TheWesDude
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
imo, the hunchbacking of the supermutants in FO 1/2 was realistic due to the rapidity of the mutation and them all of a sudden having a ton more mass to move around than they are used to.
Fallout 3 preview on Gamebanshee
- Thread starter Per
- Start date
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Just read your bioshock review. Must've been a difficult game to grade.
The setting is in my opinion grand an no less than stunning or well crafted. But being a fan of Deus ex, System Shock 2, and to some small degree fallout2 (I do recognize its greatness as non-linear game and love the way my character's intelligence and other traits are reflected in how I perceive and interact with the world of fallout, but I cannot say I am a fan like you. (Tie-fighter on the other hand...)). Anyway the lack of depth and a greyscaled-moral choice is a great blow to me, so I will most likely never replay it as I do my favourites. (and the DRM-crap left a decidedly bitter taste as well)
Oh and, as for criticism, you really should watch this.
and remember, that while he REALLY nitpicks he does give the game a fair grade. Check out the halo 3 one as well (for reference). And remember the catch-phrase "weapons by Mattel"
Watch them, in fact watch ALL of them and pm me what you thought of his witticism.
The setting is in my opinion grand an no less than stunning or well crafted. But being a fan of Deus ex, System Shock 2, and to some small degree fallout2 (I do recognize its greatness as non-linear game and love the way my character's intelligence and other traits are reflected in how I perceive and interact with the world of fallout, but I cannot say I am a fan like you. (Tie-fighter on the other hand...)). Anyway the lack of depth and a greyscaled-moral choice is a great blow to me, so I will most likely never replay it as I do my favourites. (and the DRM-crap left a decidedly bitter taste as well)
Oh and, as for criticism, you really should watch this.
and remember, that while he REALLY nitpicks he does give the game a fair grade. Check out the halo 3 one as well (for reference). And remember the catch-phrase "weapons by Mattel"
Watch them, in fact watch ALL of them and pm me what you thought of his witticism.
"Did you like Oblivion? Well, Fallout 3 is promised to be a much-improved version of that game, and with no significantly different design approach is almost guaranteed to be at least enjoyable by fans of the previous Bethesda game.
Are you a big fan of the recent evolution of RPGs? Well, the sand-box action-filled Fallout 3 might be right up your alley, though this will depend on how well the combat system plays out and how much Bethesda is able to fix its own vision of the game.
Are you a big fan of Fallout and did you expect a sequel to hold close to the originals design in both setting and gameplay? Set it and forget it."
I like this part, it says all I need to know in order to decide if I'm gonna buy it or not
Are you a big fan of the recent evolution of RPGs? Well, the sand-box action-filled Fallout 3 might be right up your alley, though this will depend on how well the combat system plays out and how much Bethesda is able to fix its own vision of the game.
Are you a big fan of Fallout and did you expect a sequel to hold close to the originals design in both setting and gameplay? Set it and forget it."
I like this part, it says all I need to know in order to decide if I'm gonna buy it or not
tfp said:
I watched Zero Punctuation on BioShock before I reviewed it, along with having read several other reviews. I like Zero Punctuation, it's funny, but it's also honest and fair in its criticism. Many of the critiques he names for BioShock are also in my review, though with other priorities.
I think GB rating system reflects well how I wanted to grade it: 7.5 for a pretty above average but not "good" shooter, pumped up by a 9.5 for graphics and atmosphere.
Wasteland Stories
Mildly Dipped
Heh, it's normal, for example, to Russian Game Journalists - протагонист, or protagonist.
quietfanatic
Ancient One
Good writing.
Hmm, so not a wobble mechanic/shoot where you aim, but a randomisation element after firing?
That also reminds me, was a jet engine used to open a gate in Megaton? Jet fuel for a passenger liner would be rare as RHS during a world war.
With tongue firmly in cheek.
Hmm, so not a wobble mechanic/shoot where you aim, but a randomisation element after firing?
That also reminds me, was a jet engine used to open a gate in Megaton? Jet fuel for a passenger liner would be rare as RHS during a world war.
With tongue firmly in cheek.
quietfanatic said:
Don't remember.
quietfanatic said:
Don't know. They open, but if I recall correctly you never see the mechanic.
welsh
Junkmaster
"Set it and forget it"? What does "Set it" mean?
Damn these naysayers of Bethesda! Don't they know that FO 3 will be the next best thing to Swiss Cheese made in Wisconsin!
Damn these naysayers of Bethesda! Don't they know that FO 3 will be the next best thing to Swiss Cheese made in Wisconsin!
welsh said:
Dude, I'd expect you to know.
"Set it and forget it" is one of those famous infomercial lines, from Ron Popeil.
In these case, it's the forget it that's more important, tho'.
My thoughts on the same Fallout 3 demo
(To answer an earlier question, yes the jet engine seems to be used to open the gate, as it starts whirring when the gate opens)
To put my thoughts into perspective:
a) Fallout 2 is the best RPG evAr
b) Oblivion sucked, Daggerfall was good (when it worked)
c) Bioshock was an ersatz SS2; hate when PC games get dumbed down for consoles
d) I don't care if Fallout goes FPS--in fact I welcome it (thus going against most of NMA, haha)
The good: amazing environment visuals--shanty-town aesthetics of megaton are spot-on. Love the BoS armor. Only downside was that the Supermutants seemed more generic than FO1/FO2. No more level scaling.
And I'm sure the diehard anti-FPS fans will hate this, but VATS seems supplemental--when going into the VATS mode, you see all the calculated percentages (aka head 45%, torso 60%, etc)? When shooting in real-time those VATS stats are also taken into account, too. In other words, you're best off using both VATS and the FPS element. VATS so that you can aim instantly while pausing gameplay, and FPS when you're waiting for the APs to recharge. You can still score critical hits without using VATs, so while VATS is helpful, it's not essential.
I like the VAT system, the art direction, and so far the basic leveling mechanics. The only question is how much Bethesda will limit you as far as customizing your character. If it goes the dumbed-down console approach then you might be able to max out all abilities (laser, hand-to-hand, firearms) ala Bioshock. I hope not.
The bad: Dialogue, while decidedly more sophisticated than the Mudcrub diaries from Oblivion, is still a far cry from FO2. Responses are 20 words at most. The options for dialogue also seem simplistic: you have the good, bad, neutral. FO2 seemed to allow a lot more room for roleplay. Along w/ the staid dialogue, the facial animations are very dry, just like Oblivion. You won't get HL2 facial expressions here. Which brings up the question, why bother with high-def graphics when you have such basic visual shortcoming as these? With the dry dialogue and (so far) uninspiring quests, I'm skeptical as to how Bethesda can deliver a game with the same depth as FO2.
Another note: I hated when the music abruptly changed when an enemy was nearby in Oblivion, and I hate it in FO3.
The ugly: What bugs me is that they've destroyed any satisfaction you would've gotten from critical hits. Heads and limbs fly off too easily, and Hines seemed to imply that the excessive gore was not simply ramped up for demo purposes. What made the gibs satisfying in FO2 was that they were uncommon, and had a punchy satifsfaction to them. With the gibbing happening constantly in FO3, you get desensitized--and it makes the bloody mess perk seem redundant. Also, the downside to the FPS gameplay is that it strips the snarky commentary out of the combat. This is esp true with groin shots since--well, there are no more groin shots.
Though the art direction is pretty, it lacks the attitude of the original series.
The unknown: Not sure how party members work into the equation, or how "gritty" your decisions will be. Nuking Megaton is "very bad", but it's not as brow-raising as killing children, whoring yourself for the sake of a quest, or having sex with a brahmin. I somehow doubt they'll keep that edginess for FO3, esp considering this game will attract more mainstream attention than the nichy FO2.
All in all, I'm looking forward to FO3, albiet w/ reservations. IMO turn-based Fallout had its set of serious setbacks, and quite frankly I'm not sad to see it go, as enjoyable as it was. I'll welcome the game not cycling through rat #1-23 so I can get to my turn to shoot at a mobster in New Reno. But one thing is for sure--it's not going to be as snide and witty as FO2, however it turns out, which is a shame. If it turns out to be a more polished, story-driven version of STALKER then I'd be happy. It's still a year out till release, so it'll take awhile before anybody can come to a decisive conclusion (NMA inhabitants included)
Btw, registered here recently but I've been a longtime follower/lurker of this site. Talked with some of u guys at the official forums too. Decided to make this post here because Brother None makes it out to be a horrible, abomination of the Fallout franchise. As Oblivioni-fied it is, I think the criticism seems a bit too harsh. Cheers.
(To answer an earlier question, yes the jet engine seems to be used to open the gate, as it starts whirring when the gate opens)
To put my thoughts into perspective:
a) Fallout 2 is the best RPG evAr
b) Oblivion sucked, Daggerfall was good (when it worked)
c) Bioshock was an ersatz SS2; hate when PC games get dumbed down for consoles
d) I don't care if Fallout goes FPS--in fact I welcome it (thus going against most of NMA, haha)
The good: amazing environment visuals--shanty-town aesthetics of megaton are spot-on. Love the BoS armor. Only downside was that the Supermutants seemed more generic than FO1/FO2. No more level scaling.
And I'm sure the diehard anti-FPS fans will hate this, but VATS seems supplemental--when going into the VATS mode, you see all the calculated percentages (aka head 45%, torso 60%, etc)? When shooting in real-time those VATS stats are also taken into account, too. In other words, you're best off using both VATS and the FPS element. VATS so that you can aim instantly while pausing gameplay, and FPS when you're waiting for the APs to recharge. You can still score critical hits without using VATs, so while VATS is helpful, it's not essential.
I like the VAT system, the art direction, and so far the basic leveling mechanics. The only question is how much Bethesda will limit you as far as customizing your character. If it goes the dumbed-down console approach then you might be able to max out all abilities (laser, hand-to-hand, firearms) ala Bioshock. I hope not.
The bad: Dialogue, while decidedly more sophisticated than the Mudcrub diaries from Oblivion, is still a far cry from FO2. Responses are 20 words at most. The options for dialogue also seem simplistic: you have the good, bad, neutral. FO2 seemed to allow a lot more room for roleplay. Along w/ the staid dialogue, the facial animations are very dry, just like Oblivion. You won't get HL2 facial expressions here. Which brings up the question, why bother with high-def graphics when you have such basic visual shortcoming as these? With the dry dialogue and (so far) uninspiring quests, I'm skeptical as to how Bethesda can deliver a game with the same depth as FO2.
Another note: I hated when the music abruptly changed when an enemy was nearby in Oblivion, and I hate it in FO3.
The ugly: What bugs me is that they've destroyed any satisfaction you would've gotten from critical hits. Heads and limbs fly off too easily, and Hines seemed to imply that the excessive gore was not simply ramped up for demo purposes. What made the gibs satisfying in FO2 was that they were uncommon, and had a punchy satifsfaction to them. With the gibbing happening constantly in FO3, you get desensitized--and it makes the bloody mess perk seem redundant. Also, the downside to the FPS gameplay is that it strips the snarky commentary out of the combat. This is esp true with groin shots since--well, there are no more groin shots.
Though the art direction is pretty, it lacks the attitude of the original series.
The unknown: Not sure how party members work into the equation, or how "gritty" your decisions will be. Nuking Megaton is "very bad", but it's not as brow-raising as killing children, whoring yourself for the sake of a quest, or having sex with a brahmin. I somehow doubt they'll keep that edginess for FO3, esp considering this game will attract more mainstream attention than the nichy FO2.
All in all, I'm looking forward to FO3, albiet w/ reservations. IMO turn-based Fallout had its set of serious setbacks, and quite frankly I'm not sad to see it go, as enjoyable as it was. I'll welcome the game not cycling through rat #1-23 so I can get to my turn to shoot at a mobster in New Reno. But one thing is for sure--it's not going to be as snide and witty as FO2, however it turns out, which is a shame. If it turns out to be a more polished, story-driven version of STALKER then I'd be happy. It's still a year out till release, so it'll take awhile before anybody can come to a decisive conclusion (NMA inhabitants included)
Btw, registered here recently but I've been a longtime follower/lurker of this site. Talked with some of u guys at the official forums too. Decided to make this post here because Brother None makes it out to be a horrible, abomination of the Fallout franchise. As Oblivioni-fied it is, I think the criticism seems a bit too harsh. Cheers.
Really? I don't feel I'm any harsher than you are, and even if I am, there's enough info in NMA's Fallout 3 preview that people can make up their own minds.
What is it exactly that I'm being harsh about, other than simply having different standards (i.e. expecting a Fallout sequel to at least feature TB and 3rd-person camera)
What is it exactly that I'm being harsh about, other than simply having different standards (i.e. expecting a Fallout sequel to at least feature TB and 3rd-person camera)
Ugh, can people stop bringing this line of argument up? Please? "NMA inhabitants" are allowed to have opinions and criticisms whether the game is released or not, based on what we know, no different really than the conclusions you're drawing yourself in your post. I doubt any rational person here would say that they're determined to hate it even if it turns out to be surprisingly awesome. We just have opinions based on what we've seen, what Bethesda has stated, and knowledge of Bethesda's previous work and the direction they generally take their games.yukatan said:
FO3 is not a person whose feelings we have to spare. If that's how someone feels, why mince words?
Peninsula said:
= Bad art direction.
Morbus
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Oh my! How surprising!Wooz said:
h:Brother None said:
Well for one, your point about "dialogue looks and feels basically the same as Oblivion"--while FO3 so far doesn't have awe-inspiring lines, it's a good deal better than the dialogue options in Oblivion... which, well, didn't really have dialogue options.
Also, the gamebanshee review says that the game is filled with eye-rolling cliches. Problem is, it's a demo to highlight quickly the features of the game. By it's very design you can't have reocurring innuendos, built-up humor, etc. It's trying to run through as many things as quickly as possible. The snide British-accented robot Mr. Handy, for example, is on screen for a whole 3 seconds--you can't have fleshed out humor in such a short timespan.
Also with regards to the main plot, you've stated that "there are some questions to be asked about the main plot, which involves you chasing down your father for no other reason that an assumed deep emotional tie and fighting supermutants"--the demo skips over the whole section of why you're chasing down your father. It goes from you about to take the GOAT test to you leaving the vault. It's too preliminary to slam the premise of you leaving the vault, esp. when the demo skips over that whole section.
Wooz said:
Lackluster art direction + pretty graphics vs. decent art direction + crappy graphics--I'd prefer the former. Graphics were definitely not a forte of FO1/FO2, so surprised ppl can slam the art on the newer game.
In your concluding Game Banshee paragraph, I guess I sort of fall into the "big fan of the recent evolution of RPGs." Problem is, I think all recent RPGs have been mediocre, be it Oblivion, wretchedly-boring JRPGs, KOTOR2, etc. So I'm not very happy with the "recent evolution" of RPGs either, since RPGs seemed to be dumbed down for the "console 'tards", to borrow Zero Punctuations cutting rhetoric. I guess my ideal FO3 would be FPS gameplay of SS2, dialogue, story, open-endedness of FO2, graphics of HL2. TB didn't make or break FO--Arcanum, for example, bored me to death.
yukatan said:
I didn't mean the mechanics and options, which I do think are improved, I meant the visual look and "feel" as in the way the lines are paced.
yukatan said:
I know that, but one can stick in less stupid things. Maybe this is designed to impress "a certain type" of journalist, this nuke-exploding, run-and-gunning, stupid-joke-and-violence filled demo. But the consequence to Bethesda scaling their demo that way is that it looks stupid to me. That's their business, not mine.
yukatan said:
That paragraph is not based on the demo, but on what developers have stated in interviews. Particularly this one. Bethesda has not been able to offer a better explanation for it than "he's Liam Neeson, man" and "obviously it's a big deal to you" and "the Overseer's goons are after you!" If that's the explanation they give, I guess that's the explanation there is.
yukatan said:
Vampire: Bloodlines?
yukatan said:
Arcanum's combat was just badly designed.
Sorrow
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
Fallout's graphics were and still are very good.yukatan said:
Are you serious?yukatan said: