Let's Play Fallout: New Vegas [The Servant]
- Thread starter AlternatePFG
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Let's go to the dictionary!Aidinthel said:
Tally ho!
Ehhhh, not so much. Situational irony? Yeah
I see.AlternatePFG said:
Well, I think I'm set. Only two more weeks or so till I go back. Can't wait.
Then again, I'll likely be getting my wisdom teeth yanked around that time, so I'll likely be playing something mindless and easy while coming off the high from painkillers.
Ah, well, Gummy. It appears that even without teeth, you can still prove me wrong. My hat is off to you. It is ironic.Aidinthel said:
Tally ho again!
I wouldn't say you were wrong, merely lacking the entire truth.CM156 said:
And I'm not certain how lack of teeth would impair one's debating skills.
[sub]Hmmm, perhaps by making it difficult to be taken seriously by others? I'll have to think about it.[/sub]
That's what I was referring to. I mean, try holding your tongue out of your mouth and talking. That's about what I think a lack of teeth would cause.Aidinthel said:
Me, just for the sake of completion. Of course my ending to Fallout 3 isn´t exactly canon,it involves a certain mod that I just can´t seem to shut the fuck about, and you get the point.AlternatePFG said:[HEADING=1]Chapter LXIII - Designated MacGuffin Collector[/HEADING]So how many people have actually played through Broken Steel to the end? Just curious.That's pretty much the main characters' role in the Brotherhood during this game. We don't do much else for them at any rate. We're off to Old Olney, to recover a Tesla Coil. Of course, that's easier said then done and there is an army of Deathclaws between us them.
Before we go, there's a minor thing we need to take care of.
Emphasis on minor, 9/10 people probably wouldn't even have noticed this particular optional objective.
"I hear you can help me get into Old Olney."
Not like we need help getting in there, we've been there before. Multiple times.
"Well, maybe. I mean, possibly. I think so, but I'm not certain. I don't know how much this will actually help... I mean, I'm not quite sure how effective it might be since it hasn't really been field tested... But I think I've figured out a way to override the signals the Enclave is using to control their Deathclaws. Here, take this. It's only a prototype, so please don't lose it."
This item is absolutely useless. I'm only showing off the dialogue and resulting part of the quest just to show how pointless this optional objective is.
"What exactly is this thing?"
"It's a semi-standard transmitter, only I altered the frequency modulation and jacked up the output. Based on some experiments I ran here in the lab, it should override the signals the Enclave uses to control Deathclaws."
How many Enclave controlled Deathclaws are there in this game?
Not many, is what I'm saying...
"Don't worry - it's constantly broadcasting, so you don't need to do anything. Just don't lose it. And so far, I have no evidence of adverse effects of EM interference in humans. Animals maybe, but not humans."
Oh, that's good to know. I suppose at least we won't be surprised when we suddenly burst into flames because of it.
"Anyway, it doesn't have a huge broadcast range, but it should be enough."
Dammit, no army of deathclaws. That's what this game really needed.
Not a better plot or characters, just an army of Deathclaws. All would be forgiven.
The optional objective is just slightly off of Old Olney.
The Enclave outpost is just near the ramp onto that overpass.
Oh look, an Albino Radscorpion. Those are always fun to fight.
We're helped by some random NPC's exploring the wastes. Have no idea where the hell they came from, but hey, not complaining.
Oh yeah, and obviously there is Enclave guys to fight too. Who would have guessed?
This deathclaw isn't hostile like every single other one you encounter in this game, because of that gadget we got from the Brotherhood. And it even follows us. Awesome.
As far as armies go, it's a start-
Damn it. Just drops dead once you hit a certain range. No idea why.
Welp, that was disappointing. At least we get to shoot some deathclaws now.
We have to go through this sewer to get to the next area. It's not as bad as it sounds, as far as sewer areas go it's quite tolerable, and it leads to a pretty cool basement area as well.
Of course, it's filled to the brim with deathclaws, without much room to maneuver. If they were actually a threat, it would be pretty damn difficult.
I don't know what is up with the random Spanish at times.
These guys do tend to pop up at the most unexpected times.
Behind a Very Hard locked door, there is a decent arsenal of stuff.
There's also a door that leads randomly into this grate on the outside, for some strange reason. I mean, it's kind of interesting looking down in here from above, but there's nothing of interest in this tiny room.
Now we're into a whole new section of the underground. Thankfully, this one is less sewer-y and more basement-y.
This is the most random conversation in the entire game, no joke.
"How the hell'd you get in here, smoothskin?"
The door...?
"I'm looking for Olney Powerworks. You know where that is?"
"Oh yeah, yeah. Sure thing. Just right through here. Only there's a few Deathclaws down here that might ahve other ideas. You know what I'm sayin'?"
They do realize that we just went through a dozen of them just to get in here, right?
"If there are so many Deathclaws around, how'd you survive?"
"Heh. We ran faster than the others, that's how. Ain't nothin' honorable about it, but we're still alive and they ain't. I can live with that."
Who thought living down here in the middle of a fucking deathtrap was a good idea?
"Listen, this wasn't my fault, okay? It wasn't my idea to tunnel down here, I just went along with it. But whatever. What's done is done. Me and Kidd, we're getting out of here. You came in that way, that means we can get back out. See ya later, kid."
Er, goodbye random NPC who came the hell out of nowhere...
This was the last place I thought I'd be running into a random NPC.
They don't really see much of anything about the ghouls down here, but I'm assuming there was a community down here like in Underworld or something? Not really sure exactly, this game could have used another town.
I mean, it's not like it's really lacking places littered with corpses.
The Deathclaws tore right through here.
This section goes on a bit too long though. It's obvious Bethesda wanted to add some dungeon crawl-y segements here, but I don't think they know how to pace them well enough...
This is where the tunnel/sewer section goes into a building section. Not really sure if I get the layout of this area, but whatever.
So did the ghouls tunnel through here, or was it the Deathclaws?
So I assume we're going through the basement of the building here?
It's a pretty cool area, I'll give it that at least.
This is the coolest area in the entire DLC, in my opinion. It's a building collasping in on itself, and it's pretty cool jumping across the different platforms to progress.
You can hear a Vertibird from up above.
You can vaguely see the blades of the Vertibird, and unlike many other of the interior areas that have "exterior" ceilings, this doesn't look completely fake.
Really hope that fix that with Skyrim's new engine, but I doubt it. It honestly doesn't look too impressive, in my opinion.
Also some Enclave guys in here too, finally. After about 30 minutes of just fighting Deathclaw after Deathclaw, it's nice to have some variety.
We use the billboard to cross the gap in the middle of the building.
We can't get through here yet, without a 100 science but this door is a shortcut to and back from where we need to go.
Had to fight Sentry Bots as well, I guess for variety purposes.
The Heavy Incinerator is surprisingly effective.
Eventually, we make it to this room. This is a really cool setpiece, and it looks surprisingly nice for Gamebryo.
We have to go down there and collect the Tesla Coil.
You can get Alien Power Cells in this room right here. No rhyme or reason for them being in here, they just are.
Somehow we're totally okay being down here and not getting fried but I'm not complaining. Touching the Tesla Coil right now insta-kills you, but there are switches on the wall you can pull.
There are three switches to hit.
Let's snatch the coil and get out of here. We just take the little ball on top, I thought the coil was the entire thing...?
Tesla Coils are actually really cool.
There's a shortcut out of here thankfully. If there wasn't that would be incredibly tedious.
So now we're right outside Old Olney. It's nice that they did something with Old Olney at least.
So, quick cut to the Citadel...
I'm telling you, I just can't think of anything other than "STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!" when listening to this guy.
"Excellent. I'll see to it that this reaches the scribes immediately. You've done good work, soldier."
We've done nothing that a squad of paladins couldn't handle...
Well, the Brotherhood has shown time and time again how incompetant they are without us in this game, so I guess it's better that we came.
