Fallout 3 - Reviews @ 2404, 3 News

Dhruin

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It's time to pick the Fallout 3 reviews back up and this contrasting pair is a good place to start. 2404 is a fairly critical piece with a laundry list of complaints and a score of 7/10:
Bethesda has greatly improved on the anemic fetch quests and insipid characters of Oblivion, and this time around people are a bit more fleshed out and quests are more interesting. The amount of distinct quests outside of the main storyline is very small, but each is broken up into several sub-quests that are often lengthy in themselves. Most of the time, these sub-quests are ‘go to location x’ and ‘talk to y’ or ‘bring me a amount of b’ or something equally generic. Not that the original Fallouts didn’t have dumb quests, but Fallout 3 suffers from a severe lack of real set-pieces like Junktown. There are a couple of quests that come close, like those involving Tenpenny Tower or Megaton, but very few times did I complete a quest and think “wow, I’m glad I spent time doing this.”
3 News doesn't know much from firsthand experience but they're pretty sure it's awesome:
Fallout 3 is a completely different kettle of fish to the others. From what I’ve seen (and there’s HEAPS to see, believe me) it is far superior. Big thumbs up to Bethesda Studios. The main thing that blows your mind with this game is the massive scale. I’ll be honest and admit I’ve never played Oblivion, but I understand the hype, and can assure you Fallout 3 blows it out of the water. Exploring the outside wastelands is an absolute joy. You can walk for hours, everything is new, and everything looks amazing. See that point on the horizon? You can go there. While certain ‘themes’ pop up (the office, the shop) they’re all slightly unique and make you feel like this is a real (once breathing) world. What’s more, there’s reason to go there: You never know where that med pack is going to be, or where you might find some more ammo, or a bed to rest (and heal) in. To be honest, the magic they’ve created here is pretty much the reason for the rating I’ve given this game: There’s nothing else like it. You can lose yourself for days.
More information.
 
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2404 gave FO3 a lower score than they did Jade Empire?!? They can kiss my ass. FO3 has it's issues, but it's still the best game (of it's type) that I've played in a long time. Now, if they give Sacred 2 a higher score....
 
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The best game of its type? What type'd that be?

2404's approach sounds good to me. 7/10 is a sensible score.
 
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Maybe you should just post a link to the nma newspage. They have over 50 roundups of reviews by now - phew! I didn't even know there are that many places that DO reviews... A metaanalysis of the scores would be somewhat interesting, it looks like its squarely in the 90% range.
 
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Are we arguing about review scores again? Tusk, tusk. :)

I like that a site that has recently started having me do reviews is just on a 'Buy / Try / Skip' system ... it is *so* liberating. I could just (for the example of FO3) say 'Buy It' and put all praise and criticism in the context review and avoid anguish of whether it is a x/10 score.
 
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I think it's funny (though not unexpected) that only the relatively low score reviews are getting posted on RPGWatch these days while the high scores are being ignored :) .
 
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the initial onslaught seemed the opposite to me, they were all glowing. Maybe now, people are actually playing the game thoroughly and seeing the bad w/ the good!
 
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I think it's funny (though not unexpected) that only the relatively low score reviews are getting posted on RPGWatch these days while the high scores are being ignored :) .

The 9 and 9.5 got posted in round-up 2 and there's a 5/5 score in this round up so I think Dhruin has been fairly thorough with his posting. Or did I miss the point here?
 
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The 9 and 9.5 got posted in round-up 2 and there's a 5/5 score in this round up so I think Dhruin has been fairly thorough with his posting. Or did I miss the point here?

Yes. The point, clearly, is to only link 10/10 or 5/5 reviews; all else are heresy and should be shunned.
 
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Overall I get the impression that a Bethesda release is scored on a 9-10 scale, instead of the usual 7-10 scale of game reviews. What I mean is that the reviewer anticipates a AAA game from a reputable company which spent millions of $ can't possibly score less than 9 (even a lowly 9 is only possible if its rife with bugs), and rates it accordingly.

Regardless of the Fallout pedigree, the game leaves a lot to be desired in a lot of different areas: combat, dialogue, quests, interface and basic implementation. If this game was released by some unknown Czech outfit (who at least would've had good reason for the terrible writing), I think we'd see a slew of 7's & 8's instead of 9.5's.
 
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The 9 and 9.5 got posted in round-up 2 and there's a 5/5 score in this round up so I think Dhruin has been fairly thorough with his posting. Or did I miss the point here?

Well, Dhruin himself posted this along with the Codex review...

Dhruin said:
We haven't really kept track of the deluge of Fallout 3 reviews since the initial burst...

... so I think that, yes, you did miss the point ;) .

I know (approximately) which sites Dhruin is checking for news and I know for a fact that quite a lot of glowing reviews have been ignored. For example, I know that Dhruin is checking Blue's News so... where's the Hooked Gamers review from 11/16 where FO3 scored 10/10? Where's the link to the Games32 review where FO3 got a gameplay score of 89%? Where's the link to the 8/10 Boomtown review?
These were all posted on Blue's News in the last five days yet the reviews you find here are the Codex one, the Computergames.ro one and then this 2404 one along with only one really positive review at this 3 News site.

