January 13, 2009 8:18:33 AM
I'm about 45 hours in and looking forward to more. Scott's points are valid, each and every one of them, but I disagree with the conclusions. The game was misadvertised, plain and simple, and from there our assessments differ.Fallout 3 is a depressing game. You are constantly vulnerable, always too low on HP, short on ammo, food, water, and probably flirting with dangerous radiation poisoning at all times. Your inventory is cripplingly limited. Stats, perks, and gear only reduce this, never eliminate it, and you never reach a point where you can mow down an army of enemies with impunity. You will never reach an "experience surplus" (aka the Fable 2 phenomenon of "I might as well level Skill"). You are always an inch from screwed.Hate to pull this, but... so were Fallout 1 & 2. Fallout will not be everyone's cup of tea, not even every RPG fan. The setting has a very specific mood and the game mechanics support it. The people around you are NOT vending machines and they are not generally likeable. They're selfish, desperate, uncooperative, and infuriatingly focused on their needs instead of you, the player, the person with a camera over their head. In other words, they act like they're in more or less the same situation that you're in: always one clip or meal short.That the disparate elements of F3 work together, towards the same goal, as well as they do is testament to the strength of design, further supported by the art direction. As a creative work, Fallout 3 has no competition this year. Nothing comes close. As an entertaining interactive experience there's ample room for debate, and I'll be the first to say that for a lot of people it just won't be fun.Then again, maybe the medium is mature enough for us to, occasionally, recognize virtue beyond mass consumability. For all the arguments in favor of video games as an emerging artform, maybe it's time that we take them seriously as well and consider that sometimes art needs to offend, if only a little.
December 18, 2008 3:51:50 PM
It's interesting that many casual players feel this way: that a semi/hardcore player does more or less what they do, only faster (i.e. quest now, instance later). I was the second 80 in my guild (as a DK, no less) because every time someone asked for a tank I said "sure". As much as I can appreciate different people playing the game different ways, it does irk me that so many players leave instances alone until they've outleveled them (and later enter raids with those skillsets).
BCarruth hasn't rated any games yet. Have you? Find some.
Wow, people win every day in the Chicken Out contest! Sign up and win.
Join the Discussion! Log In orSign Up Now
The games we're pulling together in this feature won't appear on any of those best-of lists and get confused looks when you mention them in conversation. Just because time has forgotten these titles, though, doesn't mean you should forget them, too. » Read On
You'll also be able to add your Facebook friends to Crispy Gamer and post your Crispy Gamer activity in your Facebook feed.
