Violence & Fallout 3

Brother None

Brother None

This ghoul has seen it all
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Because this point hasn't been regurgitated enough, CVG asked Pete Hines if he could please repeat himself again:<blockquote>"We don't want it to be the focal point of the game, but it is what it is. It's a violent world, and so the combat should be violent as a result.

"I think we've done it to the extent that it's not realistic. It's a bit more tongue-in-cheek. It's Quentin Tarantino. So it's not storming the beaches of Normandy in Saving Private Ryan, where it looks like it's actually happening. It's more Kill Bill. It's violence that's a bit more over the top so it's more comical than disturbing."

Covering all bases, Hines concluded, "It's definitely a game for grown ups. It always has been. I think we've been very clear about that. This is a mature title for mature audiences. It's not a game for kids."</blockquote>Link: Fallout violence "tongue-in-cheek" on CVG.
 
You know what? I never found the violence in FO1 & 2 funny at all in combat, it was more of a visceral "Critical Hit = Limbs Exploding" kind of thing, for a satisfying pump that confirmed your actions and made it all the more effective when you got a critical hit between the eyes.

I never laughed at the violence unless it was scripted into scenes, where it was meant to be funny.

Bethesda is under the impression that we should be cracking up as a Super Mutant does a double flip in the air after we shoot him with a flimsy pistol with his eyeball hanging out its socket, his head severed and with a retarded smile on his face.
The violence in Fallout's combat fit more into the "gritty but campy" department, not the "BLACK HUMOR FUNNY DEAD PEOPLE" kind of department.
 
Frog said:
This is a mature title for mature audiences. It's not a game for kids.
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...

:confused:

Let me kill goddamn children then.
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That will be 3rd party modded in within 2-3 hours of the games release, heh.

As for me I found several of the death types in FO 1/2 quite amuzing, mostly because they were over the top silly. People don't get vaporized and fall to ash on the very spot, nor do sub machine guns tear people to bits with only 8-10 bullets. (wasn't there a 'turned to a puddle of goo' death or was that another game?)
 
Bethesda is under the impression that we should be cracking up as a Super Mutant does a double flip in the air after we shoot him with a flimsy pistol with his eyeball hanging out its socket, his head severed and with a retarded smile on his face.
The violence in Fallout's combat fit more into the "gritty but campy" department, not the "BLACK HUMOR FUNNY DEAD PEOPLE" kind of department.
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Aye, the difference is subtle, but I don't know if Bethesda is getting it wrong. Not even after seeing the demo myself. It kind of depends on how they end up applying crit rolls and the VATS-slo mo thing.

But yeah, "campy" doesn't necessarily equate "funny". It's never been clear to me if Bethesda got this. It can be funny, but it's not meant to be. Funny isn't the priority, in other words, it's an effect.
 
I've laughed at the critical hit animations a few times, but yeah. It's not "omg that looks hilarious", it's the satisfaction of blowing your enemy away. The animations look quite gruesome to me, and definetely not silly. I felt they empowered the player, and also made the game feel genuinely dangerous. I'm not sure I was the only one to wince when the Vault Dweller got smeared by a mutant with a machine-gun.
Same with the "bad ending" where mutants invade Vault 13. The cutscene does look cartoonish in some ways, but I remember that the violence gave it a rather nasty feel of reality for me. It's sort of in your face, but the game doesn't dwell on it.
Even if some of the death animations are way over-the-top in themselves, it's the way they're presented. Quick and violent.

Never could stand the Bloody Mess thing though, I thought it got very boring after a while. I never got the fascination with it.

I hope it won't look to silly in Fallout 3, the "upside down mutant with leg blown off" looks rather strange to me.

Another problem is that we will get the whole cinematic thing, which to me focuses way to much on violence for the sake of it. I think it will get very old after a while. I want to see the violence yeah, but let it be quick and let it serve the game in making it feel more dangerous.
 
Killing children was black humor violence. With rocks. In the groin.
But Bethesda with their V.A.T.S. and general lack of children took this brilliant aspect and turned it into Kill Bill. Wtf.
Of course, they could use it for critical hits only, or when you take bloddy mess, but I am not aware if there are Critical Hits in FPS games. :x
 
It seems that bethsoft is trying to please both the "oldschool" fallout fans and the modern action gamer at the same time. The info seeming to alternate between "ZOMG MINI NUKE!!!" and what they think the fans want to hear.

