Fallout 3

[ItsRobsLife]

Fallout 3 is a role playing game from Bethesda, the developers of Oblivion IV.

The year is 2277 and after an apocolyptic nuclear war the landscape is smashed and civilization destroyed,
the hopeless survivors inhabit an unforgiving world inhabited by murderous scavengers, mutated animals,
autonomous robots, feral ghouls and para-military factions.


You leave the safety of the uinderground vault you grew up in, in search of your father,
but the huge sandbox enviroment and the nessecity of everyday survival leads you on
an adventure of epic proportions.




At first your lack of skills in an unknown enviroment shed an element of fear over the beautifully rendered destrucion
of the wasteland,
but the need for survival drives you to take risks to upgrade skills and weapons turning you into a gun for hire,
the need for food and shelter means scavenging everything from tin cans to captured weapons,
so you'll need to become a trader.



Karma plays an important role as your action, positive or negative, directly affect
the actions of others toward you and to each other.
The enviroment also runs independantly of you, with unexpected outcomes for
the characters, creating possible opportunities for you.



The immersive plotlines and dialogue, the multitude of skills and items
and the vast enviroment will mean if you're playing on a console you'll need your PC alongside
to get the most out of this game,
not just as a walkthrough but as a key to the whole experience.

For instance, there is a creature called a Deathclaw which will swifly and brutally hunt you down and kill you,
and is almost impossible to kill with the conventional weapons you have in the early stages.


However, with the aquisition of a set of schematics and some ambiguous parts scavenged from the wasteland
you can make a gun that will fire a poison dart and cripple the monster allowing you the time to kill it.



Here a couple of the best sites to use.

Portal:Fallout 3 - Fallout Wiki - The Vault

Guides: Fallout 3 Guide (Xbox 360), Fallout 3 Walkthrough



To sum it all up, it's an incredible game.

If you want escapism and adventure, this is the game for you.

[ItsRobsLife]

The opening sequence will give you a taste of the blend of retro 50's and future decay that make the game concept so captivating.

[mrsquirrel]

The Ink Spots is very fitting

[melvbot]

How much does an Xbox 360 cost in Thailand nowadays? I usually get my stuff from Chinatown as its cheaper than MBK.
Also what to look out for when buying one, I know about the red ring problem and the dodgy buggers in Chinatown might still be pushing older consoles.

[mrsquirrel]

jasper is the latest release.

check the manufacturer date on it.

anything in 2008/third quarter onwards is ok

2008/4th quarter should have jasper technology

[Frankenstein]

I really enjoyed Fallout 2. One of my favourite games of all time. Hope they've managed to preserve the feel.

[kingwilly]

To sum it all up, it's an incredible game.

I'm salivating....

[ItsRobsLife]

Yep it's well worth the anticipation.

I've been trying to 'finish' it the last couple of days before I fly out and here are a few observations.

Following the main plot line where you search for your father, leads you ultimately to help acheive his scientific work 'Project Purity' and also to discover certain truths about the Wasteland.

However if you continue that thread to it's conclusion the game will end as the outcomes are incompatible with the continued state of the Wasteland as you know it.

But I was able to save the game before entering the final building for the big showdown and also I was able to travel away from that location and continue with the other quests that are ongoing. On returning to that location, not using the saved game, I found the other particpants in that main 'Project Purity' thread were wating to continue the action.

The good and bad karma elements in the game work very well and have subtle, yet noticible effect on the interactions with other Wastelanders.

I have been playing the game trying to maintian a positive karma, but there have been moments where opportunity has begged me to act in a negative way for my own gain, this make it so much more immersive as you feel yourself being absorbed by the desperation of the Wasteland.

Playing with a negative karma, which no doubt I will try on the next run, would at first seem to restrict a lot of dialogue options and social interactions, but fear itself can be a motivator and there are plenty of other mean spirited characters in the Wasteland with which to form alliances, pehaps you would like to become a slaver, a gunslinger or a thief or just be downright murderous to all and sundry, the possibilities are there.

I played the game on 'normal' difficulty and even now many foes are quite a challenge. there is the option though to raise or decrease the difficulty at any point. Judging by the size of my weapon cache and currency stock and the ease with which I'm now knocking of the opposition, it might be worthwhile upping the difficulty as I progress through the game this week, it will be intersting to see if there is a significant change in the AI on the enemies or wether it is just a matter of weapon efficency. I'll let you know.

[spiff]

Sounds good. Thanks.

[Gerbil]

I've been playing it for a few weeks and it is good.

However, I've now been distracted by GTA IV for the PC which is wasting a lot of free time, but is also a lot of fun.

[mrsquirrel]

Did you ever try playing Mass Effect?

[Frankenstein]

Rob's Life, do you play it as a PC or as an Xbox 360 game? Is there a difference?

[kingwilly]

do you play it as a PC or as an Xbox 360 game? Is there a difference?

always is.

but i prefer the 360 regardless.

[Blake7]

They have for wii as well, right?
Looks like it would be good if you get one of those gun holster thingies for the wii controls...

[ItsRobsLife]

Rob's Life, do you play it as a PC or as an Xbox 360 game? Is there a difference?

I play it on the 360, I've always been a console man and can't get my head around using a keyboard and mouse. The 360 controller is adequate for tasks involved in Fallout, with 2 triggers, 2 shoulder buttons, 4 normal buttons, two sticks and a D pad, the D pad controls weapon selection and can be hot keyed.
I'm not sure how the playstation is going to deal with that.

