Why the hate for Fallout 3?

[Carnagath]

Fallout 3 is fine, it's in fact a huge step forward for Bethesda, who, while they do have the best intentions, they usually lack the required imagination to actually make their huge worlds feel alive and immersive. With Fallout 3 they have taken a big step in the right direction. But in all honesty, you can't compare this game with its prequels and not be disappointed. I understand why someone who has never played the previous games could consider the 3rd one absolutely amazing, but do yourself a favor and replay the other games as well if you truly wonder what the fuss is about. I expect that at about the point where you and your gang walk out of a laboratory after having defeated an intelligent radscorpion at chess, walk up the street of New Reno and shoot up 2 casinos, 1 bar and 1 porn film studio after playing all these mobsters against each other and doing quests for everyone and against everyone only to lead the whole town to one giant Godfather-like bloodbath, before getting in your car and leaving nothing but dust and corpses behind, you will realise that Fallout 3 really, REALLY lacks in creative imagination.

 

[DragunovHUN]

And the fact that you've never heard of or played the first 2 tells more about you than the games.

I was eight when Fallout came out. It's not really surprising I missed out on a series intended for people a decade older than myself.

I was 7 at the time but some backtracking doesn't hurt. You can still find retail copies that contain Fallout 1, 2 and Fallout Tactics. You can also buy them from gog.com.

 

[SigmondK]

What the fuck are those things packed with that they explode by getting sneezed on, yet can't be salvaged for fuel?

They were atomic cars. They had mini nuclear reactors inside of them if I remember correctly. Though yeah I'll admit that what you said pretty much summed up my thoughts. Plus considering they said there were going to be less characters in the towns you figured they'd have more voice actors. I ran into the same person so many times voicing different characters that it was kinda irritating. There are two in rivet city if you know where to look. which is a good example. Again minor annoyances that would have made the game better had more time been spent with making the attention to detail better. Though that's all they really are. Minor annoyances, but those are my opinions.

 

[Wargamer]

The thing that really sold me on Fallout 3 is the exploration part. That's definitely a matter of personal taste, but when I bought the game I wanted some deliciously evocative scenery, super-mutants, and a wasteland filled with cool-looking ruins and some vault dives that are untouched by the bombs. The untouched parts are pretty much non-existent, but I got everything else I asked for.

I know what you mean on exploring. My third character is going to be Mad Max (I'm deliberately getting Dogmeat as early as possible, and trying not to use any guns but the sawn-off). My intention is to start him pretty soon, so I haven't found too much with my others. I just want to make him, and from the off head for the northwest corner of the map. I shall try to survive solely on what I can find myself, and avoid quick-travelling back to Megaton every few minutes. God help me...

As for the Vaults, I agree entirely. I really want to find an intact vault, not one that looks like a shithole. Anyway, the damn things are supposed to self-maintain! Did Val-tec forget to install that feature in everything bar Vault 101?

 

[SigmondK]

And the fact that you've never heard of or played the first 2 tells more about you than the games.

I was eight when Fallout came out. It's not really surprising I missed out on a series intended for people a decade older than myself.

I was 7 at the time but some backtracking doesn't hurt. You can still find retail copies that contain Fallout 1, 2 and Fallout Tactics. You can also buy them from gog.com.

He might not be into retro gaming. For the longest time I only played fallout two with no back story on one. I actually had a very good idea what the story was from two, but that was besides the point. The games were fun for what they did, but they weren't for everyone. There are people that the combat system just isn't for them. To each their own, but those games are quite old. The devs have all moved on to different studios. One of which is being contracted for the next Fallout game. Cool stuff to see what happens with that.

 

[Syntax Error]

There are two types of people who hate on Fallout 3:

1) The overzealous fan of the Fallout franchise who says it's not nearly open-ended or RPG enough and,

2) The overzealous Oblivion fan who says Fallout 3 is just a retextured Oblivion with guns.

You can't expect it to be either, lest you want to end up disappointed. Having not played Fallout or Oblivion prior to this, I can say that the game is great. You can easily lose a lot of hours here. Once you get out of the Vault, pick a direction and head out until you reach an impassable barrier. One big overworld and a lot of buildings and indoor areas. If this game doesn't scream "EPIC SCALE!!!!", I don't know what does.

 

[johnman]

I just didnt like it, too simple, Vats was boring, seen one ruined street seen them all, seen one ruined expensanse of nothing seen them all. The story really didnt enage with me and i just couldnt play it. I enjoyed it alot at first but one day i tried to play it and i just couldnt. The game itself gave me a headache form its banality. I love complex and deep shooters but fallout jsut didnt float my boat.

 

[SigmondK]

Did Val-tec forget to install that feature in everything bar Vault 101?

