Great Fallout 3 review from 2016

[Sykar]

I can never get enough of a good trashing of this pile of turd

 

[an Administrator]

Fallout 3 was the RPG that made me interested in the genre.

 

[GuiltyofBeingTrite]

Fallout 3 was the RPG that made me interested in the genre.

you're one of few

 

[Sykar]

Fallout 3 was the RPG that made me interested in the genre.

 

[Wayward Son]

Fallout 3 was the RPG that made me interested in the genre.

Oblivion was mine (no sarcasm)

 

[Jozoz]

Fallout 3 was the RPG that made me interested in the genre.

Same here fam. For a long time idiot 16 year old me thought Fallout 3 was a lot better than New Vegas.

At least I grew out of having shit taste, but now when I read about people preferring FO3 to NV at least I know they're at the same mental point I was as an idiot teenager. Really puts things into perspective.

 

[an Administrator]

I played Fallout 3 and thought it's very cool. But the feeling lasted only until i picked up New Vegas.

 

[Neki]

I don't get why people like FO3, is not a good shooter nor a good rpg.

Is not even a good hiking simulator since everything is so fucking blurry.

 

[soulburner]

I must confess Fallout 3 was also my introductory title to RPGs. Couldn't understand all the skills and points at all and at first, I stopped playing very quickly, just after the growing up intro sequence. After a while, I tried again and finished the game with all the DLCs. Thought it was brilliant.

Then I found New Vegas and was in awe at how amazing it was. Finished it at least 3 times before going back to F3 because I was hungry for more of the universe, but didn't want to play the original F1 and F2 because I was pretty much a fanatic of first person perspective games and refused to play anything else. Realized how shitty F3 was when compared to FNV. Then I found the Codex and forced myself to play Fallout 1. Never been the same person again. Played so many games I used to skip because I thought I wouldn't like them. The original Fallouts, Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate and so on.

So... in a big way, Fallout 3 is a hugely important game to me, despite its shittyness.

 

[Jacob]

I played Fallout 3 first and it's still my favorite game in the series. It's not like the classic has interesting gameplay or story anyway (The Master was interesting, I don't remember much else aside from facing xenomorphs and some other stupid stuff in 2). At least it was fun shooting Super Mutants listening to 50s song.

Vegas was more boring than 3 but it has interesting characters.

 

[Wayward Son]

I must confess Fallout 3 was also my introductory title to RPGs. Couldn't understand all the skills and points at all and at first, I stopped playing very quickly, just after the growing up intro sequence. After a while, I tried again and finished the game with all the DLCs. Thought it was brilliant.

Then I found New Vegas and was in awe at how amazing it was. Finished it at least 3 times before going back to F3 because I was hungry for more of the universe, but didn't want to play the original F1 and F2 because I was pretty much a fanatic of first person perspective games and refused to play anything else. Realized how shitty F3 was when compared to FNV. Then I found the Codex and forced myself to play Fallout 1. Never been the same person again. Played so many games I used to skip because I thought I wouldn't like them. The original Fallouts, Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate and so on.

So... in a big way, Fallout 3 is a hugely important game to me, despite its shittyness.

Did I write that post? Switch Oblivion in for F3 and yes.

 

[Doktor Best]

Oh my god this review gave me a cringe seizure. Fucking tryhard kiddies these days...

Fallout 3 is not a bad game, its just a terrible rpg. A bland Triple-A product that had the big advantage of using an interesting setting, and thats also our main gripe with the game. Fallout 1+2+NV shows us what Fallout 3 could be if that little midget Todd Sneakyfingers Howard wouldnt fingerbang the franchise with his smugface while making millions of millions with it. We are grudging, like parents who hate to see their daughter date some retarded quarterback because hes popular, we hate the game because we see wasted potencial. But to be absolutely honest if we look past this there is some fun to be had with the game, some interesting sidequests/locations, some moments that achieved to catch the atmosphere of a post apocalypse world. Atleast thats how i remember it from my playthrough as 19year old. It was a 5/10 back then in my head, which doesnt make it bad, just mediocre.

