Review Da Game Boyz reviews Fallout Tactics

[manco]

DAMMIT! I Must return from my self imposed exile to defend the tactics yet again!
Okay, first off. It's not fallout. They share sprites, but we all know it's not really fallout. The single player campaign is not fun. I was WAY overpowered by the end of the campaign, leaving me somewhat deflated by the end game.
BUT!
And that's a big but, the multiplayer was a golden spacelord. Turn based with a billion character combos. I mean sure, in the dumb servers, it was all pancorwhores (guys that exploited the most dangerous weapon that should have been nerfed), but in the fun servers, we made supermutant ninjas, top secret drug dogs that gave deadly overdoses, fire zombies, nading bastards, cattle prodding spies and so much more. Looking back at all my damn online gaming (starcraft, warcraft, unreal tournament, 2k3, 2k4, BF1942 and GOBS more), nothing tasted as sweet as killing some pancorwhore noob with a dog that could crotch bite 5 times a turn.
I will share my very sweetest online tactics flashback-
I'd been playing for a month on the RJX server. I've been invited to fight 1 on 2 to join the clan. Now these guys were good back in the day, always setting the trends of character creation, ect. So, I take my little dude, and in I go. At this point, those of you that don't know, should: You could TALK SHIT in tactics. Whatever was on your mind popped up right above your character's head making for some good times (especially when you were driving shotgun in a car, with your hands free, you could do some awesome smack talking while yer buddy took the wheel). Anyway, I'm sneakin' around in the junk yard, hidden from view. Their sneak must be high, cause I can't find'em. All of a sudden, not 10 feet away I see this floating orange type "not until tonight". I caught those bastards having a conversation because they had underestimated me! YES! I throw a grenade just below where the type was floating and BOOM! GOT YOU MOTHERFUCKER! Down he goes. I keep throwing firebombs, his buddy appears at his side, he's KO'd. I finish the job with the flamer (mini torch). After much laughing and swearing I was in, sharing character builds and tips with a neat little gang.
I won't even go into how much fun the fight club servers were.
Anyway, my point is this. Judged as a multiplayer game, like how one would judge BF1942, Fallout Tactics was one of the coolest. games. ever.
But this opinion comes from a gamer who's primary interests in games include competition, customization, and a large variety of ways to achieve a goal. In this measure, I find FT an amazing success. Was it a good sp RPG, or even a compelling strategy RPG? Not at all. But man that multiplayer was fun.
Best,
Manco
www.davecurd.com

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

DAMMIT! I Must return from my self imposed exile to defend the tactics yet again!

Bring. it. on.

Okay, first off. It's not fallout. They share sprites, but we all know it's not really fallout.

No, they don't share sprites. Fallout and Fallout 2's sprites are smaller, have less color depth, and the big problem is they were rendered for a hexagonal movement scheme. Fallout Tactics had 32bit color sprites, more resolution, and used an octagonal movement scheme.

The single player campaign is not fun. I was WAY overpowered by the end of the campaign, leaving me somewhat deflated by the end game.

Even if you were less powerful, it would still be boring because the missions sucked.

And that's a big but, the multiplayer was a golden spacelord. Turn based with a billion character combos.

Yeah, too bad only a handful of combos actually worked well.

I mean sure, in the dumb servers, it was all pancorwhores (guys that exploited the most dangerous weapon that should have been nerfed),

Then there's the browning whores. Let's not forget them.

but in the fun servers, we made supermutant ninjas, top secret drug dogs that gave deadly overdoses, fire zombies, nading bastards, cattle prodding spies and so much more. Looking back at all my damn online gaming (starcraft, warcraft, unreal tournament, 2k3, 2k4, BF1942 and GOBS more), nothing tasted as sweet as killing some pancorwhore noob with a dog that could crotch bite 5 times a turn.

Speaking of drugs and how much multiplayer sucked in the game, ever played with Trauma Packs? You know, the drugs that had no side effects at all, and gave you 25% DR with each use. In other words, you could pop eight of them and have a 200% DR, meaning only a rare critical would actually do much to you. As if that wasn't enough, Trauma Packs were cheap as shit in the character purchase system.

That's why FOT's multiplayer sucked. There were only a few good weapons and the point system was horribly unbalanced. There was no option in the server prefs as to what items would and wouldn't be allowed, so there wasn't too much stopping someone from bringing in a trauma packing browning boy.

Another reason would be that the maps sucked, especially the Assault Maps, which was the only halfway decent multiplayer mode offered in FOT. For example, what about that one map where you had to flip the two switches to open the doors, then pull the switch to win the game? Lockpicking NOT ALLOWED on it. In fact, most maps were linear as hell, one side at one end and the other side at the other. There were one or two obstacles in the way, but that's it. The only map that wasn't like that featured a base in the middle of the map, but if you were using a sniper rifle, everyone was in range at the very start of the game. BIG FUN THERE!

