torpid
Liturgist
Read it on the French equivalent of IGN/Gamespot/mainstream site. Though it isn't perfect, it's something you'd never see on those sites -- proof that the decline hasn't been as pronounced in Europe, where the PC master race remains strong. (They still gave FO3 a 17/20 score when it came out, though they acknowledged it was dumbed-down compared to the previous games.)
Translated:
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/dossiers/00014 ... de-013.htm
Fallout 3 -- Hybrid gameplay
With the death of Black Isle, Fallout fans would have liked to see Troika Games pick up their favorite license. They gritted their teeth when it happened to fall into Bethesda's hands, a promise of a third installment in real-time 3D with a first person perspective. The fans' worries related to the end of turn-based tactical combat, to concessions inherent to multiplatform development and especially to the atmosphere that would prevail in the game. Though the Elder Scrolls saga may be a model in terms of freedom, it suffers from a generic, somewhat impersonal universe and a politically correct tone [didn't play Morrowind, T.N.], which led to fears for the worst for Fallout 3. When the game was released on October 30, 2008, fans considered their fears to have been well-founded: in Bethesda's hands, the franchise has lost some of its substance. As such, it is interesting to draw a parallel between the Fallout series and the Mad Max series that inspired it. Both establish their mark in a first episode that quickly rises to cult status, then culminate in a masterly sequel offering no concessions, before mainstreaming themselves with a sugar-coated third installment.
Fallout 3 offers a hybrid gameplay that borrows as much from the Elder Scroll series as it does from Fallout: the first person perspective, the open world with optional fast travel and the aging game engine are inherited from Oblivion, but it is the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. rule set typical of Fallout that is used, barring a few details. These details involve the obtention of perks, which are gained every level and not every three levels (which makes progression easier), but also the regrettable disappearance of traits, which had enriched the gaming experience. For the rest, it's all there. The character creation phase, which allows you to model your avatar physically as well as statistically, can even afford to adopt an original form: a scripted tutorial that recounts your character's youth in a anti-atomic vault.
Bethesda's approach forced the studio to resolve a delicate equation: how to combine a real-time gaming system with the turn-based tactical combat typical of Fallout? The solution is V.A.T.S. This acronym of Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System designated a targeting aid that allows you to interrupt the action at any moment to target a specific part of an opponent's anatomy, for the cost of a few action points that regenerate over time. The system, reminiscent of the real-time mode in Fallout Tactics, offers the possibility of slowing down or disarming an opponent. Fights are thus more tactical than in a traditional first-person shooter. Even when you do not use V.A.T.S., success does not depend only on your skill as a player: you can miss un enemy that is in your reticle if you are far and/or you are using a weapon with a low skill value. A shot in Fallout 3 is a roll of the die, something that certain players have had a hard time understanding, prefering to call the game a bad FPS. The real weaknesses of the game are elsewhere.
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/dossiers/00014 ... ht-014.htm
Fallout 3 -- A taste of Nuka Cola Light
It is on the writing level that Fallout 3 errs the most. The story, which takes place in 2277 in the eastern United States, near the ruins of Washington D.C., sends you on the tracks of your father, who has just left Vault 101 under strange circumstances. Is his disappearance linked to his studies on purifying the waters of the Potomac River? Despite its intimate issues, the main storyline is very trite, except for a few moments of grace (Tranquility Lane). Fortunately it is only used as a main thread; you are free to switch to the many secondary quests. The problem is that even though they are interesting, they lack the spice and transgressive aspect that was part of the success of the previous episodes: the NPCs are flat and the sex/drug/ black humor cocktail [gritty & mature!! T.N.] has been quite sugar-coated. As for the violence, it mostly manifests itself in a graphic form (fights are gorier than ever); for the rest, political correctness dominates.
That is why Bethesda gives the impression of simply having delivered with Fallout 3 a post-apocalyptic Elder Scrolls. This even though they cannot be faulted for having disrespected the backstory of the series: we meet a typical bestiary (ghouls, super mutants, radscorpions, deathclaws...) as well as factions already seen in previous installments (the Brotherhood of Steel, the Enclave, slavers). But, while your karma -- managed on a global level -- modifies the way in which the NPCs perceive you and conditions the recruitment of certain companions, the end of the reputation system linked to factions prevents interactions as subtle as those of Fallout 2. Not only that, but your choices do not lead to enough repercussions on your adventure [choices & repercussions bitch, T.N.]. Freedom is thus primarily derived from the ability to explore a large enough open world with a decent density. The different cities (Megaton, Rivet City, the Children's village...) benefit from a very successful design [uh, no. T.N.]. Too bad the compositions of Inon Zur do not create an atmosphere as oppressive as Mark Morgan's.
