Fallout 3 is overrated

[junkevil]

The story is one of the biggest things that sort of pissed me off.

Fallout 1, Fallout 2 or Tactics storylines weren't exactly Shakespeare but they captivating enough for me to want to finish the game.

Van Buren would have been just as interesting, perhaps even a little more as this time it didn't deal with some phantom army.

But Fallout 3... honestly it really angers me that some people consider it wonderful storytelling.
What starts with a scavenger hunt for dad, which is more forced IMO than finding a water chip or a GECK, turns into story that cuts and copies from Fallout 1 and 2 and not even that good.

There is no intrigue or plot development.

the plot is that the wasteland needs pure water really badly, even though everyone seems to do alright without it. not to mention the science behind it... but you shouldn't expect science to effect people like todd howard, who believes in mini nukes and chains of exploding nuclear cars... cars that didn't get damaged when the bombs fell, but man, one stray bullet and BOOM! oh yeah, also, a GIANT FUCKING ROBOT. nothing screams fallout to me like a giant robot with badly written patriotic dialogue.

and even though the story from the first fallout might not be shakespeare, it was far above and beyond what we get from most video games. you can't compare a video game to classic literature very easily and it's really unfair. but find an example of a video game that had as many options or an equally engrossing plotline. it was a great rpg and it's sad to think that one with such depth will probably never be seen again. you can always play modern rpgs like mass effect and bioshock to make up for it, but it's comparable to trying to ween off of heroin with bubble gum.

 

[generalissimofurioso]

Since it's email you can make a wit save and multiply their anger bonus x2 in your reply. Only downside is you have to apply their same twisted fanboyish logic, but it actually works out great because it's very brutal. In my experience, you get a critical at first strike like 80% of the time and every subsequent strike they attempt is critically missed.

I didn't have to struggle to come up with a decent response to something like this.

your take on bethesdas new work fallout 3 is retaded to say the least first of all you cant compare oblivion to walking in the woods when theres so much more and the way you right makes me laugh and cry at the same time sure its fun to pick on minorities i do it all the time but to keep doing it is stupid its only funny at times now back to fallout first of all your a doom fan with all this chainsaw shit so that makes you 30 years old or so get a real job and move out of moms house stop your crying fallout is not only better than any game out this year so far but better than any doom game ever made you obviously hate rpgs thats your choice sure but my choice is that your stupid ass wouldnt get it sure some things suck about these kind of games but no ones perfect hell i dont even attempt to punctuate my writing or spell check i think that if you try this game and still hate it you could hang your self from a scientology church with a finger up your ass that would make me happy some people just dont get it but apperently 4.7 million copies can speak for themselves but they cant make you love them you hate the story line you hate the ideas you hate the characters good hate makes you strong but you judge to quickly and to much like a racist and not an open mind do some drugs and jerk off crying because your comador 64 wont play fallout 3 your a great waste of human culture and money i hope you only understand that your cries go unheard to my deaf ears all in all you suck your ideas your writeing and your website not only will i never visit again but i will not ever see this rant again as it has made me very upset to think an old racist scum bag like you actually has ideas at all stop writeing and get a life or at least get laid you need it open your mind and try new things or like i said just die alone in your moms basment your what i would call a cryass nothing goes your way so you cry about it boohoo fallout 3 sucks boohoo just like oblivion boohoo walk around in a forest boohoo why not leave the comfort of your basement and see the sunlight i hear chicks dig pale skinny/fatass cry babies who have no life you make me want to drink ....a lot so that i may even forget you exist as sad as the fact that you do exist the only way i can end this is to say "your fucking clown shoes

What the hell are you talking about?

 

[Dionysus]

the author of the article is right though that it pretty much alienates all the target audience. oblivion fans can't cast spells and fallout fans don't get a good story.

I think this is a misguided notion. If Beth wanted to make another TES game, they could have done it without buying a new license. It's silly to think that FO3's target audience was exactly the same as Oblivion's, and downright absurd to think it was the same as FO1&2. The author of this piece is obviously an Oblivion fan that didn't think that FO3 was enough of a TESIV rehash. That's his opinion, but it's a little crazy to objectively say that they were trying to, or should have been trying to making a game that appeals to every Oblivion fan.

