Okay, well despite my better judgment, I bought Fallout 3 last night. And I played it very late into the night. And while I was skeptical at first, I have to say now that so far this game has been a huge blast. There are a lot of skills in the game that are from the original Fallouts. Although I was bummed that they got rid of the Gifted perk.
You can still individually target areas of your opponent too. At first when I saw how they did this in the gameplay trailer, I thought it was kind of silly and dramatic. But playing the game, I quickly game to love it. It's all done in this slow motion theatrical view and it's pretty neat watching my character, this small agile Asian chick with glasses, shoot the leg off of a raider. The game is challenging too. Even on normal. I've died several times but I didn't feel the game was being unfair. It's challenging in a good way.
Some of the combat is similar to Oblivion's, but actually a bit better. One thing I love is if an enemy lunges at you, you can actually strafe to the side, making them miss you and it takes a moment for them to recover their balance from the attack, while they're doing so, a good sledgehammer to the face does critical damage. There is still an action point system except that the combat is not turn-based. I was wondering how they were going to do this and the way it works is basically while in combat, you can quickly toggle on the individual targeting mode with so many action points. After the targeting is finished, the scene plays out of you shooting or hitting them in slow motion, then goes back to normal. Action points then slowly regenerate so you can use them again but if you use them too quickly all at once you may not have the chance to use them again before the battle is over.
The story seems fairly typical of a Fallout game. Some asshole Overseer is high on his own power. He's threatened by your dad who commands a lot of respect and has secret plans to leave the vault. Once he does, you have to escape before they kill you too and find out why he left. The voice of the dad is voiced by Liam Neeson with the president of the U.S. by Malcolm McDowell. The narrator is voiced by Ron Pearlman who is a favorite actor of mine.
I've only been playing the game for awhile though and I'm sure I'll find some issues with the game I don't like. But so far it's been really fun.
The dialogue options are pretty similar in Fallout 1 and 2. Sometimes I get disappointed because I can only say the good or evil thing to a person, but that maybe beacause my speech skill is still a bit low.
There are definitely open ended quests. The first major one that I have yet to complete is the Megaton quest where this one guy wants to rig an unexploded atomic bomb in the middle of this city to explode. I can either rig it, or disarm it. I even still have the option of telling the sheriff about it. Even disarming the bomb may have negative consequences for the Children of the Atom. But yeah, you can do quests, not do them, do them the wrong or right way, or even lie about having done the quest. Your karma can be negatively affected by such actions as well. And bad karma doesn't just give you a bad reputation, but people may refuse to join you if it's too bad. Or even if it's too good. I've been trying to recruit this ex-raider from Megaton but he says he doesn't really associate with my kind, because I'm kind of a saint in Megaton right now.
I have yet to encounter any Brotherhood people. The plot has so far alluded to them as well as the Enclave.
Some parts of the game were just downright freaky too. That part at the Super Duper mart. Some of those raiders where these crazy masks that are either clown like, or sort of cabal like. And they taunt you really bad. But they'll also retreat if you're kicking their ass.
The sneaking is more realistic so far in Fallout 3 than Oblivion as well. In Oblivion, you could sneak, shoot an arrow in someone's face at point blank range, then go back into sneak and they still could not find you. Once you're caught in Fallout though that's it. You then either have to run or fight.
And there are hookers of course. Sleep with them if you wish. I have yet to sleep with any hookers yet. There are ghouls too. They sound like the Night Elves from Morrowind. All raspy sounding.
Another thing is I've suspected that some enemies have sneaked up on me as well. I was in this long gun fight with this guy, we were both taking potshots at each other. Then his friend appeared out of nowhere on the other side of the rock and killed me in one hit. It was brutal.
There are ghouls that wear armor and walk around and talk. The ghoul with a tree growing from his head from the original Fallouts is in Fallout 3 if I'm not mistaken. There is also a ghoul bartender in Megaton.
Sorry, figured I'd just ask this here, but, if I jumped on the Fallout bandwagon with Fallout III, would I be missing a ton of storyline stuff and be completely confused? This game does, in my opinion, look challenging and fun, although I'm more a medieval man, but I just kinda have this thing with starting a series so late. That's especially important to me when I read books. Ah, off topic...