Brotherhood of Steel is the true offender to the franchise, nobody talks about that game. Why? Because it was not succesfull, nobody talks about it, it is not the scourge of the franchise, not the reason we will not see another good Fallout.

 

[Sykar]

Oh my god this review gave me a cringe seizure. Fucking tryhard kiddies these days...

Fallout 3 is not a bad game, its just a terrible rpg. A bland Triple-A product that had the big advantage of using an interesting setting, and thats also our main gripe with the game. Fallout 1+2+NV shows us what Fallout 3 could be if that little midget Todd Sneakyfingers Howard wouldnt fingerbang the franchise with his smugface while making millions of millions with it. We are grudging, like parents who hate to see their daughter date some retarded quarterback because hes popular, we hate the game because we see wasted potencial. But to be absolutely honest if we look past this there is some fun to be had with the game, some interesting sidequests/locations, some moments that achieved to catch the atmosphere of a post apocalypse world. Atleast thats how i remember it from my playthrough as 19year old. It was a 5/10 back then in my head, which doesnt make it bad, just mediocre.

Brotherhood of Steel is the true offender to the franchise, nobody talks about that game. Why? Because it was not succesfull, nobody talks about it, it is not the scourge of the franchise, not the reason we will not see another good Fallout.

Most people agree that Brotherhood is a steaming pile of turd but it did never garner as much positive criticsm as Fo 3 not even close that is why so few people talk about it. So how is FO 3 better? It is a terrible shooter, a terrible RPG and a complete failure in the exploration and story department so how can FO 3 not be terrible?

 

[Gepeu]

Yup, here I am. It's 2016 and dumb fucks are starting to white knight for this shit game with their nostalgia and shit "it introducted me to rpgs". All there's left for me is to hang myself. Fuck all people who like this steaming pile of shit fallout 3 is.
pests, all of you

There's not a single positive thing a sane person could say about this shit. It's not even a case of "funny bad", this game is simply depressingly awful. It was back in 2008 and it still is today. The guy from the video states simple facts, especially when commenting narrative and game structure issues, even if he does it with annoying voice.


Jk.
Fallout 3 is a great and epic adventure for people with good taste. I still remember that immersive introductory segment when you're a toddler, shoot your dad with bb gun and kill policemen for doing their job. It was epic. A very mature experience overall.
I WAS 6 BACK THEN.

 

[Sigourn]

New Vegas is the game that got me into the RPG genre. Before that, I played Skyrim and then FO3 two years ago on my first "gaming" computer (1GB VRAM, lel).

But it was New Vegas that really made me interested in what made an RPG an RPG, as opposed to a game that was just really big and had lots of things to do. In a sense, Skyrim and FO3 were a natural progression from the Final Fantasy games I played on the PSOne and PS2. New Vegas, though, that was a whole different matter.

Praise Obsidian Entretenimiento.

EDIT: Also, that video is a blatant rip-off of "Fallout 3 is Garbage", down to the same points the uploader makes. At least the other video was funnier.

 

[Akratus]

Nuka World is the game that got me hooked on rpgs. For years afterwards I devoured rpg's like they were sausages. Like Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning and Dead or Alive extreme beach volleybal.

 

[ilitarist]

Fallout 3 is not a bad game, its just a terrible rpg.

True. It pains to see carefully created atmosphere, good Voice Acting (say what you want but I really enjoyed President Eden's speeches) and big complex world be undermined with primitive writing and average shooting. That's all there is.

Fallout 3 is still a very good game in general, but it has some average parts and couple of big letdowns. It has also interesting tone, switching between comedy and horror. I understand why people don't like it. But I don't understand how had they missed all the same clown show in Fallout 2. The game where you could have a shotgun wedding, grow a new finger, talk with imbecile when you're on drugs, blow up a toilet, be a porn star, bite off boxer's ear, talk to a ghost, participate in Chinese martial arts drama, sign into a Scientology ripoff. Nothing of what I've mentioned was an Easter egg or special encounter, it was all main game content. When after that people complain about Fallout 3 having aliens, giant robots and that superhero fight and that it's not like glorious classic Fallout 2 - that's when I'm irritated. Also Fallout 2 writing wasn't much better to be honest.

