Game News Fallout: New Vegas pulls in $300 Million

[Silellak]

Darth Roxor's pc has become infected with the Gothic 4 virus and therefore New Vegas won't work on his machine.

FUCK.

I knew I shouldn't have installed Arcania demo.

Don't worry; I think you have to actually finish the game to trigger the virus.

 

[shihonage]

Yin & Yang. I'm just putting back the Yang in the Yin.

Yeah, okay. Wait, what?

Anyway, i wish you good luck.

Thanks, I think.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Bros,

you are not bros.

 

[Micmu]

Congratulations to Bethesda and their slam dunk!

 

[Mastermind]

I hoped they'd get the recognition they deserve so much with Alpha Brotocol

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

This is where things get interesting. I hoped they'd get the recognition they deserve so much with Alpha Protocol, but doing it like this is just as sweet.

They did get the recognition they deserved with Alpha Protocol.

 

[shihonage]

Oh SNAP

 

[AlaCarcuss]

I bet Bethesda's wishing they did NV themselves now (even though they'll get most of the credit anyway).

As for Obsidian, how about BG3 for Bioware? (in the DA engine?)....

 

[Felix]

DA engine is kinda sucks.

 

[chzr]

Fallout 3 with the same retarded gameplay

Are faction mechanics and quest design not part of the gameplay?

Also, people who have played more than a couple of hours know that other aspects of the gameplay have been improved - maybe not enough to make everyone happy, but it's not "lol the same" as FO3.

well if we say faction mechanics and quest design is part of the gameplay, then the gameplay is mediocre.

otherwise it would be terrible 'gameplay' (combat/ui), but great quest design and faction mechanics.

 

[janjetina]

This is where things get interesting. I hoped they'd get the recognition they deserve so much with Alpha Protocol, but doing it like this is just as sweet.

They did get the recognition they deserved with Alpha Protocol.

The recognition they deserved for Alpha Protocol would be liquidation of assets.

well if we say faction mechanics and quest design is part of the gameplay, then the gameplay is mediocre.

otherwise it would be terrible 'gameplay' (combat/ui), but great quest design and faction mechanics.

A true assburgerish attitude. Everything needs to be condensed and quantifyied.

 

[chzr]

A true assburgerish attitude. Everything needs to be condensed and quantifyied.

butthurt detected

 

[CrimsonAngel]

DA engine is kinda sucks.

Yes the DA engine sucked and there newest version of the Engine actually look worse then the first.

 

[mondblut]

Codex reads like TESF nowadays. I am sickened.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

DA engine is kinda sucks.

Yeah, but so does the FO3 engine - still NV turned out ok (bugs aside). Bethesda would've never let them choose any other of course.

Same deal with Bioware - if Obs were to do BG3, DA engine would be the obvious (only?) choice. It's a pipe dream anyway - never going to happen.

 

[Malakal]

Congratulations to Bethesda and their slam dunk!

Probably this. They take the risk so they take the credit.

Not like Obsidian deserves the credit really. Not recently. Not with NV. Its a nice game but RPG? Not sure about that.

And I agree witht he poster above, most places in the 'wasteland' make no sense.

 

[commie]

Same deal with Bioware - if Obs were to do BG3, DA engine would be the obvious (only?) choice. It's a pipe dream anyway - never going to happen.

Nah, they should license the Twitcher 2 engine: it seems perfect for storyfag elements at which Obsidian are best at and it has more potential for varied methods of play(see the stealth part). Sure maybe Twitcher 2 won't take advantage of it fully but there's no reason that this engine cannot become really versatile.

 

[MetalCraze]

This game is more retarded than it let on. My high hopes were dashed after stumbling upon area after area which made no sense and where the overly friendly NPCs willingly "spilled" about the uninteresting and unbelievable "life" in their lifeless "town".

Standing on the corners, soliciting non-existent customers.

I stumbled onto a town with New Vegas version of Hitler. He was a breath of fresh air, as he was after destroying all the retarded NPCs in this game, too.

Then I stumbled upon a town which sold dinosaur toys because it had a giant dinosaur. A lifeless place. Nobody buys toys in the wasteland. None of this made any sense.

Then I found a ghoul cult, with a "charismatic leader", who sent me to a basement to kill "nightkin". Smelling Todd Howard, I ignored his request and moved on, only to stumble upon a near-identical NCR installation, which had an annoying yet-overly-friendly NPC ask me to go switch panels for them...

