Fallout 3 - 360/PS3 - sneakpreview

[El Duderino]

Fallout 3

First off, sorry for being late but I wanted to get a good feel for the game before writing something just for the sake of being fast... second off I hope you don´t mind if my writing style gets a little gonzo as I go... I can write factual and with big words... perhaps even without mistakes that make coon moan all night... but that would be work... so no to that... also I will keep it as spoiler free as possible but if there are spoilers I will mark them...


Part 1: Intro (very minor spoilers)

Ok I do have to tell you how the game gets started so thats a minor spoiler... but you find this out within the first hour of the game and there are no big surprises...

The game starts with style... you get to know a few detail about how the world as we know it ended and how a new world emerged, the music and the atmosphere are great from the very start, the title menu has micro film running in the background and and all the tutorial helps are shown by comic book figures that could be from a cold war fallout emergency instruction... it all fits very well and makes the game very three dimensional... (reminded me of Bioshock in a very good, non-copycat way)

Many people who survived the Fallout in shelters called faults... after nuclear winter had cooled down they reemerged to the outside world... except for Vault 101... here the gate stayed shut... here you are born...
You have a lot of freedom in making your character... its very detailed and it all effects what your strengths and weaknesses will be later in the game... but don´t worry about it to much at the start... before you get to the outside world you have one last chance to make changes...


Part 2: The Wasteland (Spoiler free)

Your youth and childhood are a tutorial but also do a great job to add detail and atmosphere to the game... but the real game starts when you get out to the wasteland... and a wasteland it is, the atmosphere, detail, far sight, lighting and characters are fantastic and add up to a real round and complete post apocalyptic feeling... you start to wonder when Mad Max will show up and kick your ass... believe me he would... its not easy to start with cause you only have basic weapons, low ammo and no money... this is where your scavenger instinct needs to kick in... you need to carefully explore the wasteland kill as many mutants and raiders as possible... you need a lot of stuff to get around... food/medics, weapons and ammo, armor, misc. items... and there are a great variety even at the very start... you also need to repair your weapons and armor a lot if you want keep them for a while... so you are constantly scavenging and looking for useful junk... and most of it is junk... also most foods are poluted so you need to watch out... it all ads to the post apocalyptic feel... lots of details...
There also is a constant feeling of danger... you are save in the fist main village but in the wasteland you are you are never save... you and everyone else... While I was in a little outpost village I talked to the locals to get infos and trade supplies... two minutes later the place gets raided... everyone grabs a weapon but not everyone makes it... I thought it was a save place... at least for NPCs... but when I see this girl I was chatting up decapitated I know this world is save for no one... so I search her body for useful stuff and move on... and thats where I am now... roaming the wasteland, questing for cash and goods, enjoying the atmosphere... looking for infos... and don´t worry the game doesn´t just set you in the wilderness and lets you figure things out... you know what you need to get the story going... but how you get what you need and how much time you take is totally up to you...


Part 3: Gameplay (Spoiler free... unless gameplay is considered spoiling)

It works very well... you carry a device on your arm that has everything you need... a map, item lists, infos and jurnal, player stats... I guess it could be a arranged a little better but you get used to it fast... and hey its the apocalypse... you have bigger things to worry about... controls all in all are tight, I like that you can change from 1st to 3rd person view with a simple button click... you need the 1st person for dark buildings and most fights but the 3ed person view is great for exploring the world...
The newest and best feature is that you have AP (action points) which you use to stop the game during combat to do precision shots... maybe you use it for other stuff later but the precision shots are great... you get to take a little of the stress out of the game and can check out how many enemys are around and what you best shot is... many people may not like the idea of mixing RPGs and Shooters... but at hear Fallout 3 is 100% RPG.. shooting is only the combat style the game uses and the precision shots make it very interesting even for players who usually don´t like shooters... APs fill up very quickly so if you are outnumbered you can take some shots (you get about three shots out of a full AP bar at the games beginning) then take cover and let you AP bar fill up till you make the next hit... but it won´t do all the work for you... you need to get into a good position to make a shot (closer is better, head shots do most damage but have lower chance to hit than torso shots... you also can decapitate arms and shoot weapons) if there is a strong enemy around I like to take a automatic weapon and hid till he has to reload, then I run up close to them and give them some precision shots to the head... it usually kills them pretty fast and you get a good look at their head exploding... and we all like to see mutants heads explode...


Part 4: Opinions

I was very skeptic of this game before I played it... to my own shame I must admit that I never really played the first two games and never got into Oblivion which is from the same dev. team... But Fallout 3 managed to push all the right buttons from the start... RPGs are all about atmosphere and depth of world and story for me... Fallout 3 does not cut short on any of that... if anything it exceeded my expectations... the faces are nice to look at and not ugly and uniform as in Oblivion... they fail to deliver deeper emotions but I seriously haven´t seen a game really do that... gameplay is fun... lots of depth there too without making it to complicated... it takes a little bit to get into the flow of the game but most RPGs need a little time to feel the "feel" and thats a good thing because once you are in the flow of the game it is more than satisfying...
Lets be honest though... this type of game was made for me... I love WRPGs to death and am a big shooter fan as well... I also love the post apocalyptic setting and dense atmosphere... so yeah this game would have to suck majorly for me not to at least like it a little... but even if your not a post apocalypse or shooter fan do not be afraid to try this game... of you in anyway like RPGs in general or especially WRPGs you need to try this game, also if you like the more intelligent shooter like Bioshock (which was a RPG too in many ways) this game is definitely for you... If I had to give it a score right now judging by what I´ve seen it would be in the very high 8s or low 9s... but I hate putting numbers on things... especially subjective ones... lets just say up to now I have really enjoyed this game and look foreward to a lot more...

If anything in my preview was unclear or you have other questions about the game feel free to ask them here...

[Kenzomatic]

Well I didn't have any trouble reading that, also you can put spoilers in a little box.

Spoiler:

Code:

[spoiler]cookies taste good[/spoiler]

Can't wait for the full review

[PDF]

Great preview
I was already interested in this game but it's great to know how much you enjoyed it without playing Oblivion
I also have not played Oblivion or at least not in depth. Played at friends house.
If I get it or not I'm still not sure but I will be watching this one

[hunter_alien]

The preview is good, but I think Im the only one who is not interested in this game. The first 3 Fallout games where OK, but I wouldent call them epic or anything... and this game doesnt looks all that groundbreaking to me...

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