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Reader Reviews / My belated review of Fallout 3.
« on: January 09, 2009, 03:44:48 PM »
When asked about what games Betheseda Studios wanted to do, Fallout 3 Game Director, Todd Howard, said, "We wanted to have more than one thing in our pocket. That we just didn't want to do an Elder Scrolls and then an Elder Scrolls and an Elder Scrolls. We knew we wanted to be in a similar vein. We wanted an open world. We want role playing elements and so we made a list of things we wanted to do and at the top of the list was Fallout."
Did Bethesda accomplish what they wanted: Putting their spin on what has become a classic franchise? In my humble opinion: They did. Going into this game Bethesda knew they had to stay true to the Fallout story, but using their own spin and game play. Using their research of the old fallout games and using similar formulas from their Elder Scrolls games and spinning them together works almost flawlessly.
Starting the game you are born. A crying baby in the doctor's arms. Shortly after you become 1 year old. Choosing your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats from a small book. I'll explain S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats briefly. It's basically your attributes. Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Each influencing the smaller skills that will aid you in your adventure. Time warps again to you being 10 years old. Getting your special aid device that will help you with your game and becomes your menu system. Then it warps again to your 16th year of being alive, where you take a test called the G.O.A.T. in which your answers will influence your starting skills. Afterwards, it warps to you being 19 and your father leaving your home. You soon chase after him, thrusting you into a world of desolation and the influencing of the human spirit.
As you play through this game, if you played the Elder Scrolls games, you will realize how much like the Elder Scrolls games this is. This is a Bethesda game first and a Fallout game second. Movement is the same; the compass and map are basically the same, the menu system, though more thought out and organized this time, is basically the same as well. However, knowing all this does not diminish the greatness that is a Bethesda game. Thrusting you into a post apocalyptic scene, you now get guns instead of swords, magic, and bows and arrows. This is one of the only complaints I can find in this game, even maxing out the skill for the type of gun you have, your aiming is still questionable. This leads into one of the great things of the game. V.A.T.S., which stands for: Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. When engaging this in game it freezes the battle, zooms in on your opponent and lets you look at each limb and the weapon of the opponent and gives you a percentage chance of you hitting that part of the enemy. This gives the game a statistical RPG element to gunplay. Now you may ask "Why should I go for any other part of the body other than the head?" Well by taking a few shots at say, an arm for example sake, enough hits will cripple that arm, making your opponent unable to aim or shoot steadily because of it. Shooting and crippling a leg will keep them from catching up to shoot you, should you need to run away. Shooting at the weapon brings down the condition of the weapon and eventually breaking it, keeping your enemy from attacking you with it.
Equipment with this game is basically the same as the Elder Scrolls; there are a lot of clothes and armor to find, and weapons as well. As with the Elder Scrolls games each item you can equip has a condition bar which shows how close to being broken and useless it is. The fuller the bar, the longer it will last and the greater benefit it has or more damage it does.
Another great thing in this game are the P.E.R.K.s. Once you hit level 2, you are able to pick one perk per level up. And every 2 levels you unlock more P.E.R.K.s to choose from. Each P.E.R.K. is…well for lack of a better term a perk to help you play through the game and each benefit from choosing one can vary from getting points added to stats, to getting special dialogue with certain people, extra damage, or even gaining another level right away. Although choosing a P.E.R.K. at a low level may seem well, it can bite you in the butt later in the game. You should look at the further P.E.R.K.s down the list to make a plan, especially since some P.E.R.K.s need your basic S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats to be higher than the defaulted number of 5 at the beginning of the game.
Okay, here's my one complaint. The aiming in this game is terrible. As I mentioned before you can have the small guns skill maxed out and your pistol shots are still going to veer off to the side a bit. You won't be 100% accurate with every shot. Not to mention that I found myself backing up and shooting enemies coming at me and holding the aiming button only slowed my steps and I did just as well not holding it and keeping my speed of running up.
All right so here we go:
Game Play: Except for the aiming of the game, this game is a Bethesda game through and through and that is certainly nothing to complain about.
Sound: Voice acting in this game is exceptional, by using celebrities like Liam Neeson for your father, to the random person walking the wasteland, its great. The musical soundtrack is reminiscent of Elder Scrolls, however turn on Galaxy News Radio and old 50's swing will come back to your heart.
Controls: I have no problem with the menu system and with moving around and shooting through the wasteland.