Grow some nuts? Seriously if game reviewers can't handle possible swarms of pre teens/teens having their tantrums what are they doing reviewing games? Have your honest opinion..if some don't agree who gives a shit. Thick skin.

Well, that works for someone posting on a random blog, but most media outlets are running a business of some sort. When you are selling your opinion, it helps to think about the audience.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

I think this is a misguided notion. If Beth wanted to make another TES game, they could have done it without buying a new license. It's silly to think that FO3's target audience was exactly the same as Oblivion's, and downright absurd to think it was the same as FO1&2. The author of this piece is obviously an Oblivion fan that didn't think that FO3 was enough of a TESIV rehash. That's his opinion, but it's a little crazy to objectively say that they were trying to, or should have been trying to making a game that appeals to every Oblivion fan.

The only Oblivion fans that I see this not appealing to are those who have a problem with the setting and the gameplay elements that brings with it. Fallout 3 was primarily targeting the TES audience while trying to draw from FPS fans, post-apoc fans, and what the name could draw from Fallout fans. By virtue of drawing from TES and FPS fans, it has a larger audience than TES games which simply draw from TES fans and new customers. That said, TESV might tell the tale of whether they have simply expanded their customer base or if Fallout 3 has more fans.

The goal of Fallout 3 was to create product diversification for Bethesda, even if the main point of variance is the setting and focus on ranged weapons (guns) rather than melee weapons.

 

[Wooz]

While the story is truly original and interesting

Wait, what?

 

[Holocausto]

Grow some nuts? Seriously if game reviewers can't handle possible swarms of pre teens/teens having their tantrums what are they doing reviewing games? Have your honest opinion..if some don't agree who gives a shit. Thick skin.

Well, that works for someone posting on a random blog, but most media outlets are running a business of some sort. When you are selling your opinion, it helps to think about the audience.

Why not just sell your opinion then instead of trying not to offend? I got an idea for a review outfit: It can be made up of totally honest reviews in which the subscribers are drawn by that very bizarre notion. Advertisers & customers who dig that crazy idea could fund & subscribe to it. If I might buy a game sugar coating it does me absolutely no "service" whatsoever so what is the point? "oh look I got tricked again thx review dude'.

People bitch about the lack of honest independent reviews then when you propose the idea....'oh no that wouldn't work they need to make money' etc. I fucking give up. I really do.

 

[junkevil]

the author of the article is right though that it pretty much alienates all the target audience. oblivion fans can't cast spells and fallout fans don't get a good story.

I think this is a misguided notion. If Beth wanted to make another TES game, they could have done it without buying a new license. It's silly to think that FO3's target audience was exactly the same as Oblivion's, and downright absurd to think it was the same as FO1&2. The author of this piece is obviously an Oblivion fan that didn't think that FO3 was enough of a TESIV rehash. That's his opinion, but it's a little crazy to objectively say that they were trying to, or should have been trying to making a game that appeals to every Oblivion fan.

eh, it's misguided to think that they would make a game and not target the already existing fanbase of bethsoft, and it's also a bit misguided to think that they would make a game called fallout 3 and not target the existing fanbase of fallout. just because you aim at a target though, does not mean you hit it.

you can't objectively look at some things in fallout and say that they weren't trying to please fallout or oblivion fans. VATS for example is supposed to be like turn based combat - except it's nothing like turn based combat because only you get a turn... and the arena in the new pitt dlc, a whole lot of TES fans creamed their pants over that. what about the inclusion of dogmeat and the horrid rendition of harold? now, i cringed when i got to the part with harold because it really was shit, but i also realized that they put him in the game as some sort of fanservice to people like me. did it work? not at all, but i was obviously targeted there because who the fuck else knows who harold is? TES fans? yeah?

