Game Informer Fallout 3 article scans

[MrBumble]

Well...It's now pretty obvious that Fallout 3 is an improved Oblivion with guns. At least, it looks good as far as graphics and landscapes are concerned. The supermutant looks like super shit though and it's first person and real time...
I guess I still could enjoy that game but it will never be Fallout 3 to me unless some NMA'ers mod the shit out of it.

 

[bonanza]

They could have given the Vault Dweller hip hop style hanging-under-ass baggypants, that would have made all the kiddy FO fans even more happy

 

[xu]

Style: Action RPG

Okay, that's enough info for me.

Uhm, screens look pretty. And that's about it. Pretty girls are fun. But they ain't nice and smart

 

[Fallacy]

It seems the combat system will at the very least be better than in Oblivion and Morrowind. The combat system in Fallout games was solid and fun, but in the end fairly simple and not vital to my enjoyment of the game. Frankly I think turn-based combat systems need to give you complete control over your party and the bigger the party, the better. Your options are quite limited when all you do is control the main character. I wish there were more games like Temple of Elemental Evil. As for the isometric view, it's another aspect I'm not sure why it should be missed. It may be essential in party based games (Well, in the vein of Temple of Elemental Evil, not Wizardry), but Fallout would probably have worked just fine even if the camera was a bit closer, technical limitations aside of course. Still, I'm a huge fan of turn-based games and completely understand why people here bemoan the change.

As for the atmosphere, based on these scans it's impossible to say whether they'll be able to recapture it or not. Getting the dialogue right is vital and this is where Bethesda games usually fail. It's rather puzzling how Morrowind and Oblivion had some rather well written, albeit unevenly, books lying all over the place and yet the dialogue was so bland. Hopefully they've hired some new writers. I like how the article says your pip-boy can detect radio signals which will occasionally reveal new quests and they've licensed '40s and '50s tunes.

I've always thought Bethesda's own character development system is weak; it encourages tedious skill grinding and the attribute growth system is moronic. So S.P.E.C.I.A.L. is more than a welcome change and of course it could hardly be a Fallout game without it. 14 skills is perhaps a bit less than I hoped for but it's still enough to get the essentials in.

It will be difficult to make the world large while keeping it unique and interesting. Oblivion certainly did not achieve that, yet anything smaller than Oblivion would not be satisfactory.

In the end, I enjoyed Morrowind and parts of Oblivion and all the announced changes are a step to the right direction. Whether it can be rightfully called Fallout 3 is another story. In the end, I don't really care anymore; I gave up hope when Black Isle died. As long as this game is better than Bethesda's other products I'll be satisfied. The post apocalyptic world and mechanics borrowed from the original games certainly help. I'm glad they've used the license instead of starting from scratch and so are most Fallout fans outside these forums.

edit: I'm rather puzzled why many of you even waste time discussing the game since it's apparent your hate for it is already sealed and has probably been for a long time. As Oblivion with guns has now been "confirmed", shouldn't it be prudent to move on to better things.

 

[quietfanatic]

We will stick around however many times Fallout might get abused, but I wouldn't dub it 'Oblivion With Guns' just yet. Obviously we care though. People have already been waiting for years. I don't know if I would be discouraged even by my own crap mod.

 

[Meh]

Great, even I had strong feelings this would happen this is the last nail in the coffin. Good thing they released some information finally after these years so I can finish on my part the following of the Fallout 3 project and visiting this site for good until the day Bethesda announces they're selling the Fallout franchise away.

Fallout fans form the best community around a game, you know what Fallout truly is. I just hope this community won't degrade to for what example Civilization community did when the fourth installment of the series launched -- then we've lost all the hope for proper Fallout game in the future. Keep up the good work in here and in DaC.

Couldn't been much more worse 10th anniversary year for Fallout.

 

[scypior]

For those who don't get why a lot of us are mocking their supermutent wannabe, here is a quick lineup of the real deal, their interpretation, and an Orc from Oblivion.



