Please explain to me the appeal of Fallout 3

[MiracleOfSound]

If you boosted up small guns, you shot with small guns. If you boosted up energy weapons, you shot with energy weapons. There's little to no ducking, running, aiming or strategy aspect.

That's because it's an RPG, not Call Of Duty: Nuclear Wasteland

 

[tlozoot]

I agree one hundred percent with the OP. I found Fallout 3 kind of underwhelming, which is odd because I loved Oblivion. I have a sneaking feeling the setting is what made Oblivion better for me, or maybe Oblivion had more variety in its combat.

How Fallout had fewer towns bugged me as well, although I guess the setting needs that.

 

[tlozoot]

If you boosted up small guns, you shot with small guns. If you boosted up energy weapons, you shot with energy weapons. There's little to no ducking, running, aiming or strategy aspect.

That's because it's an RPG, not Call Of Duty: Nuclear Wasteland

But an RPG should ideally provide different types of play for these different routes. In Fallout it all bottled down to using VATs with a different kind of weapon. In Oblivion warrior/mage/rogue changed how combat played out.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

If you boosted up small guns, you shot with small guns. If you boosted up energy weapons, you shot with energy weapons. There's little to no ducking, running, aiming or strategy aspect.

That's because it's an RPG, not Call Of Duty: Nuclear Wasteland

But an RPG should ideally provide different types of play for these different routes. In Fallout it all bottled down to using VATs with a different kind of weapon. In Oblivion warrior/mage/rogue changed how combat played out.

True, there were summon spells and stuff for advanced players but in general Oblivion did also basically come down do 'repeatedly spam attack button'.

 

[Harkwell]

Honestly, after playing Fallout 2 after 3, going back to 3 the game felt boring and lacking in depth. I honselty keep it around for the sake of mods like Enclave Commander.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Good action's should be harder since in a Post Apocalyptic world, it's easier to be a douche than trying hard to help people.

Narrative also isn't a strong point of Bethesda's, they are better at creating worlds and that's probably the main appeal of Fallout 3. You can just point in a direction and you'll find something, with all the quest's, loot and nice little things in the world in makes the world feel alive.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

The World is huge and immersive, yes, but I feel like there's no point in having such a huge game world if 90% of it is useless wastelands. Someone earlier in the thread said "There's so much to do!" and I couldn't disagree more. I guess there's LOTS to do if you enjoy wandering around in nothingness for hours on end. Personally, I like my game worlds to actually have some sort of objectives or interesting areas to go to.

I only got about 10 hours into the game because I just couldn't bare to see anymore of the same gray buildings with the same brown mutants and various Giant Rats. The shooting mechanics, VATS included, were pretty subpar, and the only real saving grace for me in FO3 was the customization options. Everything else, I feel Borderlands did better. The world, the shooting mechanics, hell, even the story (though neither game has much story that's worth mentioning).

 

[Ralen-Sharr]

I really liked it. Yes, the subways in particular just felt samey and tedious, but I could really get on board with the comedic effect stemming from the juxtaposition of campy, alternate/old-perception future elements such as the pip boy with the stark, unforgiving post apocalyptic aesthetic. The wasteland is a brutal, desolate, and depressing place, but then you stumble on an idyllic suburban community in the middle of nowhere populated by

Spoiler

psycho cannibals

that place immediately set my hair on end and made me feel out of place

and the you're too busy going, "lolwut?" to feel the way you'd normally feel in this type of situation.

In other words, the humor and variety kept me going. Not aesthetic variety, mind you, but there were loads of people to talk to who generally all had interesting things to say, and crazy shit like the flame sword and the teddy bear launcher to pick up and play with that kept the room lively. There's just little else like it.

 

[Neuromaster]

It's oblivion with guns,a fixed levelling system,in a post apocalyptic world with loads of ways for me to play.How could I not love it?

This. Like Oblivion, the main plot is weak. So ignore it. Just exploring the overworld made up the vast majority of my playtime. The game's beautiful. Even more interesting if you add on some survival/realism mods to make the wasteland just that much more dangerous.