There are definitely plot elements from both first games that are kind of nice to know. But the new game is likely to bring you up to speed on most of it. It's kind of interesting to know where the super mutants came from and who the Enclave and Brotherhood are. But as far as the Vaults, they are pretty independent from one another and each have their own circumstances. And you just happen to come from another one of those Vaults.
@Equinox
I was worried about the time limit at first as well. But I actually returned the water chip with about 50 days to spare. Unless you're just traveling aimlessly around the map looking for locations, you should be just fine on time. You can even afford to backtrack quite a bit to other locations and still be okay. And at any rate, while the time limit can be annoying, it's also simply realistic. Clean water is running out and without it everyone will die and they're rationing it out to last 150 days.
So anyway, I encountered my first Deathclaw last night. I thought I was screwed for sure, but luckily there was a Brotherhood Outcast that helped me take it down. This was only the second time I've seen one of these outcasts and I tried talking to her, but she told me I wasn't worth her time and she literally was running off to somewhere.
Well, I went to Vault 15, Sands, Raiders, Junkyard, and I still have no clue where the chip is. And I only have 70 days or so left. And, as in all such games, nobody wants to talk to you and you can't kill anyone.
Actually, I thought finding the chip is how the game ends, which is why I was additionally annoyed. I guess it's not?
It may be realistic, but it's still as annoying as non-saving in MG is. I don't like being timed on a "game over" basis. It makes me do stupid things and waste equipment. Why not just let everyone in the vault die and leave me alone. It's not like they're helpful. No weapons, nothing. And the Overseer is a dumbass.
I am also having trouble with the day-night system. I don't know how to know whether it's day or night... And people keep telling me I have to wait until morning. And I don't know how. The only way I can wait is go out and walk. Which seems to take more time than I try to spend... And nobody buys anything. :/
Use your Pip Boy to rest until morning. Everything usually appears darker when it's night and you can see in your Pip Boy what time it is. And if you want everything to open, just click on the bell icon on your Pip Boy to choose how long you want to rest and do it until morning.
I think you actually can have everyone die in the Vault and continue the game. One thing you should know though is that if you eventually visit all locations in the game, one of them will have a water chip for you. I think there is more than one way to get it. I'd tell you where I got mine but I don't know if you want to be protected from the spoilers or not.
Yeah the Overseer is a dumbass. I suspect every vault's Overseer were dumbasses and that's why they always had such major problems. Probably a problem with how they are chosen.
But it sounds like the issues you're having are more related with not knowing how to perform certain functions. I actually went half the game without knowing I could individually target specific areas on the body.
There is also a place where you can go to a water merchant and have some water delivered to your vault. This buys you a lot more time and gives you a lot of experience too.
I think I am missing out on some functions. But I'm really enjoying the game so far, the limit just bugs me a bit... I found some guy on accident who had all sorts of junk ranging from an awesome desert eagle pistol to leather armor and some other random stuff. I took it from his crates and he didn't even say anything. o.O
I don't like visiting places because I have this feeling that one of those places people are going to kill me.
I don't know how to target specific areas on a body, either. I really don't need it yet, shoots fine without it... and last time I used that was in Evil Islands, really didn't make much of a difference.
So you mean nobody will leave the vault and go look for water when it runs out?!
So you mean nobody will leave the vault and go look for water when it runs out?!
Supposedly not. And this is what's somewhat interesting about vault culture. They are mostly isolationists. They seem to create their own unique culture within a vault and then jealously guard it. However, I also suspect they do not fully understand how their vault or its technology works. And so in effect they are incredibly naive and though they are reluctant to send you out into the wastes to find the water chip, they know it is necessary for their survival. I often get the sense that vaults everywhere are inherently evil. And that if any vault resident shows too many signs of dissonance or independent thinking, that person is dealt with harshly.
They are also simply afraid of the outside world as living in the vault has made them somewhat complacent. They feel too secure inside the vault and part of those unique cultures established in the vaults likely spawn myths about the outside world.