when it all boils down, i feel they targeted too broad of a fanbase with the game... some things they got right, and other things they fucked up really badly... but the things i think are horrible are often being praised by others on the internet. also, it should be mentioned that they also targeted the console fanbase more than the pc fanbase. yes, the console fanbase. the kids who scream 'faggot' over voice chat in halo every time you frag them... those guys... now imagine for a second one of those kids trying to play fallout 1/2. they'd put it down in seconds. the complaints would be: "this games graphics suck", "there are too many words", "i don't know what to do now, where is my quest compass?" if you look at fallout 3 again, you can easily see where it went wrong (or right from a sales standpoint because the game sure did sell.)

edit: i'd also like to add that the only reviewer that i think is worth a damn is yahtzee because he doesn't give a shit what developers or fanboys think. he'll tell you how bad the game is and then shag your mum... and he doesn't just give out negative reviews either, but the reality is that most games that come out really are total shit if you've been around the block a bit and played pc games since the C=.

 

[Per]

i also realized that they put him in the game as some sort of fanservice to people like me.

Or maybe they said, "Hey, Harold should be in the game, let's do something with Harold", and then they did?

 

[junkevil]

i also realized that they put him in the game as some sort of fanservice to people like me.

Or maybe they said, "Hey, Harold should be in the game, let's do something with Harold", and then they did?

yeah, but it's fanservice. you see harold and you're supposed to like what you see because if you played the previous games, this is a recognized character. but the dialogue and voice actor was shit. not to mention the fucking branch people.

 

[Dionysus]

The goal of Fallout 3 was to create product diversification for Bethesda, even if the main point of variance is the setting and focus on ranged weapons (guns) rather than melee weapons.

Exactly.

Why not just sell your opinion then instead of trying not to offend? I got an idea for a review outfit: It can be made up of totally honest reviews in which the subscribers are drawn by that very bizarre notion.

I suspect that it would be outperformed by a review outfit that actively focuses on addressing a broad audience. And honesty isn't really the issue. People will tend to seek out media sources that tell them what they want to hear. It doesn't really matter if Glenn Beck is actually crazy, or if he is just acting crazy.

eh, it's misguided to think that they would make a game and not target the already existing fanbase of bethsoft, and it's also a bit misguided to think that they would make a game called fallout 3 and not target the existing fanbase of fallout.

Not really. Cherry Coke isn't designed to sell to everyone that wants to buy a Coke and everyone that wants to buy cherries. It might appeal to a lot of people that like coke, and it might even appeal to some people that like cherries, but the point is to sell more soda to more people, not capture the exact same demographic as a preexisting product. Beth wants to diversify their line up to avoid fatigue and saturation. And the devs are probably getting a little bored with straight TES rehashes too.

when it all boils down, i feel they targeted too broad of a fanbase with the game...

I think you are expressing a different idea here. I can understand why someone might not like mainstream games, but that doesn't have anything to do with the article.

 

[Crni Vuk]

Then, I ask my self why Fallout 3 is using or "rehashing" so many of Oblivions technology and gameplay.

You know, if they would really go for diversity in developed games one could just try to look at some a bit older companies that really made rather pretty succesfull very different games. From a straight shooter to a real time strategy. But to not say something that leads to missunderstanding, when I say "succesfull", I dont mean "block buster 4,7 million sold units" succesfull. I am talking about a profit for the company.

 

[Eternal]

the author of the article is right though that it pretty much alienates all the target audience. oblivion fans can't cast spells and fallout fans don't get a good story.

I think this is a misguided notion. If Beth wanted to make another TES game, they could have done it without buying a new license. It's silly to think that FO3's target audience was exactly the same as Oblivion's, and downright absurd to think it was the same as FO1&2. The author of this piece is obviously an Oblivion fan that didn't think that FO3 was enough of a TESIV rehash. That's his opinion, but it's a little crazy to objectively say that they were trying to, or should have been trying to making a game that appeals to every Oblivion fan.

eh, it's misguided to think that they would make a game and not target the already existing fanbase of bethsoft, and it's also a bit misguided to think that they would make a game called fallout 3 and not target the existing fanbase of fallout. just because you aim at a target though, does not mean you hit it.