"Are you ready for your next assignment? We don't have have time to spare."
"I'm good to go. What's next?"
Thankfully not another fetch quest.
"Based on the data you brought us from the relay station, we've identified where the Enclave is basing their operation. Based on the data you brought us from the relay station, we've identified where the Enclave is basing their operation. It seems they have a second base of operations at Adams Air Force base, outside of DC. The only safe way to get there is through the Presidential Metro used by the government before the war."
This must be some strange usage of the word safe that I wasn't previously aware of.*
*Internet high five for getting the reference. Without Google of course.
Seriously, the metro is just filled with a huge amount of ghouls, including a few Reavers.
"You're going to be on your own again for now: the rest of the Brotherhood will be providing a distraction so you can slip in undetected."
I love how it's them creating the distraction and not us. I get gameplay and story segregation, blah blah blah, but the game still hasn't come up with a decent explanation for why we're so important, aside from being a fucking badass.
"Once you breach the Presidential Metro and get to Adams Air Force Base, look for the Resupply Crate. Inside, you'll find your new orders and hopefully we can put a working Tesla Cannon into your hands."
You had me at Tesla Cannon, fuck yeah.
Also, there´s a bunch of death ghouls in there, and a note saying that they thought that Old Olney was way safer because no-one ever went there. Here´s Captain Obvious with a tip:
If after 200 years no-one occupied a position that you think is perfect, something really nasty is in there.
So, the next update will be the very end of Broken Steel, I decided to do it in one chunk. So because of that, it's rather lengthy, so I probably won't be able to get it out until tomorrow or Saturday. I apologize.
Oh don't worry, we know you just want to go to New Vegas ;PAlternatePFG said:
You must feel exhausted after Mothership Zeta.
Well, I did end up getting Skyrim, got it somewhat cheaper than I normally would.CM156 said:
Not going to get in the way of me actually updating, after I've played a decent amount of it I might share my thoughts on it.
I'll be interested to see if you too think it's the gilded second-coming of Christ that other reviewers say it is.AlternatePFG said:
Also, I've set up my own LP of Pokemon Ruby. Yay! Wish me luck.
[HEADING=1]Chapter LXIV - The Final Insult[/HEADING]
This is it. The very end of Broken Steel, and by extension, Fallout 3. While it doesn't kick out of the game like the normal ending does, the LP will be ending here.
It's been a fun ride.
We start in front of the ruins of the White House. Apparently there is a metro tunnel we take to the Enclave base, but I'm not seeing an obvious entrance here...?
This is where we need to go through. Not the obvious metro entrance only a few feet in the other direction. It's the rather hard to see grate, that only sticks out because of the traffic cones that just barely noticeable.
It's another generic sewer tunnel area to get into the presidential metro. This is accessible without Broken Steel.
There are two doors we can take: Either into the Metro, or into the White House. Let's check out the White House for a sec.
It's pretty much an irradiated crater, without much of interest...
Well, except...
Fat Man and three Mini-Nukes. We will be using that later, actually...
Now we're going down into the metro.
It's a pretty cool location all things considered.
There are sentry bots down here that are a bit annoying, but nothing we haven't dealt with before.
There is a new tileset here, it looks much cleaner than most building areas do.
It's still somewhat dirty and crumbly though.
There are plenty of turrets all around here.
There is also a different looking train. We can't actually get on this one...
There's ads down here... for some reason. It's the presidential metro...
It's a rather large area.
Oh look, another talking computer.
"Attempting to identify local access user... Identification failed. This access point is restricted only to authorized personnel. Please identify yourself."
Oh crap, our science skill isn't good enough to hack this thing...
"[Speech, 40%] I'm from the United States Army and I'm here to provide assistance."
So for some reason a speech check works just fine on it.
"[SUCCESS] Scanning memory array... Request to U.S. Army for assitance was rendered 17 years, 26 days, 9 hours and 16 minutes ago."
Only 17 years?
"Information regarding request is available in my database. How may I assist you today?
"I'd like for you to deactivate all your security units."
"Negative. All security units must remain active at all times."
Crap.
"However, upon properly accessing this system, you have been marked as a friendly and should so no further hostility from said units."
Never mind, this is awesome.
"Could you repair the train to Adams Air Force Base?"
"Negative. Repairs are currently impossible on the Adams Air Force Base train line. If the security breach is nullified, I will return to green status and allow the Sentinel Unit to commence repairs."
"I'd like more information on this security breach."
"Information is available on that subject. Please specify."
"I need more details... What's the breach all about?"
"Internal visual sensing equipment is detecting numerous unidentified persons in the southeast tunnels area."
Okay, what is it now? Raiders? Enclave soldiers?
...
Talon Mercs?
"The individuals have damaged metro equipment and refused dialogue with our security untis. In accordance with U.S. Security Statute A567/B, the use of deadly force has been authorized."
"Can you tell me more about these unidentified persons?"
"My apologies. My sensing equipment in that area must be damaged. My equipment indicates the persons possess no internal body heat and are emitting lethal levels of radiation."
Oh, it's ghouls. This complicates things...
So the ghouls already have gotten pretty far into here.
The robots are fighting off the ghouls, and doing pretty well against them. There are some reavers though...
Fuck it, it's not like we're going to be using our nukes on anything else.
Got plenty of nukes for everyone.
This is more fun than fighting Reavers normally.
Eventually after you fight off all of the ghouls, they'll go to repair the train.
All it really has to do is switch a fusebox. We could have done that...
Oh god, this train is going to crash, isn't it?
Let me out of here!
Phew, we survived.
Now ghouls get replaced by Enclave. We're almost out of the tunnels.
We're now in Adams Airforce Base. It's a rather big area.
It even has it's own World Map. Don't let it fool you though - it's entirely linear.
Nothing wrong with linear if it's well made, but it's linear nonetheless.
The Brotherhood are preparing an assault, we're basically the distraction.
Oh look, a supply box. Wonder what's in it?
Oh hell yes.
We got the Tesla Cannon.
It's basically a giant laser rocket launcher.
I don't think throughout this entire sequence I've unequipped it. I love this gun.
It goes through the Hellfire troopers in a couple of shots.
I went through this entire section laughing maniacally.
WHO'S A BULLET SPONGE NOW?!
Area kind of reminds me of Nellis from New Vegas, except that it's slightly less annoying to get around in.
Okay, I did equip the Fat Man a few times, to make things a bit faster.
This is where they keep all the Deathclaws. Letting them out would be a bad idea...
This fight is turning into a huge maelstrom of sparks and bullets.
We want to get up there.
There is just a whole army in between us and there.
We have to go in here to lower the staircase to get into the carrier.
The soldiers follow us in here.
I could really use a nuka-cola right now.
Now it's time to get into this carrier and get this over with.
It's quite a fight getting over here to begin with...
Whole section is just a goddamn gauntlet of enemies.
Force fields. Good thing we didn't bring Dogmeat...
We can blow them up.
Armory? Even more weapons to the pile?
Sure, why not?
Destroying the forcefield calls these guys. Despite the unique name, they're really, really easy.
This is quite a lengthy section.
Seems like a good idea to go through here.
There certainly seems to be enough Enclave troopers to invade the Capital Wasteland and then some. Of course, they didn't count on us being a goddamn one man army.
They should have targetted the missile strike at us, not Liberty Prime. It might have scratched us a bit.
Now we're on the top of the carrier. And this is where things get tedious. There are dozens of guys on here.
This is really where you need to just use all of your healing and stat buffs. Just go fucking crazy.
You don't get a pathetic final boss this time, just a bunch of elite mooks thrown at you instead. Were you looking for a satisfying conclusion?
Well, fuck you.
Repeat this picture ad nauseum.
Eventually we get inside.
We fight off the last of the guys. Wonder what the bodycount is?
Finally.
