Fallout 3: First look.

[Johnzgame]

Ok, so Fallout 3 came out yesterday in Amurika, and I couldn't have been more excited and concerned at the same time. On one hand, Bethesda has made some good games, on the other, I was concerned what they would do with FO3.

On one hand, there was the new perspective, a needed evolution in my book, so I will not judge to harshly on that. My main concerns were A: V.A.T.S, and B: Non-combat playthroughs.

So I boot-up the game and I am treated to the good-ol' "War never changes" speech(from the original dude), and then I was born. I emerge head first(and in first person veiw) from the womb, the Doctor checks if I am a Boy, or a Girl; I choose boy. Then you go into your standard char. creation screen, picking your hair style, racial origin, etc. etc. I went with a black guy with blue hair and a mohawk.(Keep in mind they let you do this through a "What will you look like in the future" screen) Soon I am 1 year old, pressing buttons like A will cause me to ramble with goo's and gaa's, I then picked up a book named "Your S.P.E.C.I.A.L" and I then choose my stats. Not wanting to fool around too much, I simple put points into luck and agility(Taking 2 out of charisma). Then it's onto my 10th year where I learn some basic combat, then onto year 16 where I take a (kinda pointless, yet funny) test. This determined what my tag skills would be, but like I pointed out, it is useless due to the fact the teachur lets you edit your tag skills. Finally I was 19, and my father escaped the vault, and I eventually followed.

Now, while the begining is linear, once you exit the vault, you are givin a slight nudge in the main story direction(the town called Megaton), but that's it, you can go do what you want. While you can just smell the Oblivion reeking off the game, It does take most of the things one would not like about the game, and fixes them. For example, Oblivion changed depending on your level, but in Fallout, you wander into the wrong place and you will have to deal with a couple of super mutants. Another thing is the slightly repetitive terrain, while they had no excuse for it in Oblivion, in Fallout you can never blame it for that, since you know, the A-bombs and all.

Now I want to talk about the lack of Optional traits, any vetern will tell you what these are, but I will tell you now. Optional traits on the character creation screen of FO1/2 would give you bonuses at a cost, Finess might increase your crit chance, but lower your base damage, while there was always bloody mess, the greatest RPG skill ever(fans rejoice, Bloody mess is back, but you must be level 6 to get it). So while Optional traits are gone, they live on in Perks(Which you can get every level)

Now to move onto my first concern, V.A.T.S. In the old fallouts, you could spend extra action points and take a aim at a part of the enemies body, you could hit their arm to make them drop a weapon, or take a risky headshot for massive damage. In essence V.A.T.S does the same thing in FO3, but since your regular attacks take no action points anymore, V.A.T.S is the only reason they exist. Anyways, V.A.T.S works well into the combat, providing shots in slow-mo. While melee weapons can't target specific parts, they can deliver blows that will usually result in you dodging a few moves. Once you have spent some Action points, they regenerate at a decent pace, but don't to run, enemies are quicker then you, so it is a nice balence to avoid a hit and run tactic.

So far, I can tell they obviously based this off oblivion, but that's the only presense it makes, Everything feels like it belongs in the fallout universe, from a paranoid Overseer, to a man who offered me a job to detonate a nuke, It all felt like it belonged.

[WiseGuy]

you have 3 hands

[Nekkris]

I'd read this mass of text but I'm afraid it might contain spoilers.
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[Johnzgame]

you have 3 hands

is that a compliment or insult? i'm kinda confused.

I'd read this mass of text but I'm afraid it might contain spoilers.
:\

double checked and I saw no spoilers.
edit: Your father escaping was already known since they announced it, so I didn't count it as a spoiler.

[McPwned]

you have 3 hands

Two for playing and one for fapping? What?

[KarlParsons]

[QUOTE=Johnzgame;78498]is that a compliment or insult? i'm kinda confused.

If you actually had the game and played the game instead of just copying some random text off some review site, you would know that he is referring to the first section of the game and the G.O.A.T. test question regarding mutation and a third hand growing out of your stomach.

[Johnzgame]

If you actually had the game and played the game instead of just copying some random text off some review site, you would know that he is referring to the first section of the game and the G.O.A.T. test question regarding mutation and a third hand growing out of your stomach.

oh yeah, forgot about that, seeing how I took a bullet to my brain and all.

[KarlParsons]

oh yeah, forgot about that, seeing how I took a bullet to my brain and all.

lolz, im just bustin yer bawls buddy, maybe hes not even referring to that and it was just a mighty coincidence.

Question? Is it possible to miss quests by doing something in the game story that cuts off a quest path? (ie. nuking an entire city?? ) Or can you always get all the quests in the game eventually?? I don't want to miss any xbox achievements for quests because I took a different path.

[Johnzgame]

Yes, if you cut off one path, you can't get quests from there anymore, just recently I had to make a choice, and it cut off my quest chain and started another.

[The Killing Joke]

you have 3 hands

In a perfect world, women would have three breasts. One on the back, for dancing.