At this point, those of you that don't know, should: You could TALK SHIT in tactics. Whatever was on your mind popped up right above your character's head making for some good times (especially when you were driving shotgun in a car, with your hands free, you could do some awesome smack talking while yer buddy took the wheel).

Yeah, that really makes up for all the problems with the multiplayer. Hey, it's unbalanced as hell, it crashes a lot, and the maps suck, BUT YOU CAN TALK SMACK!

Anyway, I'm sneakin' around in the junk yard, hidden from view. Their sneak must be high, cause I can't find'em.

Did your Perception attribute suck ass or something, n00b? It's nearly impossible to sneak around against someone with a 8-10 Perception. Perception is also the key attribute in ranged fighting - including those grenades you like to toss around.

 

[manco]

No, they don't share sprites. Fallout and Fallout 2's sprites are smaller, have less color depth, and the big problem is they were rendered for a hexagonal movement scheme. Fallout Tactics had 32bit color sprites, more resolution, and used an octagonal movement scheme.

Allright comic book guy! Way to enforce the letter of the law and not the spirit! My point, was that FT shared a "look and feel", but looks alone does not a fallout make. (see, BOS).

Even if you were less powerful, it would still be boring because the missions sucked.

Ehh, I liked the gaurding the mobile nuke mission okay, but we can agree to disagree on that one.

Yeah, too bad only a handful of combos actually worked well.

Hrm. In 10k games there were a ton of viable combos, I don't know where you played.

Then there's the browning whores. Let's not forget them.

They are forgotten, in 10k games, I don't think you could even afford brownings. Could you? Even if you could, the host would just kick the browning nerd, problem solved.

Speaking of drugs and how much multiplayer sucked in the game, ever played with Trauma Packs? You know, the drugs that had no side effects at all, and gave you 25% DR with each use. In other words, you could pop eight of them and have a 200% DR, meaning only a rare critical would actually do much to you. As if that wasn't enough, Trauma Packs were cheap as shit in the character purchase system.

Eh, in 10k games they cost enough to make only getting one worth while (after your char was up to about lvl 27 to 30), but it turned out for most ppl voodoo's worked better.

That's why FOT's multiplayer sucked. There were only a few good weapons and the point system was horribly unbalanced. There was no option in the server prefs as to what items would and wouldn't be allowed, so there wasn't too much stopping someone from bringing in a trauma packing browning boy.

Again, the host called the shots. Bad people were kicked without mercy, and room names (thats what they called'em on gamespy, right?) had the rules posted, like NO EMP NO ENERGY NO BG 1 CHAR 10K. So, the 2 or 3 best weps were ofton not allowed on the good servers, thus introducing the comedy of rock fighting, powder bags, ninja stars and the like.

Another reason would be that the maps sucked, especially the Assault Maps, which was the only halfway decent multiplayer mode offered in FOT. For example, what about that one map where you had to flip the two switches to open the doors, then pull the switch to win the game? Lockpicking NOT ALLOWED on it. In fact, most maps were linear as hell, one side at one end and the other side at the other. There were one or two obstacles in the way, but that's it. The only map that wasn't like that featured a base in the middle of the map, but if you were using a sniper rifle, everyone was in range at the very start of the game. BIG FUN THERE!

I really can't imagine when or where you played MP. Everyone played assault for the DM layout, not to flip a switch. In fact, if you did flip the dumb little switch, you were kicked. The whole point in FT (the community's point, not the developer's intention) was DM with creative combos. I played for like 3 months hard core when it first came out, then came back about a year later when it was all polish dudes playin, and they all played it the same. You could run an assault level for the layout, but it was ALWAYS death match.

Yeah, that really makes up for all the problems with the multiplayer. Hey, it's unbalanced as hell, it crashes a lot, and the maps suck, BUT YOU CAN TALK SMACK!

Well, that's your opinion, but it never crashed on me, balance issues were fixed by community, the maps, when played as DM were fun for me, and yes, it's fun to taunt those you blow up. Plus I had about a million MP3's in the music folder so that was good too.

Did your Perception attribute suck ass or something, n00b? It's nearly impossible to sneak around against someone with a 8-10 Perception. Perception is also the key attribute in ranged fighting - including those grenades you like to toss around.

Welp, you were doin pretty good my friend, but ya had to take a dig on my build. Yes n00b, my perception was 6, because a high perception decreases splash damage. Str is the big modifer in Grenade throwing, and a low perception coupled with high luck gets you the bigtime dmg. Snipers and KO specialests need a higher perception (say 9), splash dmg experts like naders, pancorwhores and flamers need a much lower one (5-6).

