Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #260 on: February 28, 2014, 11:59:08 PM »
First off, I stand by my claim that the interface sucks.  Well, it's not entirely the interface.  It's partially the interface, partially the controls, but more than that, just little quirks with how the game works - none of which seem like a big deal at first, but they grate on you more and more the longer you play.  A few examples off the top of my head: Only one character can occupy an individual space at a time.  That leads to getting trapped in rooms when an NPC stands in the doorway.  Moving the screen (or the camera, or your line of vision, whatever it's called) around so you can take a look at your immediate area is surprisingly awkward.  It's the screen you're moving around, after all, not the character.  And yet you'll be hitting arbitrary invisible walls all over the place.  Also, there's two "modes" that you have to keep switching between, one where you move around and one where you interact with people or objects.  It's clunky and it's unnecessary.  Why not simply do what any other game would do - just assign the left mouse button to movement and the right (coupled with a drop-down menu, of course) to interactions?

That was just a few examples, like I said.  And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that any of them are huge game-breaking flaws.  What they are is annoying, especially after dealing with them for hours and hours.  And what makes it worse is that I think they could have been fixed with just a little tinkering around with the technical side of things.  I loved the material of the game, so to speak, and it's a shame to see it, well, not ruined, but certainly hurt somewhat by all this.

Speaking of which, let's get to the good parts.  The world itself is a lot of fun to explore, especially the settlements.  Obviously it's not as visually impressive as the one in F3, but I definitely prefer Interplay/Black Isle/(eventually) Obsidian's style of writing, which was clearly the guiding force in how they designed their world.  Bethesda has some fun ideas and all, but at the end of the day, that's all they are, fun.  Here, you can actually take something away from all the places you visit, all the people you see, and all the quests you do.  There are themes here.  There's social commentary.  Pretty much everything about the Hub, for example, is a sharp critique of capitalism.  They even have their very own underclass.

The main story is...decent.  What drags it down a bit is the beginning, which is kind of boring.  You've got to go find a water chip, because insert technobabble here, and off you go.  Snore.  I know that the main quest isn't the bulk of the game, like I mentioned before, and it's really just a pretext to get you out into the world.  It's the journey, not the destination and all that.  But it's a weak pretext, and as rooster pointed out, it's not much of a hook.  The second part of the story, in which you have to deal with the Master and his army of Super Mutants, is a lot more interesting.  Bonus points for some truly disgusting concepts and visuals.  Centaurs are even more horrifying in this game than in F3 and NV, and the Master himself has one of the most freakish designs I've ever seen in a video game.

What else is there to say...a handful of roles are voiced, and they got some fairly well-known actors to handle them.  There's Richard Dean Anderson, David Warner, Tony Shalhoub, Brad Garrett (perfectly cast as a Super Mutant), and a couple of others.  They all do a good job, even though their presence is all too brief.

Finally, there's the turn-based combat.  It can be annoying at times, but I know what they were going for.  It's tactical and strategic, you have to use your head, you can't just button-mash your way through, blah blah blah.  It's not particularly polished, but I can't think of anything (beyond the technical quirks I alluded to above) they could change without defeating the purpose entirely.  There are definitely some gamers out there who will take one look at the combat and have an "Oh, hell no" reaction, and I don't blame them too much.  That being said, it definitely has some advantages over FPS-style combat, and it grew on me after a while.  So, if you're at least open to the idea of turn-based combat, you might like how it works here.  If you're not, then this is absolutely not the game for you.

tl;dr: Fuck you, read my review.