 

[Crimsane]

I could choose to let a nuke go off in the middle of a populated town, as well as shoot nearly everyone who annoyed me and wasn't in a cutscene in the face. What's not to love?

If that's not your cup of tea, it's not your cup of tea. I don't like to play racing games, yet feel no need to try to find out why other people do.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Because the story is generally interesting, mainly due to my love of post apocolypse.
There's a lot of things to do.
And mainly,

The modding community.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

The immersion is... so intense, it's all the way across the game! It's Game of the...

Calumon: MGS4 came out the same year.

Jack: The Game of the Year edition is Game of the year!

 

[Hyper-space]

Yeah, I'm sure that this topic has already been done, but bugger me.

So what IS the appeal of Fallout 3? (Note that this is not a "Is it just me or does Fallout 3 overrated" thread. I'm genuinely interested)

I've played through the whole game and overall... I found it really subpar. Why? Well a few reasons.

1. The game does not equally balance out good actions and bad actions. Good actions are harder to perform and you get less rewards, but the overall perks or benefits are usually the exact same as the evil option.

2. The combat feels pretty much just like "Choose this style. Now good luck." At no point in the game did I feel that the shooting/fighting ever required strategy. If you boosted up small guns, you shot with small guns. If you boosted up energy weapons, you shot with energy weapons. There's little to no ducking, running, aiming or strategy aspect.

3. The graphics bugged me. I'm not a graphics whore but everything felt brown and green and grungy. This would be fine if there was some occasional contrast but most areas feel the same, even the buildings. I guess this is what the new Vegas will be for? But I dunno...

4. The narrative as a whole felt very weak so my motivations for going from point A to point B and shooting x subject were very slim making the game feel painfully tedious.

Now I will give credits to the VATS system, the open world, the gameplay concepts and the customisable parts of the game, but it just didn't really hold up for me. So members of escapist, what were the defining points for the game that made you love it?

1. agreed, its one of the most common problem with moral choice system nowadays.

2. Eh, didn't bother me that much, easy to normal difficulty did not require that much strategy, but once you go hard the fights requires you to plan ahead.

3. the fallout series takes place in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, so yeah, if you expected contrast between dirty shacks and dead grass, you're probably in the wrong place. Besides, the grey feel of the environment made the Oasis a much more beautiful setting.

4. This question requires a bit more explaining, what exactly made the motivations slim?

 

[Megacherv]

I killed a Super Mutant Behemoth with a Teddy Bear and a lump of my own brain.
This alone validates my purchase of Fallout 3.

Its also a Great game (In my opinion).

By any chance did you use the Rock-It Launcher?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I only got about 10 hours into the game because I just couldn't bare to see anymore of the same gray buildings with the same brown mutants and various Giant Rats. The shooting mechanics, VATS included, were pretty subpar, and the only real saving grace for me in FO3 was the customization options. Everything else, I feel Borderlands did better. The world, the shooting mechanics, hell, even the story (though neither game has much story that's worth mentioning).

10 hours? Really? There's your problem.

There are around 160 map locations to find in the game, all with a different little backstory or encounter, and that's not to mention the hundreds and hundreds of random encounters and hidden areas.

You can play F3 for 300 hours and still not find everything.

It's not to everyone's taste which is completely fair enough, but I can only guess you got unlucky with the first few areas you explored. The area around Vault 101 and Megaton is pretty empty, it's when you wander off further you start finding amazing little secrets.

You're right about Borderlands having better shooting though - much, much better.

 

[AlternatePFG]

My only complaint is that the moral choices are black and white. I wouldn't have a problem with this, cept for the fact that the game does give you the option to play neutral.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

I never understood it ether. I beat everything(including all dlc thank you game of the year) and still kept saying "this is it?" I got so bored with it, i felt it was an endless routine searching places and caves looking for cigarette cartons then selling them to buyers who never had any money. I guess the appeal is endless amounts of grinding.