Graphically it's possible that a PC will be sharper, but there is no decernable difference. i think that is one of the awesome things about the game.

Take Mass Effect for instance, that is a great game with excellent graphics and gameplay, but not quite in the same league as a PC.

Fallout 3 however delivers both PC quality graphics and gamplay. Of course PC still leads the way in technological terms, but the gap has shrunk considerably now.

Fallout 3 isn't perfect, it has some repetitiveness in it's enviroments and in AI interaction, but that is an issue with PC games too, and isn't down to the capabilities of the 360 itself, but more to do with software developement.

Still playing it to the bitter end, I'm flying out to LOS next week and the 360 won't come out the box until I get back sometime next year, then I will start a new game and be incredibly evil!
Mmmmmmm maybe I'll just cancel the flight.. Ha ha ha ha!!

There is also some Downloadable Content (DLC) due for it in spring next year, and it will be interesting to see what that has, as I said previously the final outcome of the main plotline is incompatible with the Fallout 3 enviroment as we know it, but I don't want to give away the plot... let's just hope it's all done in the best possible taste.

[Frankenstein]

I just started playing it on the PC today. It's really hard. I'm crap at Doom Style 1st person shooter fighting as I never really got into those games.

And the alternative fighting system ruins the weapons really quickly.

I've got laser guns and a Chinese Assault rifle by now, but only enough good ammo for the 10mm pistol.

Is building the 'Rock-It Launcher' from the blueprint in Megaton worth the effort?

[ItsRobsLife]

Well as a 'newbie' my advice to you would be... RUN!

Try and use a hunting rifle to inflict damage at range in free aim mode and then use the VATS system when the targets are closer in at automatic weapons range, the sawn off or combat shotgun is best for close stuff.

Chinese assault rifle and laser pistol are good, but quite rare in the early stages, stash them in a safe, locker or box for later use and use what is more available, standard assault rifle etc.. as repairs can only be done like for like.


If you can get the schematics for the Rock-it-Launcher then use it as anything can be used as ammo in it, (heavier the batter) one of the best custom weapons is the Dart gun as this will slow down predators.

Also a great perk when you level up is the animal friend perk as this will stop mole rats, dogs and guais attacking you, although not radscorpions, merelurks and deathclaws.. (gulp!)

Also repair your weapons as soon as you can, (and up your repair stats) the hunting rifle will be one of your first weapons and can be scavenged from most victims, highlight the rifle in your inventory and then select repair, the weapons you have sscavenged will be used for that and the weight of them will be deducted. Do the same for armour too, keep it repaired and use armour that is easily scavenged from others.

When going into a big firefight use Med-X as that will reduce your damage and use Psycho if you have any as that will increase damage to your enemies. If you have neither, good old alcohol will suffice! Using chems will cause addiction and impare you in the long run, so visit the Doc in Megaton (or wherever) and get him to cure you every now and then.

Good luck... it's a tough world out there.

[Frankenstein]

Greened.

Thanks for the tips, so I guess I need to practice changing weapons in mid-combat... Up to this point I've tried using the weapon that makes the most damage throughout the fights... wasted a lot of ammo that way.

[ItsRobsLife]

Yes, hot key the most useful weapons.

Also disarm frag mines and collect them, very useful when running away, backwards!!

[ItsRobsLife]

Here's a good tip that took me ages to find out.

If you talk to Lucas Simms and the residents of Megaton about the atomic bomb in the centre of town, a dialogue will open up with Lucas Simms where you can defuse the bomb for them. If your science skill is high enough. You will be rewarded with the key to a shack in Megaton, (it's the first on the left above the snack bar) here you can rest and store items.

I spent ages finding spare beds and stashing gear all over the place before this.

There is also an option, via another character, to detonate the bomb and destroy Megaton, an option I will be using on my next, most evil reincarnation...

[Frankenstein]

[SPOILER WARNING]

Thanks again Rob. Unfortunately Lucas Simms isn't alive anymore, will have to see if his son will give me the key instead if I disarm the bomb?

I've also stored stuff in lockers all over. In the early stages it seems the only way to get a decent amount of caps as a 'good' guy is to peddle all the junk one finds.

[k1klass]

I got out side the bunker and gave up lol, probally get back to it over xmas.

But some nice tips ty

[spiff]

Looking forward to getting this game.

I just started playing it on the PC today. It's really hard. I'm crap at Doom Style 1st person shooter fighting as I never really got into those games.

I am better than the missus, but still no good.

The missus is the one who asks me to look for cheat-codes *cough cough*, which can be found on gamewinners.com, for example.
Also lots of useful tips there.

[Crunchie]

Unfortunately Lucas Simms isn't alive anymore, will have to see if his son will give me the key instead if I disarm the bomb?

He will.

[ItsRobsLife]

Yeh you'll still get the key, fortunately I had put a save in just before Lucas Simms copped it and was able to play it differently the second time and save his skin. Such a great game.

Keep hold of old money whenever you find it, it doesn't weigh anything and with a high barter skill is worth 7 caps a pop, handy for getting the maximum money out of traders by adding on to other items such as guns or scrap.

I finished the games main thread last week, and it was a grand finale. And so started another game being as evil as I could from the very begining, got to say it's a lot of fun but the negative consequences have to be considered carefully, as you might want at least a few people left alive to do business with!!

Great game.