Now, you get a "choice" here. You can't destroy Project Purity, Megaton or Rivet City Carrier. Why they are on here then, other than just to tease you is beyond me. (Though you could already wipe Megaton off the map. *shrug*)
But here's a question: Why the fuck would you nuke the Brotherhood of Steel after helping this entire time? Even if you are evil, there is no reason to destroy the Citadel. You are just screwing over the people you have worked for the entire game. Only now does it give you the option to "side" with the Enclave, and it's stupid.
Also, why didn't they nuke the Citadel before, or like right before we came in here killing everyone in our path?
So goddamn stupid.
Goodbye Adams Air Force Base.
We gain the karma we lost from killing those Alien Workers back by doing this.
Not like that karma will do us any good, we're trapped here. Looks like we're going to be killed off again...
In the nick of time, a Vertibird lands right in front of us.
Of course you'd be here...
Kind of. It figures Bethesda would shoehorn you in at the end...
"Not really. Your father said you'd pull through."
"He's told me everything you've done and the sacrifices your family's made for the sake of the Wasteland."
Erm, we already did plenty before the whole purifier thing. Does Sarah have amnesia or something?
"All I can say is that you've done one hell of an outstanding job out here, soldier. A hell of a job! Now it's time to do my job and to get your ass onto this Vertibird before it goes up like a nuke."
Well, let's stop talking and get to it already.
"Anything you say. We can talk back on the Citadel."
"Hurry, the orbital strike will be coming down any moment now."
We get to fly away on the Vertibird, that's cool. Too bad we can't actually see any of the scenery...
Well, at least Skyrim's engine will let us see out of windows-
Oh wait, you can't?
Well, so much for that then.
Obviously, this scene in the vertibird is slightly different if you chose the pointlessly dickish path. They talk about losing contact with the Citadel. Further details are being saved for later...
We land on a building to watch the fireworks for some reason.
A rather impressive effect.
This better be the last of the Enclave. I swear, if they show up again as a major faction in another Fallout game, I'm going to be extremely irritated.
And to a lesser extent super mutants as well, but they haven't been important since like halfway through the main quest, so I can't really call them major.
I don't know why we had to blow it up actually, there could have been some tech and gear that we could have used- I just don't care anymore actually, let's get out of here.
That's good to know. Unless by "we" you're including me in it as well. If that's the case, you're on your own.
Now what big speech is Elder Lyons going to give us here. Some sort of award ceremony or closing scene? Maybe an entirely new epilogue sequence?
Really? Cause, you seemed pretty happy to help us at the time...
"At the battle for Project Purity, you proved yourself... and any doubt that I had about you dissipated on that day. Now, with the Enclave in ruins and with you to thank for it, I'm almost at a complete loss for words. I feel proud to call you one of our own, and I promise that what you've done here today will be recorded by our scribes as a historic moment."
Erm... thank you?
"On behalf of the Brotherhood of Steel and on behalf of the free people of this Wasteland, I thank you."
That's it? Really? Just ending it on Elder Lyons saying how much of a cool person you are?
...
Fuck you Bethesda.
It's been a fun ride.
We start in front of the ruins of the White House. Apparently there is a metro tunnel we take to the Enclave base, but I'm not seeing an obvious entrance here...?
This is where we need to go through. Not the obvious metro entrance only a few feet in the other direction. It's the rather hard to see grate, that only sticks out because of the traffic cones that just barely noticeable.
It's another generic sewer tunnel area to get into the presidential metro. This is accessible without Broken Steel.
There are two doors we can take: Either into the Metro, or into the White House. Let's check out the White House for a sec.
It's pretty much an irradiated crater, without much of interest...
Well, except...
Fat Man and three Mini-Nukes. We will be using that later, actually...
Now we're going down into the metro.
It's a pretty cool location all things considered.
There are sentry bots down here that are a bit annoying, but nothing we haven't dealt with before.
There is a new tileset here, it looks much cleaner than most building areas do.
It's still somewhat dirty and crumbly though.
There are plenty of turrets all around here.
There is also a different looking train. We can't actually get on this one...
There's ads down here... for some reason. It's the presidential metro...
It's a rather large area.
Oh look, another talking computer.
"Attempting to identify local access user... Identification failed. This access point is restricted only to authorized personnel. Please identify yourself."
Oh crap, our science skill isn't good enough to hack this thing...
"[Speech, 40%] I'm from the United States Army and I'm here to provide assistance."
So for some reason a speech check works just fine on it.
"[SUCCESS] Scanning memory array... Request to U.S. Army for assitance was rendered 17 years, 26 days, 9 hours and 16 minutes ago."
Only 17 years?
"Information regarding request is available in my database. How may I assist you today?
"I'd like for you to deactivate all your security units."
"Negative. All security units must remain active at all times."
Crap.
"However, upon properly accessing this system, you have been marked as a friendly and should so no further hostility from said units."
Never mind, this is awesome.
"Could you repair the train to Adams Air Force Base?"
"Negative. Repairs are currently impossible on the Adams Air Force Base train line. If the security breach is nullified, I will return to green status and allow the Sentinel Unit to commence repairs."
"I'd like more information on this security breach."
"Information is available on that subject. Please specify."
"I need more details... What's the breach all about?"
"Internal visual sensing equipment is detecting numerous unidentified persons in the southeast tunnels area."
Okay, what is it now? Raiders? Enclave soldiers?
...
Talon Mercs?
"The individuals have damaged metro equipment and refused dialogue with our security untis. In accordance with U.S. Security Statute A567/B, the use of deadly force has been authorized."
"Can you tell me more about these unidentified persons?"
"My apologies. My sensing equipment in that area must be damaged. My equipment indicates the persons possess no internal body heat and are emitting lethal levels of radiation."
Oh, it's ghouls. This complicates things...
So the ghouls already have gotten pretty far into here.
The robots are fighting off the ghouls, and doing pretty well against them. There are some reavers though...
Fuck it, it's not like we're going to be using our nukes on anything else.
Got plenty of nukes for everyone.
This is more fun than fighting Reavers normally.
Eventually after you fight off all of the ghouls, they'll go to repair the train.
All it really has to do is switch a fusebox. We could have done that...
Oh god, this train is going to crash, isn't it?
Let me out of here!
Phew, we survived.
Now ghouls get replaced by Enclave. We're almost out of the tunnels.
We're now in Adams Airforce Base. It's a rather big area.
It even has it's own World Map. Don't let it fool you though - it's entirely linear.
Nothing wrong with linear if it's well made, but it's linear nonetheless.
The Brotherhood are preparing an assault, we're basically the distraction.
Oh look, a supply box. Wonder what's in it?
Oh hell yes.
We got the Tesla Cannon.
It's basically a giant laser rocket launcher.
I don't think throughout this entire sequence I've unequipped it. I love this gun.
It goes through the Hellfire troopers in a couple of shots.
I went through this entire section laughing maniacally.
WHO'S A BULLET SPONGE NOW?!
Area kind of reminds me of Nellis from New Vegas, except that it's slightly less annoying to get around in.
Okay, I did equip the Fat Man a few times, to make things a bit faster.
This is where they keep all the Deathclaws. Letting them out would be a bad idea...
This fight is turning into a huge maelstrom of sparks and bullets.
We want to get up there.
There is just a whole army in between us and there.
We have to go in here to lower the staircase to get into the carrier.
The soldiers follow us in here.
I could really use a nuka-cola right now.
Now it's time to get into this carrier and get this over with.
It's quite a fight getting over here to begin with...
Whole section is just a goddamn gauntlet of enemies.
Force fields. Good thing we didn't bring Dogmeat...
We can blow them up.
Armory? Even more weapons to the pile?
Sure, why not?
Destroying the forcefield calls these guys. Despite the unique name, they're really, really easy.
This is quite a lengthy section.
Seems like a good idea to go through here.
There certainly seems to be enough Enclave troopers to invade the Capital Wasteland and then some. Of course, they didn't count on us being a goddamn one man army.
They should have targetted the missile strike at us, not Liberty Prime. It might have scratched us a bit.
