Am i the only one who thinks Fallout 3 is lacking...

[Netrigan]

Your main problem, in my opinion, is that you got it on a console. I've always thought that the console versions of Fallout games are sub-par to the PC version. Especially when the PC versions served with a heavy helping of mods.

Or you know, go out and explore the Wasteland. Mods always help Bethseda games but don't label it as a 'main problem' because he got it on the console.

Either way, I got well 20+ hours in the game and I just recently hit Rivet City. Can someone tell me what the end quest is so I can save in advance? Thanks.

It's called "Take It Back!" and it starts at the Citadel. As long as you don't enter the Jefferson Memorial after the main assault, you're fine. Without spoiling things, there's absolutely no way you can mistake this fight for any other as it involves a certain mechanical device that's pretty frakkin' awesome.

You've got about six missions between you and it.

Appreciated friend..And six missions? Jesus, this main quest really IS short. What the fudge?!

And one of them can be skipped if you have the right perk.

 

[eggy32]

Did you just not notice the millions of side quests there were?

That statement is a joke to me. The biggest problem I had with this game is the writing. There IS NOT a million side quests to do in it. In fact, there isn't that many side quests at all. New Reno from Fallout 2 had more to do for side quests than the entire Fallout 3 game. The thing that Fallout 3 is lacking is writing. The main plot was short and poorly written. The appeal, if any, of the game is that you can freely explore the wastes. While some people have fun wandering around doing nothing and exploring broken buildings void of any real character interaction, I enjoy having meaning in my actions.

For instance, the first 'town' you come across is Megaton right? This should be a good hub for various side quests that take you all around the wastes right? Nope, besides the main quest there is only three quests that you can get there. One being a WoW style kill X amount of these creatures. Another taking you to Arefu, which only has a single quest to do there. And the last is the Atom bomb one. This was my main problem for this game and most games that badthesda make. They create an interesting environment only to force the player to create an experience instead of supplying one for them. I don't want to make up quests in my head for my character, I wanted to see Bethesda fill the game with interesting characters and interactions, which it did not. That is what is lacking in the game and why in my opinion it isn't a good RPG at all.

Obviously I didn't mean millions, that was hyperbole. There were plenty of quests with character interaction. Like the one quest in megaton you forgot, the one big one for Moira that involves exploring many different parts of the wastes and finding new quests to do along the way. And, unless you count mods on the pc versions, people don't create their own quests. They go on quests in the game which are found by exploring. And oblivion had some good writing in it. The shivering isles quest line and knights of the nine and the Dark Brotherhood for example.

 

[Netrigan]

Your main problem, in my opinion, is that you got it on a console. I've always thought that the console versions of Fallout games are sub-par to the PC version. Especially when the PC versions served with a heavy helping of mods.

Or you know, go out and explore the Wasteland. Mods always help Bethseda games but don't label it as a 'main problem' because he got it on the console.

Either way, I got well 20+ hours in the game and I just recently hit Rivet City. Can someone tell me what the end quest is so I can save in advance? Thanks.

It's called "Take It Back!" and it starts at the Citadel. As long as you don't enter the Jefferson Memorial after the main assault, you're fine. Without spoiling things, there's absolutely no way you can mistake this fight for any other as it involves a certain mechanical device that's pretty frakkin' awesome.

You've got about six missions between you and it.

Appreciated friend..And six missions? Jesus, this main quest really IS short. What the fudge?!

And one of them can be skipped if you have the right perk.

Spoil it for me if you will. I remember a friend skipping basically Megaton/GNR/Rivet City because he accidently stumbled into some main-quest vault, basically erasing any chance to go back and forcing him to start..mid-way through.

That's hilarious.

If you have the Child At Heart perk, you can gain entry into a settlement of children without proving your worth to them by saving a bunch of kids from slavers. Even if you skip it, you can still go back and do it, it just becomes an optional quest.

If you really put your mind to it, you could probably finish the game in a few hours. Once you locate a couple of more places, you can fast-travel everywhere and complete them really quickly. Especially if you're a goodie and add Fawkes as a companion.

 

[geldonyetich]

Blockbuster game released. Well-received by critics and sold in record numbers. Regardless of how many liked it, some didn't. No exceptions.