Although I want to believe that they are staying true to the look and feel of the originals, all the evidence (screens, videos, E3 demo) points to the opposite. All we have to go on is there word, and that is notoriously unreliable.
 
I'm not sure I disagree with the direction they are going, exactly. However the way I responded to the death animations in the fallout games was that it gave me a clue whether I or my target were going to die sooner than just getting shot and falling down. I mean we are talking about a primitive era of graphics. For me the death animations were more of a "hell yeah" or "oh shit" moment.

Of course if Bethsoft has the animations for every single death, or every death caused by vats, then it will have no meaning for me.
 
I dunno, those critical groin hits were always good for a chuckle (ironically, they're missing in Fallout 3). But the animations of people being torn apart by miniguns and whatnot, those were more "satisfying" than "comical".
 
Forhekset said:
I dunno, those critical groin hits were always good for a chuckle (ironically, they're missing in Fallout 3). But the animations of people being torn apart by miniguns and whatnot, those were more "satisfying" than "comical".
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Punching a hole through a person with bare hands always gets me. Bloddy Mess for the win!
 
Starwars said:
Never could stand the Bloody Mess thing though, I thought it got very boring after a while. I never got the fascination with it.
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Same here, especially if you're specializing in only one sort of weaponry. You're going to see the same death animations over and over and it gets old.
On the other hand, when playing normally, it's an awesome effect when you pull off a critical dealing 100+ damage and have your enemy cut in half from your laser.

I always thought that "snipped in half" death animation from the laser weaponry was the most awesome death ever.


There was one death animation I did find particularly hilarious though, death by flamer, it never gets old seeing an immolated raider dance on his toes while set aflame.
 
Eyenixon said:
I always thought that "snipped in half" death animation from the laser weaponry was the most awesome death ever.


There was one death animation I did find particularly hilarious though, death by flamer, it never gets old seeing an immolated raider dance on his toes while set aflame.
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I love shooting a guy in the groin so hard it blows a big hole in his chest.

But I try to avoid Pulse weapons whenever possible. Picking up loot one item at a time is annoying, Bah.



TIM CAIN, WHY HATH THOU FORSAKEN US!?!?
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:drunk:
 
bazola said:
For me the death animations were more of a "hell yeah" or "oh shit" moment.
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Agreed, the animations were very satisfying whether you won or got killed, but what really put the comical perspective into it was the text descriptions.
Forhekset said:
those critical groin hits were always good for a chuckle
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Groin shots would never have been as funny without the descriptions.
"Raider X will never procreate again", or something like that, always cracks me up.


Starwars said:
Same with the "bad ending" where mutants invade Vault 13. The cutscene does look cartoonish in some ways, but I remember that the violence gave it a rather nasty feel of reality for me. It's sort of in your face, but the game doesn't dwell on it.
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You get the "we're doing good work to make mankind better" speech and find that it might not be all that bad of an idea, so you help them. Then comes the cutscene and your facial expression turns from pride to horror as you realise that you ignored all the obvious signs and a motivational speech made you side with post-apocalyptic Hitler.

Good times.
 
PlanHex said:
bazola said:
For me the death animations were more of a "hell yeah" or "oh shit" moment.
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Agreed, the animations were very satisfying whether you won or got killed, but what really put the comical perspective into it was the text descriptions.
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Right on, dancing to the rythym of the lead and all that, good stuff. I don't care how good death animations are, how many times can you watch them in slow motion without them becoming tedious?

If all this has going for it is the shock value of comic-book violence, what's left after that wears off?
 
Leisure Suit Larry 9: A post coital love playing game.
They will abuse the shock value of mild comic erotica and all the parents in the USA will shit themselves because people have penises and vaginae and they're not afraid to use them.

Taking life? BAD!
Creating life? EVEN WORSE!!! :twisted:
 
violence in f1/2 wasn't funny unless it was meant to be comical. Like, remember the random encounter with the exploding riddler standing in front of the bridge?
 
In all honesty, I found the violence in Fallout on a base level pretty realistic. It was the weapons used and the circumstances, plus the stat based combat that was over-the-top.
 
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