but later it will become more complex. There will be many grey areas for you to choose from in which the consequences won’t be immediately clear.
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As expected it will always come to a fight when you confront ‘creatures’ such as mutants, caverats, molerats, deathclaws or scorpions, but when facing ‘human’ opponents you don’t always have to solve everything with violence.
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During conversations you can boast, threat, and deceive to get out of problems. Your Charisma and Luck will determine the chance to talk yourself out of a threatening situation.
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We saw a nice example of the AI when our hero had to cross a camp of enemy raiders. Confronting these openly would be equal to suicide so that was not an option. As long as it was daytime the camp would be well guarded, but as soon as the night fell most of the raiders were snoring loudly and our hero could sneak past the guards to continue his journey.</blockquote>
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Hopefully I won't be boasting, threatening and deceiving during the same conversation like you did in Oblivion. And if you haven't seen Bethesda's marketing army yet, <a href="http://bethblog.com/index.php/2008/07/25/the-brotherhood-of-steel-are-coming/">you'll need to look here</a>. One of those may just be coming to a store near you.
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Spotted @ <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com">GameBanshee</a>

 

[Darth Roxor]

Unlike the rest of Europe, they seem pretty happy with it

Why this doesn't surprise me at all?

 

[aron searle]

This black and white situation is a simple first test but later it will become more complex. There will be many grey areas for you to choose from in which the consequences won’t be immediately clear.

Do they cite an example, or are they just saying as they have been paid to say.

 

[Texas Red]

"As expected it will always come to a fight when you confront ‘creatures’ such as mutants, caverats, molerats, deathclaws or scorpions, but when facing ‘human’ opponents you don’t always have to solve everything with violence."

lolwut. You could talk with deathclaws, ghouls and mutants as much as with humans. Humans were the PRIMARY opponents. Are they forgetting about Vault 13 or Broken Hills? How about when you're ask to kill a deathclaw in Navarro, you can actually *gasp* find a nonviolent solution through talking with it. Ghouls you only fought as rare raiders around Ghecko who wielded guns and talked in a civilized manner. FO isn't some D&D adventure, you fight people not monsters.

"We saw a nice example of the AI when our hero had to cross a camp of enemy raiders. Confronting these openly would be equal to suicide so that was not an option. As long as it was daytime the camp would be well guarded, but as soon as the night fell most of the raiders were snoring loudly and our hero could sneak past the guards to continue his journey."

lolqut again. In FO 1 the *only* raiders you visit can be dealt with in nonviolent way.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

During conversations you can boast, threat, and deceive to get out of problems. Your Charisma and Luck will determine the chance to talk yourself out of a threatening situation.

What? Ahahahaha!

I figure repairing weapons will have you playing a reaction test as well. Maybe something like a red light flashing, press x, a blue one, wiggle the analogue dick.

 

[Mareus]

I still don't understand why Bethseda decided to buy the Fallout brand. Wouldn't it be cheaper for them to just make their own game? I mean they changed everything, so why the millions wasted just on the name? :S

I don't get it..

 

[Seboss]

Yeah, after 2years, this is still mystery to me as well.
The Fallout name does not appeal to their main target audience and just pisses off 95% of Fallout fans.
What's the point for Bethesda? "Because we always wanted to make a Fallout game" is not a convincing answer.

 

[Fez]

The name or brand is still worth something. Associating the new game with the old Fallout franchise seems to have worked in their favour outside of the "infamous" old Fallout fans. All the years of NMA and DaC and the rest talking about it and spreading the word has kept a fanbase and buzz about it over the years too, rather than having it die and disappear into obscurity.

 

[Trash]

That magazine sometimes is incredibly spot on in their reviews. Allthough they are turning for the worse lately. Their previews however have been consistently shit since practically for ever.

Oh, and it's from Belgium.

 

[Seboss]

Actually, I think the article of Mobygames posted earlier in the news section got it pretty right:

This decade has been dominated by these heirs of Interplay. And their approach to RPGs has been rather similar, the differences being their unique personalities. The only RPG development studio to offer an successful, alternative approach in this decade has been Bethesda. But Bethesda was born in the 90's, without a powerful father. It has no mystical blood relations to the early forefathers. Yet, they have been more successful than the heirs of Interplay but... in the near future Bethesda will deliver a sequel to Fallout. And I feel this is because Bethesda wants to obtain that divine blood right, it wants to tie itself with a beginning and have a root. Even RPG developers need a mythic past.

 

[Brother None]

Oh, and it's from Belgium.

Dutch-language magazine.

Is it published from Belgium, tho'? Regardless, it calls itself a "Benelux" magazine, which is how NMA also refers to it.