Note the pronounced chin on Marcus, the scaley skin and massively different head proportions/shape. All they had to do was look at the FO1/2 heads and copy them, but oh no - they had to place 'their' mark on them... Sure these gripes are all small ones, but when the core gameplay is so radically different these little things add up. They are all that is left to tie the game to the Fallout universe, every little fudge they make with the details pushes the game that bit further away from what made FO, FO.

Actually it's not the face of this mutant that worries me most.

It's this whole 'armor', and this 'hammer'....

And he is not crooked :/

 

[KavonRa]

Hye there

Long time lurker, only recently made an account, making this my first post. I kept quiet untill i knew more about "Fallout3".

Well, not to my surpise, it turned out to be a pile of brahmin goo!
On first glance it looks like an attempt at oblivion with guns. After rubbing away the tears, it looks exacly like oblivion with guns.

The attempt at RTwP is a sad attempt to "lure" TB players into giving the game a chance. Beth must be believing most TB players to lack any intelligence or eyesight. Face it, we kinda knew this was to be expected. Games are made for shareholders not for fans/gamers now adays.

The storyline, a 19 year old searching for his father, feels like a hallmark movie script. I would be surprised if they payed 75 american dollars for it (including shipping fee). Now adays ROLE-PLAY seems to imply: 'playing a set role giving you no choice what so ever other then what creature you want to kill as long as it an orc'.

My biggest problem with the game, Im not even going to call it fallout anymore, is that the demo was designed for the xbox. Meaning the xbox is likely being favored over the PC platform. Im sure i dont have to point out what console->PC ports are like. Let me point some problems out anyway.
- limited to no Keyboard configurations.
- Glitched graphics + horrible Graphic card support.
- Limited to no setting configurations.
- Press A or B to interact.

Well i could go on and on with my list but i think you get the point.

To end this post I would like to say to the optimists who say to give the game a chance: I am, by considering this game not to be Fallout and hence not buying it due to lack of interrest.

Giving it a chance and buying it are 2 different things!

 

[FeelTheRads]

Sam and Max is a perfect example. The first game premiered in 1993 after a good run of comics 6 years before....then nothing for 9 years...then a possible game got canceled...then nothing for 4 years. As an Adventure game "snob", I was ecstatic when the new incarnation arrived even though it was episodic and 3D, which is not how classic adventures are supposed to work. However, after almost completing the first season, I think the entire production is right up there with the original and even maintains the same feel as the original comics from the 80s.

The difference is, of course, that besides the fact that the new Sam & Max games are 3D, everything is kept faithful to the old games. Not that it's as difficult to do that as with the Fallout franchise, but your comparison doesn't have any merits.
Fallout 3 is not only 3D, but it barely has anything resembling the old games.

 

[Augustus]

So it happened. In the corner of first site we've got "style: Action RPG" and thats it for me.

It surely going to be at least good game. But not succesor of Fallout at all

 

[RayTracer]

well, after 10 years of waiting, some sleep and rethinking, I have to say I am very dissappointed. Not because this game hasn't promising features, no, just because it won't be the fallout feeling from 10 years ago. It was so unique. I never felt that much set into a world like in fallout. And all the style, it was so....perfect. FUCK. Why can't....aw right, I should have listened to the other peoples.

 

[DirtyDreamDesigner]

Heh, there is one good thing; nowhere do I see minigame.

But, of course, they might have just hidden it.

 

[SuAside]

Heh, there is one good thing; nowhere do I see minigame.

But, of course, they might have just hidden it.

they only add that once they realise their game is empty and need to add some quick 'substance' to add to the gameplaylife.

 

[radnan]

Heh, there is one good thing; nowhere do I see minigame.
But, of course, they might have just hidden it.

..VATS combat is quite the minigame imho . And just wait for that lockpickin'

Also dont expect to be reading a lot in this game or for it to have proper speech and text... why ? look at the screen with the conversation and the text under the head .. LOOK AT THAT FAT FONT SIZE yes yes i know .. tvs... 360 ... text bad ... but that also means that in general sentences are shorter .. there is less info conveyed not to mention anything that might flesh out characters is thrown out the window.

