Last month, I played Fallout 3 a lot. I liked it and maybe I was even a little addicted. I thought it was a great game. It was. Now though, it's not as awesome after all. This is a long ass post. If you are familiar with Fallout 3 and/or Fallout you may read on. If not, don't bother. I don't make sense.
Fallout 3 was my first Fallout game in the Fallout franchise. Fallout is an RPG centered on a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by nuclear war, an America slowly rebuilding from the glowing ashes, stuck in the fifties as it would seem. The Fallout series has extensive back story and lore as was the tradition of older RPG games. It even has it's own Fallout Bible containing tidbits for those interested in the Fallout universe. Let me just say this ahead that I'm not geeky in particular to Fallout lore.
Fallout 3 got me curious in the older Fallout games so I decided to download the first and second. I hadn't gotten to the second yet as I decided to play in order and finish the original Fallout first. Once I got used to the "slow" game play of the old Fallout, I found that in many ways, it puts Fallout 3 to shame. I liked Fallout 3 but the original Fallout just ruined it for me. Allow me to work backwards and explain.
In Fallout, the character creation system is a lot more, how should I put it, "challenging" in that the points, skills and traits you distribute have such a big impact in game play. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system in the original really made you think hard in point spending. For example, a character with Perception below 4 cannot get the Awareness perk thus you can't see the enemy's health points. A character with the Fast Shot trait can shoot many more times but cannot make accurate aimed shots thus making Perception, which determines aim accuracy, a bit of a waste. Hilariously, a character with less than 4 Intelligence points can't even make coherent sentences in dialogue screens and is treated as a caveman in the entire game by everyone. Hell, you even get offered some brain surgery by the NPCs because they feel sorry for you. The skills matter a lot too. Tagged skills double up faster than untagged. So tagging Energy Weapons early game is useless since energy weapons come much later but when the game does reach the late bits, you'll be glad you invested.
In Fallout 3 the character building system is just to easy. Fallout 3's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system doesn't have such a big impact. Why? Because, the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points can easily be raised by collecting bobble heads, getting the Intense Training perk or taking drugs. Drugs by the way are a lot more forgiving than Fallout since the there are no negative after effects unless addicted, the addicted penalties are quite small and addiction can be removed instantly for cheap. Tagged skills do not double the increase rate but are rather just one time bonuses. Skills can be raised easily by again, collecting bobble heads and reading books that are laying around absolutely everywhere. It is possible to raise all skills to 100 unlike fallout where only your Tagged skills could make it to the 200 limit and the rest may not be worth it. Even books in Fallout only increase up to about 95 then no more. It's dumbed down. I feel like it's impossible to screw up and no matter how shitty or nonsensical my build is, quests and dialogue are still the same no matter my stats and I can still kick major ass. I can't even play as a moron. Intelligence doesn't determine dialogue choices anymore since it's all there already. Charisma is useless since I can raise speech easily without it as a booster. Charisma-based perks are always shit anyway.
Game play wise, Fallout is dated but still fun. Just for kicks I made a fast, smooth talking shooter character who doesn't aim but just shoots with Fast Shot and runs with maximum Agility so I reduced Endurance since I could just move away from danger. It's turn based and it can be pretty frustrating at times especially since my companion NPC's seem to shoot me instead. There are bugs and glitches, can't say it was that perfect.
Fallout 3 has bugs and glitches too though some of them are really breaking. The V.A.T.S. error from the patch comes to mind. Again, as I reach the level cap, I'm pretty much unstoppable and can go any play style I want with little S.P.E.C.I.A.L. impact. Bruiser, thief or sniper with build having little impact. V.A.T.S. feels like cheating mode since I'm pretty much immune to enemy fire when I activate it but it's always fun for me seeing the heads roll.
When it comes to immersion and storyline, I can say Fallout really had it. The story was great and interesting. Some NPC's had voice overs and they were made by very skilled voice actors like Jim Cummings. The quests had many solutions. Diplomat characters have an easy time squeezing experience and info from people rather than though guys who end up having to punch everything that gets in the way since they can't smooth talk their way out of a fight. For example, In the finale where I met the mastermind who mutated people into super mutants or "meta-humans" as a means to unite people under one "evolved" race, racial superiority, madness, whatever. I simply used my cunning linguist skills, showed him that his creations can't even procreate by themselves thus making them naturally unsustainable and he promptly killed himself after I showed him how retarded his grand plan was. Awesome. I just made the end boss, the Master, the honcho, kill himself by crushing his dreams. Just Awesome.
In Fallout 3 the quests, except a few like The Replicated Man, Tranquility Lane and Oasis, were pretty OK although a little nonsensical. Fetch a violin? That's fine with me, not all quests have to be spectacular but the main quest however felt...weird. I won't go to detail about the whole main storyline but the ending really made me rage. There was a button which had to be pressed to save the world or something but the room had high levels of radiation. The ultimate choice was that I go in and be the damned hero or let the NPC girl, who you didn't see a lot of anyway, do it and be called a coward. Either way the doomed hero dies and the game ends no matter who it was. The game ends just like that. What's worse is that sacrifice wasn't even necessary. I had a mutant companion who was immune to radiation. IMMUNE. I asked him to push the button so nobody would have to die. It was win-win. He didn't because it was "my destiny". I raged so hard. I thought, "But..uh..but, Fallout games had a reputation for multiple solutions to problems!". I even had a companion who was healed by radiation. HEALED. AND was contractually obligated to do my bidding simply tell me to fuck off. Damn. The story sucked and the voice acting was damn repetitive. The expansion pack "fixed" the ending but whatever.
All in all the lore differed too. In Fallout for example, the Brotherhood were tech-heads. In Fallout 3 they were goody two-shoes white knights but enough about lore. I thought playing the original would make me enjoy the Fallout franchise as a whole. Instead it made me sad. A bitter, angry gamer upset over the what could have been for Fallout 3 and I have not even touched Fallout 2 yet. Fallout 3 isn't bad but it's not as good to me anymore. I still like Fallout 3 but I can't say it was the good experience I was looking for and found in the original. Playing the Fallout just ruined Fallout 3 for me. I'm going to the toilet.