you can't objectively look at some things in fallout and say that they weren't trying to please fallout or oblivion fans. VATS for example is supposed to be like turn based combat - except it's nothing like turn based combat because only you get a turn... and the arena in the new pitt dlc, a whole lot of TES fans creamed their pants over that. what about the inclusion of dogmeat and the horrid rendition of harold? now, i cringed when i got to the part with harold because it really was shit, but i also realized that they put him in the game as some sort of fanservice to people like me. did it work? not at all, but i was obviously targeted there because who the fuck else knows who harold is? TES fans? yeah?

when it all boils down, i feel they targeted too broad of a fanbase with the game... some things they got right, and other things they fucked up really badly... but the things i think are horrible are often being praised by others on the internet. also, it should be mentioned that they also targeted the console fanbase more than the pc fanbase. yes, the console fanbase. the kids who scream 'faggot' over voice chat in halo every time you frag them... those guys... now imagine for a second one of those kids trying to play fallout 1/2. they'd put it down in seconds. the complaints would be: "this games graphics suck", "there are too many words", "i don't know what to do now, where is my quest compass?" if you look at fallout 3 again, you can easily see where it went wrong (or right from a sales standpoint because the game sure did sell.)

edit: i'd also like to add that the only reviewer that i think is worth a damn is yahtzee because he doesn't give a shit what developers or fanboys think. he'll tell you how bad the game is and then shag your mum... and he doesn't just give out negative reviews either, but the reality is that most games that come out really are total shit if you've been around the block a bit and played pc games since the C=.

First off, I'd like to point out that all this 'console hate' that comes from avid PC gamers is really annoying and often misguided or flat out myoptic

I have found nearly as many PC FPS gamers who are just as annoying as console gamers. Know what the biggest difference is? PC games tend to be run on dedicated servers so the so after a few minutes of that crap the kid/manchild is kicked and possibly banned from the server never to be seen again, also without a dedicated chat system for all PCs you wont contact these people almost ever again.

As for your idea of bethsoft trying to do 'too much' yeah I'd have to agree with that.

Also Penny-Arcade tends to be pretty honest about their games reviews.

 

[Davis962]

I have been saying this since 4 hours into my first ( of two) playthroughs, and nobody would listen . . . NO ONE!!!

 

[UncannyGarlic]

Not really. Cherry Coke isn't designed to sell to everyone that wants to buy a Coke and everyone that wants to buy cherries. It might appeal to a lot of people that like coke, and it might even appeal to some people that like cherries, but the point is to sell more soda to more people, not capture the exact same demographic as a preexisting product. Beth wants to diversify their line up to avoid fatigue and saturation. And the devs are probably getting a little bored with straight TES rehashes too.

Actually the idea with Fallout 3 was to capture the maximum amount of the current fanbase and to draw in those from a few other demographics, with FPS gamers being the main target. Just because a company is diversifying doesn't necessarily mean that they are trying to capture entirely different audiences with entirely new products (though that's what many big studios do). Fallout 3 was an expansion of the studios portfolio, which only contained TES for the past decade. By creating a second series which captures much of the same audience and some of a new audience it hopefully increases the fanbase of the company who will go out and buy their other games (in this case, future TES games) in addition to providing more rapid releases (2-3 years between a TES game and a Fallout game being released instead of 4-6 between each TES game), thus increasing cash flow and profits. Small amounts of diversification can go a long way to increasing profits (Capcom's Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and Capcom vs games).

 

[junkevil]

First off, I'd like to point out that all this 'console hate' that comes from avid PC gamers is really annoying and often misguided or flat out myoptic

I have found nearly as many PC FPS gamers who are just as annoying as console gamers. Know what the biggest difference is? PC games tend to be run on dedicated servers so the so after a few minutes of that crap the kid/manchild is kicked and possibly banned from the server never to be seen again, also without a dedicated chat system for all PCs you wont contact these people almost ever again.

compare counter strike to halo and then compare the average user of the two games. that is the difference between the pc gamer and the console gamer. if you say they are the same, it's because you haven't played either... and the dedicated chat system for the pc is called irc. it's been around a good deal longer than xbl, and in my experience, playing netgames without friends in irc on the pc is bullshit. you can call my hatred of console gamers misguided all you want, but in the end, i don't hear 5 year olds screaming "FAGGOT" when i frag them on the pc as i do on console.

i'll frag you too. whether you scream faggot at me is the sure fire way to tell if you are a console or pc gamer though.