 

[Sykar]

Fallout 3 is not a bad game, its just a terrible rpg.

True. It pains to see carefully created atmosphere, good Voice Acting (say what you want but I really enjoyed President Eden's speeches) and big complex world be undermined with primitive writing and average shooting. That's all there is.

Fallout 3 is still a very good game in general, but it has some average parts and couple of big letdowns. It has also interesting tone, switching between comedy and horror. I understand why people don't like it. But I don't understand how had they missed all the same clown show in Fallout 2. The game where you could have a shotgun wedding, grow a new finger, talk with imbecile when you're on drugs, blow up a toilet, be a porn star, bite off boxer's ear, talk to a ghost, participate in Chinese martial arts drama, sign into a Scientology ripoff. Nothing of what I've mentioned was an Easter egg or special encounter, it was all main game content. When after that people complain about Fallout 3 having aliens, giant robots and that superhero fight and that it's not like glorious classic Fallout 2 - that's when I'm irritated. Also Fallout 2 writing wasn't much better to be honest.

Read and get educated just how atrociously terrible and utterly retardly nonsensical the story in FO 3 is:

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=27085

 

[ilitarist]

Read and get educated just how atrociously terrible and utterly retardly nonsensical the story in FO 3 is:

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=27085

You can circlejerk all you want, but the selectively blind nitpicking for plotholess and errors doesn't prove anything about Fallout 3 not being a good game - and it certainly not worse than F2 in this regard, so the real problem with the game may be everything apart from story/dialogs got better. Even if we agree that the story is bad (which is not, in some regards it surpasses FNV and in many - F2) it's not enough to condemn Fallout 3 as not a very good game. Its atmosphere, world connectivity, variety, sheer size, visuals and sound - all of this is top-notch. It's not a masterpiece Fallout New Vegas is, but it's still up there among the best games ever made.

 

[Sigourn]

You can circlejerk all you want

Get out.

but the selectively blind nitpicking for plotholess and errors doesn't prove anything about Fallout 3 not being a good game

FO3 is so nonsensical and terribly designed that it can hardly be called a good game. It's not even among the best games ever made. What a bunch of reviewers say means nothing when their judgement is so flawed.

The story is ridiculous. The RPG mechancis are barely there and completely broken. The FPS mechanics are atrocious. The moral choices are non-existent. The worldbuilding is just a big themepark. The interface is console garbage. The visuals are bad, character designs seem like clay models, and that green filter, god damn.

All it has going on for it is the soundtrack, and even that was an extension of FO1's. Even the intro is just a copy paste of the original. Bethesda brought nothing new to the table, other than an engine and the assets for New Vegas to be born.

Morrowind, Gothic, Vagrant Story, Planescape: Torment, Deus Ex, are among the best games ever made.

Fallout 3 isn't even close.

- Vagrant Story's flaws: lack of quick inventory buttons.
- Gothic's flaws: poor control scheme.
- Morrowind's flaws: forgivable due to its grand scale.

But FO3 has so many terrible design choices that I can never consider it, in full honesty, a good game. It may be enjoyable, but enjoyable=/=well designed.

 

[Jacob]

it shit on fallout's world-building, true, but everything else is good, IMO

oh, except the shooting mechanics

Even if we agree that the story is bad (which is not, in some regards it surpasses FNV and in many - F2) it's not enough to condemn Fallout 3 as not a very good game.

in what way it surpasses FNV and F2? even though i'm on the 'fallout 3 is good' camp i'm really curious on how the story (which is commonly agreed as its weakest aspect) is better than what we got in these two 'true fallouts'

 

[ilitarist]

in what way it surpasses FNV and F2? even though i'm on the 'fallout 3 is good' camp i'm really curious on how the story (which is commonly agreed as its weakest aspect) is better than what we got in these two 'true fallouts'

Mostly the good thing is the prologue and putting you into a skin of a specific character. Sadly, due to dialogue being shit, it didn't fulfill its potential, but it had a great idea of being first RPG that gave you a character you created from the ground, not took control 5 minutes before he became a hero as in your typical RPG. Even New Vegas is worse in this regard, especially with the fact that you get new information about your character midgame which is sort of immersion-breaking. Giving your character a well defined past and good motivation for following main quest (searching for father) is the best thing Bethesda ever done.