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/dossiers/00014 ... 10-016.htm
Fallout New Vegas
No doubt occupied with the development of the next Elder Scrolls, Bethesda decides to entrust the development of a Fallout 3 spinoff to Obsidian Entertainment. Which is quite appropriate, as the studio in question was founded by former Black Isle members (Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone and Chris Jones, among others), who know the series better than anyone and who see there an occasion to implement certain ideas from Van Buren. We can therefore better understand why, even though it reuses Fallout 3's engine and gameplay, Fallout New Vegas represents for many fans an unhoped for and salutary return to the roots. It is obvious that, by bringing the theater of operations back to the West Coast (with its New California Republic and its geckos) and reintegrating traits and the reputation system while slowing down perk progression, Obsidian had their satisfaction at heart; not to mention the use of musical themes composed by Mark Morgan for the first two installments of the series.
Fallout New Vegas is to Fallout 3 what Fallout 2 is to the first Fallout. The two titles appear at first glance to be a timid evolution of their respective predecessors, dressed up with an aging technology. But if you manage to get into the game [there's the rub for many a hater -- fuckin ADDtards; T.N.], you quickly realize the significant increase in possibilities. New Vegas also introduces a Hardcore mode, whose activation entails a survival aspect that is absent from Fallout 3. Though the need to drink, eat and sleep regularly ends up being a bit gimmicky, because of the profusion of foodstuffs, the fact that it isn't possible anymore to recover hit points by sleeping and to heal a crippled limb with a stimpack does have a real effect on the challenge level. The game's coherence and realism are also reinforced by the return of the reputation system, which reduces the importance of karma: by deciding to help one faction instead of another, you modify your reputation with both, with all the consequences that implies for the rest of your adventure; and the choices are legion.
Thanks to these two major additions, the game quickly becomes exciting despite an unattractive starting frame. You play as a banal courier who wants revenge against a group of gangsters that shot you and left you for dead in the cemetery of a small village in Nevada. Were those scoundrels interested in what you were carrying? [that's kind of obvious, you dumbfuck, T.N.] Did they come from New Vegas, the Sin City rebuilt on the ashes of the nuclear catastrophe; a den of gangsters, junkies, prostitutes and all the high rollers of the region? Or do they have a connection with the fierce war between the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion for control of Hoover Dam? Less open than Fallout 3 due to the disappearance of the level-scaling dear to Bethesda, the world is in fact more developed and coherent. Only its obsolete graphics, its unchanged interface and its too many bugs have prevented Fallout New Vegas from reaching the summits, but one thing is sure: the franchise is back on the right track.
Fallout is back, baby
Translated:
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/dossiers/00014 ... de-013.htm
Fallout 3 -- Hybrid gameplay
With the death of Black Isle, Fallout fans would have liked to see Troika Games pick up their favorite license. They gritted their teeth when it happened to fall into Bethesda's hands, a promise of a third installment in real-time 3D with a first person perspective. The fans' worries related to the end of turn-based tactical combat, to concessions inherent to multiplatform development and especially to the atmosphere that would prevail in the game. Though the Elder Scrolls saga may be a model in terms of freedom, it suffers from a generic, somewhat impersonal universe and a politically correct tone [didn't play Morrowind, T.N.], which led to fears for the worst for Fallout 3. When the game was released on October 30, 2008, fans considered their fears to have been well-founded: in Bethesda's hands, the franchise has lost some of its substance. As such, it is interesting to draw a parallel between the Fallout series and the Mad Max series that inspired it. Both establish their mark in a first episode that quickly rises to cult status, then culminate in a masterly sequel offering no concessions, before mainstreaming themselves with a sugar-coated third installment.
Fallout 3 offers a hybrid gameplay that borrows as much from the Elder Scroll series as it does from Fallout: the first person perspective, the open world with optional fast travel and the aging game engine are inherited from Oblivion, but it is the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. rule set typical of Fallout that is used, barring a few details. These details involve the obtention of perks, which are gained every level and not every three levels (which makes progression easier), but also the regrettable disappearance of traits, which had enriched the gaming experience. For the rest, it's all there. The character creation phase, which allows you to model your avatar physically as well as statistically, can even afford to adopt an original form: a scripted tutorial that recounts your character's youth in a anti-atomic vault.
Bethesda's approach forced the studio to resolve a delicate equation: how to combine a real-time gaming system with the turn-based tactical combat typical of Fallout? The solution is V.A.T.S. This acronym of Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System designated a targeting aid that allows you to interrupt the action at any moment to target a specific part of an opponent's anatomy, for the cost of a few action points that regenerate over time. The system, reminiscent of the real-time mode in Fallout Tactics, offers the possibility of slowing down or disarming an opponent. Fights are thus more tactical than in a traditional first-person shooter. Even when you do not use V.A.T.S., success does not depend only on your skill as a player: you can miss un enemy that is in your reticle if you are far and/or you are using a weapon with a low skill value. A shot in Fallout 3 is a roll of the die, something that certain players have had a hard time understanding, prefering to call the game a bad FPS. The real weaknesses of the game are elsewhere.