Small amounts of diversification can go a long way to increasing profits (Capcom's Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and Capcom vs games).

you forgot to mention the part where it's incredibly sad that this is the way it works. but aside from that, i couldn't agree more.

 

[ComradeNu]

casting spells and being a wizard is so for fags and nerds

making peoples heads esplode wit nukes that is the fuckin shiiiiiit man, cut that old ladys head off and talk to to it yo!

That is who Betesda was catering to. Face it, fantasy is pretty effeminate and it's not something you want to show off to your friends if you're an insecure tween male. The Fallout IP was just lying around, and so was $5 million of Beth's money - it was a match made in heaven.

 

[4too]

"The Wonder Years"

"The Wonder Years"

... tween male ...

Insurance companies in general have suffered from the irrational exuberance of this era by assisting in the marketing of speculative *products* such as derivatives.
When under a kinder Darwinian moon this industry based insurance premiums on real statistics and long accrued common sense.

Antidotal example, my risking a DWI or worse was quite in denial until a barely passable breath test left only a conviction of reckless driving to max my point level for one year. Finding out how many thousands of dollars it would take to get back a suspended license was 'sobering'.
That was pre 'stagflation' dollars, so supply your own multiplier to represent 'punishment' relative to the current means of exchange.

Imagine my stunned amazement when at 25 my auto insurance decreased significantly,
just in time to finance my bar hopping between trips to the public health clinic for doses of tetracycline.
Was such a familiar face that we were on a nick name basis.
Sitting in the general waiting area with all the future 'mommies" did give me a pause to reflect on the alleged effectiveness of 'birth control' systems,
and the reputed collateral "prevention of disease".
Only a pause...

So, the 'go to hell' years start in the tween's and rage on into the mid twenties, your calendars and mileage may vary.
Still these are the prime times for love and adventure, when sex and violence are a powerful sales hook and as respectable in the barkers' pitch as the fear factors exploited by the once conservative insurance industry.

This is centuries old knowledge that the 'recent' industrial age statistics have only codified. Don't let that stop you from ""too much fun"".
Can't have natural selection with out that stampede of human nature. Those random mood swings are only 'rational' after the fact.
Just live long enough to write, or invent, your history.

The 'tweens' to twenties. ""The Wonder Years"", yeah 'wonder' how I got through with more emotional then physical scars, and so little net profit in dollars and sense.

The 'tweens', between adolescence and senility, rave on hairy thunderers!





4too

 

[lugaru]

NMA, meet the other side of the coin you are stamped on. Sure, there are a bunch of kids who think the game is flawless because this is the first game they played but both sides look kind of silly to a guy like me who stands in the middle.

 

[Morbus]

What is the middle between "NMA's stance" (if that's a real thing) and stupid fanboyism? Slighly stupid slight fanboyism?

 

[Atomic Cowboy]

i noticed that the person who wrote the original article thinks that fallout 3 has good story,so wouldnt consider the person very experinced in RPG games.

Read the original article closely:

While the story is truly original and interesting...

...Bethesda intends for this element to increase the suspense and anticipation of finally finding your dad... but it only makes the experience feel contrived and forced. Rather than getting a new hint at every city, it would’ve been much more beneficial to have sprinkled these events much farther apart throughout the course of the story...

Noordzij (the author) is being imprecise in his language. What he intended to say was that the plot was good but the writing/storytelling/execution.

Here on NMA, we focus a lot on the latter - it was ear-blisteringly awful, after all - but we focus on it so much that it's easy to miss the fact that the plot could have been epic. If you don't believe me, go read some pro-F3 propaganda; the game described in those articles is the sort of thing I'd love to play. If that doesn't convince you, then imagine what a Bethesda remake of F1 would be like. Its plot would seem contrived, confusing, and pointless.

You know, if I felt like spending the next six months rewriting all the dialogue, altering quests, rebuilding the combat system, and somehow managed to fine a programmer who'd help me do it - I could take Bethesda's F3 and turn it into a great game.

That's the tragedy of it all - the suggestion of brilliance is there, but in the end F3 is nothing but a bland, uninspiring waste of time.