Now we're on the top of the carrier. And this is where things get tedious. There are dozens of guys on here.
This is really where you need to just use all of your healing and stat buffs. Just go fucking crazy.
You don't get a pathetic final boss this time, just a bunch of elite mooks thrown at you instead. Were you looking for a satisfying conclusion?
Well, fuck you.
Repeat this picture ad nauseum.
Eventually we get inside.
We fight off the last of the guys. Wonder what the bodycount is?
Finally.
Now, you get a "choice" here. You can't destroy Project Purity, Megaton or Rivet City Carrier. Why they are on here then, other than just to tease you is beyond me. (Though you could already wipe Megaton off the map. *shrug*)
But here's a question: Why the fuck would you nuke the Brotherhood of Steel after helping this entire time? Even if you are evil, there is no reason to destroy the Citadel. You are just screwing over the people you have worked for the entire game. Only now does it give you the option to "side" with the Enclave, and it's stupid.
Also, why didn't they nuke the Citadel before, or like right before we came in here killing everyone in our path?
So goddamn stupid.
Goodbye Adams Air Force Base.
We gain the karma we lost from killing those Alien Workers back by doing this.
Not like that karma will do us any good, we're trapped here. Looks like we're going to be killed off again...
In the nick of time, a Vertibird lands right in front of us.
Of course you'd be here...
Kind of. It figures Bethesda would shoehorn you in at the end...
"Not really. Your father said you'd pull through."
"He's told me everything you've done and the sacrifices your family's made for the sake of the Wasteland."
Erm, we already did plenty before the whole purifier thing. Does Sarah have amnesia or something?
"All I can say is that you've done one hell of an outstanding job out here, soldier. A hell of a job! Now it's time to do my job and to get your ass onto this Vertibird before it goes up like a nuke."
Well, let's stop talking and get to it already.
"Anything you say. We can talk back on the Citadel."
"Hurry, the orbital strike will be coming down any moment now."
We get to fly away on the Vertibird, that's cool. Too bad we can't actually see any of the scenery...
Well, at least Skyrim's engine will let us see out of windows-
Oh wait, you can't?
Well, so much for that then.
Obviously, this scene in the vertibird is slightly different if you chose the pointlessly dickish path. They talk about losing contact with the Citadel. Further details are being saved for later...
We land on a building to watch the fireworks for some reason.
A rather impressive effect.
This better be the last of the Enclave. I swear, if they show up again as a major faction in another Fallout game, I'm going to be extremely irritated.
And to a lesser extent super mutants as well, but they haven't been important since like halfway through the main quest, so I can't really call them major.
I don't know why we had to blow it up actually, there could have been some tech and gear that we could have used- I just don't care anymore actually, let's get out of here.
That's good to know. Unless by "we" you're including me in it as well. If that's the case, you're on your own.
Now what big speech is Elder Lyons going to give us here. Some sort of award ceremony or closing scene? Maybe an entirely new epilogue sequence?
Really? Cause, you seemed pretty happy to help us at the time...
"At the battle for Project Purity, you proved yourself... and any doubt that I had about you dissipated on that day. Now, with the Enclave in ruins and with you to thank for it, I'm almost at a complete loss for words. I feel proud to call you one of our own, and I promise that what you've done here today will be recorded by our scribes as a historic moment."
Erm... thank you?
"On behalf of the Brotherhood of Steel and on behalf of the free people of this Wasteland, I thank you."
That's it? Really? Just ending it on Elder Lyons saying how much of a cool person you are?
...
Fuck you Bethesda.
What are your final thoughts on Fallout 3? Was it a good Fallout game? Was it even a good game at all? I'm curious.
In fact, what are your thoughts on the LP in general? What can I improve on next time?
I see. You said you'll be using this thread for NV, right?AlternatePFG said:[HEADING=1]Chapter LXIV - The Final Insult[/HEADING]So, that's it for Fallout 3. That's not the end of the LP though. There are still a few more things to do, but that about wraps it up.This is it. The very end of Broken Steel, and by extension, Fallout 3. While it doesn't kick out of the game like the normal ending does, the LP will be ending here.
It's been a fun ride.
We start in front of the ruins of the White House. Apparently there is a metro tunnel we take to the Enclave base, but I'm not seeing an obvious entrance here...?
This is where we need to go through. Not the obvious metro entrance only a few feet in the other direction. It's the rather hard to see grate, that only sticks out because of the traffic cones that just barely noticeable.
It's another generic sewer tunnel area to get into the presidential metro. This is accessible without Broken Steel.
There are two doors we can take: Either into the Metro, or into the White House. Let's check out the White House for a sec.
It's pretty much an irradiated crater, without much of interest...
Well, except...
Fat Man and three Mini-Nukes. We will be using that later, actually...
Now we're going down into the metro.
It's a pretty cool location all things considered.
There are sentry bots down here that are a bit annoying, but nothing we haven't dealt with before.
There is a new tileset here, it looks much cleaner than most building areas do.
It's still somewhat dirty and crumbly though.
There are plenty of turrets all around here.
There is also a different looking train. We can't actually get on this one...
There's ads down here... for some reason. It's the presidential metro...
It's a rather large area.
Oh look, another talking computer.
"Attempting to identify local access user... Identification failed. This access point is restricted only to authorized personnel. Please identify yourself."
Oh crap, our science skill isn't good enough to hack this thing...
"[Speech, 40%] I'm from the United States Army and I'm here to provide assistance."
So for some reason a speech check works just fine on it.
"[SUCCESS] Scanning memory array... Request to U.S. Army for assitance was rendered 17 years, 26 days, 9 hours and 16 minutes ago."
Only 17 years?
"Information regarding request is available in my database. How may I assist you today?
"I'd like for you to deactivate all your security units."
"Negative. All security units must remain active at all times."
Crap.
"However, upon properly accessing this system, you have been marked as a friendly and should so no further hostility from said units."
Never mind, this is awesome.
"Could you repair the train to Adams Air Force Base?"
"Negative. Repairs are currently impossible on the Adams Air Force Base train line. If the security breach is nullified, I will return to green status and allow the Sentinel Unit to commence repairs."
"I'd like more information on this security breach."
"Information is available on that subject. Please specify."
"I need more details... What's the breach all about?"
"Internal visual sensing equipment is detecting numerous unidentified persons in the southeast tunnels area."
Okay, what is it now? Raiders? Enclave soldiers?
...
Talon Mercs?
"The individuals have damaged metro equipment and refused dialogue with our security untis. In accordance with U.S. Security Statute A567/B, the use of deadly force has been authorized."
"Can you tell me more about these unidentified persons?"
"My apologies. My sensing equipment in that area must be damaged. My equipment indicates the persons possess no internal body heat and are emitting lethal levels of radiation."
Oh, it's ghouls. This complicates things...
So the ghouls already have gotten pretty far into here.
The robots are fighting off the ghouls, and doing pretty well against them. There are some reavers though...
Fuck it, it's not like we're going to be using our nukes on anything else.
Got plenty of nukes for everyone.
This is more fun than fighting Reavers normally.
Eventually after you fight off all of the ghouls, they'll go to repair the train.
All it really has to do is switch a fusebox. We could have done that...
Oh god, this train is going to crash, isn't it?
Let me out of here!
Phew, we survived.
Now ghouls get replaced by Enclave. We're almost out of the tunnels.
We're now in Adams Airforce Base. It's a rather big area.
It even has it's own World Map. Don't let it fool you though - it's entirely linear.
Nothing wrong with linear if it's well made, but it's linear nonetheless.
The Brotherhood are preparing an assault, we're basically the distraction.
Oh look, a supply box. Wonder what's in it?
Oh hell yes.
We got the Tesla Cannon.
It's basically a giant laser rocket launcher.
I don't think throughout this entire sequence I've unequipped it. I love this gun.
It goes through the Hellfire troopers in a couple of shots.
I went through this entire section laughing maniacally.
