Fallout 3
First 10 hours, Technical Issues: Unlike Interplay's Fallout series, Bethesda decided to take the 3D approach they used in Oblivion and apply it to the mechanical structure of the game. I won't go into the details of the changes like some people but let's just say that the mechanics didn't quite stick like Wonder Glue. For starters, I had to jump through hoops to get the game running smoothly. Years ago, I had to stop playing after about 4 hours because of the continuing bugs and crashes. This time around, I was determined to make things right. I had a small issue with ISDone.dll while trying to install the game which I solved by limiting my virtual memory. I also had a huge stutter issue which I had to install Script Extender and Stutter Remover. With a little tweaking from a friendly post to stop the game from crashing, things went into high gear.
First 10 Levels, Skill Placement: Interestingly, traits and perks were combined. Not only that but they never gave any disadvantages. Skills were changed up to help better the new 3D interface. High Priorty: Science, Lockpick with Secondary Focus: Explosives at 25 (60 Max), Repair at 30 (85 Max). Perks: Everything that doesn't just give you +X skill points so Lady Killer, Child at Heart, Comprehension, Educated, Entomologist, Gunslinger, Commando, Strong Back. Quests: "Baby Steps", "Growing Up Fast", "Future Imperfect", "Escape!", "Following in His Footsteps", "Blood Ties", "Those"
20 Hours In, Questioning Motives: Here I am wandering the wasteland and I wasn't exactly sure if I was ever going to have a place to store my stuff. I made the mistake of ignoring my explosives skill, preventing me to fix the bomb, and thereby missing out on having a nice place to call home. I had to look all that information up. Quests: "The Power of the Atom", "Wasteland Survival Guide (Chapters 1 & 2)", "Galaxy News Radio"
30 Hours Later, Mothership Zeta DLC: I sort of figured that the radio broadcasts I suddenly picked up after leaving Vault 101 was all the DLC packages of Fallout 3. After visiting the Minefield, I decided to head a little more north. I started to freak out when I saw the alien spaceship because I thought I was going to be rewarded with Fallout's signature Alien Baster (the overpowered gun that saved my butt more than once). I never knew I was going to spend roughly 6 hours off-planet. Sadly, I did a lot of things wrong. I did not get the General Chase's overcoat, the MPLX Novasurge. or the Cryo grenades. However, I did get the Gamechanger: Captain's Sidearm and Alien Blaster with a Souvenir: Buttercup toy.
Difficulty (Non-)Issue at level 15: What was a Lone Wanderer supposed to do when carrying weapons that do twice the damage and sell for ten times the amount of anything else in the game? People suggested having self-imposed limitations. Light Limits: No stimpacks in combat, No VATS, No quick saving/loading; Medium Rules: No doctors or home-healing, No self-repairing or using unique weapons, Must Sleep during the night. Heavy Restrictions:No radiation items or food items, only carry two weapons, no fast travel. Honestly, I just found myself picking up less and less junk items and only carrying unique items back home.
50 Hours, the Terrible Metro System:
You have no idea how hard it is to navigate the Metro System through
Washington D.C. area. I thought getting to Rivet City was going to be
easy. I was wrong. The good news is that getting there was extremely
fun. Quests: "Scientific Pursuits", "Head of State"
"Reilly's
Rangers", "Stealing Independence", "The Replicated Man", "The
Superhuman Gambit", "Wasteland Survival Guide (Chapter 3)", "Tranquility
Lane" Game Changers: Lincoln's Repeater, A3-21 Plasma Rifle, The Terrible Shotgun, Eugene, Smuggler's End. My Souvenirs: Action
Abe Action FIgure, Antique Lincoln Coin Collection, John Wilkes Booth
Wanted Poster, Lincoln's Voice, Button's Wig, Lincoln's Hat, The
AntAgonizer's Gear, The Mechanist's Gear. Most of the time I used grenades or mines. I had like 200 of each. In the meantime, I tried leveling up my Repair, Sneak, Speech, and Small Guns to at least 50.
Gaining at 60 Hours, Anchorage DLC: After actually finding my father, I decided to take a break before going back to Rivet City. I roamed the countryside and found the most unusual stories tucked away in the smallest towns. Most of them didn't even have quests. They either had a boss, a unique weapon, or a bobblehead. That's when I ran into the next DLC. This one was very amusing for they place you in a simluation where you can't loot any items, health is provided to you at checkpoints, and the rewards are given to you after you complete the mission. Gamechangers: Gauss Rifle, Chinese Stealth Armor, Jingwei's Shocksword with the Trench knife, Neutral interface suit, and Winterized T-51b Power Armor as souvenirs.
The Unstoppable Level 20 By this time you might have realized a few amusing combinations to use in battle. For example: Using Silent Running with the Chinese Stealth Armor gives you complete invisibility in all situations (as long as you crouch and don't fire). Gunslinger, Commando, Sniper, Action Boy, Concentrated Fire, Paralyzing Palm, and especially Grim Reaper's Sprint makes the VATS system unstoppable (Don't use Mysterious Stranger. He only appeared a total of 10 times in the whole game for me). Also: I finally found DogMeat at around 65 hours in. He is practically invincible. You can use a mini-nuke on the guy and he will only lose about 10% of his health. Pair him up with another companion and you might never have to shoot again.
80 Hours and bored in The Pitt DLC: I am embarrassed to say that it took me quite some time to realize The Pitt meant Pittsburgh. The DLC divides you up between treasure hunting and an impossible morality dilemma. As much as I enjoy trying anything once, this is the first DLC I found lacking. Sure, there are a lot of unique items you can get: Infiltrator, Man Opener, The Mauler, Perforator, Metal Blaster, Steel knuckles, Steel Saw, Wild Bill's Sidearm, Ashur's power armor, Bombshell Armor, Filtration Helmet, Gamma Shield Armor, Hat of the People. But after everything was said and done, I felt depressed about the whole situation. At least I was able to find some joy again after getting Agatha's Violin Radiostation up and running again. Oh and I did find a couple of more Gamechangers: Blackhawk, Burnmaster (I honestly found this without looking it up).
Getting close to the end with 90 Hours: I find it fascinating some of the things that reflect the first couple Fallout games like how the Enclave capture Deathclaws, how the military base blows up, Harold (of all people) is still around, Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor, and Deathclaw Sanctuary. I found it kind of funny that the unique flamer "Burnmaster" doesn't work on Harold. At this point I was ready to move up the timetable. Quests: "The Waters of Life", "Picking Up the Trail", "Finding the Garden of Eden", "The American Dream", "Oasis", "Rescue from Paradise"
The irritating Enclave and visiting Maryland at Outlook Point Point Lookout: After my dad died, the Enclave comes in force with their little mini-bases all around the map. I hated it. Now that I am over level 20, all the enemies with super huge health come and attack me. If that wasn't bad enough, I had to encounter some of the feral ghoul reavers in Point Lookout. Not only did I not have my companions to back me up but I wasn't able to retrieve anything from my home the entire time I was there (semi-imposed rule). I practically ran out of Alien Energy, Flamer Fuel, and bottlecap mines taking out the creatures in the swampland. At the very least it had some cool questlines and a Gamechanger: Microwave Emitter to play around with.
Finale with Broken Steel DLC: If you ever had a mission you wanted to walk to your destination, the last one would be it. You don't have to even fire a weapon because they will have a giant robot running through downtown shooting everything in sight. For Fallout 3, I felt like this is a satisfying ending but not the final boss fight I was looking for. That's what the DLC is for. If you remember the final area of Fallout 2 then you must know what it is like venturing around a full-on Enclave base. I enjoyed it immensely, except for the fatal flaw of enemies being able to shoot you with pinpoint accuracy from a mile away while wearing armor that only your companions are able to take down. At the very least the game went out with a bang with the Gamechanger: Tesla Cannon and Slo-burn Flamer.
Final Thoughts
A rumor went around that Fallout 3 was "Oblivion with Guns". There are also die-hard Fallout Fans who say that the game was a mockery of what made up the series. I'm going out on a limb and agreeing with both. Fallout 3 was a template of the possibility of taking the interactivity of the Elder Scrolls Saga while using the backwater setting of Fallout. The combat was clunky where a Missile Launcher or a Minigun would barely scratch an enemy, when using the VATS system could freeze the game and allow you to perform headshot(s) that would kill any enemy "instantly" with the most basic weapon. There was barely a crafting system and exploring areas got boring after awhile.
But I will admit that the game stands on its own. Not only were some stories told through using the terminals or through dialogue, but miniscule details to the environment also told its own story to one with an observing eye. For example: A skeleton hanging from a light fixture with a broken motorcycle and a ramp placed over a car, a skeleton's head in the toilet with chems laid around the stall, a blood trail leading to a skeleton hanging onto the bottom of a ladder. The biggest problem is that it is up to the player to develop their own way of having fun in the game. The game certainly doesn't hand-feed it to you.
6-27-2018