Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Time for another fallout 3 discussion

deama

Prophet
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
4,352
Location
UK
Alright, so when I played fallout 3 it wasn't too bad, I liked it fine and replayed it here and there, same with new vegas. When I came here though I noticed most people didn't really like fallout 3. I didn't really get that many answers why, mostly stuff like: "why is moira alive after a nuke?", "lol, why is there a quest to blow up a town?", "the beginning is dog shit!","super mutants are retards now, wtf", "the main quest is a joke", etc...

A while back I watched a video which raised some good points:

I know it's kinda hard to watch because it's almost 2 hours long, but I rewatched the video again to refresh my memories of the points, and to also make a timestamp of the important topics he covers:
2:00 - fallout 3 isn't a proper fallout game
3:04 - vault 101 openning
5:58 - escaping vault 101
7:54 - officer Kendall
9:22 - eixiting vault 101
11:42 - going to megaton
13:02 - entrance to megaton
13:56 - megaton's bomb
14:59 - power of the atom quest
18:53 - fallout 3 is grim
20:37 - cotinueing with megaton
21:26 - some info on little lamplight
24:53 - quest for little lamplight
29:31 - back to megaton again
33:01 - moving on after megaton (metro tunnels)
34:48 - variety of landscape
37:05 - super mutants
43:50 - brotherhood of steel
48:46 - some talks about the ending
54:50 - wow moments
57:20 - museum of technology
59:22 - why doesn't new vegas have any real dungeons?
1:04:55 - the main story
1:10:38 - map comparison vs new vegas
1:14:58 - quests in general
1:18:39 - landmarks
1:19:17 - reputation + random deck of events
1:23:36 - the radio
1:24:32 - fallout 3 has interesting morale choices
1:32:46 - what fallout 3 does very well
1:41:24 - damage calculation
1:45:50 - fallout 3 isn't a shooter
1:48:57 - fallout 3's ammo
They might be off by a second or so, so bare with the timestamps.

So, I don't suppose anyone wants to discuss this further? Like how/why the guy is wrong, or how/why he's right?
 

Wunderbar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
8,809
Fallout 3 makes no sense and is full of immersion-breaking stupid things like Little Lamplight, Megaton bomb, richy rich tower and so on.
 

Funposter

Arcane
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
1,773
Location
Australia
mostly stuff like: "why is moira alive after a nuke?", "lol, why is there a quest to blow up a town?", "the beginning is dog shit!","super mutants are retards now, wtf", "the main quest is a joke", etc...

These things which you seem to consider tiny on their own add up to completely obliterate the verisimilitude of the setting. The game wants to be taken seriously, but it's impossible to do so when the world isn't serious to begin with.
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,428
Location
Grand Chien
Fallout 3 has some cool stuff, and some cool moments. It's also filled with retarded stuff, and retarded moments.

Remember this is a game where, originally, upon finishing the main quest, the game ended, without the possibility of continuing. Even if you figured out some other way of completing it that didn't involve you sacrificing yourself.

Fallout's core themes are somewhat present, but the retardation of Bethesda seeps through and ruins a lot of the game.
 

Bester

⚰️☠️⚱️
Patron
Vatnik
Joined
Sep 28, 2014
Messages
10,997
Location
USSR
o, I don't suppose anyone wants to discuss this further?
Maybe there'd be something to discuss if you made a tldr of the points that the video makes. Nobody's going to delete 2 hours of their lives just to participate in a thread.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
I have a nice rebuttal to your well considered points sir, if you'd just like to go and play Fallout 1 for about 8 hours and come back i'll give you some timestamps that refer to them
 

Tweed

Professional Kobold
Patron
Joined
Sep 27, 2018
Messages
2,838
Location
harsh circumstances
Pathfinder: Wrath
I had to mod this game to the gills just to finish it, I lost interest the first time I played it, but goddamn I'd already spent the money so I was going to see that ending even if it killed me, and what to do you know it did!

Now the only thing left is to sit in bitter contemplation, asking "why?", like "Why are there vampires in this game?, "why is there a town built around an undetonated nuclear warhead?" and "Why are there still children in little lamplight?" and "Why is it so important to turn on the irradiating water machine in the first place when nobody but two people seem to be dying of thirst?"

The list goes on, but usually by the time I reach Little Lamplight on my mental checklist I start getting angry and I let the subject drop.
 

Kyl Von Kull

The Night Tripper
Patron
Joined
Jun 15, 2017
Messages
3,152
Location
Jamrock District
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Forget all the stupid shit—and there’s a lot of it—the most fundamental problem is simple: the vast majority of the originals took place in settlements. You were interacting with people, with factions, sorting out the problems of a post-apocalyptic society. Fallout 3 takes place almost entirely in the wasteland. There are only two large settlements in the whole game and, nuke aside, you never really feel like you’re having much of an impact on Megaton or Rivet City. That makes for a very different experience; there’s just a lot less roleplaying as a percentage of your playtime.

Instead, Fallout 3 pads out its content with mindless exploration and endless combat. This would be fine if the combat were any good, but Fallout 3 is one of the worst shooters ever made. NO IRON SIGHTS, really?

As an RPG, the SPECIAL and skill systems seem almost vestigial. In the original Fallouts you could complete nearly every quest through violence, stealth or speech. In Fallout 3, it’s violence, violence or violence. Your stats can sometimes get you better rewards, but rarely do they let you change the trajectory or the outcome of a quest. That sucks.

Throw in an incredibly linear story with no meaningful choice and consequence and what are you left with? Just a post-apocalyptic playground.

tl;dr if you’re going to make an action RPG, at the very least it needs to be either a good action game or a good RPG. Fallout 3 is neither.
 

udm

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Messages
2,752
Make the Codex Great Again!
IDK guys, I quite liked Fallout 3, particularly in the way it dealt with inter-factional strife. The bit where you could side with Mr House, NCR, Legion or none of them was the best. Also liked the allusions to groups, places and NPCs from FO2.
 

Cael

Arcane
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
20,287
All I need to know about FO3 is that you're effectively required to suicide at the end of the MQ because none of your rad-immune companions feels like pressing a button.
:hero:
*thinks back fondly to the days of Lone Wolf* At least then you know that you're the only one who can do things because the rest of the world was pretty much incompetent. Nowadays, it is all "I am wymmyn! Hear me roar!... except when the plot tells me to turn into a dainty princess afraid of mice..."
 

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
10,538
Location
Nottingham
Said it many times, I thrived on FO3's first playthrough. It's atmospheric, well paced, has a great blend of seriousness & humour, has loads of interesting things to discover, & is structured so that you genuinely feel like exploring is taking you on an adventure somewhere. Yes the VATS system is gimmicky, but yes it's also just cool as fuck to watch in action.

It lacks many things & I can understand why fans of the older games were disapointed, but for me it was a great enjoyable once-through play.

Second & subsequent playthroughs were FAR worse though having discovered most things.
 
Self-Ejected

RNGsus

Self-Ejected
Joined
Apr 29, 2011
Messages
8,106
So youtuber can't explain in two minutes why the game is good, he takes 2 hours and, let me guess, still can't explain why game is good.
 

gruntar

Augur
Joined
May 27, 2013
Messages
132
So youtuber can't explain in two minutes why the game is good, he takes 2 hours and, let me guess, still can't explain why game is good.

It's typical bethesdard trash level of arguments. His counter to LL kids being unkillable arrogant pricks? "but but stimpacks instant healing and getting better at hacking by leveling is unrealistic too, and it was in series from the beginning, so what's the problem?"
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,623
The issue with Fallout 3, unlike you New Vegas, is that you only need to take a brief look at their settlements and its worldbuilding before it completely falls apart. Literally just look at it, think for two seconds, and it falls apart.

1. A town built around an undetonated nuclear bomb.
2. Vampires feeding off blood.
3. Little Lamplight.
4. Being able to "talk" a computer into committing suicide, because "persuasion" is a gross overstatement of "kill yourself my man".
5. A town of rich people who do... dunno.
6. Nuke Megaton and your father doesn't seem to mind much, and actually lets you into his life's project, despite the fact you could potentially sabotage it.
7. Raiders vastly overwhelming the civilized population. It also seems raiders never wage war against each other, apparently all raiders belong to one big gang.
8. The ending, before it was changed by DLC.
9. Extremely lackluster consequences in said DLC if you chose the "Evil" option.

And more.

Then you have everything RPG related: skill and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. checks aren't much important, on top of being left to chance, on top of letting you SEE that chance, on top of them not making sense most of the time ("so you fight the good fight with your voice" being the most iconic example). Being able to easily min-max your character with a few early game tips. Bad combat with no iron sights. And more.

New Vegas is better in every single way. I always say it is one engine swap and 6 months away from being the undisputable best Fallout game ever made.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom