Fallout 3 Hands-On Preview

cazsim83 · Post by **cazsim83** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:55 pm

[ Game -> Preview ] - More info on <a href="#Fallout 3">Game: Fallout 3</a>

Nick Breckon at <a href="http://www.shacknews.com/">Shacknews.com</a> got a hands-on peek at Fallout 3, and claims he is a fan. He had pretty positive things to say, so here are some excerpts:<blockquote dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px">---"You so much as breathe, and I'm gonna fuckin' end ya." The words may as well have been coming directly from Bethesda. It felt like the company was challenging me, daring me to write anything negative about their new sequel to Black Isle's classic RPG series. I was very skeptical of whether the company could match the tone and content of the original titles. As good as Bethesda is, the bar was set very high ten years ago. But based on what I just played--and I had free reign to explore the world at whim--I came away feeling good about the game. Fallout 3 is not Fallout 2.5, and that can be a little disappointing at first, no matter how irrational of a feeling that is. But Fallout 3 is undoubtedly shaping up to be a solid game in its own right, and one that clearly takes many significant cues from the previous titles--from the opening scene, to the wonderfully realized PIPBoy menu. Oblivion: Fallout 3 this is not. ---After wandering out of the Vault, through the traditional cave--no rats to be found--and out across the wasteland, I managed to locate the town of Megaton rather quickly. Greeting me outside was a tall 50s-style robot, waving its stiff arms toward the town in greeting. Upon entering the town, Sheriff Lucas Sims gave me a gruff hello, and I engaged him in verbal combat. The most encouraging aspect of Fallout 3's dialogue is the number of options available. Oblivion's simple approach to dialogue trees would not suffice here, and as a result, I often had up to five or six options at any given time. With the Sheriff, I had enough choices to easily pick a fight with him, and did so immediately.---After reloading the game, I had a long chat with my murderer. The dialogue engine is indeed reminiscent of Oblivion, but after noticing this, I never gave it a second thought. Instead, I was focused on learning about the town, looking for quests, and more typical Fallout goals. Overall I would say that the demo area dialogue clearly eclipsed Oblivion's writing, but did not quite match the effectiveness of Fallout. There was certainly an edge to it all, as evidenced by the wanton use of vulgar language and themes--see the opening quote from the Sheriff. A few mildly humorous moments were produced by said vulgarity. But none of the characters caught me off guard or engaged me in the same way that Fallout did, and the voice acting was sometimes rather wooden. It was a short demo, and an early area, and the game is not finished, so I can not judge it based on this first taste. Suffice it to say, the tone of dialogue was close, but not right on. I was entertained, but not surprised. ---The system itself works well, and is certainly fun to use. But rather than a continuation of traditional Fallout combat, think of it more like tactical bullet-time. As there is no way to leave the tactical system toggled on, I usually found it more natural and expedient to simply play the game in real-time, rather than running away until my AP recovered and repeatedly pulling the bumper. I used it more as a way to slow down combat when I was in trouble, or to pick off enemies in the distance. It is less of a mode, and more of a situational tool. Feel free to read the entire article <a href="http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticl ... Spotted @ <a href="http://www.shacknews.com">Shacknews</a>

cazsim83 · Post by **cazsim83** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:57 pm

Just one thing: I thought Fallout 3 couldn't have a demo area, because blah blah blah?

Psychoul · Post by **Psychoul** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:24 am

I thought so too.

EDIT: Considering its an "open-ended" RPG, "would there be a demo" question. LOL

VasikkA · Post by **VasikkA** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:09 pm

some retard wrote:The system itself works well, and is certainly fun to use. But rather than a continuation of traditional Fallout combat, think of it more like tactical bullet-time

When do people start to realize that VATS is none other than a targeted shot?

Any analogies to the combat system in Fallout can be disregarded.

rabidpeanut · Post by **rabidpeanut** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:22 pm

This game is built from Oblivion and covered in a new coat of FAIL.

