CT Phipps
Carbon Dated and Proud
I've mentioned this many times but I generally rank things very well. Warmed over Fallout is better than 90% of all games and I am an easy to please kind of guy. Usually, I can find a lot to like about a game and I am happy to discuss how much I enjoyed X, Y, and Z. That's the case with Fallout 4 but...God, do I feel it is a downgrade from Fallout 3.
So, in the spirit of the negativity that NMA speaks of, here is a list of the shit that bothers me about this game. Also, why I compare it negatively with Fallout 3.
1. The Family element is a joke: Fallout 3 is about you chasing your father and the changes you undergo before you meet him again. He heroically sacrifices himself to save you and you end up fulfilling his dream even if by circumstance. A decent amount of time is spent getting to know James in the Vault 101. Here, I spent an hour making Nora and wondering how the game would include her in the story but it turned out it was just to stuff her in a fridge. Shaun is also the villain of the game with his nonsensical plans and vague allusions.
2. The Power Progression Fantasy is Busted: The steady progression of the player's sense of badassery is a major part of why the narrative in Fallout 3 doesn't suffer from dissonance. You slowly go from being a naive wet behind the ears Vault Dweller to a Brotherhood of Steel one man army. Here, you get a fucking set of Power Armor and kill a Deathclaw in the second adventure and the entire game is a downgrade from there.
3. There's no sense of accomplishment: The Commonwealth is mostly doing fine without you. The Institute is a bunch of fucking idiots making robot slaves and kidnapping people to turn into Super Mutants, which you'd think would make them terrifying but they're a joke when you meet them and their evil leader is trying to make you his replacement. In short, all the problems will resolve themselves if you do nothing. The Capital Wasteland NEEDS the Lone Wanderer to save everyone.
4. You are stuck being a goodie-two shoes: Fallout 3 had its issues but up until the BOS vs. Enclave plot (which you can mess with in Broken Steel), you could be an absolute monster who enslaves, blows up Megaton, and is a scourge of the Wasteland. Fallout 4 is almost completely lacking in any option of being evil and doesn't get any opportunity to do so until the Nuka World expansion.
5. The Sense of Exploration is terrible: There's a lot of weirdness and unique stories that are going on throughout the Capital Wasteland if you just go over one hill or another. Giant Ants, Cannibals, Republics of Dave, Nuka Girls, and so on. Virtually all of the story is located around Diamond City and the story is much more linear in taking you around the Commonwealth.
6. The Games Villains Lack Personality: John Henry Eden has a lot of the heavy lifting done by the fact Malcolm McDowel is a fantastic actor but you can listen to his bizarre rants throughout and the conflict between him and Autumn has a point. Plus, it's about poisoning the water purifier. Father just wants you to steal a fusion reactor. Oddly, I feel like Arthur Maxson is a lot more terryfing with his genocide of the ghouls plan but apparetly we're meant to think of him as a good guy. But it's secondary villains too: Paradise Falls, Ashur, the Brotherhood Outcasts, and the Ant-Agonizer/Mechanist versus the one note Nuka Worlders and more.
7. The game relies too heavily on Radiant Content: So much of the game depends on opening up the game creation files with Settlements and radiant quests like Preston Garvey that there's obviously very little attempt by the creators to actually create genuine content that is plotted out. "A settlement needs your help" requires you to go there, kill some ghouls.
8. The Game World is Less Reactive: In Fallout 3, you are a silent protagonist but this gives you a lot more options in how to respond to events. The pre-recorded lines mean that virtually everyone reacts to your comments the same way. Take an early quest from both:
Sheriff: Can you disable this nuke?
Fallout 3:
1. Sure
2. Maybe, I don't know how to disable a nuke
3. I don't want to care about Megaton's problems.
Reaction: Each unique
Fallout 4
Piper: Do you care about Newspapers?
1. Yes
2. No
3. Why would you ask such a stupid question?
Reaction: All the same
9. The News Content Sucks: Three Dog was annoying as fuck at times and had no real news to listen on the radio to but for you. However, there's at least the sense you're doing stuff in the game and making accomplishments while the radio annoucer is utterly lacking any sense of importance with you. Piper is supposed to take up the role but hand written articles photocopied don't have the same sense. Also, she doesn't editorialize nearly as much as she ironically should.