Graphics: It's a beautiful game. The only improvement could be with making the movements of the characters you're talking to less static as you talk with them. Outside of conversation the world, although dreary and irradiated, looks amazing.
Overall: I give this game a 9.5. With little to complain about this game is by far in the running somewhere for RPG of the year.
Did Bethesda accomplish what they wanted: Putting their spin on what has become a classic franchise? In my humble opinion: They did. Going into this game Bethesda knew they had to stay true to the Fallout story, but using their own spin and game play. Using their research of the old fallout games and using similar formulas from their Elder Scrolls games and spinning them together works almost flawlessly.
Starting the game you are born. A crying baby in the doctor's arms. Shortly after you become 1 year old. Choosing your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats from a small book. I'll explain S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats briefly. It's basically your attributes. Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Each influencing the smaller skills that will aid you in your adventure. Time warps again to you being 10 years old. Getting your special aid device that will help you with your game and becomes your menu system. Then it warps again to your 16th year of being alive, where you take a test called the G.O.A.T. in which your answers will influence your starting skills. Afterwards, it warps to you being 19 and your father leaving your home. You soon chase after him, thrusting you into a world of desolation and the influencing of the human spirit.
As you play through this game, if you played the Elder Scrolls games, you will realize how much like the Elder Scrolls games this is. This is a Bethesda game first and a Fallout game second. Movement is the same; the compass and map are basically the same, the menu system, though more thought out and organized this time, is basically the same as well. However, knowing all this does not diminish the greatness that is a Bethesda game. Thrusting you into a post apocalyptic scene, you now get guns instead of swords, magic, and bows and arrows. This is one of the only complaints I can find in this game, even maxing out the skill for the type of gun you have, your aiming is still questionable. This leads into one of the great things of the game. V.A.T.S., which stands for: Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. When engaging this in game it freezes the battle, zooms in on your opponent and lets you look at each limb and the weapon of the opponent and gives you a percentage chance of you hitting that part of the enemy. This gives the game a statistical RPG element to gunplay. Now you may ask "Why should I go for any other part of the body other than the head?" Well by taking a few shots at say, an arm for example sake, enough hits will cripple that arm, making your opponent unable to aim or shoot steadily because of it. Shooting and crippling a leg will keep them from catching up to shoot you, should you need to run away. Shooting at the weapon brings down the condition of the weapon and eventually breaking it, keeping your enemy from attacking you with it.
Equipment with this game is basically the same as the Elder Scrolls; there are a lot of clothes and armor to find, and weapons as well. As with the Elder Scrolls games each item you can equip has a condition bar which shows how close to being broken and useless it is. The fuller the bar, the longer it will last and the greater benefit it has or more damage it does.
Another great thing in this game are the P.E.R.K.s. Once you hit level 2, you are able to pick one perk per level up. And every 2 levels you unlock more P.E.R.K.s to choose from. Each P.E.R.K. is…well for lack of a better term a perk to help you play through the game and each benefit from choosing one can vary from getting points added to stats, to getting special dialogue with certain people, extra damage, or even gaining another level right away. Although choosing a P.E.R.K. at a low level may seem well, it can bite you in the butt later in the game. You should look at the further P.E.R.K.s down the list to make a plan, especially since some P.E.R.K.s need your basic S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats to be higher than the defaulted number of 5 at the beginning of the game.
Okay, here's my one complaint. The aiming in this game is terrible. As I mentioned before you can have the small guns skill maxed out and your pistol shots are still going to veer off to the side a bit. You won't be 100% accurate with every shot. Not to mention that I found myself backing up and shooting enemies coming at me and holding the aiming button only slowed my steps and I did just as well not holding it and keeping my speed of running up.
All right so here we go:
Game Play: Except for the aiming of the game, this game is a Bethesda game through and through and that is certainly nothing to complain about.
Sound: Voice acting in this game is exceptional, by using celebrities like Liam Neeson for your father, to the random person walking the wasteland, its great. The musical soundtrack is reminiscent of Elder Scrolls, however turn on Galaxy News Radio and old 50's swing will come back to your heart.
Controls: I have no problem with the menu system and with moving around and shooting through the wasteland.
Graphics: It's a beautiful game. The only improvement could be with making the movements of the characters you're talking to less static as you talk with them. Outside of conversation the world, although dreary and irradiated, looks amazing.
Overall: I give this game a 9.5. With little to complain about this game is by far in the running somewhere for RPG of the year.
