Poll: Which is better: Fallout 3 or Oblivion? Back up your argument.

[ShiningOmega]

This has probably been done before on the forums, but I thought I'd start my own. So, for all those who have played both games, or are well-informed on both, which is a better game: Oblivion or Fallout 3?
They are similar enough in the method by which you play them, and can be compared fairly because of this.

My Personal Argument:
Oblivion has far better gameplay all around.
1. I love the extremely high level cap; I played it for about 200 hours and only got to level 38.
2. The magic system added an entirely new dynamic to the game, and gives incentive to continue leveling up.
3. The quests are more varied, and there are 4 factions that add huge quest trees to the main quest.
4. You can go magic, melee or ranged, or a mix of the three. In Fallout 3, it always comes down to some kind of guns.

Fallout 3 has a better atmosphere and "feel".
1. Liam Neeson, Michael McDowell, and Ron Perlman. Need I say more?
2. Bombed-out Washington D.C. gives an eerie feel to the game and really pulls off the wasteland feel they're going for.
3. Has better story and more engaging factions.
4. Voice acting is excellent. Neeson, McDowell, and Perlman aside, it is much more varied and interesting than Oblivion.

Overall, I think Oblivion is better: it is the ultimate sandbox game, I was still playing and loving it even at my 200 hour mark.

What do you think?

 

[Chips the Magic Dragon]

I liked fallout 3 simply because there was a gun that shot eight nukes at one time.
Which will make any game the best right there.

 

[walls of cetepedes]

Oblivion just had so much more to see and do. Therefore, I vote that.

 

[Radeonx]

I don't care. I'll play both, and enjoy them equally. When I feel like blowing up the limbs of mutated abominations, I'll play Fallout. When I feel like brutally marauding whatever I feel like by casting a multitude of spells, I'll play Oblivion. I don't like comparing games, it isn't a competition, its about having fun.

 

[Kinguendo]

Oblivion.

If Oblivion was a person I would lick their face... regardless of gender, thats how good it is.

 

[Legion]

I honestly do not think that they can be compared fairly.

One is set in a fantasy world with magic and monsters.

The other is set in a post apocalyptic world with mutants and guns.

Sure the RPG elements are the same, but the settings are so different that they can attract different audiences.

 

[arcstone]

Oblivion is one of the most laughably buggy and overated games I can think of.

I like to think of fallout 3 as an improved oblivion.

 

[Gramorn]

My problem with Oblivion is that I wonder out into the wilderness and say. "Right. What now." Do a few things and get bored. If I pick up an exciting quest line [eg the dark brotherhood] then ill play it through, and then get bored again. I think the problem is that it tries to be too free form. I often found myself thinking "Well I'm head of just about everything... Why do I want to jump into oblivion and fight things?" and I also dislike the landscape of oblivion. I think the whole game hinged on wanting to jump through and batter the demons at their home. And it failed. I found myself avoiding portals, at all costs. The odd time I did jump through [usually quest related] I found myself saying "Well lets just get this over with so I can get back to something fun."

I have found that much less with Fallout 3.

I am yet to complete the main quest in either of them, both got to the bit where the encourage you to go explore before continuing the main quest, and Im enjoying fallout much more. I have reasons I want to do things. I have half a dozen quests on the go, and rarely find myself questioning my motives. I think the world sucked me in more. And thats what counts.

 

[slarrs]

They're very different, pretty unfair to compare. Never-the-less, I think I had more fun with Fallout 3.

Fallout 3 had a better concept, as well as more fun with weapons and combat. I was also highly disappointed by how much enchanting, spellmaking and magic in general, seemed to be nerfed from Morrowind. A strong mage was more a less god in that game.

 

[BoxCutter]

For me it will always be oblivion. I've been an elder scrolls nerd for a long time. As for why, I just enjoy the environment and the time period more. Guns are nice but they get old sometimes.

 

[RRilef]

It's like comparing apples and oranges, and I like apples better, but I still love oranges. Fallout 3 is a better game to me.

 

[MassiveGeek]

Oblivion didnt stir up my emotions like Fallout 3 did. It felt a bit stiff to me, and also I found Fallout 3 easier to understand, and I got dragged into the story and my character almost immediatly, which made it easier for me personally to enjoy it.

 

[Gizmo]

Honestly i can say i didn't enjoy fallout 3 i didn't understand why i thought i was going to love it.

But i must say for some strange reason i actually enjoyed Oblivion.

Might be the time setting i enjoy medieval over anything.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I'm going to say Fallout 3.

I hated Oblivion. Really hated it. The combat was boring, the scenery was dull, the world was uninteresting (I'm running out of words for boring here) and the people where lifeless androids with less personality than a potatoe peeler.

Ok, it wasn't terrible. The assassins missions where pretty fun for awhile, and I was impressed by the shire size of the world. But I just couldn't get into it. Yahtzee really hit the nail on the head. It was the immersion that got me. I just couldn't get into it.

I bought Fallout 3 grudgingly a few weeks ago. And I have to say, I've been having a blast. Fallout 3 over comes nearly all the problems Oblivion had, allowing me to see beneath to what the fuss was all about.

I simply love the VATs system. The gore covered cut scenes never get old. Beth really have breathed new life into turn based combat and made it fun again. And when it gets old (which it doesn't) you've always got FPS style combat to fall back on.

The people also move and look a little better in Fallout 3. It's still one of the games weakest points, but the animations at least allow you to stand it.

But the biggest problem they've managed to over come is immersion and atmosphere, and they couldn't have chosen a better universe to do it with. Traveling though the nuclear infected wastes I really do feel like I'm a struggerling survivor in a world without hope. Everything from the rusted guns bound in duct tap to the city's build of scrape metal and the 50's classics going out in the background...it just fits! By contrast to the Elder Scrolls dull and lifeless world, Fallout is one of the most interesting worlds I've ever seen in a game.

All this allows me to see not only what makes Fallout 3 really great, but what made Oblivion great for some people too.

IT's just so fucking BIG. Like really, really BIG. Like I'd have to walk to sainsburys and back 20 times before I even got close. I've been in the wastes an unhealthy amount in the last week and I feel like I'm not even close to finding every there is to find.

So...Yeah, thats why Fallout 3.

 

[skcseth]

Fallout 3.
There's more game in Fallout 3 (not including all the latest DLC), it's not as slow paced, it doesn't feel like a traditional RPG (as in managing spells and what not), and it's just more fun.