WHO'S A BULLET SPONGE NOW?!
Area kind of reminds me of Nellis from New Vegas, except that it's slightly less annoying to get around in.
Okay, I did equip the Fat Man a few times, to make things a bit faster.
This is where they keep all the Deathclaws. Letting them out would be a bad idea...
This fight is turning into a huge maelstrom of sparks and bullets.
We want to get up there.
There is just a whole army in between us and there.
We have to go in here to lower the staircase to get into the carrier.
The soldiers follow us in here.
I could really use a nuka-cola right now.
Now it's time to get into this carrier and get this over with.
It's quite a fight getting over here to begin with...
Whole section is just a goddamn gauntlet of enemies.
Force fields. Good thing we didn't bring Dogmeat...
We can blow them up.
Armory? Even more weapons to the pile?
Sure, why not?
Destroying the forcefield calls these guys. Despite the unique name, they're really, really easy.
This is quite a lengthy section.
Seems like a good idea to go through here.
There certainly seems to be enough Enclave troopers to invade the Capital Wasteland and then some. Of course, they didn't count on us being a goddamn one man army.
They should have targetted the missile strike at us, not Liberty Prime. It might have scratched us a bit.
Now we're on the top of the carrier. And this is where things get tedious. There are dozens of guys on here.
This is really where you need to just use all of your healing and stat buffs. Just go fucking crazy.
You don't get a pathetic final boss this time, just a bunch of elite mooks thrown at you instead. Were you looking for a satisfying conclusion?
Well, fuck you.
Repeat this picture ad nauseum.
Eventually we get inside.
We fight off the last of the guys. Wonder what the bodycount is?
Finally.
Now, you get a "choice" here. You can't destroy Project Purity, Megaton or Rivet City Carrier. Why they are on here then, other than just to tease you is beyond me. (Though you could already wipe Megaton off the map. *shrug*)
But here's a question: Why the fuck would you nuke the Brotherhood of Steel after helping this entire time? Even if you are evil, there is no reason to destroy the Citadel. You are just screwing over the people you have worked for the entire game. Only now does it give you the option to "side" with the Enclave, and it's stupid.
Also, why didn't they nuke the Citadel before, or like right before we came in here killing everyone in our path?
So goddamn stupid.
Goodbye Adams Air Force Base.
We gain the karma we lost from killing those Alien Workers back by doing this.
Not like that karma will do us any good, we're trapped here. Looks like we're going to be killed off again...
In the nick of time, a Vertibird lands right in front of us.
Of course you'd be here...
Kind of. It figures Bethesda would shoehorn you in at the end...
"Not really. Your father said you'd pull through."
"He's told me everything you've done and the sacrifices your family's made for the sake of the Wasteland."
Erm, we already did plenty before the whole purifier thing. Does Sarah have amnesia or something?
"All I can say is that you've done one hell of an outstanding job out here, soldier. A hell of a job! Now it's time to do my job and to get your ass onto this Vertibird before it goes up like a nuke."
Well, let's stop talking and get to it already.
"Anything you say. We can talk back on the Citadel."
"Hurry, the orbital strike will be coming down any moment now."
We get to fly away on the Vertibird, that's cool. Too bad we can't actually see any of the scenery...
Well, at least Skyrim's engine will let us see out of windows-
Oh wait, you can't?
Well, so much for that then.
Obviously, this scene in the vertibird is slightly different if you chose the pointlessly dickish path. They talk about losing contact with the Citadel. Further details are being saved for later...
We land on a building to watch the fireworks for some reason.
A rather impressive effect.
This better be the last of the Enclave. I swear, if they show up again as a major faction in another Fallout game, I'm going to be extremely irritated.
And to a lesser extent super mutants as well, but they haven't been important since like halfway through the main quest, so I can't really call them major.
I don't know why we had to blow it up actually, there could have been some tech and gear that we could have used- I just don't care anymore actually, let's get out of here.
That's good to know. Unless by "we" you're including me in it as well. If that's the case, you're on your own.
Now what big speech is Elder Lyons going to give us here. Some sort of award ceremony or closing scene? Maybe an entirely new epilogue sequence?
Really? Cause, you seemed pretty happy to help us at the time...
"At the battle for Project Purity, you proved yourself... and any doubt that I had about you dissipated on that day. Now, with the Enclave in ruins and with you to thank for it, I'm almost at a complete loss for words. I feel proud to call you one of our own, and I promise that what you've done here today will be recorded by our scribes as a historic moment."
Erm... thank you?
"On behalf of the Brotherhood of Steel and on behalf of the free people of this Wasteland, I thank you."
That's it? Really? Just ending it on Elder Lyons saying how much of a cool person you are?
...
Fuck you Bethesda.
What are your final thoughts on Fallout 3? Was it a good Fallout game? Was it even a good game at all? I'm curious.
In fact, what are your thoughts on the LP in general? What can I improve on next time?
Using my own Scale (Negative five to positive five), I give the game a +1.5. NV improved upon it, in my opinion.
Now, for improvements...
....
...
Hell, I can't think of anything. You did a bang-up job. If I were going to be nitpicky, you made the Dogmeat joke about twice before this. But that's all I can think of.
As a side note, I quoted Fallout 3 in my final paper for one of my classes. The "War never changes" bit. Fun stuff
Can't wait for NVAlternatePFG said:
Old Game Blues
The thing with Fallout 3 is that it felt like Bethesda taking a loved series and turning it into whatever the hell they wanted. The original Fallout games were about humanity rebuilding civilisation (Fallout 1 more) after they destroyed it because they got greedy and couldn't get along. The Fallout games delved into human nature and how we would react to living in a life where civilisation was gone and now a new one was going to be born out of the ashes of the old world.
Background
Fallout 1 and 2 both included these aspects (Fallout 1 more). In Fallout 1 the Master was aware that people had caused their own downfall and that as humans we could not properly take care of ourselves, therefore he saw Super Mutants, which he could create, as the next step in human evolution. He wanted to create an army of mutants that would unify the human race and make all of their goals the same so we could live together and be more equal. However, there were many flaws such as people who had been living in the wasteland were not fit for transformation and became dumb and brutish, whereas more "cleaner" humans became intelligent and strong beings. More importantly all female Super Mutants are sterile, which means that eventually the Super Mutant race will no longer be able to continue and they will die out.
Basically, Fallout 1 dealt with getting rid of human?s problems by getting rid of humans themselves.
Civilisation vs. Survival
Now let?s skip to Fallout 3, what was that about? Some whiny kid who?s Dad goes missing and now he wants to go find him. Then said dad wants to purify the water (which should've mostly cleared by now anyway) to give all the people of the East Coast fresh water, because apparently they don't know how to make wells or filter water like those of the West Coast.
Fallout 3 just didn't have the political or societal messages of the original Fallouts and instead sacrificed that for stupid quests that you only take part in to see what cool loot you will receive, plus Fallout 1 and 2 already dealt with FEV, are we still going on about that? Fallout 3 was filled with stupidity and nonsensical things, such as the Experimental MIRV and Mothership Zeta. Bethesda did away with rebuilding civilisation and decided they would focus more on petty survivors trying hard to create communities where they can survive the harshness of the apocalypse, 200 years after it has happened, made even more pathetic by the existence of the NCR in the West who by that time had made a large republic of more than 300,000 people with a fully working government and military. And not to mention Caesar?s Legion who managed to conquer 86 tribes in an even shorter amount of time, using brute military force and diplomacy.
Fallout: New Vegas thankfully went back to civilisation with the NCR and Caesar's Legion, a force dedicated to fixing the mistakes of the old world by taking one of the most successful empires in history and getting rid of the negatives of it, mainly the senate and democracy, the story was focused on the political turmoil of the Mojave and the affect it had on the people.
Would an empire led by one man's ideals work in the long run? Most likely not.