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/dossiers/00014 ... ht-014.htm
Fallout 3 -- A taste of Nuka Cola Light
It is on the writing level that Fallout 3 errs the most. The story, which takes place in 2277 in the eastern United States, near the ruins of Washington D.C., sends you on the tracks of your father, who has just left Vault 101 under strange circumstances. Is his disappearance linked to his studies on purifying the waters of the Potomac River? Despite its intimate issues, the main storyline is very trite, except for a few moments of grace (Tranquility Lane). Fortunately it is only used as a main thread; you are free to switch to the many secondary quests. The problem is that even though they are interesting, they lack the spice and transgressive aspect that was part of the success of the previous episodes: the NPCs are flat and the sex/drug/ black humor cocktail [gritty & mature!! T.N.] has been quite sugar-coated. As for the violence, it mostly manifests itself in a graphic form (fights are gorier than ever); for the rest, political correctness dominates.
That is why Bethesda gives the impression of simply having delivered with Fallout 3 a post-apocalyptic Elder Scrolls. This even though they cannot be faulted for having disrespected the backstory of the series: we meet a typical bestiary (ghouls, super mutants, radscorpions, deathclaws...) as well as factions already seen in previous installments (the Brotherhood of Steel, the Enclave, slavers). But, while your karma -- managed on a global level -- modifies the way in which the NPCs perceive you and conditions the recruitment of certain companions, the end of the reputation system linked to factions prevents interactions as subtle as those of Fallout 2. Not only that, but your choices do not lead to enough repercussions on your adventure [choices & repercussions bitch, T.N.]. Freedom is thus primarily derived from the ability to explore a large enough open world with a decent density. The different cities (Megaton, Rivet City, the Children's village...) benefit from a very successful design [uh, no. T.N.]. Too bad the compositions of Inon Zur do not create an atmosphere as oppressive as Mark Morgan's.
http://www.jeuxvideo.com/dossiers/00014 ... 10-016.htm
Fallout New Vegas
No doubt occupied with the development of the next Elder Scrolls, Bethesda decides to entrust the development of a Fallout 3 spinoff to Obsidian Entertainment. Which is quite appropriate, as the studio in question was founded by former Black Isle members (Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone and Chris Jones, among others), who know the series better than anyone and who see there an occasion to implement certain ideas from Van Buren. We can therefore better understand why, even though it reuses Fallout 3's engine and gameplay, Fallout New Vegas represents for many fans an unhoped for and salutary return to the roots. It is obvious that, by bringing the theater of operations back to the West Coast (with its New California Republic and its geckos) and reintegrating traits and the reputation system while slowing down perk progression, Obsidian had their satisfaction at heart; not to mention the use of musical themes composed by Mark Morgan for the first two installments of the series.
Fallout New Vegas is to Fallout 3 what Fallout 2 is to the first Fallout. The two titles appear at first glance to be a timid evolution of their respective predecessors, dressed up with an aging technology. But if you manage to get into the game [there's the rub for many a hater -- fuckin ADDtards; T.N.], you quickly realize the significant increase in possibilities. New Vegas also introduces a Hardcore mode, whose activation entails a survival aspect that is absent from Fallout 3. Though the need to drink, eat and sleep regularly ends up being a bit gimmicky, because of the profusion of foodstuffs, the fact that it isn't possible anymore to recover hit points by sleeping and to heal a crippled limb with a stimpack does have a real effect on the challenge level. The game's coherence and realism are also reinforced by the return of the reputation system, which reduces the importance of karma: by deciding to help one faction instead of another, you modify your reputation with both, with all the consequences that implies for the rest of your adventure; and the choices are legion.
Thanks to these two major additions, the game quickly becomes exciting despite an unattractive starting frame. You play as a banal courier who wants revenge against a group of gangsters that shot you and left you for dead in the cemetery of a small village in Nevada. Were those scoundrels interested in what you were carrying? [that's kind of obvious, you dumbfuck, T.N.] Did they come from New Vegas, the Sin City rebuilt on the ashes of the nuclear catastrophe; a den of gangsters, junkies, prostitutes and all the high rollers of the region? Or do they have a connection with the fierce war between the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion for control of Hoover Dam? Less open than Fallout 3 due to the disappearance of the level-scaling dear to Bethesda, the world is in fact more developed and coherent. Only its obsolete graphics, its unchanged interface and its too many bugs have prevented Fallout New Vegas from reaching the summits, but one thing is sure: the franchise is back on the right track.
Fallout is back, baby