On the notion of pontificating:

17:38   Crudblud   Saddam: That was a fair review, although I disagree with your assertion that F3 has a more visually interesting world
17:38   Crudblud   It looks like the aftermath of a Roland Emmerich movie
17:38   Crudblud   in fact, that's a good way to sum up my feelings about F3
17:39   Saddam   Write a long and rambling rebuttal, Crudblud
17:39   beardo   I don't know who Roland Emmerich is
17:39   Crudblud   It's like Roland Emmerich was hired to direct an adaptation of Fallout, and F3 was the tie-in game
17:39   Crudblud   Saddam: I agree with most of what you said though
17:41   Saddam   The problem with Emmerich movies aren't the visuals, though
17:41   Foxbox   The visuals are one of many many problems
17:41   Saddam   It's that their (derp) loud and dumb and have shitty stories and characters
17:42   beardo   If F3goty went down to 9,99, I could consider buying it
17:43   beardo   I have no idea why I've seen New Vegas on sale many times, but never F3
17:43   Crudblud   I don't think NV was as financially successful
17:44   Saddam   Crudblud: Junktown is a settlement caught between the positive influence of Shady Sands and the negative influence of the Hub
17:44   Saddam   Represented by Killian and Gizmo respectively
17:45   Saddam   The struggle between Killian and Gizmo, therefore, is not just physical, but also ideological
17:45   Crudblud   Saddam: No shit
17:45   Blanko   d33p
17:45   jroa   Pussies.
17:46   Saddam   The Vault Dweller's actions determine whether Junktown will become a progressive force for good in the Wasteland, like Shady Sands
17:47   Saddam   Or descend into greed and corruption like the Hub
17:47   Crudblud   Well, Shady Sands eventually becomes NCR, which as we see later on falls prey to bureaucracy
17:47   Crudblud   And over expansion
17:47   Saddam   Yes, but that downfall isn't part of F1's timeline
17:47   Saddam   It's a future problem
17:47   Crudblud   I know
17:48   Saddam   The point is that every journey begins with a single step
17:48   Saddam   And F1 is concerned with the first step of every settlement's journey
17:49   Crudblud   To an extent, although they are all well established by the time you leave Vault 13
17:51   Crudblud   Walled cities with businesses and farms and trade networks and so on
17:54   Saddam   But symbolism and shit
« Last Edit: November 07, 2015, 04:45:57 PM by Saddam Hussein »

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #261 on: March 01, 2014, 01:46:53 AM »
Good review, Saddam. I trust your unbiased perspective over the fanboy's. When I looked into how the game is generally received, it's writing and the world itself were definitely the stand out qualities. I know I already love the world from the new games and I'm sure the has to eventually get entertaining, but it's those poor gameplay mechanics I'm going to have a hard time getting through.

I really don't care for the turn based combat and it's not necessary for a strategic game. Just compare it Baldur's Gate. Sure, you can pause during combat and almost turn it into a turn based game but you don't have to and you definitely have to use strategy in that game.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #262 on: March 01, 2014, 05:20:53 PM »
Good review, Saddam. I trust your unbiased perspective over the fanboy's.

But I am a fanboy.

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #263 on: March 01, 2014, 05:49:20 PM »
Good review, Saddam. I trust your unbiased perspective over the fanboy's.

But I am a fanboy.
Fanboys typically don't have anything bad to say about whatever they're fanning over. But if you are then I appreciate the objective review.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #264 on: March 01, 2014, 05:55:03 PM »
Way to generalise fanboys.
The Mastery.

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Offline rooster

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #265 on: March 01, 2014, 07:18:47 PM »
Way to generalise fanboys.
There's a difference between fans and fanboys. Fanboys are a stereotype.

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Offline Crudblud

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #266 on: March 02, 2014, 12:53:08 PM »
I don't think anyone here could legitimately be described as a fanboy. If you want to see what Fallout fanboys are really like, visit the NMA forums.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #267 on: March 02, 2014, 02:33:21 PM »
http://www.nma-fallout.com/forumdisplay.php?17-Fallout-3-Discussion

They sit there and stew in their hatred.  It can't be healthy.  Also:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forumdisplay.php?25-Fallout-Piece-of-Shit-(PS2-XBOX-My-Lower-Intestine)

I lol'd.  Unfortunately, all the shitty reviews they link to are gone.  Why don't you tell us about F:POS instead, Crudblud?

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #268 on: March 02, 2014, 03:46:17 PM »
I am now a member of the Brotherhood of Steel Mojave Chapter. I have power armour and energy weapons.
The Mastery.

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Offline Crudblud

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #269 on: March 02, 2014, 05:05:46 PM »
http://www.nma-fallout.com/forumdisplay.php?17-Fallout-3-Discussion

They sit there and stew in their hatred.  It can't be healthy.  Also:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forumdisplay.php?25-Fallout-Piece-of-Shit-(PS2-XBOX-My-Lower-Intestine)

I lol'd.  Unfortunately, all the shitty reviews they link to are gone.  Why don't you tell us about F:POS instead, Crudblud?

I'm not really sure what I could tell you about it, as it wasn't a game I played much at all. I remember it just being a generic hack-and-slash (or whatever that would be with guns instead of melee) thing with a nu metal soundtrack. I traded it in for something else not long after I bought it (MGS 3, I think). Wiki could tell you more than I can.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #270 on: March 03, 2014, 03:55:59 PM »
I'm downloading Fallout 3 now to try it out. Might buy it later if the GOTY drops to below 10 euros some time.
The Mastery.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #271 on: March 03, 2014, 09:19:23 PM »
I have now been playing Fallout 3 for a couple of hours. I think I need to play some more in order to craft an opinion about it.
The Mastery.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #272 on: March 04, 2014, 05:27:26 AM »
I went to bed after posting that so I haven't played any further. And I'm about to go to work now.
The Mastery.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #273 on: March 04, 2014, 03:01:15 PM »
Fallout 3 crashes a lot.
The Mastery.

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Offline beardo

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #274 on: March 04, 2014, 06:16:36 PM »
Well?
Is ok. I think I might have gotten to stops crashing as well.
The Mastery.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #275 on: March 07, 2014, 02:44:50 AM »
What the hell?  I just met the bridge keeper from Monty Python.  What is this nonsense?

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Offline Particle Person

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #276 on: March 07, 2014, 03:13:15 AM »
What the hell?  I just met the bridge keeper from Monty Python.  What is this nonsense?

The first two games (the second, especially) are rife with lolarious pop culture references. That won't be the last one you encounter.
Your mom is when your mom and you arent your mom.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #277 on: March 07, 2014, 04:10:33 AM »
What the hell?  I just met the bridge keeper from Monty Python.  What is this nonsense?

The first two games (the second, especially) are rife with lolarious pop culture references. That won't be the last one you encounter.

I know, but that wasn't a pop culture reference, that was a full-blown reenactment.   It made zero sense within the context of the story, and now I'm wearing robes that make me look like an idiot, but I can't take them off because they're as powerful as combat armor while being significantly lighter.  This is the kind of thing that the oldfags would have dived on if it had been in F3 and waved around as Exhibit A of the game's stupidity.

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Offline Particle Person

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Re: Fallout series
« Reply #278 on: March 07, 2014, 04:26:44 AM »
What the hell?  I just met the bridge keeper from Monty Python.  What is this nonsense?

The first two games (the second, especially) are rife with lolarious pop culture references. That won't be the last one you encounter.

I know, but that wasn't a pop culture reference, that was a full-blown reenactment.   It made zero sense within the context of the story, and now I'm wearing robes that make me look like an idiot, but I can't take them off because they're as powerful as combat armor while being significantly lighter.  This is the kind of thing that the oldfags would have dived on if it had been in F3 and waved around as Exhibit A of the game's stupidity.

There are plenty of other, similarly fully blown re-enactments of other similarly stupid moments from equally stupid books, shows, games, and movies in the game. Here's the complete list for FO2: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_2_cultural_references
Your mom is when your mom and you arent your mom.

Saddam Hussein

Re: Fallout series
« Reply #279 on: March 11, 2014, 04:22:10 AM »
I have completed the first part of the game!  Meaning that I found the GECK and returned to Arroyo.  Also, I did porn and boxing in New Reno.