Would the NCR, who can barely hold onto Hoover Dam and Vegas be able to continue to spread? Not at all if they continue to be lead by inept commanders such as Oliver and Moore, and while their president is a former war hero who forces people to fight for his ideals.
Can Mr. House control all of Vegas by himself, or will he eventually turn into the real life Howard Hughes and become obsessed with himself and become cut off from the real? Of course, because it has already happened, and more than likely he will gradually lose his grip on Vegas.
Independent New Vegas? People free to do what they want? Yeah, not a chance, eventually this will fall apart and things such as riots will break out and many people will suffer.
Compare that to Fallout 3?s endings; The bright, happy ending where the purifier is activated but the Lone Wanderer has to make their heroic sacrifice (while a radiation immune companion stands nearby), or the evil ending where the FEV is inserted and...A couple of people get sick (yeah, see that?s why post-ending gameplay isn?t such a good idea).
The world
People complain about how New Vegas was worse because it didn?t feel ?post-apocalyptic? enough, well there?s an obvious answer to that: Fallout isn?t mainly about exploring land devastated by nuclear war, it?s about exploring a devastated world and experiencing how humanity now has to rebuild said world they destroyed. Fallout 3 did give the sense of a destroyed world, but it is set 200 years after the apocalypse, should it really still be this crap looking and why haven?t large societies sprung up yet? The New California Republic managed to create a successful community with other settlements and a shorter time and now they have thousands of members. New Vegas perfectly captures the idea of rebuilding civilisation by presenting us with two major locations; New Vegas and Hoover Dam. Both of these cause the NCR and Caesar?s Legion to begin a war for total control, and Mr. House now has to defend his beloved city using deceit and manipulation.
Choice
New Vegas also felt much more like a role-playing game. In Fallout 3 you were forced to be someone who grew up in a Vault, you were told who your mother and father were, where you were born, you had to be friends with Amata, Butch is your bully, you can?t join the Tunnel Snakes, all of the characters have a set personality as to how they like or hate you, your age is pre-determined and you?re forced to love your dad and find him (seriously no matter how much you verbally abuse him you have to keep helping him, why can?t I shoot him?). Finally you?re forced to join the BoS and you can?t even join the Enclave, yeah sure you can put their FEV into the purifier but it doesn?t really change much. Also there just wasn?t enough choice in how you finish the main quest; you get two choices that barely differ from each other.
In New Vegas, however, you play a person who works for the Mojave Express, delivering a package and then unfortunately get shot in the head. That?s it, that?s all we know, that and the information of our past as revealed by Ulysses.
Companions
Another issue with Fallout 3 were the companions when compared to NV. The followers in F3 were very 2D and barely had any back story or personality at all;
*Jericho is just some raider who wants to go clean then he wants to go dirty again.
*Clover is a slave.
* Charon is practically a slave with a shotgun.
*Dogmeat is a dog.
*Sergeant RL-3 is a robot who doesn?t like communists.
*Fawkes is a super mutant who is more intelligent than the others because he was able to access the data files on the terminal with its small keys with his large fingers. Wait, why would a terminal in a holding cell have so much information and why is there a terminal in a holding cell in the first place?
*Butch and the Tunnel Snakes are supposed to be some kind of Italian-American greasers, but without the class, purpose and charm of The Kings in New Vegas.
*Star Paladin Cross is extremely boring. ?I knew your father? is basically her entire story and personality.
Now compare them to the companions in New Vegas;
*Rose of Sharon Cassidy (Cass) is a booze drinking caravaneer and daughter of Cassidy from Fallout 2. She is a talkative, despondent, confused, smart and gun savvy and is very thick headed to the point that the only way to actually get her to be a companion is with speech checks. She is independent and doesn?t take shit from no one and can give some really good opinions on the NCR and Caesar?s Legion, admitting to the faults of the NCR and advantages of the Legion.
*Craig Boone
*Arcade Gannon is a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse and former member of the Enclave. He is a man who wants to make a difference in the Mojave but is unsure as to how he is going to achieve that. Although the Followers are shown to all be optimistic and altruistic there is a sense of ?ends justify the means? in certain quests related to them. Arcade?s name itself resembles ?Arcadia?, an unobtainable utopian land that is very fitting to Arcade?s goals of a peaceful Mojave, a goal that will never be achieved.
*ED-E is a former Enclave eyebot that represents a sort of relic of the old Enclave and how they are all now starting to blend into the new society, along with other members of the Enclave. Plus all of the new information revealed in Lonesome Road.
*Lily is a super mutant nightkin and shows just how schizophrenic and confused the stealth boys have made them. She is used as a test subject by Henry to try and finally find a cure to nightkin schizophrenia and hopefully bring peace to their muddled minds.
*Raul
*Rex is a cyberdog who has had his own adventures. He was originally from Denver and eventually was discovered by Caesars Legion who took him. However, after a battle he was lost and roamed around, finding the King at Freeside. Due to his old age Rex?s brain has begun to decay and now you must find a replacement brain that will allow him to live longer, and also fill his mind with various different memories and abilities.
*Veronica
DLC
Fallout 3
In Fallout 3 the DLCs were all spread out areas with no connection to each other and served mostly as just ways to introduce more loot.
*Operation Anchorage was the worst offender, it had absolutely no role-playing aspects in it and was just a run-and-gun experience through trenches, all of which was a simulation and not even significant to your own character. In the end all of it was, simply, for the loot. The whole reason you go into the simulation is to open the door to the armoury so you can get all of the sweet loot that is to be found, not for the story of the Anchorage Reclamation or for characters...loot. The loot isn?t the worst part though; it would?ve been nice to have some RPG elements, a good story and memorable characters, but no just loot.
*The Pitt allowed us to discover a very nicely designed area, but sadly there was only one interesting character (Ashur) and even then the final moral choice didn?t even seem like a choice at all. In the end you?re asked to either leave the baby with Ashur or give her to Wernher, the problem is that both of these men have the same goal of creating a cure, Ashur was just smarter about it; Wernher was stupid because now the industry would fail whereas Ashur would keep the industry going and find the cure, not to mention that they both have the same rewards and it really has barely any affect on the story. After making the decision afterwards it barely seems like anything has changed, just that there are less characters around, and it hardly felt ?grey? at all.
*Broken Steel was Bethesda admitting to a mistake and trying to fix it, only to open up more problems. The problem with F3s ending wasn?t that you couldn?t play past the ending, it was that the ending itself was just stupid, gave no closure and then there was the whole companion issue. The Enclave has been defeated so many times now yet they still have so many forces and even after that they still roam around with powerful weaponry and unlimited numbers. The problem with F3s ending was that it didn?t give enough closure; it didn?t tell us what happened to everyone after the events of the game and what happened in the future.
*Point Lookout was probably the best DLC, it gave us an interesting area to explore and had some good characters such as Desmond and the Velvet Curtain quest was very well designed. There were some other, more minor locations to visit and some were rather interesting and the hallucination during the main quest was good. Unfortunately, that?s about it, but I wouldn?t call it a bad DLC, just not great.
Fallout: New Vegas
*Dead Money adds an interesting new area to explore, the Sierra Madre. What I liked about Dead Money was how it was focused on the environment, story and characters. All of the new character were interesting and add unique quirks to them.
*Honest Hearts allows the player to explore Zion Valley, a new and very nice looking location home to two tribes of Utah. One of the most significant aspects of the DLC is finally being able to meet the legendary ?Burned Man?, Joshua Graham. Joshua was a very interesting character because he presented an interesting story of redemption through religion and making up for past deeds. The ending of Honest Hearts was very good as it presented a very grey moral choice option, both endings had both their pros and cons and neither was really better than the other, it all came down to personal preference. However, the rest of the DLC wasn?t that great except for the Desert Ranger armour, Randall Clark?s story and the .45 pistol (and its unique variant).