Fleshing out will be... is he talking loud or not. how expressive.

 

[Jonigigolo]

Thans a lot for updating the scans, i was expecting for it because here in spain i can't buy this mag.
Now, my opinion: Fallout3 is dead. As you can see in the images, this is like an improved Oblivion, it says ACTION-RPG and it is a FUC**** First Person Shooter.
Bye bye Bethesda and bye bye Fallout 3........

 

[RayTracer]

Short offtopic question : Am I the only one who's beth forum account was closed without any warning, suddenly without any actual reason? I guess they have classified all the people, and now, when the hype starts they just banned everyone who raises his finger trying to say "nay". Reminds me of Legacy. Stupid Beth$oft

 

[Hellion]

Minigame: "Hit the Fat Man with the Fatman! Utilize your gamepad stick to use the Nuclear Catapult and inflict maximum damage to that Supermutant! The more criticals you score, the more Achievement points you earn!"

Apart from the Nuclear Catapult..."Genre: Action-RPG"? Uruk-hai dressed in truck tires? BULLET TIME to portray the critical deaths? "Press RB to Accept"? It sure is not "Oblivion with Guns". It's a post-apocalyptic Max Payne mod with LotR influence. And developed primarily for the X-Box no less.

They could have done a worse job portraying the post-apoc atmosphere, but still...NUCLEAR CATAPULT?

As for the "drinking from the toilet to heal" bit...It makes sense. It worked in DUKE NUKEM 3D, it should work for Fallout! After all, both titles have a radioactive hint in them, so...

 

[Sorrow]

"The Vault of the Future" against "Vault Secure!" which do you prefer?

The Vault of the Future, of course. There's something wrong with "Vault Secure" and it's not the weather damage.

It seems that they decided to bring back, BoS, supermutants and all the other old things from California. On the other hand they created a new Vault Suit and a new Pipboy. What's the deal with creating a new a new Pipboy for F3/VB anyway? Fuck, not only it's a "new" Pipboy, but it has a Vault boy as a mascott. WTF?

Uruk Hai mutants? WTF is this? Lord of the Atoms?

I don't like spoiling the simple character creation and managament with TES gimmicks. A G.O.A.T.see test? No, thanks .

Water as a healing potion? WTF? How about a real survival where the character would have to search for food and water to avoid dying from starvation and dehydration?

It seems that they have lost the Tabletop Roleplaying part and moved to action-RPG.
Great, another FOPOS ...

Why is the super mutant wielding a FANTASY WAR HAMMER?

So you think all warhammers in Fallout should have the same, vanilla hammer designs as in Fallout 1 and 2? Where do these hammers come from? A warhammer factory? Or just some do it yourself scrap parts?

They are sledgehammers - basically, construction tools adapted as weapons, not warhammers. And yes, sledgehammers are probably produced in factories.

 

[Allen63]

Seems like Fallout 3 could be outstanding. Everything I read and saw, I liked.

Fallout 3 seems exceedingly true to the originals without being dated (as are the original Fallout 1&2). As an Oblivion fanatic, I do not see Fallout 3 as "Oblivion with guns" -- which I would not have liked. Rather, I see Fallout in an Oblivion-quality post-apocalyptic world.

Almost more interesting to read the comments here. Seems some will never like any Fallout 3. Too bad as Bethesda seems to have gone all out to retain the Fallout feeling in Fallout 3. Seems like a hobby to me -- disliking any proposed new version of Fallout. Oh well, to each his/her own -- one can keep replaying the originals

It remains to be seen what Fallout 3 is at release. However, I'm happy with what I've seen in the article. Thanks for posting it

 

[Ausir]

Apart from the Nuclear Catapult..."Genre: Action-RPG"? Uruk-hai dressed in truck tires?

An armor made of truck tires would actually make FO3 faithful to original FO1 concept art:

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Tire_Armor

They are sledgehammers - basically, construction tools adapted as weapons, not warhammers. And yes, sledgehammers are probably produced in factories.

It's already been established that the mutant is holding a car differential, not a hammer.