Is Fallout 3 really not a proper Fallout game?

[Mr Pantomime]

Youre arguing about the canon, but not the brand. And that is what were really arguing about here, the brand, the image, the title of Fallout. A brand is an everchanging thing, that is based on public perception of said brand.
While you can argue that Fallout 1 and 2 are the "true Fallout experiance" canonically, Fallout 3 is now what defines the current brand of Fallout.

That's because the OP is talking about story and canon, read the OP.

He says atmosphere and story, not story and canon. However, he talks more about the tone of the games.

Oh christ, we arent arguing about the OPs intent are we?

 

[ChupathingyX]

He says atmosphere and story, not story and canon. However, he talks more about the tone of the games.

Oh christ, we arent arguing about the OPs intent are we?

The OP was more focused on story, and by extension, the lore.

This whole time I, and others, have been talking about the actual story and lore of the Fallout world, not the franchise.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Its so not a real fallout game. That doesnt make it a BAD game though. Its amazingly good.

New vegas just nailed the feel better.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

He says atmosphere and story, not story and canon. However, he talks more about the tone of the games.

Oh christ, we arent arguing about the OPs intent are we?

The OP was more focused on story, and by extension, the lore.

This whole time I, and others, have been talking about the actual story and lore of the Fallout world, not the franchise.

Oh, well that makes a lot more sense. To be honest, all ive played of Fallout is 5 hours or so of 3. Wasnt that impressed. I am interested in 1 and 2 now though.

As to Fallout 3, I guess you can either say Bethesda just retconned that shit, or just call it non-canon.

And is New Vegas actually canon to the orginal series? Because that game I enjoyed from the few hours ive played.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Oh, well that makes a lot more sense. To be honest, all ive played of Fallout is 5 hours or so of 3. Wasnt that impressed. I am interested in 1 and 2 now though.

As to Fallout 3, I guess you can either say Bethesda just retconned that shit, or just call it non-canon.

And is New Vegas actually canon to the orginal series? Because that game I enjoyed from the few hours ive played.

Wait, this whole time I was under the impression you have played through at least all of Fallout 3 and New Vegas? never mind.

Well, Obisidan did retcon the worst offense in Fallout 3, aliens, with the Wild Wasteland trait. But for the most part Fallout 3 is considered canon, no matter how inconsistent it is.

And yes, New Vegas is much closer to the originals, it expands on the story of the NCR without actually making any dramatic changes to factions or any of that (unlike what Bethesda did to the BoS and super muatants in F3). Also, unlike Fallout 3 they don't bring back any characters from the origianls and kill the off.

 

[JesterRaiin]

I think Fallout 3 is a fantastic game and just as valid member in the Fallout series as any of the others.

Nothing less, nothing more.
Pardon me for not saying anything useful, but it seems that this f*cking big robot did his job and i need to leave my shelter and join rest of those tinheaded morons.

Chaaaaaaaaaarge !

 

[dickywebster]

So its a game set in the fallout universe, but isnt a fallout game?
Considering how old the previous fallout game is im not surprised, leaves me feeling the sequels to decade old classics that are coming out in the near future might face issues like this.
I can see where people might come from with claims its not, but personally i like it, the only one i have issue with is NV really.
And ive been playing the second one far too much in the last 8 years or so, that is one of my all time fav games, fallout 3 might not be as good to me, but its still a good game ^^

 

[Politi]

And is New Vegas actually canon to the orginal series? Because that game I enjoyed from the few hours ive played.

It is, but it's removed enough by geography and time that it stands distinctly as a new direction from the first two games. Still, its heart has roots that intertwine with the first two games (and Van Buren in many ways), even if they don't share the same soul.

Fallout 3... I can't say the same for. In fact, I think New Vegas deserved the title "Fallout 3" more than Fallout 3 itself, if you know what I mean. The location, the feel of the world, its attitude, all of that smacked of the first two Fallout games. Fallout 3 should have been called something like "Fallout: Heart of America" or something, given its setting (but I think Ulysses and The Divide absconded with that type of thing too).

 

[Danceofmasks]

I like Fallout 3.

The writing, however, does feel more like fanfiction than fallout-y.
The Brotherhood of Steel doesn't seem right at all, and they're integral to the main plot ...

So I guess I'm saying if you ignore the main quest completely, it feels quite a lot like a fallout game.

 

[artanis_neravar]

I'm kind of sick of this whole "FALLOUT 3 IS NOT A FALLOUT GAME" argument that often crops up whenever Fallout 3 is brought up. In my opinion, this argument is ridiculous. What I feel it really feel the argument should be is: "Fallout 3 is not Fallout 2."

I'm not talking about the gameplay here, I'm talking about the atmosphere and story. Fallout 3 is very different to Fallout 2 in it's tone. Fallout 2 was much less serious and had a lot of dark humour compared to Fallout 3 which had a few moments but not as much as it's predecessor. However, when we look at the original Fallout, 3 has a very similar tone. Fallout 1, again, had it's moments of humour but was mostly a serious dark game. It wasn't full of laughs or light hearted antics like Fallout 2 or New Vegas. 3 was very similar to 1 in my opinion.

I think Fallout 3 is a fantastic game and just as valid member in the Fallout series as any of the others.