Another thing was introducing you to Enclave through radio speeches and story snippets. Here FNV had a harder task as it had no clear enemy, but for most players it was legion and it was presented poorly: you had one scripted interaction with them (Novac) which presented them worse than they were, and very few people can tell you anything interesting about the Legion. Caesar is a better character than anyone in F3 (and so is House) but for most endings the final battle is anticlimactic. Unlike F3 where invading Enclave you've heard about so much changes the face of the gameworld.

And I see no point to compare it to F2 as it is, in my opinion, roughly on the same level as Fallout 3 in the story department, as I've already mentioned all the nonsensical stuff you will find in the game.

 

[Jacob]

so... that's how it engages the 14 year old me back then...

yes, the 'searching for father' motive made me think 'this is a very simple main plot, but feels very personal' back then

 

[Lord Azlan]

I dunno. I don't like these guys that played Fallout 3 for ONE THOUSAND HOURS then feel dirty as if they enjoyed fat momma porn and then feel the need to cleanse themselves.

Stopped watching F3 Sucks video guy when he went on about the % based chance to succeed and reloading potential.

Stupid retard, has he never used the reload a save ability to his advantage? Maybe its the first computer game he ever played. That ability has been there since the dawn of gaming.

Remember some of the old games on BBC and C64? There was no save game so you had to start from scratch every time.

His rant about Blowing up Megaton is stupid. Have you heard much anywhere where the baddies have to explain EVERYTHING to the people they hire? I thought if you were a bad ass its NO QUESTION ASKED.

Bond, I want you to blow up this place. Why M? Just tell me why?
Soldier, Pilot, I want you to bomb this town. Why General? Just tell me why?

In the end I think you get an apartment in some tower block if you blow the town up.

Read Shamus's stuff a while back. He also feels a bit dirty. Big momma porn does that to you.

And stop going on about New Vegas. Yeah its better, but much, much better? Like it was the Holy Grail of Fallouts?

Where was the farms and crops and planting in New Vegas? I remember just a few places - in the whole game. And those 'farms' were so lame it was like they waited for Shamus' criticism before adding it in.

And what about the loading screens around New Vegas?

And what about that we are in Fallout 11 now and still the crappy computer hacking screen is the same.

Don't get me started.

 

[ilitarist]

- Gothic's flaws: poor control scheme.
- Morrowind's flaws: forgivable due to its grand scale.

But FO3 has so many terrible design choices that I can never consider it, in full honesty, a good game. It may be enjoyable, but enjoyable=/=well designed.

I haven't played Vagrant Story but other examples are very curious. You mention Gothic which has decent combat system (which is undermined by the exploits and world design), nice compact interconnected design and OK NPC interactions. It also had primitive story and action-RPG character progression. Morrowind had a better story than F3 but was worse in every other regard (visual design was fine but F3 is even better in this regard which is, of course, a matter of taste). Not sure what grand scale are you talking about; if you mean sheer number of copypasted info-kiosk NPCs? I can't see F3 shortcomings that aren't present in one of those two games, Gothic has simplified character progression model, its story is shallower than Fallout 3, it has less possible playstyles. Morrowind has god-awful combat system and is full of exploits. What both of those games have that is better than F3 instead of being released at a time when you couldn't look at them clearly?

so... that's how it engages the 14 year old me back then...

yes, the 'searching for father' motive made me think 'this is a very simple main plot, but feels very personal' back then

It's good you were able to took off rose tinted glasses though, many people continue to praise games they've played around that age, being it Ultima, M&M, Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Morrowind, KotOR, Oblivion, Dragon Age or something else. Curiously those people think that all the best games where created in a several years when they were in their mid-late teens. Still, the story basis itself is not complex but it makes sense and better than many RPG stories lacking explanation of player character actions or putting him onto forced rails.