 

[Erzherzog]

I always figured the reason for using the Fallout license is because adding 3 or 2 to the end of a title instantly makes some idiots say "wow, if it is a sequel, then the first game must've been good!" Regardless of whether or not the first was a good game or not.

 

[Bradylama]

I remember Todd Howard saying something to the effect of "the higher ups dropped the license in our laps and told us to 'have fun'", so from the beginning it was a calculated decision involving brand value.

 

[Fez]

Which is all the more interesting considering that part of the value that caused them to buy it and give it to them comes from NMA and co.'s efforts. They sealed their own fate. Muwhahaha.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I remember Todd Howard saying something to the effect of "the higher ups dropped the license in our laps and told us to 'have fun'", so from the beginning it was a calculated decision involving brand value.

Really? Fuck.

 

[Brother None]

I remember Todd Howard saying something to the effect of "the higher ups dropped the license in our laps and told us to 'have fun'", so from the beginning it was a calculated decision involving brand value.

I suspect not. I mean, Fallout has some brand value but it's not really worth a purchase for a company like Bethesda. But ZeniMax obviously did want to branch out beyond just the one-franchise company Bethesda offered.

Then the question is, do we trust this group of developers - who have never made an original property of their own - to be imaginative and make a great setting, or do we just buy it?

Fallout just happened to be available.

Anyone who believes Todd Howard's fairy story of asking the suits and getting it is just naive.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Then the question is, do we trust this group of developers - who have never made an original property of their own - to be imaginative and make a great setting, or do we just buy it?

The Elder Scrolls is their own invented IP.

 

[Brother None]

The Elder Scrolls is their own invented IP.

No, the Elder Scrolls is an original Bethesda IP. I specifically did not say Bethesda, I said "this group of developers".

Ted Peterson, Vijay Lakshman, Julian LeFay and Chris Weaver are often credited as the group that created TES. Peterson was credited for additional dialogue on Oblivion, so I'm not sure about him, but the others are way the hell away from Bethesda by now.

Seriously, the current Bethesda staff can barely keep the internal lore they're offered intact, for both Oblivion and Fallout 3. Would you really trust these guys to make a cool, solid new setting? Would you trust Todd Howard to be creative?

Methinks the ZeniMax suits made the right call there. They're good at that, when it comes to money.

 

[MetalCraze]

Unlike the rest of Europe, they seem pretty happy with it

They are Dutch. They have all kinds of faggotry legalized.

As expected it will always come to a fight when you confront ‘creatures’ such as mutants, caverats, molerats, deathclaws or scorpions, but when facing ‘human’ opponents you don’t always have to solve everything with violence.

Wow. You don't -always- have to kill every human you meet in the game (unlike those dumb poor "creatures"). That's so cool. Except it is still much worse than in original FOs.

 

[Dire Roach]

It looks like the world is not yet ready to accept a game where you will be able to boast, threaten, or deceive your way past caverats.

 

[The Lawnmower]

It looks like the world is not yet ready to accept a game where you will be able to boast, threaten, or deceive your way past caverats.

And that the world is no longer prepared to accept a game where you are able to crotch-punch caverats.

 

[Claw]

We saw a nice example of the AI when our hero had to cross a camp of enemy raiders. Confronting these openly would be equal to suicide so that was not an option. As long as it was daytime the camp would be well guarded, but as soon as the night fell most of the raiders were snoring loudly and our hero could sneak past the guards to continue his journey.

Shouldn't the raiders be more careful during the night? How did these morons survive long enough to be encountered by the player?

And that the world is no longer prepared to accept a game where you are able to crotch-punch caverats.

Or indeed crotch-punch anything.

 

[Murk]

Shouldn't the raiders be more careful during the night? How did these morons survive long enough to be encountered by the player?

good guys are level scaled too ;(

 

[NiM82]

I still don't understand why Bethseda decided to buy the Fallout brand. Wouldn't it be cheaper for them to just make their own game? I mean they changed everything, so why the millions wasted just on the name? :S

I don't get it..

I suspect as well as the brand name, they desperately wanted an established setting with lore. They don't seem to have any creative lore type people on team these days capable of conjuring up new worlds, heck they can't even do TES justice, judging from Oblivions retcon lore and pishy story. IIRC the original TES lore guys walked after MW.

 

[Pr()ZaC]

I'm sure there're many Fallout fans in the Beth team.
So why don't buy the IP and just copy/paste the whole idea into a 3D world?

Remember Daggerfall? Oh I do. The same (Morrowind, Oblivion) will happen to Fallout as it'll never be as cool as the originals.