Declaration of Grievances: Fallout 3

[Dogmeatlives]

Our Declaration of Grievances concerning Fallout 3, and in order to create a better tomorrow. This forum is dedicated to the singular task of pointing out flaws in the Fallout 3 design, and while I realize some of us could come up with pages, I would like to keep it to a maximum of three areas for improvement per member, and try not to repeat and keep them concise, thanks.

Fallout 3 has been hailed by too many reviewers, IMO, as a perfect game. It has won game of the year status from many sources, and while it may actually be the best game of the year, there is definitely a disservice being done if we are not to focus on some of the flaws that the game has. There will undoubtedly be a Fallout 4, and I'm sure there are many issues that fans of the game would like resolved before the next game is released.

Issue 1:
The voice acting= terrible. Voice acting needs a major upgrade. The characters do not sound like real people, but more like Disney cartoon voices. If they can't afford a billion voice actors, send me the f3ing scripts, and I'll do a better job.

Issue 2:
Lack of Change. After spending time in the world, one may become interested in it, and what changes we have actually made in the world. I want to see a higher level of detail in the way the world reacts to some of my decisions. For instance, if the sheriff is killed by Tenpenny's bitch, I would like to see and hear about an election for a new sheriff. Little stuff like that really adds volumes to the reality of the world.

Issue 3:
Unreasonable mutants. I would have liked the opportunity to side with the Super mutants, or just to hear more from their side of life. While the game features Brotherhood deserters, there are no Mutant army deserters. I have only come upon a single Mutant who will chat with you, and then he has almost nothing to say! Mutants do not have a hive mind, and are looking out for themselves just like humans. Unless we are Brotherhood members, I don't see much reason for being attacked on sight. Also, I despise the idea of Supermutants as an army of cannibals.

Please continue this list and keep it constructive, thanks.

[VasikkA]

I'll possibly try to come up with a review once I finish the game(yeah, I know I'm a slow player). Shouldn't be too long now.

I pretty much agree on those points, but Issue 2 is more or less a problem in every CRPG I've played. However, there are quite a few details in the game which make the gameworld feel more reactive and dynamic than, say, in Oblivion.

My biggest gripe with the game is the minimal impact S.P.E.C.I.A.L. has to your game. It basically doesn't matter what attributes and skills you decide to focus on as some skills are completely redundant and if you use VATS, the combat isn't an issue.

Overall, my view on Fallout 3 is far less pessimistic than most opinions presented on these forums. Of course, there are a couple of -isms, I give you that.

[Wolfman Walt]

Shitty combat is still shitty no matter what is said.

[SenisterDenister]

Issue 4:
Bad main story, it took elements from the first two games and ripped them apart, and were sewn back together as an amalgamation of degenerate mind numbing filth, leaving the game completely unopened and completely locked in finality (linear as hell). Not only was it unoriginal, but once you get the motivation to actually do the main quest, it can be completed within three hours, most of which is just running from location to location.

Issue 5:
The actual quests themselves (people may care to elaborate further into this if need be) were a large problem to me, often they were time consuming, once again spending the large majority of it running around, and once completed, players wouldn't feel rewarded from completing it. I never thought to myself, "man, this was really cool" nothing I did as a player really influenced the game at all, which is another missing item from the previous two. Also, killing Harold. That quest was despicable, simply and disgustingly horrendous. I thought it was supremely idiotic for Bethesda to kill of the most favorable and memorable character of the entire Fallout series, and worst of all, making the character do it.

[SEIV]

all above.

[PiP]

hey guys, Fo3 is actually not that bad of a 'trequel' - Dungeon Keeper 3 will be a Chinese MMO!
(just read this @ RPS)

[SEIV]

Oh...

[Redeye]

Killing Harold was almost certainly a way of symbolically killing the past.

They were making Fallout their bitch, and Harold was "cap-cap to da hed" to prove it.

[MadBill]

Issue 6: VATS

[Retlaw83]

Senister, to be fair, you aren't forced to undertake the killing Harold quest. Secondly, I've shot Harold plenty of times in the other Fallouts.