I enjoyed Fallout 3, but it didn't feel falloutish to me. I think it was the "War, War never changes" moniker that describes the fallout games. In Fallout 1 you get caught up in the Master war to destroy humanity, Fallout 2 has you fighting the Enclave to stop their war on any living thing with mutated DNA, but Fallout 3 has you searching for your father. I think that if the Enclave trying their "destroy everything mutated" scheme was more of a focus point it would have fit better. However I do not think that it "is not a Fallout game", I just don't think it should have been Fallout 3, but rather a side game in the series, maybe one to set up the capital wasteland as a desired area for a future conflict.

 

[mirror's edgy]

Fallout 3 is poorly written and is pretty much a rehash of the first two games main plotlines. Is it a bad Fallout game? Absolutely. Is it a bad game? Absolutely not. I love Fallout 3, but it feels really out of place with the rest of the series. It tries to be dead serious (Much more dark and depressing than any other game in the series) yet at the same time it tries to have a ton of goofy, out of place quests. (Mothership Zeta, Superhuman Gambit, The Replicated Man, etc.)

They explain why the super mutants and Brotherhood are in the East Coast, and explain why they are the way they are, but they're still lacking all the depth and interesting aspects of their West Coast counterparts and are extremely boring and stock as a result.

This is essentially what those who criticized Fallout 3 and loved the previous entries in the series have to say, and I agree. Fallout 3's FPS-RPG design was fun from a gameplay perspective, allowing for some combat variety and using nonviolent skills for conflict resolution, but the writing was a silver bullet it the game's reputation.

The plot is driven by a struggle to survive in a wasteland that players have literally no way of experiencing through gameplay, and what the central characters with potential likability (your dad, for example) have a role skewered by plot holes and lack of screen time. Most other characters (Dr. Li and almost everyone in the Capital Wasteland BoS) are condescending to the player in the most grating and constant way possible when you listen to their dialogue, and what grinds old fans' beans is that they are all immortal until their plot relevance expires. The old Fallout games had quite a few jerks players would have to cooperate with for plot reasons, but players had real choice in how they would affect the world (Set, the Necropolis leader irritating you? Murder him, or destroy his city's water purifier and let him fall to ruin!)

Fallout 3's reliance on railroading the player through the plot could have worked, had there not been more plot holes and fewer interesting locations and characters then any previous Fallout game. I still maintain that the game is fun to play, and has a few moments of cleverness, but the lack of open ended environments for the player to have an impact on coupled with the flat and uninspired dialogue made Fallout 3 disappointing regardless of atmosphere. New Vegas, on the other hand, shows how much proper writing can benefit Fallout 3's gameplay mechanics.

 

[Dreadman75]

Your argument is quite valid. Perhaps the biggest things I've heard about people not liking Fallout 3 were:

1. The Brotherhood of Steel (Lyon's): Wasn't a bunch of technology hogging pricks.
2. The setting switched to the East coast and wasn't on the west coast to continue the story there.
3. Something about how the Super mutants looked when from what I see there isn't much difference between the East coast and West coast mutants besides small changes in skin pigmentation.

I actually thought it was a great game, certainly deserving of the praise and various game of the year awards it won.

Long time Fallout fans really need to stop complaining about Fallout 3, especially after they got New Vegas. Fallout 3 isn't going away, just accept it.

 

[Politi]

I actually thought it was a great game, certainly deserving of the praise and various game of the year awards it won.

Long time Fallout fans really need to stop complaining about Fallout 3, especially after they got New Vegas. Fallout 3 isn't going away, just accept it.

I totally agree, especially on that second point. At least it kept up with the theme of "Water is really important, you should spend the main plotline in a convoluted effort to get water that will result in a clash with the Enclave. Come on bro, get that water for the home team."

When I first reflected upon the running "water is a focal point" theme and how New Vegas fit into that theme, I came up with nothing, and then it hit me like a brick wall. Or a concrete dam. Yeah, exactly like a really significant concrete dam. You know. The kind that has water. And is the focus of the faction struggles. HURP DE DERP HURR

 

[Mr Pantomime]

Oh, well that makes a lot more sense. To be honest, all ive played of Fallout is 5 hours or so of 3. Wasnt that impressed. I am interested in 1 and 2 now though.

As to Fallout 3, I guess you can either say Bethesda just retconned that shit, or just call it non-canon.

And is New Vegas actually canon to the orginal series? Because that game I enjoyed from the few hours ive played.

Wait, this whole time I was under the impression you have played through at least all of Fallout 3 and New Vegas? never mind.

Well, Obisidan did retcon the worst offense in Fallout 3, aliens, with the Wild Wasteland trait. But for the most part Fallout 3 is considered canon, no matter how inconsistent it is.

And yes, New Vegas is much closer to the originals, it expands on the story of the NCR without actually making any dramatic changes to factions or any of that (unlike what Bethesda did to the BoS and super muatants in F3). Also, unlike Fallout 3 they don't bring back any characters from the origianls and kill the off.

Sorry about that. My original point was that Fallout 3 has overshadowed the originals, so much that it defines the modern Fallout. Not a point that I thought was completely sound, just a concept ive been kicking around for a while. But if your talking about the story, ill leave that well enough alone. Its not my place to argue.

Im quite interested in the Fallout series now, as I said, so ill be picking up the first one or New Vegas to see if anything clicks.