*Then there?s Old World Blues. Old World Blues is fantastic; it brings a new and interesting area to explore and is very connected to the Mojave. You encounter the Think Tank, a group of strange and idiosyncratic scientists who are responsible for various things. OWB features great writing, voice acting, a story that will allow you to encounter a cast of colourful characters and a very interesting end. There is plenty to explore and find in OWB and the whole 1950?s science-fiction theme was pulled off very well and the DLC really feels like some of the areas that were going to be in Fallout 2 and the cancelled Van Buren. OWB also gives a lot more information on the story of Elijah and Christine from Dead Money and finally we get to actually hear Ulysses? voice and his actions at Big MT. Also, how can you not love Muggy and the Toaster?
*Lastly we have Lonesome Road, the final chapter in the Courier?s story and the revelation of why Ulysses was ?hunting? down the Courier. Lonesome Road takes place in the Divide and shows how much destruction can be caused by such simple acts. Not only did LR expand more on Ulysses and the Courier, but it even expanded on ED-E, giving us much more background information on how he came to be and why he was travelling through the Mojave. The final encounter with Ulysses reveals the last amount of information on what happened in the Divide and then you are given a choice that impacts the Mojave in ways that are up to you.
Bobble heads and snow globes
Now I?ll get extremely nitpicky...
In Fallout 3 the bobble heads are never really explained very well, they?re just there and they only serve as a way of overpowering your character very easily. Snow globes on the other hand provide decoration and caps, however, a reason is given as to why House even wants them; House loves snow globes because they represent how he enjoys the ability to control something (Vegas) in the palm of his hand and be able to turn it upside down and manipulate it to his will.
The thing with Fallout 3 is that it felt like Bethesda taking a loved series and turning it into whatever the hell they wanted. The original Fallout games were about humanity rebuilding civilisation (Fallout 1 more) after they destroyed it because they got greedy and couldn't get along. The Fallout games delved into human nature and how we would react to living in a life where civilisation was gone and now a new one was going to be born out of the ashes of the old world.
Background
Fallout 1 and 2 both included these aspects (Fallout 1 more). In Fallout 1 the Master was aware that people had caused their own downfall and that as humans we could not properly take care of ourselves, therefore he saw Super Mutants, which he could create, as the next step in human evolution. He wanted to create an army of mutants that would unify the human race and make all of their goals the same so we could live together and be more equal. However, there were many flaws such as people who had been living in the wasteland were not fit for transformation and became dumb and brutish, whereas more "cleaner" humans became intelligent and strong beings. More importantly all female Super Mutants are sterile, which means that eventually the Super Mutant race will no longer be able to continue and they will die out.
Basically, Fallout 1 dealt with getting rid of human?s problems by getting rid of humans themselves.
Civilisation vs. Survival
Now let?s skip to Fallout 3, what was that about? Some whiny kid who?s Dad goes missing and now he wants to go find him. Then said dad wants to purify the water (which should've mostly cleared by now anyway) to give all the people of the East Coast fresh water, because apparently they don't know how to make wells or filter water like those of the West Coast.
Fallout 3 just didn't have the political or societal messages of the original Fallouts and instead sacrificed that for stupid quests that you only take part in to see what cool loot you will receive, plus Fallout 1 and 2 already dealt with FEV, are we still going on about that? Fallout 3 was filled with stupidity and nonsensical things, such as the Experimental MIRV and Mothership Zeta. Bethesda did away with rebuilding civilisation and decided they would focus more on petty survivors trying hard to create communities where they can survive the harshness of the apocalypse, 200 years after it has happened, made even more pathetic by the existence of the NCR in the West who by that time had made a large republic of more than 300,000 people with a fully working government and military. And not to mention Caesar?s Legion who managed to conquer 86 tribes in an even shorter amount of time, using brute military force and diplomacy.
Fallout: New Vegas thankfully went back to civilisation with the NCR and Caesar's Legion, a force dedicated to fixing the mistakes of the old world by taking one of the most successful empires in history and getting rid of the negatives of it, mainly the senate and democracy, the story was focused on the political turmoil of the Mojave and the affect it had on the people.
Would an empire led by one man's ideals work in the long run? Most likely not.
Would the NCR, who can barely hold onto Hoover Dam and Vegas be able to continue to spread? Not at all if they continue to be lead by inept commanders such as Oliver and Moore, and while their president is a former war hero who forces people to fight for his ideals.
Can Mr. House control all of Vegas by himself, or will he eventually turn into the real life Howard Hughes and become obsessed with himself and become cut off from the real? Of course, because it has already happened, and more than likely he will gradually lose his grip on Vegas.
Independent New Vegas? People free to do what they want? Yeah, not a chance, eventually this will fall apart and things such as riots will break out and many people will suffer.
Compare that to Fallout 3?s endings; The bright, happy ending where the purifier is activated but the Lone Wanderer has to make their heroic sacrifice (while a radiation immune companion stands nearby), or the evil ending where the FEV is inserted and...A couple of people get sick (yeah, see that?s why post-ending gameplay isn?t such a good idea).
The world
People complain about how New Vegas was worse because it didn?t feel ?post-apocalyptic? enough, well there?s an obvious answer to that: Fallout isn?t mainly about exploring land devastated by nuclear war, it?s about exploring a devastated world and experiencing how humanity now has to rebuild said world they destroyed. Fallout 3 did give the sense of a destroyed world, but it is set 200 years after the apocalypse, should it really still be this crap looking and why haven?t large societies sprung up yet? The New California Republic managed to create a successful community with other settlements and a shorter time and now they have thousands of members. New Vegas perfectly captures the idea of rebuilding civilisation by presenting us with two major locations; New Vegas and Hoover Dam. Both of these cause the NCR and Caesar?s Legion to begin a war for total control, and Mr. House now has to defend his beloved city using deceit and manipulation.
Choice
New Vegas also felt much more like a role-playing game. In Fallout 3 you were forced to be someone who grew up in a Vault, you were told who your mother and father were, where you were born, you had to be friends with Amata, Butch is your bully, you can?t join the Tunnel Snakes, all of the characters have a set personality as to how they like or hate you, your age is pre-determined and you?re forced to love your dad and find him (seriously no matter how much you verbally abuse him you have to keep helping him, why can?t I shoot him?). Finally you?re forced to join the BoS and you can?t even join the Enclave, yeah sure you can put their FEV into the purifier but it doesn?t really change much. Also there just wasn?t enough choice in how you finish the main quest; you get two choices that barely differ from each other.
In New Vegas, however, you play a person who works for the Mojave Express, delivering a package and then unfortunately get shot in the head. That?s it, that?s all we know, that and the information of our past as revealed by Ulysses.
Companions
Another issue with Fallout 3 were the companions when compared to NV. The followers in F3 were very 2D and barely had any back story or personality at all;
*Jericho is just some raider who wants to go clean then he wants to go dirty again.
*Clover is a slave.
* Charon is practically a slave with a shotgun.
*Dogmeat is a dog.
*Sergeant RL-3 is a robot who doesn?t like communists.
*Fawkes is a super mutant who is more intelligent than the others because he was able to access the data files on the terminal with its small keys with his large fingers. Wait, why would a terminal in a holding cell have so much information and why is there a terminal in a holding cell in the first place?
*Butch and the Tunnel Snakes are supposed to be some kind of Italian-American greasers, but without the class, purpose and charm of The Kings in New Vegas.
*Star Paladin Cross is extremely boring. ?I knew your father? is basically her entire story and personality.
Now compare them to the companions in New Vegas;
*Rose of Sharon Cassidy (Cass) is a booze drinking caravaneer and daughter of Cassidy from Fallout 2. She is a talkative, despondent, confused, smart and gun savvy and is very thick headed to the point that the only way to actually get her to be a companion is with speech checks. She is independent and doesn?t take shit from no one and can give some really good opinions on the NCR and Caesar?s Legion, admitting to the faults of the NCR and advantages of the Legion.