Personally, I've never been all that impressed with the RPG mechanics presented by the Elder Scrolls series, and Fallout 3 is most assuredly Oblivion + Guns + V.A.T.S. The way skills are handled and damaged is resolved is pretty much identical.

However, the RPG mechanics, or even the quests which are essentially a to-do list with the trappings of plot wrapped about them, are all just vestigial concerns. The real pride of the games has always been the immersion.

 

[Seneschal]

Well the style of games Bethesda/Obsidian produces isn't in everyone's tastes. They're primarily for people who like to explore, and mark their own stories. I played hundreds of hours in Fallout 3, and I never once completed the main story.

I just enjoyed donning a traveling merchant's outfit, and took the role of a man trying to survive point a to point b, by taking the sewers etc. I'm not going to ruin an experience by finding the best way to become "all powerful", i.e. trying to find the win button.

I did the same for Morrowind, and Oblivion.. even New Vegas. Though I did complete Morrowind's story several times, after I was done farting around. I did Oblivion's once, because my friend insisted I see the beastie at the end. Morrowind's story was oddly compelling, and a treat. Very mystical and cosmic at times, though I would find it quite boring this many years after-the-fact.

So yeah, it's merely about the atmosphere for me. Putting on the imagination cap, etc. Not for everyone, but for those like me, Bethesda's games are the tops.


Also, I should probably say that I play on PC with heaps of mods. I enjoy making things difficult, especially "survival" factors like fatigue settings, hunger and thirst, and the like. Makes wasteland survival, well.. fun and compelling.

While Bethesda stories are rarely top-notch stuff, Morrowind was exceptionally good at weaving its main story naturally into the atmosphere of Vvardenfell and its many denizens. The Nerevarine prophecy always felt like a big part of that world. In Oblivion, the main plot and the faffing about work against each-other, and you often just want the main story to leave you alone so you can do Dark Brotherhood quests and steal shit. I loved both games, and though I spent much more time in Oblivion (Morrowind had extremely user-hostile mechanics for me), I still think Morrowind is how you make an open-world atmosphere shine through.

Fallout 3 was vast and exciting enough to keep me going, exploring and even roleplaying the typical wastelander for quite a while, but the main questline is literally the blandest, most contrived, pointless and anti-climactic story I've ever seen in an open-world game, and that genre includes stuff like Just Cause and GTA.

 

[Wolfinton]

I'll be the first to admit that FO3 wasn't perfect and that it lacked the humour and atmosphere of the originals but it still is a good RPG i'm afraid; if you want a recent example of a bad RPG just check out Dragon age. Sounds to me like you just don't like sandbox games, and bear in mind FO1 and FO2 were not sandbox so there was bound to be qualitative differences plus different weighting of quests, in FO1 and FO2 the areas were quest hubs but in FO3 the quests are mainly in the towns but also spread all over the sandbox like butter on bread.

In my opinion, Dragon Age was a great game. It was a perfect RPG sub-genre in my eyes. I loved how long it was, and how compelling it was to delve into. The story was brilliantly done, and characters personalities and backstories were great. Not that Fallout isn't good, but still, Dragon Age is good too.

 

[Netrigan]

I keep hearing about Fallout Online being in development and this is one of the few games where I think that would be a great idea. The central plot is just kind of there and you could easily ditch it. Give players lots of different locales (West Coast, East Coast, Gulf Coast, New Vegas, etc.), lots of NPCs to interact with, and loads of missions, and you could play this for a long time to come.

 

[SyphonX]

...Morrowind was exceptionally good at weaving its main story naturally into the atmosphere of Vvardenfell and its many denizens. The Nerevarine prophecy always felt like a big part of that world.

Yes, indeed.

I got so wrapped into the "prophecy" aspect, and pulled into the world itself, that during my first play I was quite literally looking to the stars at night, and imagining constellations for answers in the prophetic quest when I hit a snag in my journey. I found constellations, but no answers.

So, they really enveloped you in the world, and while you could go about doing other things, like stealing and side-quests, you still felt rooted in the world of Vvardenfell and the "prophecy" story.

