War never changes... but Fallout does
Let me start by saying that I have always been a fallout fan. I remember 1st playing fallout demo way back in '98 and have loved and followed the game ever since.
What I loved the most about the original fallout (which was carried into the 2nd and 3rd as well) was that you could do anything and be anyone. You had total control of your character and if you didn't feel like paying for you equipment you could just target the shop owner with you 10mm SMG and watch him violently convulse as he fell to the floor.
Not only was the fallout games interactive but they had a great dark humour about them that I loved. OK and now for my thoughts on the latest Fallout instalment.
The game is absolutely great, from the minute my character stepped out of the vault I found myself in aw over the spectacular graphics and utterly awesome destroyed scenery. Bethesda really went all out in making you believe that this is a world where hope has fled and scars of a world war are everywhere.
The character creation and development is great and stays pretty true to the original fallout in that you create your character and let him grow in this new world. However, what I did find lacking was the amount of skills. I feel not only are there fewer skills, but also some of the skills don't offer that much advantage (the medical skill for example. Instead of being able to better heal yourself and comrades without the use of stimpacks it now just boosts the amount of health you gain out of a stimpack. BORING!) Also I found it very easy to get my 3 tagged skills to 100% and was saddened by the fact that this is as far as it goes.
The fallout 3 world is HUGE to say the least, definitely bigger than 1 or 2 and it has a lot of familiar sites that are now in total destruction (such as the Lincoln memorial and the Capitol building) I fully enjoyed exploring these places and have to give Bethesda two thumbs up to the level of detail they have made. Another nice touch in the latest fallout is the ability to have your own house. This is great because you can decorate it as you see fit and buy different themes for it and store the inventory you cant carry. (Its like a post apocalyptic SIMS!)
Right so if you have played the game already you know very well that Fallout 3 is more than just a decent game. Its a great game! The AI is great, your companions know when to use what weapon and are very self-sufficient. The enemy are intelligent in that they will take cover and use their different artillery effective (They get pretty easy to kill however as you level up, also an evil character is also more likely to have more ease in fending off a pack of super-mutants purely because you either pillaged or stole all the best equipment!)
However, I do have to say that I still prefer playing the originals. Maybe its because I am such a hardcore fan, maybe its because I am comparing it too much to its predecessors. Truth be told though, I would have liked to have seen some overlooked similarities in the latest fallout. such as:
The amount of towns - This fallout does not have as many villages as the 1st two and also not half as many kooky weird funny characters.
Not as humorous - I remember playing fallout2 and your character tells some low-life, "Your parents should have used a more reliable birth control" which had me laughing my head off. Fallout3 is much darker but also less funny
What happened to the fun skills?? - Where did the gambling skill go? or the outdoor skill? although these skills did not influence the game directly they sure were fun to have!
Info - And suddenly super-mutants! like its normal! This is fine for the gamers that have played the 1st two games as they will know the history of super-mutants, ghouls, raiders, etc. But for those new to the fallout world it seems as though those enemies are nothing more than another critter to kill.
Yes, I could go on for pages and pages listing all the differences but then you guys would simply say, "they 2 different games!" so I will stop there.
In conclusion, Bethesda did an absolutely great job and silenced most of the critics. the game is pretty fluid and if you go exploring you forget all about daddy dearest and make your own name in the world of fallout
I just wish that I didn't, at times, feel like I was playing Oblivion in the future...