Anyway, I highly recommend you being using the specific target feature. But I will admit that the usefulness of it kind of depends on the skills you are investing in. If you use Small Arms and have a high Perception, then it's a fantastic feature. Some enemies are also more weaker in certain areas. The Deathclaws for example, you will score more critical hits on them if you shoot them in the eyes.
What's nice about Fallout 3, is that if you critically hit someone in the leg and cripple them, they will actually be limping on that leg and are now much slow. Or if you get them real good in the head, they either have difficulty finding you, or when they shoot they now have terrible aim. I suspect in Fallout 1 that critical hits in certain areas have these kinds of effects too, but they're not as easy to detect. But I think after hitting someone in the eyes real good, they will miss you more when they shoot at you.
To use this function, you have that box in the middle of your bar that shows your weapon. If you right click on that box you'll toggle the options for a gun or melee weapon. For a gun, the options may be single shot, burst, or aim. You'll see the little bull's eye icon to know that you're targeting specific areas. So once it's on that function, click on your target and a new screen will appear in which you can choose which area to target. This type of action costs more action points, but usually does more damage.
@Siaynoq
The whole "choose what body part to shoot" ability is actually really useful against humans. Come really close, take out the desert eagle, shoot the head, and chances are they are either dead or unconscious.
Gizmo was funny though. "Izo, kill him!" There is no Izo. Izo died a few minutes ago.
I need to replay that, though, Killian doesn't like me now.
vaults are actually way more grim (i mean hilarious, no i mean, grim) then that. Its inhabits are just part of sick social experiments (kinda like "survival of the fittest" ones, but then conceived by really fucked-up people.) Each vault is unique that way, one will test how people react under constant noise, another's inhabitants consist of 1 male and rest all female, etc,...
Were the vaults the sole creation of the American government? Or was it a private organization that made them?
What's interesting then is that it seems as if their sole purpose was just a sociological experiment. But then there really was nuclear fallout. And those test subjects just happened to be fortunate to be test subjects because now they were sure to survive. And obviously not all survivors were vault dwellers, but that's pretty interesting.
A bit more on Fallout 3. I can pretty positively say by now that the game does not have scaled leveling. I've been sort of measuring this by how easy it is to kill a super mutant. And it is most definitely getting easier. I will say, however, that I notice the super mutants starting to sport better gear and traveling in larger packs. But killing an individual one gets easier as I level up.
One downside so far is that I'm unable to kill children. You'll remember of course that killing a child in the first Fallout would earn you the reputation of child killer and you then make certain quests inaccessible to you. But now, when you try to kill them they just cower and run away and there's no way to target them. It's a shame really because the kids in this game are fucking annoying and they always talk back to you. They rarely even give you the dialogue options of scaring them straight.
There have been some really interesting random encounters in the game. One I simply must talk about occurred in a train station below ground. I was in a room full of crates, boxes, a terminal and a safe. I lockpicked the safe and inside was some sexy underwear. Being a chick, I thought maybe I could use this somehow. But after grabbing it, this crazy ass blue hair guy runs into the room and demands I return it to him. It was pretty scary cause he really sneaked up on me. Naturally I refused to give it back to him so he attacked me and I blew his head off with my combat shotgun. It was pretty sweet.
You can still individually target areas of your opponent too. At first when I saw how they did this in the gameplay trailer, I thought it was kind of silly and dramatic. But playing the game, I quickly game to love it. It's all done in this slow motion theatrical view and it's pretty neat watching my character, this small agile Asian chick with glasses, shoot the leg off of a raider. The game is challenging too. Even on normal. I've died several times but I didn't feel the game was being unfair. It's challenging in a good way.
Some of the combat is similar to Oblivion's, but actually a bit better. One thing I love is if an enemy lunges at you, you can actually strafe to the side, making them miss you and it takes a moment for them to recover their balance from the attack, while they're doing so, a good sledgehammer to the face does critical damage. There is still an action point system except that the combat is not turn-based. I was wondering how they were going to do this and the way it works is basically while in combat, you can quickly toggle on the individual targeting mode with so many action points. After the targeting is finished, the scene plays out of you shooting or hitting them in slow motion, then goes back to normal. Action points then slowly regenerate so you can use them again but if you use them too quickly all at once you may not have the chance to use them again before the battle is over.
The story seems fairly typical of a Fallout game. Some asshole Overseer is high on his own power. He's threatened by your dad who commands a lot of respect and has secret plans to leave the vault. Once he does, you have to escape before they kill you too and find out why he left. The voice of the dad is voiced by Liam Neeson with the president of the U.S. by Malcolm McDowell. The narrator is voiced by Ron Pearlman who is a favorite actor of mine.
I've only been playing the game for awhile though and I'm sure I'll find some issues with the game I don't like. But so far it's been really fun.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
There are definitely open ended quests. The first major one that I have yet to complete is the Megaton quest where this one guy wants to rig an unexploded atomic bomb in the middle of this city to explode. I can either rig it, or disarm it. I even still have the option of telling the sheriff about it. Even disarming the bomb may have negative consequences for the Children of the Atom. But yeah, you can do quests, not do them, do them the wrong or right way, or even lie about having done the quest. Your karma can be negatively affected by such actions as well. And bad karma doesn't just give you a bad reputation, but people may refuse to join you if it's too bad. Or even if it's too good. I've been trying to recruit this ex-raider from Megaton but he says he doesn't really associate with my kind, because I'm kind of a saint in Megaton right now.
I have yet to encounter any Brotherhood people. The plot has so far alluded to them as well as the Enclave.
Some parts of the game were just downright freaky too. That part at the Super Duper mart. Some of those raiders where these crazy masks that are either clown like, or sort of cabal like. And they taunt you really bad. But they'll also retreat if you're kicking their ass.
The sneaking is more realistic so far in Fallout 3 than Oblivion as well. In Oblivion, you could sneak, shoot an arrow in someone's face at point blank range, then go back into sneak and they still could not find you. Once you're caught in Fallout though that's it. You then either have to run or fight.
And there are hookers of course. Sleep with them if you wish. I have yet to sleep with any hookers yet. There are ghouls too. They sound like the Night Elves from Morrowind. All raspy sounding.
Another thing is I've suspected that some enemies have sneaked up on me as well. I was in this long gun fight with this guy, we were both taking potshots at each other. Then his friend appeared out of nowhere on the other side of the rock and killed me in one hit. It was brutal.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Vote:
http://www.diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17929
Vote:
http://www.diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17929
There are definitely plot elements from both first games that are kind of nice to know. But the new game is likely to bring you up to speed on most of it. It's kind of interesting to know where the super mutants came from and who the Enclave and Brotherhood are. But as far as the Vaults, they are pretty independent from one another and each have their own circumstances. And you just happen to come from another one of those Vaults.
@Equinox
I was worried about the time limit at first as well. But I actually returned the water chip with about 50 days to spare. Unless you're just traveling aimlessly around the map looking for locations, you should be just fine on time. You can even afford to backtrack quite a bit to other locations and still be okay. And at any rate, while the time limit can be annoying, it's also simply realistic. Clean water is running out and without it everyone will die and they're rationing it out to last 150 days.
So anyway, I encountered my first Deathclaw last night. I thought I was screwed for sure, but luckily there was a Brotherhood Outcast that helped me take it down. This was only the second time I've seen one of these outcasts and I tried talking to her, but she told me I wasn't worth her time and she literally was running off to somewhere.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Actually, I thought finding the chip is how the game ends, which is why I was additionally annoyed. I guess it's not?
It may be realistic, but it's still as annoying as non-saving in MG is. I don't like being timed on a "game over" basis. It makes me do stupid things and waste equipment. Why not just let everyone in the vault die and leave me alone. It's not like they're helpful. No weapons, nothing. And the Overseer is a dumbass.
