The review of Fallout 3 (
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/5419-Review-Fallout-3.2) on The Escapist (
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/) says there's somewhere around 500 different endings! Is this true?
I haven't played the first two Fallouts. Do you think I'd like Fallout 3 more if I played it first or waited till after playing the first two?
A a large majority of those endings are based on what you look like.
From whats being said on Bethesda F3 forums, the 200 endings bit is a lie. Theres only like 3 or 4 varied endings. So they say.
If anyone's having problems with LIVE or just wants to improve performance and how fast the game will load, renaming Fallout3.exe.cat to something else will cause the game to skip loading the LIVE dll.
edit: just finished the game and was completely meh'd by the ending i got.
It's sold out! It's sold out! It's sold out! :headbump And I got stuck in traffic for one hour on my way back home!
btw, is it closer to Oblivion or the previous Fallout games?
A tough question to answer. I just started playing two days ago. To me, it "feels" more like Fallout than Oblivion. Besides the obvious wasteland setting, the Pip Boy and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system are familiar aspects to its predecessors. The real-time combat and camera angle system much more akin to Oblivion, though the optional V.A.T.S. targeting system does use some of the better aspects of the old Fallout system. The dialog system seems to combine the best of both games using skill-based and perk-based dialog options combined with full voice-overs. The jibber-jabber dialog of NPCs in the background seems to have a better repertoire than I remember Oblivion having.
So far I'd say Fallout 3 has its own flavor distinct from F1/F2 and Oblivion. If you liked the earlier Fallouts and Oblivion, I think it's safe to assume you'll enjoy the game play of Fallout 3.
I have the first two Fallouts but have yet to play them. Play them first before trying to tackle 3 or will I be able to follow along without the entire backstory?
As far as I can tell, you can play each of the Fallouts separately without missing much. Sure there will be references that will have deeper meaning if you played the earlier game(s), but nothing to stop you from enjoying the individual games on their own. F3 takes place on the east coat while F1 and F2 take place on the west coast, very near yours truly as a matter of fact.
You can get the gist of the backstory from wikipedia and also, for those who don't have F1 or F2, you can play them for free by signing up with Gametap. (
http://www.gametap.com) Since you're an old fogie like me, I have confidence you'll enjoy the charm of the old isometric POV and dialogs, so feel free to play in any order you like.
Fallout 3 is set 300 years after the original too iirc and there's plenty of ways to find out about the setting and what led up to what's happening outside of Vault 101 without playing the other 2.
Correction: Only Fallout 1 is entirely free. Fallout 2 requires a pesky subscription.
If you want to go into further details about the series, there's also a Fallout Wiki (
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Wiki).
The only thing that is tempting me to buy F3 is, well, mods. There's quite a few out already, and many of them try to inject the original Fallout "feel" into F3. However, the only thing stopping from getting F3 is that it's been in the hands of Bethesda, so I'm expecting cheese galore with the voice acting. :dozey:
The first two fallouts take place on the west coast, Fallout 3 takes place on the east coast and quite a bit of time has passed as well, so anything from the first two that you need to know is told to you in Fallout 3. Playing the first two will get you "into" the world of Fallout, which is honestly a really well put together, amazing world. So you should seek the experience from the first two, but don't let not having played them keep you from just firing up 3. I do highly recommend playing Fallout 1 before 2 though as they do tie together.
About Fallout 3 though... I may be the odd man out, but I really didn't think Oblivion was so amazing. It had some good graphics, and the size of the world was a pretty big wow factor for me, but once I started getting my own houses, killing things, etc., etc. I just had a hard time holding onto the core storyline. It was like the immensity of the world kept dragging me from it. Fallout 3 doesn't quite play out that way for me, which is why I love it.
Fallout 3's main quest is pretty straightforward, its all about your dad. I won't throw in any spoilers here, so don't worry. The quest takes you to several places where you learn about more quests and options that can help you become a better wastelander. The really nice thing is that despite the fact you might get sidetracked trying to help some slaves rebuild lincoln's memorial or you're debating blowing up that nuke the town was built around, many times the dialogue with people will lead you back to the main quest, fortunately not in an annoying way.