I really don't want to spoil this if you didn't find the invoices or read them, but the vaults were social experiments. It's weird, but it is true. Vault 13 (the vault dweller's vault from fallout) was designed in the game to be the perfect environment. It was supposed to be a bastion of puriety. While there is one vault where they cloned a guy over and over to see what would happen, another where they did sound experiments, another where they had some sort of chemical causing people to go crazy, and yet another (quest location) filled with holographic pods ruled by a vault tech scientist who controlled the simulation. It's pretty weird stuff, but interesting. Not sure how far I'd go to call it canon for the series, but it's an interesting twist.

EDIT: woops meant vault 13. Don't yell at me. >.>

 

[klakkat]

And the fact that you've never heard of or played the first 2 tells more about you than the games.

I was eight when Fallout came out. It's not really surprising I missed out on a series intended for people a decade older than myself.

I was 7 at the time but some backtracking doesn't hurt. You can still find retail copies that contain Fallout 1, 2 and Fallout Tactics. You can also buy them from gog.com.

Unless its a package deal, I'd skip tactics; its a decent squad combat game, with a moderately interesting story, but it doesn't stack up to the others, and is very linear with little character interaction. And, depending on your interest in the series, you could just skip to Fallout 2, its the best of the series by a long shot.

 

[The Giggling Pin]

Why the hate? Well, i was not one of the biggest fans of Fallout 3 but i certainly didn't hate it. Was it the most dissapointing games of last year? Yes it was , but more than likely due to my almost impossibly high expectations. I think the things that ruined it for me was the lack of grey areas in the game. In the previous two instalments of the series, which i am a very big fan of, you were not simply good or bad. You were not limited to very simple good options or bad options, you could do a number of things which made your decision more personal to you.

I also prefered the side missions in the older games, especially in New Reno, as well as having much more memorable locations. I must admit i spent a while complaining about Fallout 3 and generally being quite angry about the entire affair but with hindsight i can see that it is a magnificent acheivement. It looks like i imagined it and despite having what i consider to be a weak story, is absolutely dripping wet in the thickest and most incredible atmosphere i have ever experienced. It just never matched my personal vision for the game and i think that with a series that meant so much to me and others when growing up, that even if it did match my vision it would fall short in others eyes. Maybe thats the danger of re-releasing an old franchise - you just can't please everybody!

 

[Wargamer]

And the fact that you've never heard of or played the first 2 tells more about you than the games.

I was eight when Fallout came out. It's not really surprising I missed out on a series intended for people a decade older than myself.

I was 7 at the time but some backtracking doesn't hurt. You can still find retail copies that contain Fallout 1, 2 and Fallout Tactics. You can also buy them from gog.com.

I do enough Retro Gaming to know that Rose Tinted Glasses are a Cursed Item that grant negative modifiers, not positive. I've already spoiled several games for myself by obtaining them and playing once more, only to realise what was awesome in my childhood is now, frankly, shit.

How the hell I used to play Destruction Derby for hours on end is beyond me...

In short, I'm willing to believe unquestioningly that Fallout 1 and 2 used to be great games... back in the day. However, I remain skeptical as to whether they would still be as fun to play now.

I've seen some screenshots, and whilst I realise you can't judge by graphics, they don't look fun games. Not in the way Fallout 3 is; the First Person mode is part of what really makes the game for me.

 

[Syntax Error]

I just didnt like it, too simple, Vats was boring, seen one ruined street seen them all, seen one ruined expensanse of nothing seen them all. The story really didnt enage with me and i just couldnt play it. I enjoyed it alot at first but one day i tried to play it and i just couldnt. The game itself gave me a headache form its banality. I love complex and deep shooters but fallout jsut didnt float my boat.

Well, it IS a radioactive, post-nuclear war future. At least it had an excuse for being gray.

The only part I didn't like was the train tunnels on the way to GNR. That part of the game sucked, big time. And the Lincoln Memorial quest for Abraham Washington. If you bugged that one, just wait for a full day or do some other stuff then fast travel to the station near the Memorial. With luck you'd have eradicated the Memorial of Slavers Abraham Washington will give you the Dart Gun schematics.

 

[klakkat]

Did Val-tec forget to install that feature in everything bar Vault 101?

I really don't want to spoil this if you didn't find the invoices or read them, but the vaults were social experiments. It's weird, but it is true. Vault 101 (the vault dweller's vault from fallout) was designed in the game to be the perfect environment. It was supposed to be a bastion of puriety. While there is one vault where they cloned a guy over and over to see what would happen, another where they did sound experiments, another where they had some sort of chemical causing people to go crazy, and yet another (quest location) filled with holographic pods ruled by a vault tech scientist who controlled the simulation. It's pretty weird stuff, but interesting. Not sure how far I'd go to call it canon for the series, but it's an interesting twist.

