GamePlayer's 101 facts about Fallout 3
GamePlayer's 101 facts about Fallout 3
Preview - posted by DarkUnderlord on Mon 30 June 2008, 11:32:54
Tags: Fallout 3GamePlayer have continued their "week of Fallout" by posting an 8 page run-down of their own impressions of the game. I'm not sure if that means they've actually played it themselves or whether they've just seen the same demo everyone else has and are just heaping praise on it because Bethesda have promised to buy lots of ad space... but here's a quote:
From there you jump forward to key moments in your life – the ages of 1, 10, 16 and 19 to be precise – and on that journey you will be introduced to seemingly innocuous things that will ultimately define your character and teach you the ways of the HUD. You would have seen screenshots of a baby book where you learn about and select stats for Charisma. That blood splatter on your screen wasn’t a good omen though as it seems as your mum carked it, leaving you with the soothing-as-a-hammock voice of Mr. Neeson to guide you through life’s little decisions, each of which will determine the character stats your will soldier on with.
Essentially the result is no different, but mega points go to Bethesda for putting in the time and effort to make it fun and special, and ultimately they are rewarded as it sets a playful tone that carries onwards, even after you are detonating mutant’s heads. Let us give you another example: when you first pop out of Tasmania the doctor pronounces ‘congratulations it’s a…” the game pauses, and you make your choice… “a girl!’
You can choose which race you are – Hispanic, Asian, etc. – and there is all the character aesthetic controls of Oblivion on hand for further tinkering. Bethesda claim they have the most facial hair options ever in a game which has to be a major selling point – you can sign us up right now to the Grizzled Samurai. All these options will not only govern your appearance, but that of your fathers: a great concept that ensures you don’t look like ‘mummy little secret’ when you Hispanic eyes look over your Caucasian father.It's role-playing brought to the next level. It's also nice to know the important things are "major selling points" with their "essentially indifferent results". Personally, I'm totally playing a Hispanic with an Afro hair-do and I'll be very disappointed if my role-playing option hasn't been catered for.
One of the worries with the Fallout faithful is that Bethesda’s take on the series will just become “Oblivion with guns”. While that undersells the game incredibly, it is also a decent description. Operating off a far advanced version of Bethesda’s own Oblivion engine, Fallout 3’s game design shares obvious traits with its medieval cousin. This is mostly apparent in the rather static way characters move (read ice skate) around, and the way conversation occurs. It’s not shit per se, but it isn’t exactly Mass Effect. Much like Oblivion when you engage in conversation the screen zooms in on the character’s face, dialogue options appear and you select. And the voices sound awfully familiar… same cast perhaps?I wonder if characters will swap voices three times like they did in Oblivion? Be sure to read the rest as it's pretty much all down-hill from there. Including the last 3 pages which is a list of facts such as:
Spotted @ Fallout Terrorist Camp
From there you jump forward to key moments in your life – the ages of 1, 10, 16 and 19 to be precise – and on that journey you will be introduced to seemingly innocuous things that will ultimately define your character and teach you the ways of the HUD. You would have seen screenshots of a baby book where you learn about and select stats for Charisma. That blood splatter on your screen wasn’t a good omen though as it seems as your mum carked it, leaving you with the soothing-as-a-hammock voice of Mr. Neeson to guide you through life’s little decisions, each of which will determine the character stats your will soldier on with.
Essentially the result is no different, but mega points go to Bethesda for putting in the time and effort to make it fun and special, and ultimately they are rewarded as it sets a playful tone that carries onwards, even after you are detonating mutant’s heads. Let us give you another example: when you first pop out of Tasmania the doctor pronounces ‘congratulations it’s a…” the game pauses, and you make your choice… “a girl!’
You can choose which race you are – Hispanic, Asian, etc. – and there is all the character aesthetic controls of Oblivion on hand for further tinkering. Bethesda claim they have the most facial hair options ever in a game which has to be a major selling point – you can sign us up right now to the Grizzled Samurai. All these options will not only govern your appearance, but that of your fathers: a great concept that ensures you don’t look like ‘mummy little secret’ when you Hispanic eyes look over your Caucasian father.
One of the worries with the Fallout faithful is that Bethesda’s take on the series will just become “Oblivion with guns”. While that undersells the game incredibly, it is also a decent description. Operating off a far advanced version of Bethesda’s own Oblivion engine, Fallout 3’s game design shares obvious traits with its medieval cousin. This is mostly apparent in the rather static way characters move (read ice skate) around, and the way conversation occurs. It’s not shit per se, but it isn’t exactly Mass Effect. Much like Oblivion when you engage in conversation the screen zooms in on the character’s face, dialogue options appear and you select. And the voices sound awfully familiar… same cast perhaps?
- The musical selection and art design shares remarkable similarities with Bioshock. Not to mention theme: the concept of the vaults parallel’s the social experiment that is Rapture. That said, we can see the irony in saying this, given Bioshock’s original inspiration.
- You cannot see your hands in 1st-person view unless you are holding a weapon: the screen is 100% dedicated to the world. It’s a bit weird when your character picks up an object (seemingly) by osmosis.
- Fallout 3’s world is slighty smaller than Oblivions, but one gaze at the map (visualised in a similar fashion to the land of Tamriel) is stacked with things to do. This includes other vaults.
- Dogmeat is not your only companion in the game. You can also party-up with one other human(oid) character, but the availability of that option will be subject to your Karma.
- To help balance combat, you still take damage while in the slow-mo of accessing the V.A.T.S system.
- You can kill someone with a teddy bear. You have to find the teddy bear, then use it as ammo, and then get real lucky. But still, we love the option…
- There are mini-games to enjoy, like lock-picking, and tuning in you Pip-boy to find radio signals which may give you directions to quests and survivors.
Spotted @ Fallout Terrorist Camp
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