Fallout 3

I've been anticipating this one for a few months now, and reading the (mostly) rave reviews I have to say that the word disappointment does not apply in even the most infinitesimal of ways. In fact, the complete opposite. No game can be perfect, but this game followed through on every promise. Quite a breath of fresh air considering the slag we've seen come down the line.

The game opens well, allowing you to become the person you want to be from you very first step The implementation of new leveling systems that differ from Fallout's kin Oblivion lend to a far more free-form growth pattern for your characters. You no longer have to constantly use a specific group of skills to be given the chance to increases your stats, and you can gain new perks at different level intervals.

Perks can really set different characters apart, think of them like the tonics in Bioshock (except these are permanent so choose wisely!). Bloody Mess can be bloody good fun, but looting what is left may become a problem...

The AI isn't running and diving behind cover, but it seems good. Some enemies can be stupid, or overestimate their chances of winning battles (as it is you are an unknown quantity in the wastes) leaving them foolishly trying to take you head on, while some of the beasties out there will rush headlong and for good reason! Some of the nastier irradiated beasts can do some heavy damage.

There doesn't seem to be very much level scaling in the enemies- if there is a group of level 8 super mutants in this building and you are level 5 your chances of survival are pretty slim. Come back when you are 10 and they won't know what hit them.

Surprisingly some of the most effective healing comes from the toilet- water. Just don't forget to take your Rad-X kids!

For me, it is exactly what I wanted. For others, it may just be Oblivion with guns. All in all, the game does deserve the scores it received (Game Informer gave 10/10 I believe) and I would recommend putting it on the 'buy' list.

Which platform?

I'd like to pick it up for the PC but I'm not sure my system can hack it.

My system is a 2.5 year old system that's definitely no better than mid-grade these days and the game runs plenty smoothly and looks gorgeous in 1280x800. I can pump up all the graphics settings except for AA/anisotropic filtering--I can turn those on but they have to be left at minimum settings--and still get very playable frame rates. If you have just about any dual core processor, a graphics card that's no worse than an Nvidia 8500GT, and plenty of RAM, you can run the game without even missing much in the way of eye candy.

I can't wait until we get some more people playing and we discuss our 'proud moments'. For exmaple, using VATS and a sniper rifle to make mush out of a slaver's head at significant range in one shot. I love it when you can see a chunk of the jaw flying off in a seperate direction from the eyes and brain pan.

The game will look absolutely spectacular if you can do that, but judging by how crisp everything looks out to the horizon with just 2x AA and anis, you'd have to be crazy to upgrade your system just to be able to do so.

This runs a lot better than Oblivion did. The game engine has been tweaked, but there's also appropriately almost no grass and very little water in the wastelands, as well as minimal weather effects. The effects that really cripple low-to-mid range systems just aren't prevalent.

The way the water is you'd mostly stay away from it anyway. Fucking mirelurks.

So, are you saying that if my pc runs Oblivion, then it should run this?

Mind runs Oblivion pretty well....unless there are deer around, for some reason.

Gonna download it when I get home. Dunno if I can run it tho. Athlon64 processor, 2ghz, 1gb ram, shitty gfx card.

a.

I really hope you're downloading it through legitemate, pay means.
You're a fucking worthless prick otherwise.

Pretty sure that one is on topic Bailey, and besides that you would be inclined to agree.

I've only put a couple of hours into the game, but so far I'm digging it.

I'm playing through the game altruistically, then I'll start over and be a nasty sonofabitch.

As far as I know, yes. My computer had more trouble with Oblivion than with Fallout 3. I suppose it could depend on your setup, and I haven't gotten that far into the game yet, so I suppose there could be bits later on that might cause a problem.

That's pretty much my modus operandi for these kinds of games.

Interesting. Even when I try to be good, I end up being evil. Maybe you are my mirror image.

Tell me you at least did the Dark Brotherhood quest-line. Probably the best 6 hours of RPG computer gameplay I've ever experienced.

If not, murder some random NPC and come to the dark side...

In most games the "evil" route is horribly written. I tried a dark side character in KOTOR 2...and all the evil choices are just stupid. Vader didn't roll an old man for 30 credits.

They're tough but

I've become more used to their armoring.

Also,

I didn't really dig the 'Family' plot line -

But overall I'm really enjoying it. The Wasteland Survival Guide quests are funny as hell. 'Go get yourself mutilated and come back and report to me.' Oh, and there was a drop line from the Princess Bride in that one.

The sniper rifle made life a LOT easier. And I like the combat shotgun, but the bonuses with the sawed off shot gun and gunslinger are pretty good. I often switch to that and short range because it's so easy to get head shots. Then I go to the shishkebob when I'm out of ammo.

But then, I'm just getting into the game now, level 7 or so.

I love the rock-it launcher...

The Family seemed weird to me at first, and I was surprised you couldn't direct Bittercup to their fold. I think the strangest thing about the family is that they are (or were, if you prefer) all cannibals, but you get negative karma for killing them all.

I like the Sniper Rifle, but I can't wait to get a unique one. I usually sell off the the sawn-offs I pick up and favor the combat shotgun. I like to keep at least on 10mm weapon on hand and right now it is the SMG. The Minigun was hella good fun during the Reily's Rangers quest, but I sold it when I got back to town- it was too impractical because of weight issues and I made a good chunk of caps selling off the ammo.

In one of the many small crumbled towns, I encountered a radio antenna that I repaired and received an SOS broadcast from. After a bit of poking around I realized the broadcast gets louder when near a manhole, so I entered it. All seemed relatively normal in there, I stopped the broadcast equipment and looted what I could. Found a switch on the wall that opened some big doors in the floor and proceeded down the steps to find a room full gore and not much else. I expected to encounter the culprit waiting at the top of the stairs, but nothing at all came of any of it. Anyone else found this and had a different experience?

This sounds like the post-apocalyptic game I've been waiting for.

However, I'm going to refain for now. I'm in the middle of a writing project, and a new, cool video game will insure that the writing gets shelved for the next 6 months to a year.

Budget doesnt support a new game so sticking to nwn. Fallout Series is ultimate gun fan game. Fallout 2 also has a lesbian shot gun wedding..

I was trying to play through on a good path, but kinda accidentally killed everyone in Tenpenny Tower. So, to make up for it, I annihilated Paradise Falls.

Any lesbians in it?