That was one thing that seemed a bit odd to me. I didn't mind that a couple vaults were for experiments, but when every single one was? That got a little hard to swallow. In the previous games Vault-Tec is depicted more often as idiots rather than evil assholes. Perhaps the just limited the experimental region to DC? They didn't seem too interested in experimenting on the vaults in Colorado or California.

 

[SigmondK]

I do enough Retro Gaming to know that Rose Tinted Glasses are a Cursed Item that grant negative modifiers, not positive. I've already spoiled several games for myself by obtaining them and playing once more, only to realise what was awesome in my childhood is now, frankly, shit.

How the hell I used to play Destruction Derby for hours on end is beyond me...

In short, I'm willing to believe unquestioningly that Fallout 1 and 2 used to be great games... back in the day. However, I remain skeptical as to whether they would still be as fun to play now.

I've seen some screenshots, and whilst I realise you can't judge by graphics, they don't look fun games. Not in the way Fallout 3 is; the First Person mode is part of what really makes the game for me.

This is true, but games are not for everyone. I was a huge fan of the originals and still am. I still enjoy tactics even if it failed in so many regards. If you can't get into the system of control of a game then it isn't a game for you. It doesn't make it a bad game or a has been game. It's just a game that ages with some people finding enjoyment in it while others don't.

If the game doesn't look fun to you then don't buy it. Sure you could find a demo of it still out there at No Mutants Allowed if you really wanted to.

 

[Wargamer]

Did Val-tec forget to install that feature in everything bar Vault 101?

I really don't want to spoil this if you didn't find the invoices or read them, but the vaults were social experiments. It's weird, but it is true. Vault 13 (the vault dweller's vault from fallout) was designed in the game to be the perfect environment. It was supposed to be a bastion of puriety. While there is one vault where they cloned a guy over and over to see what would happen, another where they did sound experiments, another where they had some sort of chemical causing people to go crazy, and yet another (quest location) filled with holographic pods ruled by a vault tech scientist who controlled the simulation. It's pretty weird stuff, but interesting. Not sure how far I'd go to call it canon for the series, but it's an interesting twist.

EDIT: woops meant vault 13. Don't yell at me. >.>

Oh I already knew the Vaults were not what they appeared to be; I twigged something was up the moment I found Vault 106, and that was confirmed later on in the game.

Of course, I had learned a lot about the Vault experiments from the Fallout Wikia; I really do love the Fallout Universe, so a part of me does want the other games just to learn more about what went on in the other Vaults.

That, and I really want Vault 77 to appear in the next Fallout. I know it's not in Fallout 3, but I also know his Jumpsuit is...

 

[Markgraf]

It's the same reason Chrono Trigger fanboys hated Chrono Cross: it was a sequel too radically different from the source material. I'm pretty sure had Bethesda renamed it, these people would not be vociferously arguing against it because the brand name recognition would not be there.

 

[SigmondK]

That was one thing that seemed a bit odd to me. I didn't mind that a couple vaults were for experiments, but when every single one was? That got a little hard to swallow. In the previous games Vault-Tec is depicted more often as idiots rather than evil assholes. Perhaps the just limited the experimental region to DC? They didn't seem too interested in experimenting on the vaults in Colorado or California.

Couldn't really tell you. But as I said Vault 13 was supposed to be the bastion of purity before it's water chip broke. It was forced to change, but again it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Though Fallout really doesn't explain things and this in some weird way adds to it. You're forced to look at the small shreds of evidence that are left behind after all those many many years of desolate wastes for the clues. They never seemed all that evil to be honest, but instead they seemed like they were trying to develop things to make more money. The clone experiment, the sound one, the chemical one all seemed like they were trying to make a better system. The one with the holopods was prickish with no redeeming features, but I'm willing to let it slide.

 

[EvilMaggot]

i downloaded it ... sorry... (PC) had to check if it was worth buying... i liked oblivion more i found Fallout 3 to boring.. (i play alot of action/FPS/fast paced games so Fallout 3 compared was alittle bit boring lol)

 

[Wargamer]

story was soooo bad and preachy, ending was epic fail.
game mechanics and rpg aspects where totally ok, lvl cap was annoying, enviroment was fun, weapon durability was retarded (i prefer the durability in wow), the death reload thing i think is a miss but not in itself horrible.

Morrowind 5/5, oblivion 1.5/5 Fallout 3 0/5 (game 3.5/5, story and purpose 0/5)
A bad game can become a classic thanks to an epic story, a good game can become fail due to sucky story.

Personally, I think it's a really good addition. At first, all my concerns about weapons were "I can't afford more ammo". Now I'm shitting sniper rounds, but my concern is "I don't have the parts to fix this". I love the Combat Shotgun, but I had to shelve it for ages until I found another to fix it with. The whole concept of weapon degradation is going to make my Mad Max character a bastard to play as... and I am really looking forward to that.

It's a post-apocalypse wasteland; I shouldn't be able to sport military-grade hardware as standard.