Oblivion definitely lost that touch, but it was still a lot of fun seeking out "The Gray Fox", and waking up to see Lucien Lachance for the first time. All of these things essentially pulled you into your own world. Which was okay, but the original magic was gone by then. The Amulet of Kings? Uriel who? The Blades what? For most people playing Oblivion, the main plot just serves the simple of purpose of providing new locales and myths when you're done messing around with other things.

 

[AWC Viper]

It took me at least a few days to get through the main quest on the PC, mainly because i spent a while dicking around, its the same problem i have with all sand box games

 

[SimuLord]

You just ran through it like you had a flight to catch. I've put countless hours into that game and even now still find stuff from time to time that I haven't seen before.

The game is deep and it rewards the explorer's spirit. So don't just rush through to beat it or you miss the whole fun.

(and get Broken Steel. For the love of the gods, get Broken Steel. Best $10 you will ever spend on a DLC pack---but if you have the GOTY edition this isn't a problem.)

 

[GBlair88]

The main quest is just a small part of it and if you 'finish' the game before you've hit level 20 or even 30 if you have Broken Steel then you're doing something wrong frankly. I have the PC version with a mod that increases the level cap to 100 (XP amounts scale accordingly) and I'm at level 45 or thereabouts without doing The Pitt or Point Lookout. I'm only part way through Mothership Zeta and haven't finished questing in and exploring the Capital Wasteland but have finished Operation Anchorage.

Even on the vanilla version the main story is only about 5% of the games content.

Also for anyone thinking of getting the DLC don't buy them from the marketplace seperately. Get the GOTYE even if you have the main game. The DLC costs about £45 in Microsoft Points but the GOTYE with the main game and all DLC is only £20 from Amazon. At least that was the price difference about this time last year.

 

[Wintermoot]

TLR
yeah I also found it lacking (in comparrison to NV and TES IV) you can ONLY join the BOS and they basicly say they are bad and we are good and also it lacked towns (or atleast big towns)

 

[Juggern4ut20]

Did you even play the game? Ok the main quest thread is lacking a bit but there was nothing wrong with the side quests, and there were dozens of side quests in megaton.

Yes i played the game through and travelled to nearly every noted area on the map, when i turned level 20 i got the feat that allowed you to see all the points on the map. And no there isn't 'dozens of side quests in megaton. Check the fallout 3 wiki if you dont believe me. There's 3 period. The game did not have a lot of quests in it, it was filled with a vast amount of emptiness, with only a few points that held a small number of quests (as in less than 3), which include Arefu, Republic of Dave and Big Town to name a few.

Obviously I didn't mean millions, that was hyperbole. There were plenty of quests with character interaction. Like the one quest in megaton you forgot, the one big one for Moira

I didn't forget that one, i listed it as the WoW style kill X creatures quest in my post. Now this quest is not a bad one and is probably one of the better quests in the game because you have to keep coming back to it, it's still the one of three quests that are in Megaton. I can't talk too much about the other Bethseda titles in depth because I only have limited game play and am working off what others have told me about the game, but Fallout 3 does not have many quests in it.

To go back and respond to Continuity's claim i don't like sandbox games, my point is why can't this game be a sandbox game AND have the quest hubs of the older games? By spreading everything around it makes the game thin and lack depth. That's why i think Fallout 3 is lacking and agree with the OP.

you can ONLY join the BOS and they basicly say they are bad and we are good and also it lacked towns (or atleast big towns)

/agree

 

[Something Amyss]

This game's only weakness is a lack of justice!

Cookie for the reference.

 

[Andantil]

The only problem I have with Fallout 3 is with the single worst gameplay decision I've ever seen in any game ever: Rather than introduce realistic recoil to weapons, they used a system of bullet spread making all automatic weapons comically inaccurate even for single shots. While there is a mod to introduce recoil, it doesn't work well.
All the other problems I had with it have been modded away.

 

[Continuity]

Did you even play the game? Ok the main quest thread is lacking a bit but there was nothing wrong with the side quests, and there were dozens of side quests in megaton.

Yes i played the game through and travelled to nearly every noted area on the map, when i turned level 20 i got the feat that allowed you to see all the points on the map. And no there isn't 'dozens of side quests in megaton. Check the fallout 3 wiki if you dont believe me. There's 3 period. The game did not have a lot of quests in it, it was filled with a vast amount of emptiness, with only a few points that held a small number of quests (as in less than 3), which include Arefu, Republic of Dave and Big Town to name a few.