The world is truly free roam. If you run afoul of a couple deathclaws cause you went into the wrong cave, or an enclave patrol stumbles across you, well needless to say if you're not ready for it, it won't take long for you to find out. The world moves beyond you, there are roaming patrols, creatures move from area to area, its really pretty dynamic. The game does have a linearity to it though that will be hard to escape. For instance in DC, I felt many times like the rubble in my way should have been easily scaleable, but the designers felt otherwise and I was forced into one of the very many subway systems to get to the next area I wanted to go to, which leads to some frustration sometimes. Also, there are occasions in combat where things can get pretty hot and heavy, and the game really shines there, cars exploding around you, blood flying on your screen, sounds are dulled from the shockwave and you're trying to gun down that super mutie with a gatling gun. Very exciting.
The dialogue was really well written and the actors mentioned above did a great job, particularly McDowell. The side quests are excellent as well, very well thought out for the Fallout world though occasionally a bit predictable, which fortunately the game uses for some comedic moments. A radio dish has been broken and ironically another dish can be found, you get pegged to go get it, and the dialogue reflects that irony well with humour about "Let me guess, you want me to get that for you?" The game achieves a realism through dialogue because your character can be any number of different personalities.
Anyway, there are some bugs in the game that are pretty hard to get around, but there is a thread on the bethsoft forums that is the official thread for fixing game breaking bugs as best we can, many solutions for people have been found there if they're having problems. I personally never really hit any problems that were not my own comps fault, but thats just me. I've played the game from start to finish, and like some others, felt the ending was forced on me, and am somewhat disappointed by it, but such is life, it was still half decent and I'm working on my next playthrough to experience a different ending. This game isn't to be missed though, they obviously put a lot of hard work into it. The overall feeling is that they created this with alot of care and thought as well as respect for the first two games and made it into something new, which I'm ok with. Definitely check it out though as its an experience not to be missed.
-Watcher07
Zero Punctuation's take on Fallout 3. (
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/420-Fallout-3) Thanks Achilles!
That was hilarious! :rofl:
From what I've heard, this game actually decent as long as you forget that it's supposed to be a Fallout game.
Bethesda has announced forthcoming downloadable content for Fallout 3 (
http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/home/pr-112508.php) for both Xbox 360 and PC versions. First up however is the PC exclusive game editor that will allow Fallout 3 players to create their own quests and content. Called the G.E.C.K., short for Garden of Eden Creation Kit, PC gamers will be able to create new creatures, weapons, quests, etc. sometime in December. Then starting in January, both PC and Xbox 360 players will get new content: Operation Anchorage, followed by The Pit in February, and Broken Steel in March.
While the new editor will be a free download it's not real clear to me that the in-game content will be free downloads. My guess is they won't be but will likely need to be purchased via Games for Windows Live or Xbox Live.
G.E.C.K. is out (
http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Main_Page)
Make sure you install G.E.C.K. to the same folder as the game not a sub folder.
Fallout 3 High Definition Texture Pack (
http://www.gamershell.com/download_36866.shtml) for those of you that can run the game at its' highest setting. It weighs in at ~400MB.
G.E.C.K. is out (
http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Main_Page)
Make sure you install G.E.C.K. to the same folder as the game not a sub folder.Thanks, that's good news! now I only have to find some time to play the game...[spoiler]I am still to find my virtual "dad" :p [/quote]
Fallout 3 High Definition Texture Pack (
http://www.gamershell.com/download_36866.shtml) for those of you that can run the game at its' highest setting. It weighs in at ~400MB.I suppose a performance hit is to be expected given that the new textures are in 2048x2048...personally, I didn't tried the pack but I am not sure that the new textures are really an improvement (it was certainly a lot of work for the modder though ). From the screenies published here (
http://www.clubic.com/actualite-244700-textures-haute-definition-fallout.html) (in French but you don't need to understand to see the screenshots) tiling seems more visible to me and I can't say that I am very fond of all those rocks...to each its own I guess...to me pure "photo-realistic" textures != automatical improvement .