*Craig Boone
is a former NCR 1st Recon sniper who had a large run of horrible luck and now is unsure of what to do in his life. He took part in the Bitter Springs massacre which mentally tore him and to make matters worse he was forced to perform a mercy killing on his pregnant wife. Boone is made out to be a depressed, illiterate and angered person who needs someone to help him show what he should do with his life.
*Arcade Gannon is a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse and former member of the Enclave. He is a man who wants to make a difference in the Mojave but is unsure as to how he is going to achieve that. Although the Followers are shown to all be optimistic and altruistic there is a sense of ?ends justify the means? in certain quests related to them. Arcade?s name itself resembles ?Arcadia?, an unobtainable utopian land that is very fitting to Arcade?s goals of a peaceful Mojave, a goal that will never be achieved.
*ED-E is a former Enclave eyebot that represents a sort of relic of the old Enclave and how they are all now starting to blend into the new society, along with other members of the Enclave. Plus all of the new information revealed in Lonesome Road.
*Lily is a super mutant nightkin and shows just how schizophrenic and confused the stealth boys have made them. She is used as a test subject by Henry to try and finally find a cure to nightkin schizophrenia and hopefully bring peace to their muddled minds.
*Raul
is a man who has seen many things, most notably the Great War itself and its effects on the world. During his centuries of travels he has encountered settlements and cities of crime and prostitution and eventually these things led to his life of vigilantism. Like most vigilantes this led to more problems and Raul was brutally attacked and injured. After witnessing the death of his home, family and love interest, Raul continued to travel and tried to protect the weak, only to realise it was pointless due to his old age and begun to believe he was a lost cause and old people could never help the world.
*Rex is a cyberdog who has had his own adventures. He was originally from Denver and eventually was discovered by Caesars Legion who took him. However, after a battle he was lost and roamed around, finding the King at Freeside. Due to his old age Rex?s brain has begun to decay and now you must find a replacement brain that will allow him to live longer, and also fill his mind with various different memories and abilities.
*Veronica
is an outgoing, talkative, friendly, optimistic and sarcastic member of the BoS. However, she is very different than most BoS members; she does not believe in many of the BoS?s ways (such as the codex) and would prefer if they expanded and put their skills to better use, instead of acting so xenophobic all of the time. She believes that if the Brotherhood does not change then they will either destroy themselves, or someone will do it for them as long as they are led by leaders who do not see the errors of their ways. Although Veronica is shown to be a quite happy person when it comes to the serious issues of the BoS, she becomes much more serious and her tone changes quite significantly, as shown during her personal quest when she stands up to McNamara and becomes even more saddened and confused than she was before.
DLC
Fallout 3
In Fallout 3 the DLCs were all spread out areas with no connection to each other and served mostly as just ways to introduce more loot.
*Operation Anchorage was the worst offender, it had absolutely no role-playing aspects in it and was just a run-and-gun experience through trenches, all of which was a simulation and not even significant to your own character. In the end all of it was, simply, for the loot. The whole reason you go into the simulation is to open the door to the armoury so you can get all of the sweet loot that is to be found, not for the story of the Anchorage Reclamation or for characters...loot. The loot isn?t the worst part though; it would?ve been nice to have some RPG elements, a good story and memorable characters, but no just loot.
*The Pitt allowed us to discover a very nicely designed area, but sadly there was only one interesting character (Ashur) and even then the final moral choice didn?t even seem like a choice at all. In the end you?re asked to either leave the baby with Ashur or give her to Wernher, the problem is that both of these men have the same goal of creating a cure, Ashur was just smarter about it; Wernher was stupid because now the industry would fail whereas Ashur would keep the industry going and find the cure, not to mention that they both have the same rewards and it really has barely any affect on the story. After making the decision afterwards it barely seems like anything has changed, just that there are less characters around, and it hardly felt ?grey? at all.
*Broken Steel was Bethesda admitting to a mistake and trying to fix it, only to open up more problems. The problem with F3s ending wasn?t that you couldn?t play past the ending, it was that the ending itself was just stupid, gave no closure and then there was the whole companion issue. The Enclave has been defeated so many times now yet they still have so many forces and even after that they still roam around with powerful weaponry and unlimited numbers. The problem with F3s ending was that it didn?t give enough closure; it didn?t tell us what happened to everyone after the events of the game and what happened in the future.
*Point Lookout was probably the best DLC, it gave us an interesting area to explore and had some good characters such as Desmond and the Velvet Curtain quest was very well designed. There were some other, more minor locations to visit and some were rather interesting and the hallucination during the main quest was good. Unfortunately, that?s about it, but I wouldn?t call it a bad DLC, just not great.
*Canon breaks
*Repetitive gameplay
*Stupid storyline
*No role-playing
*Repetitive gameplay
*Stupid storyline
*No role-playing
Fallout: New Vegas
*Dead Money adds an interesting new area to explore, the Sierra Madre. What I liked about Dead Money was how it was focused on the environment, story and characters. All of the new character were interesting and add unique quirks to them.
Dead Money also gives a very interesting twist at the end when you find out that the Sierra Madre treasure is a vault of gold, gold too heavy to even carry out meaning everything you did was for almost nothing. This reinforces the story of the DLC about greed and letting go. Dead Money also gives some good hints at the story of Ulysses and the Courier during the ending.
*Honest Hearts allows the player to explore Zion Valley, a new and very nice looking location home to two tribes of Utah. One of the most significant aspects of the DLC is finally being able to meet the legendary ?Burned Man?, Joshua Graham. Joshua was a very interesting character because he presented an interesting story of redemption through religion and making up for past deeds. The ending of Honest Hearts was very good as it presented a very grey moral choice option, both endings had both their pros and cons and neither was really better than the other, it all came down to personal preference. However, the rest of the DLC wasn?t that great except for the Desert Ranger armour, Randall Clark?s story and the .45 pistol (and its unique variant).
*Then there?s Old World Blues. Old World Blues is fantastic; it brings a new and interesting area to explore and is very connected to the Mojave. You encounter the Think Tank, a group of strange and idiosyncratic scientists who are responsible for various things. OWB features great writing, voice acting, a story that will allow you to encounter a cast of colourful characters and a very interesting end. There is plenty to explore and find in OWB and the whole 1950?s science-fiction theme was pulled off very well and the DLC really feels like some of the areas that were going to be in Fallout 2 and the cancelled Van Buren. OWB also gives a lot more information on the story of Elijah and Christine from Dead Money and finally we get to actually hear Ulysses? voice and his actions at Big MT. Also, how can you not love Muggy and the Toaster?
*Lastly we have Lonesome Road, the final chapter in the Courier?s story and the revelation of why Ulysses was ?hunting? down the Courier. Lonesome Road takes place in the Divide and shows how much destruction can be caused by such simple acts. Not only did LR expand more on Ulysses and the Courier, but it even expanded on ED-E, giving us much more background information on how he came to be and why he was travelling through the Mojave. The final encounter with Ulysses reveals the last amount of information on what happened in the Divide and then you are given a choice that impacts the Mojave in ways that are up to you.
Bobble heads and snow globes
Now I?ll get extremely nitpicky...
In Fallout 3 the bobble heads are never really explained very well, they?re just there and they only serve as a way of overpowering your character very easily. Snow globes on the other hand provide decoration and caps, however, a reason is given as to why House even wants them; House loves snow globes because they represent how he enjoys the ability to control something (Vegas) in the palm of his hand and be able to turn it upside down and manipulate it to his will.
I loved it, loved it a lot.
I think it was great, can't think of what you can improve to be honest.
Great LP and thanks for all the work and effort you put in. Always found Bethesda games more of a chore then actually fun (ANOTHER fetch quest? Damn my OCD) so an LP by someone who obviously knows the history and how to play, as well as being funny, is always a god send.
While you really deserve a bit of a break, are you going to do a NV LP at some point? Just so I know whether or not I can un-bookmark this thread.
While you really deserve a bit of a break, are you going to do a NV LP at some point? Just so I know whether or not I can un-bookmark this thread.