10. No unique atmosphere: The Capital Wasteland is a blasted Hellscape where people are struggling to survive and Raiders have run over everything. The Commonwealth just seems to be a bunch of settlements made of trash with Raiders existing in just as high a numbers but seemingly no major effect on everyone's attitude.
So, in the spirit of the negativity that NMA speaks of, here is a list of the shit that bothers me about this game. Also, why I compare it negatively with Fallout 3.
1. The Family element is a joke: Fallout 3 is about you chasing your father and the changes you undergo before you meet him again. He heroically sacrifices himself to save you and you end up fulfilling his dream even if by circumstance. A decent amount of time is spent getting to know James in the Vault 101. Here, I spent an hour making Nora and wondering how the game would include her in the story but it turned out it was just to stuff her in a fridge. Shaun is also the villain of the game with his nonsensical plans and vague allusions.
2. The Power Progression Fantasy is Busted: The steady progression of the player's sense of badassery is a major part of why the narrative in Fallout 3 doesn't suffer from dissonance. You slowly go from being a naive wet behind the ears Vault Dweller to a Brotherhood of Steel one man army. Here, you get a fucking set of Power Armor and kill a Deathclaw in the second adventure and the entire game is a downgrade from there.
3. There's no sense of accomplishment: The Commonwealth is mostly doing fine without you. The Institute is a bunch of fucking idiots making robot slaves and kidnapping people to turn into Super Mutants, which you'd think would make them terrifying but they're a joke when you meet them and their evil leader is trying to make you his replacement. In short, all the problems will resolve themselves if you do nothing. The Capital Wasteland NEEDS the Lone Wanderer to save everyone.
4. You are stuck being a goodie-two shoes: Fallout 3 had its issues but up until the BOS vs. Enclave plot (which you can mess with in Broken Steel), you could be an absolute monster who enslaves, blows up Megaton, and is a scourge of the Wasteland. Fallout 4 is almost completely lacking in any option of being evil and doesn't get any opportunity to do so until the Nuka World expansion.
5. The Sense of Exploration is terrible: There's a lot of weirdness and unique stories that are going on throughout the Capital Wasteland if you just go over one hill or another. Giant Ants, Cannibals, Republics of Dave, Nuka Girls, and so on. Virtually all of the story is located around Diamond City and the story is much more linear in taking you around the Commonwealth.
6. The Games Villains Lack Personality: John Henry Eden has a lot of the heavy lifting done by the fact Malcolm McDowel is a fantastic actor but you can listen to his bizarre rants throughout and the conflict between him and Autumn has a point. Plus, it's about poisoning the water purifier. Father just wants you to steal a fusion reactor. Oddly, I feel like Arthur Maxson is a lot more terryfing with his genocide of the ghouls plan but apparetly we're meant to think of him as a good guy. But it's secondary villains too: Paradise Falls, Ashur, the Brotherhood Outcasts, and the Ant-Agonizer/Mechanist versus the one note Nuka Worlders and more.
7. The game relies too heavily on Radiant Content: So much of the game depends on opening up the game creation files with Settlements and radiant quests like Preston Garvey that there's obviously very little attempt by the creators to actually create genuine content that is plotted out. "A settlement needs your help" requires you to go there, kill some ghouls.
8. The Game World is Less Reactive: In Fallout 3, you are a silent protagonist but this gives you a lot more options in how to respond to events. The pre-recorded lines mean that virtually everyone reacts to your comments the same way. Take an early quest from both:
Sheriff: Can you disable this nuke?
Fallout 3:
1. Sure
2. Maybe, I don't know how to disable a nuke
3. I don't want to care about Megaton's problems.
Reaction: Each unique
Fallout 4
Piper: Do you care about Newspapers?
1. Yes
2. No
3. Why would you ask such a stupid question?
Reaction: All the same
9. The News Content Sucks: Three Dog was annoying as fuck at times and had no real news to listen on the radio to but for you. However, there's at least the sense you're doing stuff in the game and making accomplishments while the radio annoucer is utterly lacking any sense of importance with you. Piper is supposed to take up the role but hand written articles photocopied don't have the same sense. Also, she doesn't editorialize nearly as much as she ironically should.
10. No unique atmosphere: The Capital Wasteland is a blasted Hellscape where people are struggling to survive and Raiders have run over everything. The Commonwealth just seems to be a bunch of settlements made of trash with Raiders existing in just as high a numbers but seemingly no major effect on everyone's attitude.