I am also having trouble with the day-night system. I don't know how to know whether it's day or night... And people keep telling me I have to wait until morning. And I don't know how. The only way I can wait is go out and walk. Which seems to take more time than I try to spend... And nobody buys anything. :/
I think you actually can have everyone die in the Vault and continue the game. One thing you should know though is that if you eventually visit all locations in the game, one of them will have a water chip for you. I think there is more than one way to get it. I'd tell you where I got mine but I don't know if you want to be protected from the spoilers or not.
Yeah the Overseer is a dumbass. I suspect every vault's Overseer were dumbasses and that's why they always had such major problems. Probably a problem with how they are chosen.
But it sounds like the issues you're having are more related with not knowing how to perform certain functions. I actually went half the game without knowing I could individually target specific areas on the body.
There is also a place where you can go to a water merchant and have some water delivered to your vault. This buys you a lot more time and gives you a lot of experience too.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
I think I am missing out on some functions. But I'm really enjoying the game so far, the limit just bugs me a bit... I found some guy on accident who had all sorts of junk ranging from an awesome desert eagle pistol to leather armor and some other random stuff. I took it from his crates and he didn't even say anything. o.O
I don't like visiting places because I have this feeling that one of those places people are going to kill me.
I don't know how to target specific areas on a body, either. I really don't need it yet, shoots fine without it... and last time I used that was in Evil Islands, really didn't make much of a difference.
So you mean nobody will leave the vault and go look for water when it runs out?!
They are also simply afraid of the outside world as living in the vault has made them somewhat complacent. They feel too secure inside the vault and part of those unique cultures established in the vaults likely spawn myths about the outside world.
Anyway, I highly recommend you being using the specific target feature. But I will admit that the usefulness of it kind of depends on the skills you are investing in. If you use Small Arms and have a high Perception, then it's a fantastic feature. Some enemies are also more weaker in certain areas. The Deathclaws for example, you will score more critical hits on them if you shoot them in the eyes.
What's nice about Fallout 3, is that if you critically hit someone in the leg and cripple them, they will actually be limping on that leg and are now much slow. Or if you get them real good in the head, they either have difficulty finding you, or when they shoot they now have terrible aim. I suspect in Fallout 1 that critical hits in certain areas have these kinds of effects too, but they're not as easy to detect. But I think after hitting someone in the eyes real good, they will miss you more when they shoot at you.
To use this function, you have that box in the middle of your bar that shows your weapon. If you right click on that box you'll toggle the options for a gun or melee weapon. For a gun, the options may be single shot, burst, or aim. You'll see the little bull's eye icon to know that you're targeting specific areas. So once it's on that function, click on your target and a new screen will appear in which you can choose which area to target. This type of action costs more action points, but usually does more damage.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
The whole "choose what body part to shoot" ability is actually really useful against humans. Come really close, take out the desert eagle, shoot the head, and chances are they are either dead or unconscious.
Gizmo was funny though. "Izo, kill him!" There is no Izo. Izo died a few minutes ago.
I need to replay that, though, Killian doesn't like me now.
@Doppleganger
I suppose I'll do that.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
A bit more on Fallout 3. I can pretty positively say by now that the game does not have scaled leveling. I've been sort of measuring this by how easy it is to kill a super mutant. And it is most definitely getting easier. I will say, however, that I notice the super mutants starting to sport better gear and traveling in larger packs. But killing an individual one gets easier as I level up.
One downside so far is that I'm unable to kill children. You'll remember of course that killing a child in the first Fallout would earn you the reputation of child killer and you then make certain quests inaccessible to you. But now, when you try to kill them they just cower and run away and there's no way to target them. It's a shame really because the kids in this game are fucking annoying and they always talk back to you. They rarely even give you the dialogue options of scaring them straight.
There have been some really interesting random encounters in the game. One I simply must talk about occurred in a train station below ground. I was in a room full of crates, boxes, a terminal and a safe. I lockpicked the safe and inside was some sexy underwear. Being a chick, I thought maybe I could use this somehow. But after grabbing it, this crazy ass blue hair guy runs into the room and demands I return it to him. It was pretty scary cause he really sneaked up on me. Naturally I refused to give it back to him so he attacked me and I blew his head off with my combat shotgun. It was pretty sweet.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs