Fallout 3 review: PSM3
- Thread starter Brother None
- Start date
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Considering that the game was described as a 50-60/100 and yet given a 90, I think you're right.AskWazzup said:All these 9.0/10, or 90/100 look suspicious, as if 90 was the minimum score that bethesda allows all these so called journalists
I think what's telling about this review is that it's a mainstream reviewer who thinks that it's a worse RPG than Oblivion with only above average FPS elements. There is a lot of criticism which surprises me and makes me give props to PSM3, even if they did give it a 90 they said what they thought of it.
Yeah...it was a very interesting, refreshing review. If i'd have picked it up from a shelf in a store and not known the score beforehand, I would have fully expected it to have been awarded a score more fitting to the slating it recieved. It's most odd, and certainly goes some way towards hinting at truth within the 'pay off' theories.
aenemic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
I wouldn't take this review too seriously, considering he's barely touching on any real rpg elements. and considering he found Oblivion's quests to be enthralling and feel like his choices there made a difference. sure, this may be even worse in Fallout 3. but I'm just saying that this guy doesn't really seem to know what he's talking about and what to expect from a good rpg.
it might all just be that he prefers a fantasy setting over this. or something as simple as that.
it might all just be that he prefers a fantasy setting over this. or something as simple as that.
CxBxW said:
Nada. I quoted a bit more than I normally politely do, but almost all of the rest of it was descriptive text.
Well, I said it before in a previous post that it looks like the reviewers appear limited to only work with 10% of the score. So I agree with the notions here regarding the same idea. I've seen it before, and it's always a good idea to actually read the review. As you guys have caught, it sounds very different than what the actual score reflects.
Outbreak's Score: 6.5-7.5
That being said; I am also a little iffy about this reviewer basically saying it has a hard time comparing to Oblivion. I think what aenemic just said may be right. I know it's superficial, but I wouldn't even try Oblivion cause it looked so goofy, and yet I am still looking forward to this. That had nothing to do with the setting either. So taking my initial reaction and pairing it up with attitudes here on Oblivion, I agree that his idea of a great game are a little skewed. I respect him for giving an honest opinion though.
P.S. The superhero thing is really making me follow what someone else said here a while back, that Beth looks at Fallout like Mad Max meets 50's horror and Sci-Fi movies/comic books. They love that corny atmosphere. If they had put this together a little better, it might have been a lot cooler, cause parts like that are pretty creative; just weird.
EDIT: Oh yes, and thank you for taking the time to post this review.
Outbreak's Score: 6.5-7.5
That being said; I am also a little iffy about this reviewer basically saying it has a hard time comparing to Oblivion. I think what aenemic just said may be right. I know it's superficial, but I wouldn't even try Oblivion cause it looked so goofy, and yet I am still looking forward to this. That had nothing to do with the setting either. So taking my initial reaction and pairing it up with attitudes here on Oblivion, I agree that his idea of a great game are a little skewed. I respect him for giving an honest opinion though.
P.S. The superhero thing is really making me follow what someone else said here a while back, that Beth looks at Fallout like Mad Max meets 50's horror and Sci-Fi movies/comic books. They love that corny atmosphere. If they had put this together a little better, it might have been a lot cooler, cause parts like that are pretty creative; just weird.
EDIT: Oh yes, and thank you for taking the time to post this review.
entropyjesus
First time out of the vault
aenemic said:
Oh no, I've said it before in another thread. I was not a big fan of Oblivion, but after playing Fallout 3 I feel that Oblivion was a better game with more stuff to do. That's a testament to how dull Fallout 3 can be. There are a few moments here and there that are fun, but I spent most of the game wondering why I was still playing it.
To say this guy doesn't know what he's talking about just because it doesn't jive with what you think the game will be like is pretty silly. In another six days you might be eating those words.
Outbreak said:
Honestly? It does happen. Contracts are made stipulating a minimum score. But such contracts are rare, have to be backed by a major company and are usually only about the first exclusive review.
Maybe this guy's head editor wanted to stay on Bethesda's good side and tweaked the score up (it happens), maybe PSM3's scoring method just doesn't match what they say (pretty common), I dunno.
Outbreak said:
In defence of my colleagues (and I don't defend them often), it can be hard to score certain types of games, and sometimes scores won't match up with what you think you read even on honest sites like GameBanshee. I can remember typing out the Mount & Blade review in one go and then staring frustratedly and red-eyed at the screen trying desperately to figure out what kind of score this game deserves.
