Fallout 3

[Madame Adequate]

Who has it, who's getting it, what are people's opinions?

First time I left the vault I wanted to hide and cower forever. It was scary and intimidating and supremely awesome. Looking out over the ruined landscape and seeing the shattered remains of DC's monuments on the horizon.

(SPOILER)When I was leaving the vault, I killed the Overseer. Amata was less than happy. I'm interested in seeing how that influences the game later!

[Roto13]

I want to try it but apparently it's like post-apocalyptic Oblivion and I don't like Oblivion. But a lot of that has to do with it wanting to be Lord of the Rings, so I guess this might be better.

[Captain Maxx Power]

My weekend shall be taken up exclusively with killing Super Mutants and Radscorpions in the wasteland.

[Loony BoB]

Having watched a few previews, nothing about it appeals to me. =| I don't get the hype.

[Magixion]

I will be getting it. I haven't been able to yet though because of school, but this weekend will be Fallout 3 madness.

[Craig]

can someone explain what this game actually is

[CimminyCricket]

It's a huge RP thing where you can do whatever, whenever. Instead of it being swords and stuff like a regular RPG, you have guns. And hit the fan, so the world sucks.

[Madame Adequate]

Having watched a few previews, nothing about it appeals to me. =| I don't get the hype.

The hype came from two fronts. One was fans of Bethesda, for whom Oblivion with guns is a kickass idea. The other was fans of FO1 and 2, who hoped that a new FO would be a worthy addition to one of the best series of games ever made (No exaggeration; FO still does things that modern games don't).

The two were, of course, at odds with each other. The elitists at No Mutants Allowed were terrified of Oblivion with guns, and vice versa. NMA was never going to like it, they were never going to like anything except an isometric 2D game made by the exact team who made the first or second one. The FPS crowd, alternatively, hate that you can miss people you're aiming at, because skills count into accuracy.

The game's not perfect. Some of the dialogue and quest setup is frankly retarded*, and compared to the first two FOs just not worthy. The world feels amazing, but its small size is a huge detriment to it. And combat, whilst awesomely fun, is also extremely annoying because of freaking level scaling.

That said it's extremely engrossing and massive fun. And yeah, getting hold of a suit and strolling around wearing it is just great fun.

* Minor relevant (SPOILER)One of the earliest quests available sees you tasked with exploring a store near the settlement of Megaton. To search for food and medical supplies. Now this is 200 years after a nuclear holocaust, and Megaton has been there for decades. You see the flaw? It turns out there is stuff there, but only because raiders have moved in. The idea that there might be anything left to scavange, which is implied by the questgiver, is just bizarre.

[Craig]

ok so basically oblivion with guns in post apocalyptic world or whatever. sounds good

[Araciel]

I think of it as an Oblivion seleton with a more 'traditional' RPG leveling system, mad max-like theme, and matrix-like gunplay scenes (which haven't gotten old in the seven hours I've played.)

I bought the regular edition (special editions seem pointless to me) last night and haven't played much but already want to restart :P

(SPOILER) I agree, MILF that quest sounded pretty lamely built and it kind of depends on players being players... I hope to see less of that type of thing further on..

[Shoeberto]

ok so basically oblivion with guns in post apocalyptic world or whatever. sounds good

I was going to make a point here but I can't back it up, so instead I'll pose a question to Milfy: Is it still designed with the same skill building style as the old Fallouts or did they make it Oblivion-like where you can be everything to everyone and a total jack of all trades?

What I really liked about the original Fallout games was how I really felt like my character was mine because every choice, from conversation trees to how I spent my points, had a real longstanding effect on the game. You couldn't just make things up and skip through conversations.

So is it the same? Because I want to say "Well as an RPG it's very different from Oblivion because you can't just power level everything and be super amazing badass at it all" but yeah I don't actually know that.

[Araciel]

So far it feels like old FO games. You have your attributes and a skill system (each skill is based on an attribute) that you put points into every level, and then you have perks which enhance them.

[Markus. D]

Oh awesome! I love systems with leveling !

Enjoying it still?

[Bunny]

It's a huge RP thing where you can do whatever, whenever. Instead of it being swords and stuff like a regular RPG, you have guns. And :skull::skull::skull::skull: hit the fan, so the world sucks.

Can you actually do whatever, whenever? There have been plenty of other games that have made this claim and then fall short on it because they don't know how to make it happen.

[Slothy]

ok so basically oblivion with guns in post apocalyptic world or whatever. sounds good

I was going to make a point here but I can't back it up, so instead I'll pose a question to Milfy: Is it still designed with the same skill building style as the old Fallouts or did they make it Oblivion-like where you can be everything to everyone and a total jack of all trades?

The leveling system isn't the same as Oblivions. You get experience from combat and quests and get skill points to allocate when you level up. You can allocate them to several stats as you see fit, but the levels cap at 20 before you ever come close to maxing everything. So no, you can't be all things to everyone.