I stumbled upon "New Vegas Medical", where the doctor was overly friendly and chirped along like she was in Kaiser Permanente, not in desolate wasteland.

Then I found Crimson Caravan, but when they started yammering their tardspeak at me, I couldn't take it anymore. I got out of there, and saw a guard. Her head flew clean off.

Same fate dawned on the unfortunate mercenary and a trader passing by. I left the brahmin alone - it was an innocent in all this.

My last action in FO: Nonsense Vegas was killing a prostitute, taking her outfit, and running away from an entire town shooting at me.

Then I put on the outfit, switched to 3rd-person view, admiring my role-playing skills, and now the next step will be erasing this terrible affliction from my hard drive.

Now add Obsidian logo to it and suddenly it all becomes awesome

People who liked this fallout rape is just a bunch of fucking retarded hypocrites - olololo Failout 3 retarded writing and setting *slaps Obsidian logo onto this shit* zomg teh best gaem in ages!

Codex reads like TESF nowadays. I am sickened.

Eh? TESF doesn't go "ololo the game I fapped about 2 months ago is shit but this new one that plays exactly like that one is totally awesome"

Even ESF'ers are more consistent than the retarded Obsidian fanboi

 

[Silellak]

Oh hey cool it's skyway hating another Obsidian game he hasn't played.

People who like New Vegas have explained in detail why they like it and why it's greatly superior to Fallout 3, while you haven't bothered to change your "arguments" since before New Vegas was released.

Pro-tip: This makes you look like a complete dumbfuck.

 

[MetalCraze]

Oh hey cool it's skyway hating another Obsidian game he hasn't played.

Because if I will play it everything that shihonage wrote will magically go away?

I don't need to play when I have shittons of Codex comments confirming in detail that this is exactly like Failout 3.

People who like New Vegas have explained in detail why they like it and why it's greatly superior to Fallout 3, while you haven't bothered to change your "arguments" since before New Vegas has come out.

Really? All comments were like "fap fap fap better writing better setting fap fap Obsidian". But then you read comments like these or a thread about actual Failout 3 NV gameplay and realize that it's the exactly same shit (not that I didn't know this thanks to all those dozens of previews/reviews which write the same stuff)

Pro-tip: This makes you look like a complete dumbfuck.

Oh cry me a river. I tried asking several times how exactly this game is different when it has exactly the same problems F3 suffers from naming them and if I will play it will they magically go away - and all I got in return "lololo you are dumbfuck you just haet all gaems" etc

I ask you the same question now - if I will play it will the terrible console shooter gameplay, terrible enemy AI, quest-compass (which turns 100% of all quests into 'chase the arrow' in every single game it is in), enemy radar, stats influencing shit, inconsistent setting and writing and finally, ugly visual design, go away?

 

[Micmu]

Congratulations to Bethesda and their slam dunk!

Probably this. They take the risk so they take the credit.

Most importantly, as official developer and publisher, they take all the profits. So NV sells 3 bazillion copies? Yay, good for Bethshitsda and their Oblivian 2 MMO!
Obsidian does gain good reputation (and some bad, thanks to new bugs and apparently outdated engine and all the flaws batshitsda got a free pass).
They may even get devoured by Zionmax in the near future...
I dunno, if I were an obsidionite fanboy, I definitely wouldn't be cheering over NV's success. Not this one.

 

[Silellak]

I am not saying you would necessarily like it - I am saying there are legitimate reasons to prefer it to Fallout 3 because it makes several subtantial improvements in major areas. If you don't care about those major areas, then obviously you won't care about the improvements - but to say "New Vegas is just like Fallout 3 you guys I swear" is proveably false.

All I can really do is explain why I think it's better than Fallout 3:

- Greatly improved factions - both "setting consistency" wise, and the way the gameplay mechanics interact with them.
- Greatly improved quest design - the "improved factions" aspect ties into this. Quests for different factions can be mutually exclusive - some solely by completing them, others based on how you complete them. Then there's the skill checks which lead to alternate paths - most quests have at least a few different ways to be solved, based on your character build. And as I said - how you solve a quest can be just as important as if you solve it. Why? Faction mechanics - getting rid of an opposing faction using diplomacy won't piss them off - shooting them in the face will.
- Improved combat. No "greatly" adjective there, but it is better - the "nerfed" perks and the "nerfing" of VATS help - being in VATS no longer makes you basically invincible. "True ironsights" makes non-VATS combat a much more useful option. The improved implementation of Damage Threshhold along with the different ammo types used to combat enemy DT also helps. It's hardly a tactical gameplay wonderland, but it is better. Granted, if you thought combat in FO3 was terrible and beyond redemption, then those changes probably won't matter to you; but if you're in the same camp as me, and simply thought combat in FO3 was mediocre, then the improvements in New Vegas go a long way toward making it more tolerable.
- Improved writing/setting consistenty. It's not "lol better because Obsidiab's name is on the box", it's better because it's better. The setting is better, the characters and companions are better, the factions are better. Maybe for you it's just fluff; for me it's the main reason I play sandbox RPGs. For example, Ultima VII - shitty, shitty combat, but everything else is so good, it's still my favorite RPG.