Well I guess it depends on what you call a quest, I was counting several for moira alone, but fair enough, there a three main groups of quests in megaton (which isn't to say there weren't smaller quest strings too!)... if you ignore that fact that all of these lead you to new areas which also have quests, then yes its is a little on the light side.
I will concede that the earlier games had more quests but I think FO3 more than pads this out with its sandbox, like I said before, FO3 is a qualitatively different game to the originals i.e. its not just an RPG its also a sandbox FPS which is where a lot of the gameplay comes from, especially in exploring.
And i'll say again to be perfectly clear, I don't think FO3 is as good as the originals but it does bring enough to the table to qualify as a successful game in its own right and a decent sequel.

In my opinion, Dragon Age was a great game. It was a perfect RPG sub-genre in my eyes. I loved how long it was, and how compelling it was to delve into. The story was brilliantly done, and characters personalities and backstories were great. Not that Fallout isn't good, but still, Dragon Age is good too.

Compelling? Brilliant? I find it hard to believe were talking about the same game. Let me tell you something about a brilliant story: you shouldn't be able to guess it more or less in its entirety and structure after have played though the nursery area. A good story does not lay all its cards on the table in the first 5 minutes, it was tired and clichéd and utterly predictable.
The characters were ok and probably the best part of the game, though I certainly think there was room for improvement.
THe biggest tragedy of the game though, possibly even eclipsing the painfully awful plot, was the dreadful RPG elements, three character types... just three, OMG, three... and they lacked any substantial difference from one character of the same type to the next. IMO dropping AD&D was an unmitigated disaster which utterly gutted the game... and this follows though with the items and equipment too, incredibly lacking in both quantity and detail.
However, these diabolical failures are not DOA's greatest sin, that was its utter lack of immersion, not for one minute did it manage to suck me in.

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

I didn't enjoy Fallout 3 until the quest where you go to the old american neighbourhood, then from there, the main story was great and the rest of the game stayed bland.

Oblivion and New Vegas are better imo.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Yeah that is what i never liked about the Fallout games your inability to play after you beat story mode.

 

[Juggern4ut20]

Yeah that is what i never liked about the Fallout games your inability to play after you beat story mode.

What fallout games are you talking about? The first two allowed you to continue after you finished the plot. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and Fallout 3 are the only ones that you can't do that.

I will concede that the earlier games had more quests but I think FO3 more than pads this out with its sandbox, like I said before, FO3 is a qualitatively different game to the originals i.e. its not just an RPG its also a sandbox FPS which is where a lot of the gameplay comes from, especially in exploring.
And i'll say again to be perfectly clear, I don't think FO3 is as good as the originals but it does bring enough to the table to qualify as a successful game in its own right and a decent sequel.

My main point is that I do not understand why it can't be a sandbox FPS and a great RPG, like why doesn't it have a larger amount of side quests in the game. I think it's a great sandbox game, but the problem I have is when people consider it a great RPG, since the lack of substantial role playing (due to a lack of character interaction and options when interacting) make it a very weak RPG in my eyes. Do i think it is a different style of game than the originals, yes. Do i think the originals are better, yes. But i mainly think that it could have been a much, much better game than what it is. I mean look at the companions you can get in the game. They're such horrible written characters. I mean that one black paladin chick literally has no personality.

As for Dragon Age, I think it could have been better. Some of the NPC followers were cookie cutter at best, the overarching plot line was bland, and the game did not feel as polished as it should have been. If the game did not draw you in, then there's nothing i can say to change your mind. I enjoyed that game, as did yahtzee i believe, but it could have been better. IMO, it was the beginning of Bioware's version of the D&D world, since they forfeited the license to make those games. I think that's a good thing, since the newer editions of D&D make it feel like you are playing WoW without computers. It will take some time before they develop to have as extensive a library to draw from like D&D has, so hopefully further installments of Dragon Age will provide a much needed increase in character options. Also, Bioware didn't choose to drop the license they were bought by EA from Atari, right?