OK so I just got through my first run of Fallout 3. About the ending.... what the hell? I mean.... what the hell? Even Oblivion's ending was better then that and Oblivion's ending was crap.
OK so I just got through my first run of Fallout 3. About the ending.... what the hell? I mean.... what the hell? Even Oblivion's ending was better then that and Oblivion's ending was crap.
I thought the same thing my first time through. Thought it was going to be like Oblivion where I could continue on my merry way, but… I've competed 4 times through now on the 360 and I’m now on my first play through with the PC version of Fallout 3. Still need to go through at least twice on the 360 to get the evil, neutral and the slave quest achievements. FWIW I actually like Fallout 3’s ending now, well at least the good ending (as I have not seen the others). :D
OK so I just got through my first run of Fallout 3. About the ending.... what the hell? I mean.... what the hell? Even Oblivion's ending was better then that and Oblivion's ending was crap.
Yea, that's really my only problem with the game. The ending is horrible. The rest of the game was fun, but then you hit the brick wall of the ending.
Which, speaking of brick walls, is the other problem with the ending. It felt too abrupt, like there should be more game. On my first playthrough, I decided to work on the main quest some more, then go back and do some more of Moira's stuff, but then BAM! The end.
I kind of had a feeling when Sarah Lyons said "Are you ready, we won't be coming back for a while," or whatever her exact line was, but I was in disbelief that I really was at the ending that soon... the lead up wasn't natural.
So, my second playthrough, I just went to Megaton and talked to Moriarty. Then, I just went and explored, avoiding all the places and people I knew would move the story along until I was ready.
I wanted more of the Fallout/Fallout 2 epilogue narration, recapping how my various actions affected others in various areas of the game and what became of them. Instead there was just a couple variations on the main quest's outcome. I mean, that let me down way more than the ending of the main quest.
My major gripe was Dogmeat kept going to that great kennel in the sky. So I cured that by getting the PC version, then cheating to make him essential. It was also interesting to find out where Walter kept disappearing to. First I found him dead, so I resurrected him then he disappeared off the map with half the citizen of Megaton.
Yeah, opinions is a bitch, aint they ?
@Lance: Well like i said, Fallout 2 atleast top my list of best games i played, and i played all those you listed there. And i think all the games you listed also is very good, Kotor, PS:T, BG2 are atleast very high up on my same list.
What are you doing making a list of all you're favorite games when you can be playing them?
Oh, and I love Fallout 3, LOVE it,
Kotor 1 and 2, psychonauts, jedi academy, half life 2, portal, are crushed under Fallout's Epicness.
Only real bug I found was when I disabled the bomb, and found Jericho dead right next to it on the opposite side I was on.
I proceeded to yell "JERICHO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" then spent like 5 minutes trying to put him on a couch nearby insisting that "He must be a comfortable corpse!" then died getting shot down by the other people 'cause some dude sat on jericho's death couch, and jericho came back and everything was wonderful.
I kinda wonder if he killed himself because he wanted to blow up and I took that away, so he shot himself
I'm getting this for PC, mark my words,
MARK THEM GOOD.
Kotor 1 and 2, psychonauts, jedi academy, half life 2, portal, are crushed under Fallout's Epicness.
You have sinned against both God and man.
You have sinned against both God and man.
It's all worth it!
I'm pretty obsessed with this game myself at the moment. I'm level 18 and have Star Paladin Cross as my follower...she's a badass. :)
Very nice. I like to sneak and followers don't seem to be real good at it, forcing firefights when I could avoid them if I was on my own. Hence I'm not so big on followers. Out of curiosity what kind of weapons do you equip Star Paladin Cross with?
I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to complete this game. I've got over 150 hours invested thus far in my first play through and still haven't made it to Tenpenney Towers though I do know where the towers are at least. I think I hit the level cap around the 120 hours mark. This being my first Bethesda game I didn't know what to expect but it's incredible to me, the sheer amount of content and scale in this game. As an explorer type who likes to experience all the content a game can offer this game suits me quite well.
Cross has a ton of stuff...that I think she mostly picked up on her own...but her weapon of choice is a super sledge so she can get in my line of fire sometimes, but I'd rather have her with me than not. I think in her inventory right now she's got a minigun, combat shotgun, laser pistol, laser rifle, and a few other things that I don't remember.
I love the exploration part too...I made sure to hit all the DC momuments like the White House, Capitol Building and Lincoln Memorial. I've done the Tenpenny Tower quest and I've been working my way through the other sidequests. They just released the first DLC for the Xbox 360 but I don't have it yet, and there's more to come that I can't wait to see.
So anybody played the new Fallout 3 DLC, Operation Anchorage? I just read an article over on bit-tech (
http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2009/01/31/this-was-meant-to-be-a-fallout-3-dlc-review/1) where the reviewer wasn't able to get Games for Windows Live working well enough to download to his PC and thus couldn't do his review. It should be needless to say that the article does not cast GfW in a favorable light and so I was wondering if anybody else had tried this out. I don't plan on getting any DLC until I finish my first playthrough, whenever that happens.
On my second playthrough. Probably my 4th favorite RPG, behind KOTOR I-II, and Oblivion. Probably tied with Mass Effect for me.
I finished the Operation Anchorage DLC earlier today. I thought it was pretty cool, plus you get some very nice items after you finish it. Though I will say that I'm playing the game on my Xbox 360 and not PC so I can't speak to the functionality of GfW.
Is OA worth the money/points?
Is OA worth the money/points?
Absolutely.
It's a nice break from decapitating super-mutants.
Nice list. I put KotOR II behind Oblivion and Mass Effect though. KotOR rules all.
I'd say it's absolutely worth it. The T-51b winterized power armor and Gauss Rifle alone make it worth it especially since the armor doesn't seem to take any durability loss...at least on the 360 anyway.
Plus it is a nice little break from the super mutants and talon company mercs and what not.
I think they've done a fabulous job with this game despite any complaints that it's "too much like Oblivion."
There's a bug that makes the winterized armor in the cache the version from the simulation, which has like 10 million HP.
well...I hope they don't fix it :)
I'm not concerned here...Bethesda is probably just making final tweaks and implementing bug fixes and what not. I'm still excited for both of them.
Yeah, not a problem for me either and I appreciate Bethesda's efforts for a quality gameplaying experience. Besides, I still haven't finished my first run through this game. :D
I finished mine a couple of days ago and started on a second because I know I missed a ton of stuff the first time.
Is it true that you can play a female character in this game?
So anyone who's played through The Pitt...what are your impressions of the DLC? I thought it was too short personally...but it was a nice addition for the sake of the lore and a couple of nice weapons as well. I'm really looking forward to Broken Steel and the level cap increase that it will bring.
Can you customize your female character like you do FemShepard in Mass Effect(tm)? :)
The female PC can be customized; basically to the same extent you can the Female PC in Oblivion (without the elf, orc, ect options).
Broken Steel DLC coming May 5 - Kotaku (
http://kotaku.com/5219643/fallout-3s-delivers-puppies-on-may-5)
Some of the features Broken Steel will have are:
- level cap increased to 30
- 4-5 hours of new gameplay
- new perks, one of which will be an ability to revive Dogmeat and another called Nerves of Steel which will increase your action points.
- new and tougher Enclave, Mutant, and Ghoul enemies
- some new areas and updates to existing areas
Sounds like the main quest will be to help the Brotherhood of Steel fight the Enclave.
Yup...I'm looking forward to Broken Steel Char Ell. Have been ever since they announced it along with the other two DLC's. I just hope it's not as buggy as The Pitt was.
- new perks, one of which will be an ability to revive Dogmeat
Sold. I'm buying it as soon as I can. :D
Doesn't take too much to convince me, as I'm having a blast playing FO3 and it's DLC's ... but that perk alone I'd pay top dollar for :lol:
I swear I'm such a wuss when it comes to Dogmeat. If there's any a "hint" of the situation being too tough.. I'll send him away.
"Broken steel doesn't have an ending," he said. "There are no more endings, we got the message." Glad they listened. ;)
I swear I'm such a wuss when it comes to Dogmeat. If there's any a "hint" of the situation being too tough.. I'll send him away.I'm even worse, Dogmeat is a house dog with me. :xp: