Reilly2040's Blog

I’m completely hooked on Fallout 3 now. While my PC does struggle a bit with combat in the open air of the wastelands, I’m still getting performance good enough most of the time to enjoy the game.

Most recently I’ve just completed a series of quests at Rivet City in the game. This kind of thing I really love in these games. Rivet City is actually a beached aircraft carrier that a group of settlers have turned into their home, due to the security it offers. Its a great location, that’s exactly the kind of thing I love in RPGs. There’s something very grand about it, yet quite real at the same time.  Its a really nice concept, and I loved the sight of it when I first found it in the game and exploring it and finding out Rivet City’s history was a lot of fun.

I’ve had a good bit of time to get my teeth into Fallout 3 now, and I’m loving it.

Having spent a bit of time in Megaton wandering round (and acquiring a house. Very handy ) I’m now starting to head more into the Washington DC part of the game. At the moment I’ve been sticking to the main quest to guide me through the game, and not really exploring much, but I’ve had a few random quests come up (investigated The Family attacking a town in the Wastelands, and another town under seige from giant Fire Ants).

Moving into Washington has shifted the landscape though. Kicking around Megaton etc, felt very much like the Wastelands they’ve called. There wasn’t much to see outside of the odd town. When you get to Washington though, they’ve captured the ruined city feeling well, as you constantly find yourself working your way around debris and surrounded by ruined buildings, as opposed to the more open terrain of the wastelands.

Its nice that it doesn’t take too long before you start picking up a variety of weapons as well. The very initial stages of the game were pretty dangerous, as I was very underarmed compared to most threats in the Wastelands. However after my first run-in with a group of raiders I picked up an assault rifle and a hunting rifle, and from there things started to get a bit easier.

The V.A.T.S. targetting system is a nice concession to those players who miss the turn-based style of combat, versus the FPS stylings of combat in this game. As long as you’ve got action points stored up (they regenerate reasonably quickly over time), you can engage the system, which lets you target specific areas of your opponent’s body, and then get a cinematic of you taking those shots. Its very handy for quickly disarming or crippling enemies.

Its also given me a good look at how gory the game can be. Raiders don’t tend to last long when I’m targetting their head with my combat shotgun, as their heads explode with a satisfying (if “urgh”-inducing) squelch. However, there’s also plenty of severed limbs and the like on display should you happen to step on a landmine or the like. Unlike Oblivion, which wasn’t bad (if at all) on the gore factor, this game doesn’t pull its punches. I’m slightly surprised there’s no option to turn it down or off. The game is 18 rated though so people can’t say they aren’t warned.

I’m now looking forward to exploring the ruins of Washington DC properly tonight.  The only real problem I’ve got with this game so far is the sleep I’m losing playing it…

Last week saw the release of the latest in the Fallout series of RPGs.

I’ve got Fallout 1 & 2 in the house, but I’d never really played them much (should really dig them out), however when I saw the hype for Fallout 3, I was very excited.  I’m a huge Oblivion fan, so the idea of an Oblivion-style, post-apocalyptic future-set RPG was very interesting.

And so far, the game is living up to expectations.  I’m not far in, having just completed the introductory level where you define your character, and run a couple of quick quests for the first town, but its off to a promising start.    Starting your character from birth and then jumping to various events in your childhood (10th birthday party for example) is quite a nice way to break you into the game, and build a bond with your character.

The feel of the game is very similar to Oblivion so far.  Graphically, its obvious this is a souped up version of the same engine (or at least, that’s what it looks like), and the introductory level being used to define your character and establish the main plot reminded me a lot of the prison break sequence at the start of Oblivion.

Visually however, the landscape is very different.  Whereas Oblivion was lush landscapes, woods and mountains, this is the world after an atomic war.  Outside of the vault you are greeted by what’s left of the town where the vault was located, only most of it has been reclaimed by the desert, with only a few shells of buildings remaining.  The main feature you quickly find is the town of Megaton, recognisable by its town walls, welded together from various bits of sheet metal.   The whole town has the feel of something thrown together from scavenged materials (which it is), which is in sharp contrast to Oblivion’s towns, which felt like great care had gone into their construction and layout (especially the likes of the Imperial City).

Atmosphere is also added via the radio stations your wrist computer (Pip-Boy) can pick up.  From the start, the main radio station setup by survivors is only static (there’ll be a quest there I imagine), however you can listen to the Enclave Station and have the sound of President Eden (Malcolm McDowall) to keep you company as you explore the wastes.

So far the feel of this game is spot on for me.  The immersion and everything I loved about Oblivion, but the post-apocalyptic setting is a sharp contrast and well-realised.  I’m looking forward to exploring this game properly over the next few weeks and getting to grips with it.