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Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

Graphics.

What are the graphics like on the best game of 08, the finest game of it’s generation?......good, but that’s all I can really say, I was certainly hoping for more, but with the multi-platform era in full swing, we’re stuck with something that looks like a cross between Rainbow Six Vegas and Far Cry2.

I must admit, that when you’re in daylight hrs, the game looks pretty good with its scale and draw distance, but it has a bad habit of plonking me in the dark more often than not, ie, the day/night cycle favours the night.

The benchmark for object detail and weather effects is Stalker CS…..this game doesn’t threaten that one bit on either front, in fact, it seems to be overdosing on HDR lighting and bloom…..what till you enter Tenpenny Tower proper to see what I mean.
The game doesn’t have much in the way of destructible environments either and there are plenty of low texture rocks and boulders about.
The water is okay, but it’s usually radioactive so you tend to stay well away from it.

AI seems to be fairly good, but character animation isn’t in the league of Stalker CS/Fear2.
The weapons look okay, they blend in with the rest of the games graphical quality.

The graphics are also stylized as well, for ex, bridges and broken freeways look comic book like from a distance, but improve in detail as you approach….and once again, it can’t compete with Stalker CS for scale, but it does have a good sense of scale.

Being a late 08 release, I’m tempted to give the graphics a 6.5/10, but because of the games scale and the manner in which they’ve implemented VATS, I’ll give it a 7/10.
Those of you who’ve played the game might think I’m being a hard on the graphics score, but the fact is, other than VATS, the graphics don’t break any ground and character animation isn’t even as good as 2007’s COD4……..so if they’re going to continue making multi-platforms, I’m going to pick it’s limitations apart.

7/10.

Sound and Use of Sound.

SQ overall is fine, but it seems to lack a bit of punch compared to other games…..the sound of the weapons are reasonable and whilst miles better than Mass Effect’s lame FPSer experience, I’d still prefer more realism and impact.
Use of sound and the dialogue system are pretty good actually, however, where Mass Effect is a more classy experience, this one is crasser, but it’s done in a coherent manner so it’s not a negative.

8+9=17/2=8.5/10

8.5/10.

Storyline.

Basically, you’ve escaped from a bunker society and are in pursuit of your Dad thru a post-apocalyptic Washington DC, so you’re in wastelands with structures in various states of decay…..of course, the radiation’s played havoc with the wildlife, so you get to meet and greet all sorts of creatures that have suffered genetic modification.
Overall, I think the mix of enemies is reasonable, I’d be inclined to remove a few of the bugs etc, but otherwise, I think they’re on the money, but as I said, I’d prefer better character animation, granted these creatures and people have a strong 3D presence, but their movements are a bit sharp and quirky.

You’ve got a main storyline and a number of side quests……my aim is to try and complete both the main and the sides before completing it, and yes, I haven’t finished it, but it’s massive, so it could take me weeks before I do.

So whilst I can’t comment on the ending, I think the basic premise is fine, and the game is unfolding fairly well.

8.5/10

Subjective appeal.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I couldn’t resist the hype and so I bought it from CDWOW for $50aud delivered….this compares favourably to the retail price of $80-$90.
I didn’t like the beginning at all…..IMO the vault sux and if I’m given the opportunity, I’ll do a Megaton on the whole complex.

Speaking of Megaton, I thought that part was excellent and the reason for it’s destruction hilarious…..as I said, hopefully I’ll be able to give the vault the same treatment, or at least kill everything within it, lol.

FO3 is a RPG and FPSer hybrid, and both aspects are good…..I have no serious issues with the dialogue system, it may not be as polished as Mass Effects, but it’s certainly better than Stalkers.
I thought that some of the dialogue in Stalker CS was repetitive and pointless, but FO3’s dialogue is not only better, but it helps create a feel for the game, and by its nature, is building the game nicely.

As you may know, I typically prefer FPSers, and one of my criteria for any decent FPSer is the quality of the weapons, ie, their look, performance and diversity……so how does FO3 fare?.....well, it’s good and bad news.

Bad news is that without VATS, the hit detection/effectiveness of the weapons is fairly poor, even from mid range distances, its hard to score head shots, and I sometimes think they’re inconsistent wrt how many hits scores a kill…..the weapons are also clunky console diseased.

Good news…..VATS is superb……the 3quater slow mo cinematic view is excellent, and VATS is a targeting system that not only freezes your opponents, it offers you body part selection, ie, you can shoot at the head, the arms or where ever…..so if ole mate has a helmet but minimal armour, you’d be wise to aim for the exposed section.

VATS only works from close to mid-range, and up close, you can literally take people and animals heads off.
But this is one of the games strengths and weaknesses, for ex, whilst you can play Fear2 with or without the slo mo, I don’t think it would be possible to complete FO3 without VATS, you’d probably just run out of ammo.
I’m someone who liked Max Payne’s bullet time, Fear’s slo mo, and obviously FO3’s VATS, but as I said, VATS overcomes the games otherwise clunky and ineffective real time weaponry…..but ditch VATS, and you’re up shit creek.

FO3 also has a Pip Boy 3000, which is a fancy name for a PDA….and this works well, better than I thought actually…it has a comprehensive inventory and maps with markers etc…..it also lists your level of skill, and you’ll need to constantly advance your skill levels to complete various tasks, in fact, as you’re awarded skill points, you can assign them to the skills of your choice, ie, science skill or explosives skill etc.

