Thread: The Elder Scrolls V: Fallout

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    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    The Elder Scrolls V: Fallout

    So, did anyone else get Fallout 3 yesterday? What are your first impressions?

    First, I'd like to begin by saying that I was fully aware the game was being developed off of the same engine as The Elder Scrolls IV and I realized there would be some similarities... but I guess somewhere between all of the developer interviews and staff comments about how they loved the first two Fallout titles... I found myself convinced that they would do it the series right.

    Not so...

    From what I've played, Fallout 3 appears to be a good game. I'm going to complete it and probably enjoy it the whole way through. However, to me it is not a Fallout game, it is an Elder Scrolls game. It doesn't contain the humor of Fallout. All of the characters are very bland (like Oblivion) and they rarely have anything interesting to say. To this point, there are no random junkies or wasters in the cities that serve any purpose outside of making you laugh or sating your urge to kill someone and not ruin a quest in the process. Oh come on... I'm not the only one. The world seems all too similar to Oblivion just with different textures on everything. The characters are the same as Oblivion just with different costumes on everybody. Nothing about it feels like Fallout.

    To get more in depth with the game play itself... the game has taken everything that was (and should be) a dice roll in Fallout and applied some skill based mini-game to it as they did with Oblivion. Opening a lock is not as simple as just trying it and hoping your skill is good enough for you to succeed. Instead, it is a silly lock picking game not to dissimilar from the one in Oblivion. Secondly, they've placed the same "skill levels" on locks as they did with Oblivion so you can't even attempt to unlock certain things without a high enough skill. That to me is B.S.. In the same manner "hacking" a terminal is also a mini game but with Science as the driving skill instead of Lock Picking.

    The V.A.T.S. system, which is Bethesda's attempt at maintaining the integrity of Fallout's turn-based battle system, is nothing short of a flop. When in V.A.T.S., you get a set-up similar to targeting in the first two Fallout titles... from here you can spend your action points to shoot your target as many times in as many places as you can afford with AP and ammo. Unfortunately, by the time you're close enough for V.A.T.S. to be useful, you can simply just manually shoot your target in the head and cause significantly more damage with no chance involved at all.

    ... I am ranting at this point and to be honest I could go on for five more paragraphs but I will spare you all the reading and allow you to respond. If you're curious for more info before you purchase, just ask. I'll just throw in a quick few more bullet points: They screwed up Tag Skills, they screwed up Perks, they screwed up Skill Points, they screwed up addiction. Phew... there.

    Now besides all that... it's still a good game if you try to ignore the fact that it's trying to play like a Fallout game. Even if it's only supposed to be trying a little.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

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    I have not picked up the game yet. I plan on grabbing it after work today (pre-ordered stupid me)

    I'll have to follow up your review tonight with some of my own thoughts. Although the lock picking thing you mentioned has me a little confused. I don't remember a single lock I couldn't pick in Oblivion based on difficulty. I know you couldn't have it auto-pick depending on skill level but I almost always do it manually so I can get through the "impossible" ones with very early in the game with barely any skill.

    The guy on CtrlAltDel also wrote a pretty good review if you're interested: http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/

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    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CornyKorn21 View Post
    Although the lock picking thing you mentioned has me a little confused. I don't remember a single lock I couldn't pick in Oblivion based on difficulty. I know you couldn't have it auto-pick depending on skill level but I almost always do it manually so I can get through the "impossible" ones with very early in the game with barely any skill.
    You're right... sorry about my wording. I meant to imply that the skill levels were there on the locks (Very Easy, Easy, etc...) however, instead of there being five different skill levels on the mini game they simply restrict you from attempting locks above your skill level.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

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    So I finally sat down and played through about 30-60 minutes worth of Fallout.

    I find it enjoyable. Actually the lock-picking in the game is annoying me to no end. I very much enjoyed Oblivion's system but this telling me I can't pick a lock due to level sucks. Definitely makes that aspect of the game less appealing to me.

    Absolutely love the V.A.T.S system so far. I'll move around during a fight but all of my attacks are done using V.A.T.S. Probably would fight in real time if I was using the keyboard and mouse instead of the 360 controller. The game interface seems to be easier for me to navigate using the controller I was getting annoyed with the keyboard and mouse.

    Can't really write too much more as I've only played 30 minutes. Maybe once this quarter is done at school in 2 weeks I'll get to put some time into the game.

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