Fallout fans, are they for real?

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I used to think I was a hardcore Fallout fan. Not anymore. It's not the fact that I've played the demo back in 97 and that I bought both Fallout 1 and 2 when they first got out at a time when I was a student and I was almost continuously broke and buying them was a big dent on my budget.

I've been playing those game for years. At first I remember being slightly annoyed by Falllout 2 mainly for the bugs (unpatched Fallout 2 was really filled with game breaking bugs) and then for the lack of coherence when you compare it to the first in the series.

I had very low expectations about Fallout 3 but I bought it anyway and I was thrilled. Now that the bloom is slightly gone and that the honeymoon is over I can see some of its shortcomings, mainly the fact that it is really a game meant for a large gaming audience with many points tailored to facilitate the game for casual gamers, not to mention the fact that combat is a bit off -crippling limbs doesn't do much, a foe will drop his weapon and pick it up right after that so there is no point in targetting arms unless you really need those few precious seconds; worse is the way damage is dealt with since unlike Fallout 1 and 2 the game doesn't discriminate between damage types... It's not that Fallout 1 and 2 were perfect on this point (armor piercing ammo was crappy at best) but in Fallout 3 there is no point in wearing a power armour since a simple pistol is still going to hurt you (not much but still). And don't get me started on bullets flying straight like laser beams.

But I can see past this and appreciate the good things Bethesda brought to the table. I had serious misgivings considering that Oblivion was a really flawed game as far as dialogue is concerned, at least in Fallout 3 you have real options, you can lie and double cross your employers. Sure, I'd appreciate some more depth but I have to acknowledge that this being said Fallout 3 has the best parts of Oblivion with the fantastic Fallout feel to it and I find the combination greatly enjoyable.

Now I've been lurking at No mutants Allowed and I must say it's hilarious to see the comments those guys are posting. Some of them are close to the mark but many are really biased because to be honest I remember silly "wtf" moments when I played Fallout 2 for the first time.

Anyway I've come to realize that although I still consider myself a Fallout fan I was certainly not among the "elite" because those guys have certainly been dipped into vats of FEV in the last 11 years to be such zealous bigots about what at the end of the day is merely a game. It's even worse when I think that some of them were probably toddlers back in 1997. Not that there is anything wrong about being young, but such behaviour is normally associated with age since for most people (but there are expections) it gets harder to adapt when they get older and their tastes tend to be a reflection of that.

In any case, if you want to be entertained in a cheap way just go and browse some of the most fanatical posts at NMA, you're in for a laugh.

 

A game such as Fallout or Oblivion costs millions to make and the bottom line of a company such as Bethesda Softworks is profit naturally so why cater to a 250,000 when you can entice a million or more?

We thus end up with games that make few people, if anyone, 100% happy. Story fall before graphics and I do not blame the developers and publishers as much as I blame players.

Those first time Fallout players playing Fallout II will be gripping about Fallout IV when it comes out. Rumor has it that Elder Scrolls V will come out in 2010. Want to bet we'll then be gripping that it doesn't have this, that or the other that Oblivion had?

Ah, the good old days when we were new to computer games. Graphics were flat and insipid but we were new to the whole experience and it was great. Now we are burried in technology and all pales.

But as long as the game can be modded it will have life and can be tailored to the near perfect game hopefully.