So, the jist of your stance versus multiplayer, so I can be sure I'm reading ya right, is-
buggy
bad maps
only a few weps/ char builds worth damn
drugs RUINED TEH GAME
Welp, as I said, as long as you patched, bugs (in MP) were no big deal. The maps when played within the community were rightous, as well as the more ambitious player made maps. As for cheap/boring char builds, there were a TON of servers where those kinds of chars wern't allowed. Same with drugs, while I liked experimenting with diff drug combos, there were drug free servers if you didn't.
Oh, and talking smack was a big deal. I doubt I would have played more than a week or two without the ability to rub it in. Hell, same goes for UT2k4. Competing against a mute would be like playing a bot! Eventually the community found out how to make gifs appear above thier character heads instead of words. It was sureal and awesome the first time someone displayed the KAMAKAZI illo after a kill. It's fun. A game offering comedy, both intentional and not, is a rare thing. To qualify that statement, I don't like REALLY REALLY REAL games. I get enough real outside. I like games that charm, games with replayability. The huge variety of customazation offered in FT was the pull. That, and the ability to take a seemingly weird/useless build, and flurish.
In my, "defence" of tactics, I didn't intend to make FT haters be like "holy damn, we were wrong all along, let's go get tacos and buy tactics in a bargin bin to attone". My thoughts on the unfairness of Fallout Tactic crits is that they are perhaps the wrong kind. Maybe like critting Diablo for being too light in the RPing department, desptite the fact it's intention was to be a MP hacknslash. And in your attempt at critting FT's MP, we found several holes. I mean honestly, "Then there's the browning whores"? There were NONE thanks to the "kick" button. That is very much like me saying NEVER PLAY BF1942! THERE ARE TEAM KILLERS AND THEY WILL KILL YOU AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO!. When there clearly is. And even if buggy was an issue, and while my games weren't buggy, yours could have, what with the dif gfx cards and drivers and such, that didn't keep us from playing TOEE did it? You guys all liked that one! (I LOVED the combat interface).
Anyhoo, I made my point in my first post, I just thought I'd respond because many of your MP complaints seemed somewhat misinformed.
But, to be fair, I think if you decided to play FT MP with your own notions of char building, taken naturally, from the previous 2 fallouts, and you were determined to play assault in it's default way, and you didn't wanna get hooked on drugs, well, you might just have a hard time finding a reason to invest time in the game. But even in that situation, likeminded players formed all those crazy 2kWW2 clans. Maybe if it was called Tallout Factics it would have caught on...
thanks for reading (and for 2 copies of silent storm...)
manco

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

It's funny when people get emotionally attached to a bad game and take it as a personal assault when you identify glaring flaws with it. Its like you've just stripped his clothes and left him in the middle of an open field, exposed and alone.

 

[Jinxed]

Nonetheless, he made some good points. We would have to play the game with the latest bug fixes and stuff to find out how much of the stuff really works that he mentioned. I wager Saint isn't such a big fan of the game in the first place, let alone enough to play it a lot through the years.

Everyone knows Fot's flaws, but at this stage, I would give points to manco, as he wrote that a lot of gripes SP mentioned were fixed by the community (go figure). If what he says is true, it probably would be fun to play. If you would get past the setting skull fucking part that is.

It's funny when people get emotionally attached to a bad game and take it as a personal assault when you identify glaring flaws with it. Its like you've just stripped his clothes and left him in the middle of an open field, exposed and alone.

It's funny how people get all riled up when someone writes that a game that is generally considered shitty is actually good in some respect.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

It's funny how people get all riled up when someone writes that a game that is generally considered shitty is actually good in some respect.

Not so much, no...

 

[manco]

actually, it is pretty cute! funniest of all is when people project emotions onto pixels on a screen. If you can tell the emotional state of some goony illustrator in oklahoma by reading his take on a video game, I will eat 3 hot dogs.
Oh, thank you Jinxed, it's true, that game played now is very far from when it was released.
!
manco

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Everyone knows Fot's flaws, but at this stage, I would give points to manco, as he wrote that a lot of gripes SP mentioned were fixed by the community (go figure). If what he says is true, it probably would be fun to play. If you would get past the setting skull fucking part that is.

Fixed by the community means they came up with arbitrary rule sets for what is and isn't acceptable in certain games. That's nothing on the order of them actually being able to fix all the multitude of the game's problems such as the ones I listed. In fact, his big excuse for every one of those problems I mentioned was merely, Well, the host can just kick those people! LEWL!

 

[manco]

Fixed by the community means they came up with arbitrary rule sets for what is and isn't acceptable in certain games. That's nothing on the order of them actually being able to fix all the multitude of the game's problems such as the ones I listed. In fact, his big excuse for every one of those problems I mentioned was merely, Well, the host can just kick those people! LEWL!

Saint, that's no "excuse", admin kicking naughty dudes is how all MP games work, not just FT. I know yer the big master blaster rpgr, but you've played enough MP to know that. Don't feign ignorance to make your point. And what's wrong with rule sets? It was the best way to pair up likeminded players. Some want energy weps, others like to roll play it's wwII. Others still had point caps and wep restrictions to make tribal warfare. For a good hunk of time, FT was being used like GURPS. The point cap system, the multitude of viable character combos, and the weapon technology timespan (spears and clubs-lasers and cars) allowed for lots of little universes that ran on the tactics engine. That's pretty, ahem, LEWL.
OWNAGE! LEVEL UP!
manco