VATS? That is the dumbest shit i have ever heard. There is nothing new on this game except for new ways to FAIL hard.

cazsim83 · Post by **cazsim83** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:04 pm

One major thing I think I really didn't like is it seems that enemies start shooting you from a looong way away. Usually in F1 and 2, you could at least see your enemies before they started shooting at you. Tactics had times when someone could shootyou before you were onscreen, but usually only with a sniper rifle, as regular assaults rifles / etc weren't accurate from a range longer than the screen

MadBill · Post by **MadBill** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:43 am

Maybe... radiant AI is just that good?? lol fail.

Smiley · Post by **Smiley** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:31 am

Certainly makes for some kind of realism though... Any movement in the wasteland will surprise most, but not catch them off guard.

Does it make for good gaming? No.
Realism and good gaming rarely go well, hand in hand.

entertainer · Post by **entertainer** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:42 am

Smiley wrote:Realism and good gaming rarely go well

What a fail.

Smiley · Post by **Smiley** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:04 pm

Do you disagree, or are you just out to insult me?

entertainer · Post by **entertainer** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:23 pm

I disagree. Realism and great gaming go together. For me at least.

Smiley · Post by **Smiley** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:26 pm

I don't understand why partial realism is fun. I could understand one that strives to make it as realistic as possible, like when you want to jump down from a substantial height, you don't just jump, you grab the edge and roll.. Pretty simple concept.

Or when a game contradicts itself, like carrying a certain weight, but it still allows you to carry 40 rifles, because hey, it's within the weightlimit and there's room in the inventory.

entertainer · Post by **entertainer** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:41 pm

Flashpoint, Arma, Raven Shield, etc are great realistic games ok?

Or when a game contradicts itself, like carrying a certain weight, but it still allows you to carry 40 rifles, because hey, it's within the weightlimit and there's room in the inventory.

Don't remember anything like that in any game(realistic) i played.

Smiley · Post by **Smiley** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:54 pm

Flashpoint had potential. I'm looking forwards to trying the sequal.

Don't remember anything like that in any game(realistic) i played.

Stalker had it. Doesn't matter whether the game is realistic or not though, the function is.
Or maybe it's an excuse to limit the game... In either case, annoying as fuck.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:00 pm

You'll never drop it, will you?

entertainer · Post by **entertainer** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:06 pm

Smiley wrote:Flashpoint had potential. I'm looking forwards to trying the sequal.

Potential for what? The sequel(ofp2) might not be as much of a sequel since codemasters are making it.

PiP · Post by **PiP** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:37 pm

cazsim83 wrote:The most encouraging aspect of Fallout 3's dialogue is the number of options available. Oblivion's simple approach to dialogue trees would not suffice here, and as a result, I often had up to five or six options at any given time.

that's the most optimistic thing about the game that I've read in ages!

but it goes on:

cazsim83 wrote:dialogue clearly eclipsed Oblivion's writing, but did not quite match the effectiveness of Fallout. (...)But none of the characters caught me off guard or engaged me in the same way that Fallout did, and the voice acting was sometimes rather wooden.

oh well.

rabidpeanut · Post by **rabidpeanut** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:40 pm

entertainer wrote:
Smiley wrote:Flashpoint had potential. I'm looking forwards to trying the sequal.
Potential for what? The sequel(ofp2) might not be as much of a sequel since codemasters are making it.

I am pretty sure that flashpoint 2 will be more simliar to opf1 than failout 3 to 1 and 2.

Smiley · Post by **Smiley** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:26 am

S4ur0n27 wrote:You'll never drop it, will you?

It wasn't as much the weight or storage limit, it was mostly the way it affected stamina. But no, I'll never drop it.

entertainer wrote: Potential for what? The sequel(ofp2) might not be as much of a sequel since codemasters are making it.

To be a really good realistic game.
OFP came at a time where war-shooters dominated the FPS genre, so it was overlooked by most, or so it felt.

entertainer · Post by **entertainer** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:37 am

It was a really good realistic game... potential

Duck and Cover

Fallout 3 Hands-On Preview

Fallout 3 Hands-On Preview

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