And finally, fucking finally, a game developer allows us to store and select virtually as many weapons as you can find…granted, you have a weight limit, but it’s not a pain in the ass factor…….remember, I don’t always want realism to interfere with my deep seated need to kill and kill again.

I consider the gameplay to be interesting, memorable and appealing, so despite how long it’s going to take me to complete every task , I’m dug in, and as the developers state in the game manual, “yes the game eventually ends”….lol.

One more thing, there’s no right and wrong in this game, so whilst there is a path you need to follow so to speak, you can make all sorts of choices, including reneging and betraying your friends, and as an undiagnosed sociopath, I think that’s a cool idea.

9/10

Objective demerits/bugs.

No probs with install, no bugs after 8hrs of gameplay, and I’m maxing it on my 4850{1920x1200}…..however, I can’t overlook the console diseased nature of this game…..this could’ve scored a 10 for Subjective appeal had it been a PC exclusive and they were able to address the shortcomings I spoke of, but there’s no way I can give this game a strong score in this section despite the positives of the game overall.

Just to recap……objective demerits are.

1….graphics.
2….clunky weapons
3….weapon hit detection.

These problems could easily have been fixed if the game didn’t suffer from the multi-platform nonsense that’s stagnated PC gaming…..but at least this mob made a strong showing in gameplay and overall game structure.

7/10.

So the finest game of its generation scores a even 8/10, however, if you consider that with better graphics, this game could have picked up another 4 points edging it close to a 9/10, but unfortunately, the facts are the facts……and it annoys me that it isn’t a 9, and it also annoys me that people overlook the objective demerits and score it based off gameplay only.

So I guess even though the console disease has struck again, if you’re not too concerned about the notion of games stagnating relative to what they could be, and you end up enjoying VATS as I do, then by all accounts you should enjoy this game…..the graphics and scale aren’t terrible, but they’ve taken a quality hit because this game needs to squeeze into an Xbox 360.

berzerker · A Winner is me!

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

I have Timeshift.
It's a solid game, but that's all I can say about it.

FUCK_YOU_ALL · A Winner is me!

Alright, I'm definitely torrenting this game.

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

The game requires a Windows Live account to work.......I don't know how you get around that with a torrent, fucked if I know, I buy all my games these days.

FUCK_YOU_ALL · A Winner is me!

I do have an account, but I know what you mean; it's a bitch to torrent the new games, what with DRM and all that crap.

captnPugwash_halabalobale · Banned

i dont support piracy, but i am delighted when some copy protection mechanism is broken. perhaps it is the intellectual effort i admire.

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

HEY FUCKEN HOLD ON HEY....FO3 WAS MY FIRST EVER RPG FUCKEN, SO SOME OF MY COMMENTS REGARDING THE CLUNKINESS NEED TO BE RE-FUCKEN-CONSIDERED.

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I have F03 on DVD, but bought GOTY edition from steam, and it looks like they install the Bethesda HD pack by default....I was wondering why it looked so much better than my memory of FO3 vanilla.

craterface · Poopypants

I'm playing with Fallout 3 GOTY too. I already had it before but now I'm going through the DLC's. Quite nice, although I miss the ever-awesome Enclave President and his entertaining lines on the radio.

Post the specs of your character (screenshots of it is well accepted)!
Mine is like this (with all the blopperheads and proper gear)

S - 5
P - 10
E - 10
C - 5
I - 5
A - 10
L - 10

Fallout 2 was better and my character was more awesome (although did not had this many stat points), but this game's okay too. I just bought New Vegas Ultimate Edition (basically like GOTY: main game with all dlc's), so before I start that one I decided to finish F3 completely.
Now snce it'll be vegas after the capital wasteland, I plan on being a lucky bastard with high charisma who's able to fire a revolver if needed (and of course I try the wacky wasteland trait).
I torrented the game first, just to see how it'll be, and I really like it. The character builds are more like in 1 and 2, you don't have that much perks and stat points and you can't carry a rocket lancher with 1 str. Perception affects your aim too and you can use various attacks barefisted once again.
Looking forward to it.

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

Enclave radio still exists.....

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

I'm high on agility, perception and intelligence, I'm also playing on very hard and it's a SOB, ammo conservation is critical now, as is avoiding tough fuckers until I'm stronger.

Suislide · VGS Admin

Your review sucks.

The storyline and the writing in the game is fucking atrocious. I can admit that this is another review of which I fucked up in retrospect. My second playthrough of the game and the release of Fallout New Vegas made me realize how fucking awful in EVERY ASPECT that Fallout 3 really is.

You fight Super Mutants at level 3. Shit is crap.

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

Another thing, when I used to play this game before, I chose normal diff level, and because of that, the various perks weren't that important, but they are on very hard, so that's the beauty of this game, if you want a mix of action, exploration and questing, you can do it nice and easy, or you can take the combat route and the games levels progressively make things easier.

A fucking brilliant game, that has excellent sound, combat, imagery with or without HD packs, has HD packs, and is just fun to play.
This isn't aimed at wanna be intellectuals looking for a deep and meaningful anal penetration, it's a great combat action adventure game.

Suislide · VGS Admin

It is an insult to the Fallout series.

You sound like you never played Fallout 2.

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

Suislide · VGS Admin

I'm sorry to hear that.