Scores are - to put it simply - stupid, which is why we won't score Fallout 3 in the NMA review. Scores are a silly, linear scale while anything but the most uncomplex game is made up of a myriad of elements.
aenemic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
entropyjesus said:
oh, trust me - I wouldn't be one bit surprised if it's even worse than Oblivion.
just saying, I got the impression that he didn't really know what to look for to make a decent comparison.
I just find it silly to take everything positive with a big grain of salt and take everything negative as fact. that said, some of his points do speak a lot more than the standard rants about how huge the world is, how cool the weapons are and how pretty the graphics are.
but when it comes to quests and dialogue, I won't believe it until I've seen it.
aenemic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
here's a thought on the reviewers score - maybe he gave Oblivion something like 95%-99% and thought "well, this game is like Oblivion but only a bit duller... hm, what did I give that game again?"...
I guess it's really hard to pick a score that's fair all around, considering you might wake up the next morning having changed your mind completely. also, are you supposed to go solely on how the game measures up to your own standards or how it is compared to other similar games right now, what you think other people would rate it etc...
I guess it's really hard to pick a score that's fair all around, considering you might wake up the next morning having changed your mind completely. also, are you supposed to go solely on how the game measures up to your own standards or how it is compared to other similar games right now, what you think other people would rate it etc...
Dopemine Cleric said:
Off-topixor: Lennon said that jokingly. Ringo is actually pretty solid drummer, he just hates drumsolos n' stuff. You can recognize most of Beatles songs just from drum comp.
But yeah, review and score don't really match. Scores are complicated. They're most stupid if they use 1-100 scale. They make more sense with 1-10 or even better, 1-5 scale.
Worse than Oblivion... Oh my god.
Funny that lot of people see Oblivion as modern example of RPG.
raleigh_565656
First time out of the vault
Ill sum it up.
This game sucks, 9/10
This game sucks, 9/10
Brother None said:
Thanks for the reply. I agree that both of these are possible in this case, but if it's the former, then we can see easily if every major review that comes out never goes under 90 or 9. But of course, maybe it really is like the latter, and everyone just wants to be on Bethesda's good side since they are becoming a potential heavy-hitter company.
Brother None said:
Well, I do understand your point and agree with that as well. I've had games I hated and didn't even understand why, along with games I loved and also didn't know why. The only time I ever really pay attention to a score in actuality is if it's within 3 ranges: 1-4, (won't even read review/play game) 5-6, (will give review/game a chance) and 7-10. (will definately read) Used in that regard, I am glad they are there, but I never rent/buy a game solely on the score. But, just like when GTA IV got 10, 10, 10; it's just annoying to see and so obvious.
entropyjesus
First time out of the vault
aenemic said:
I see where you're coming from, but in this case what he says is pretty much true. The dialog is just as dumb and uninteresting as Oblivion's, but now it's written in long winded green text instead of keywords. Granted, sometimes there's a glimmer of genius in FO3, but it's marred by the stupidity and laziness of everything else (i.e. the awful story, the Oblivion-esque dungeon crawling, the boring side quests, the ugly landscape, the broken combat system, bad AI, hand-holding gameplay, and inconsistent gameworld logic). If you even enjoyed Oblivion, you might not like this game because it lacks the colorful, long-stretching side quests such as the guild quest lines. Even the main quest is much more haphazardly paced than Oblivion and lacks the openness of the old Fallouts' main quests.
entropyjesus
First time out of the vault
terebikun said:
In the original Fallout (and even 2 in comparison to 3) these elements were done with much more subtlety than FO3. Fallout never really beat you over the head with the Sci-Fi goofiness and it made the world seem like it could be real, even with the giant mutated scorpions, ghouls, and super mutants. There was a large degree of restraint and style that made even the silliest elements seem plausible or so ironic that you felt they needed to be there to contrast the seriousness of the rest of the game.
FO3 misses out on that aspect of irony and subtlety and just "goes for the throat" so to speak. They really try to reinforce the goofiness sometimes and it doesn't work the same way.
Leon said:
Yeah, and as I said before, if they had been a little more creative/artistic with it, it might have worked/come off a little better. As the Fallout universe currently is though, it's not QUITE that far fetched. If I was going to play a campy 50's fiction based game, I'd rather it be an original game like, "Super Space Rangers" or "The Ant-Man Who Attacked Mars," instead of Fallout 3. Things thrown in here and there are OK, but not quest after quest. I'd probably enjoy weird crap like that if it was in a different kind of game; sort of like "Destroy All Humans".
EDIT: I also agree with entropyjesus above.