People seem to love to claim that "the gameplay is exactly the same" because combat is largely the same, but are quest design and faction mechanics suddenly not part of the gameplay? Are they just "lol fluff"?

As for your issues:

terrible console shooter gameplay

As I said earlier - if you hated FO3's combat, you'll still hate New Vegas', despite the improvements.

terrible enemy AI

Define "terrible", I guess? It's the same "enemy AI" you see in most action RPGs, so yes I guess by your standards it's "terrible".

quest-compass

Yes, but I've never bitched about quest compasses in other games, so I'm not going to start now.

enemy radar

I've never understood your problem with this - your "radar"'s range is based on your Perception stat. It's supposed to reflect how well your character perceives the world around him. Is this a bad thing?

stats influencing shit

I'm not exactly sure what your complaint here is. Stats aren't as important as in a pure RPG, but they never are in action RPGs. They're still pretty important, though, and certainly influence how you play the game. And skills are just as important to your success - let me know how well your low Endurance/Perception/Agility/Weapon Skill character does against Radscorpions and Deathclaws.

inconsistent setting and writing

Yes, this is - for the most part - no longer an issue. Whether New Vegas is "consistent" with Fallout 1 and/or Fallout 2 is an entirely different debate, but it is, at least, consistent within itself, with the glaring exception of the stupid, stupid Ghouls in Space quest. Even Tabitha is consistent within the setting established - not because the setting is "for lolz", but because of the "night kin insanity" plot thread. Tabitha and Space Ghouls aside, the overall atmosphere of the game is actually quite dark and depressing, and the great thing is, there's so much fucking content in the game, that Tabitha and the "space ghouls" make up maybe 1% of it.

ugly visual design

The visual design has never struck me as particularly good or particularly awful, so I guess I can't answer this.

As I said at the beginning, the point of this post isn't to convince you that you would like the game. I don't say "lol just play it" because I think you would like it, but rather because some of your criticisms look ignorant to people who have played the game. Honestly, based on the kind of game you enjoy, you probably wouldn't like New Vegas. However - there are perfectly valid reasons to enjoy the game that have nothing to do with being an "Obsidian fanboy" and/or "being a hypocrite" - don't assume people disliked FO3 for the same reasons you did.

 

[MetalCraze]

Examples examples. Because apart from "mutually exclusive quests" all points are "it's just better!". And multiple paths are most of the time just a matter of selecting a different dialogue option, am I right?

- Improved writing/setting consistenty. It's not "lol better because Obsidiab's name is on the box", it's better because it's better.

See. That's exactly what I'm talking about.
It's just better!
And then I have shihonage's post giving a shitton of examples why it isn't.
Really I don't see any reason apart from the game being made by Obsidian - even in this thread examples show that it's the very same F3 apart from a few things here and there. And people praise it like the best game of the decade (not that it doesn't happen every time the new mainstream "rpg" comes out)

Define "terrible", I guess? It's the same "enemy AI" you see in most action RPGs, so yes I guess by your standards it's "terrible".

There is way better AI in shooters, and I'm not even talking about fully dynamic AI not tied to scripts but at least they should've made it something more than "spawn - run at the player like an idiot". Even Divinity 2's AI while being dumb too tries to work as a team by at least healing and assisting each other.

Do you really enjoy playing a game where the majority of the game time you just play a shooting range with very dumb AI?

Yes, but I've never bitched about quest compasses in other games, so I'm not going to start now.

So how much weight does your opinion about F3NV quests has then? How exactly quests in F3NV are improved if they don't take any effort from the player?
Take Fallout 1 & 2. You were given general directions or hints and after that it was your problem finding the ways to achieve the goal. Bah even Divinity 2 forces you to explore and have a keen eye because it lacks the quest-compass. Morrowind is better in this regard too.

What's the point in doing quests when you don't even need to do them, zero effort whatsoever - when they are basically about moving from one NPC to talk to to another one to talk to?

I've never understood your problem with this - your "radar"'s range is based on your Perception stat. It's supposed to reflect how well your character perceives the world around him. Is this a bad thing?

So does your character see through buildings and concrete walls because that isn't reflected in the game?
Why the fuck do I need to know that the whole bunch of enemies is behind that wall? What about punishing the player for being unprepared not telling him "prepare yourself - enemies are there"

Stats aren't as important as in a pure RPG

That's the problem

but they never are in action RPGs

Just because combat is reflex-based doesn't mean non-combat stuff shouldn't be (and I'm not talking about the dialogues). And your statement isn't true. Even Deus Ex and VTMB which are more like shooters with stats beg to differ. No minigames replacing char stats either.

it is, at least, consistent within itself, with the glaring exception of the stupid, stupid Ghouls in Space quest. Even Tabitha is consistent within the setting established - not because the setting is "for lolz", but because of the "night kin insanity" plot thread.

Shihonage's post shows the "consistency" better than "it's just better!" you know.

I don't say "lol just play it" because I think you would like it, but rather because some of your criticisms look ignorant to people who have played the game.

Which are?
So far my criticisms are mostly about gameplay and surely they'll look ignorant to people who just want to chase quest arrow from one NPC to another and click through dialogues - not actually play the game.
No matter what you'll do you are still a guy with a gun shooting shit.

You see it isn't about people enjoying the game or not. it isn't about the game being better than F3 which doesn't matter because shit being better than shit isn't much of a relief. It's that retards still keep their "OLOLO BETHESDUH" while enjoying the exactly same game Bethesda makes, actually a game where the major part of everything is made by Beth. And in two months F3NV will become nothing just like AP did among people who were licking its ass when it came out but DA2 will be the best game evar at that time.

 

[Sceptic]

Nice try Silellak, but you're an Obsidian fanboy. Don't try to deny it. Don't even try to bring up how much you hated AP - it won't change a thing. You did not mercilessly bash NV, hell you even had the gall to play it before praising it. How DARE you deny being a retarded fanboy?

In order to stay true to form, this post was written without reading a single word of yours

 

[Silellak]

See. That's exactly what I'm talking about.
It's just better!
And then I have shihonage's post giving a shitton of examples why it isn't.

I tend to avoid detailed examples of quest design because of spoilers, but if I have more time today, I'll gladly go into detail regarding a few quests that all tie together, with multiple solutions and such.

But seriously, are you going to use shihonage's post as the shining example of "examples why it isn't?" The post with exciting critiques like:

This game is more retarded than it let on. My high hopes were dashed after stumbling upon area after area which made no sense and where the overly friendly NPCs willingly "spilled" about the uninteresting and unbelievable "life" in their lifeless "town".

Funny how you blindly praise his post, even when he gives few-if-any specific examples of how the areas "make no sense" and "overly friendly NPCs". Vague, example-less praise = bad, vague, example-less criticism = good. Glad to know where the line is drawn.

I mean seriously:

Standing on the corners, soliciting non-existent customers.

Not true.

Then I stumbled upon a town which sold dinosaur toys because it had a giant dinosaur. A lifeless place. Nobody buys toys in the wasteland. None of this made any sense.

One of the few actual "examples" in his post, but still wrong. The characters gives an explanation as to why he sells the toys and even mentions that no one fucking buys them.

I stumbled upon "New Vegas Medical", where the doctor was overly friendly and chirped along like she was in Kaiser Permanente, not in desolate wasteland.

She didn't come across as "overly friendly" - but so what if she did? All characters have to be depressed and angsty about the 200-years-old-now apocalypse in order for a setting to be believable? Buh?

Then I found Crimson Caravan, but when they started yammering their tardspeak at me, I couldn't take it anymore.

Wow, that's a pretty in-depth criticism ya got thar.

You are right, his post is just full of a "shitton" of examples.

Oh, and as a bonus - that "Nightkin basement" example? There's a way to do that without killing a single Nightkin:

You must now clear the basement of the Nightkin. However, for a greater challenge, it is not necessary to kill them if you perform two optional sub-quests for the Nightkin leader Davison and the ghoul Harland.

WARNING: if you kill any Nightkin BEFORE or AFTER meeting Davison, he will attack you. You will need 2-3 StealthBoys and/or a high Sneak skill to complete these optional objectives. One or two can be found on the already deceased Nightkins.