[Stainless]

My personal 3 additions:

Unkillable NPCS: If you're that horrible of a quest designer that you can't figure out how to cover a simple angle such as... say, someone dieing, then don't write fucking quests. This was apprently kept to a min but every 5th person seems to be invincible, and not knowing if they are or not also sucks.

Uninteractive world: as pretty as it is, the world is mainly there for show. Bar shooting exploding cars and the resetting of traps or quest structures, there really is no interaction with your environment; ala repairing random generators for lights, etc.

Generally dull gameplay: I can't really put this any better, the game is dull & boring and probably a cure for insomnia if I ever get it again.

[Edward_R_Murrow]

I'll throw a few in the pot.

-The combat is bad. Shoddy animation, poor shooting mechanics, boring enemies, terrible AI, guns feeling very "samey", and a complete lack of challenge ruin the combat. Targeted shots seem goofy too. I'll cripple something's head, and it will just rub it for a second or two and shake it off like nothing. Bad combat can be overlooked in some cases, but not when it's more than 70% of the game, like it is in Fallout 3.

-Bethesda loves dungeons. Dungeons that are boring, homogeneous, and filled with combat. Add in that just about every quest has one, and it's just not fun. Looting isn't even much fun either, because you can open up anything and find it stuffed with ammo, caps, and drugs.

-Characters feel very much the same. The neutering of S.P.E.C.I.A.L.,the abundance of skill points, and quest design make it so that most characters will play out very similarly. Roles aren't really differentiated, as every character can become a jack of all trades a la Elder Scrolls.

[Dogmeatlives]

You guys, I can honestly say that I actually puked while playing this game last night! My sis blames it on the cheeseburger I had, but I know it's that stomach-churning dialogue.

I also wonder why nobody has called Bethesda out on the way their stubborn unwillingness to improve the flaws of Oblivion, while at the same time claiming that they had. I never really got into Oblivion, but from what I hear, the same gaping flaws exist in FO3 that existed in Oblivion. The voice acting is still terrible, the melee combat is still whack-a-mole-esque, and other shit I don't care to mention. Anyway, whatever, its bedtime.

Also, where is Harold? I haven't run into him yet, but I'm assuming he's in that LOTR area where the dudes with sticks on their clothes are.

[Psychoul]

My main concern is better dialogue, though it is still better than Oblivion. If i might add. I would like more quests with a lot better intriguing dialogue.

[Kashluk]

I don't feel it'd be one major issue in a specific sector rather than minor issues in every department, really. The overall rushed feeling, like someone was supposed to check that everything works fine and fits together, but didn't. This includes it all, the combat, the dialogue, the quests, the story, the interaction... It could've been a lot better, really, with maybe 10 % of the resources spent on graphical enhancement and lame pop-culture referenches re-directed to actual game design.

Thus I chose to vote blank, not at all: I think it's all above.

[St. Toxic]

I'm getting sick and tired of pointing out the obvious. We should make a thread dedicated to ridiculing those who are blind to the flaws, or believe that the game offers finer points, ones that make up for the overall blandness.

[Superhaze]

I cant chose one. Thats like only choosing one good thing about Stalin. Impossible!

Horrible dialog options is probably nr. 1.
Being limited to evil-neutral-good solutions to ALL quests ist nummer 2
Where are the junkies? Hookers? Stragglers? Survivors? Thugs? Raiders who can talk? is 3 to 8.
Forced into playing the game the way bethsoft has planned it. Nuuuuumber 9.
Simplifying the game to extremes. The big One-0.

[Frater Perdurabo]

Unkillable kids + unkillable NPCs.

[Superhaze]

well, atleast that can be modded fairly easy. But it does show how far we've come concerning "oh mah-gawd, wont somebody think of the children" -esque retardation limiting 18+ games.

[Manoil]

Unkillable as in, the inability to continue with the plot? Or unkillable, as in, Child's Play? I haven't come across any invincible NPCs just yet