I'm a proponent of more balanced posting, i.e. in my opinion you should either post them all or none but to go and pick out the reviews you like the most because they give a game you personally dislike a low score seems a little questionable to me. But I see that the majority here doesn't care or actually supports the posting policy so I shall just shut up now and live with it :biggrin: . Not a big deal anyway. Just an observation...
 
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We can't post everything that is asking too much. Besides, as you said, you know where he looks (non of which is hidden here) so you're more than capable of looking up those reviews. NMA have a comprehensive list as has been posted of over 50 or so roundups and I don't think we've posted 50 review roundups for any game.

It's 91% at games32, check the front page shortly...

If we miss something you feel is important for a well rounded news site do lets us know!
 
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Did you actually check the reviews we posted on Fallout 3?
There are 19 in total (excluding the "missed" ones Woges just posted), to save you the reading here is the overview:
1Up - A+
VideoGamer - 9/10
GameDaily - 8/10
Giant Bomb - 8/10
Eurogamer - 10/10
IGN AU - 9.5/10
Rock Paper Shotgun 8.8/10
Gameshark - B+
Gamespy - 5/5
IGN - 9.6/10
GameSpot - 9/10
Gameplayer.com.au - 9.5/10
CrispyGamer - Buy It
Gamers with Jobs - no score but very positive
The Escapist: "I was deeply and profoundly affected by this game."
Codex - An opinion
ComputerGames.ro - 7.2/10
2404 - 7/10
3 News - 5/5
You draw from this overview the conclusion that Dhruin prefers to ignore the positive reviews, based on the "fact" that we missed some?
I must be one of those that clearly misses the point you are making as well...

It's impossible with the way we are working to post everything, especially on games of which each and everyone has a review on. But to insinuate that Dhruin is deliberately not objective in his posting of Fallout 3 reviews is complete crap.
 
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Personally I'm more interested in reviews which are different - one wants to know *why*. Have they spotted some inconsistency in the game mechanics/play? Are they - gasp - less impressed by gratuitous eye-candy, and more concerned with role-playing and story development? Yeah! bring it on ;-) I've reached level 10 in FO3 and I'm bored - I've left it for awhile to play an excellent NWN2 community module, which I'm thoroughly enjoying. Off-topic: Anyone know when Purgatorio will be released? There's a dearth of decent RPG's about and I'm getting desperate!
 
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Oh man, have I gotten myself into trouble again or what? Can't wait for Gorath to show up and call me a "fucking troll" once again! :biggrin:

Did you actually check the reviews we posted on Fallout 3?

Yep. Nowhere did I say that ONLY negative reviews are posted. Why is everyone here trying to read something into my criticism that just isn't there? What I DID say is that recently there has been a trend to "overlook" the positive reviews and to focus on the negative ones. That's all. I'm just wondering why (some of) the positive ones don't get posted anymore? Why is there an apparent (to me at least) imbalance?

You draw from this overview the conclusion that Dhruin prefers to ignore the positive reviews, based on the "fact" that we missed some?

Missed? At least three times just on Blue's in five days? I know that Dhruin is a "pro". He doesn't just "miss" some :) .

It's impossible with the way we are working to post everything, especially on games of which each and everyone has a review on. But to insinuate that Dhruin is deliberately not objective in his posting of Fallout 3 reviews is complete crap.

OK, then someone just answer this simple question: Why was the Hooked Gamers review from this post here on Blue's News not posted but only the 2404 one? It would have taken all of five seconds (less if you're in a hurry) to include the Hooked Gamers link as well.

Again: I am just wondering about the omission of a few high score reviews. I have not played FO3 myself yet and don't know if it deserves high or low scores and I'm not a Beth fanboi either. I know that plenty positive reviews have been posted here, thanks. But where is the wind of change coming from? Why has there been a recent trend to focus more on the negative reviews. Some of the negative ones like the Computergames.ro have gotten their own news posts (and thus more exposure) instead of being included in a roundup, too. What's up with all that? Just (in a totally innocent way, of course :biggrin: ) curious...
 
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The best game of its type? What type'd that be?

2404's approach sounds good to me. 7/10 is a sensible score.

That would be FPS/RPG hybrid, or, to compare to Jade Empire a first person perspective RPG. My issue wasn't so much that they gave it a 7.0 (though, that is the lowest of the reviews), but that it seems that FO3 is held at a higher standard then other games they review.
 
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I like that a site that has recently started having me do reviews is just on a 'Buy / Try / Skip' system ... it is *so* liberating. I could just (for the example of FO3) say 'Buy It' and put all praise and criticism in the context review and avoid anguish of whether it is a x/10 score.

I like that approach. I always say (to myself), that the important thing is what's written, not the score. If a review is well written I can decide if I am likely to enjoy a game, independent of whether the reviewer liked it or not. At least that's the theory.

But alas, usually I'm too lazy and just scans the score. So a 3 grade score (is that correct English?) - yes, I like that.
 
Yep. Nowhere did I say that ONLY negative reviews are posted. Why is everyone here trying to read something into my criticism that just isn't there? What I DID say is that recently there has been a trend to "overlook" the positive reviews and to focus on the negative ones. That's all. I'm just wondering why (some of) the positive ones don't get posted anymore? Why is there an apparent (to me at least) imbalance?..
What you actually said was this:
... but to go and pick out the reviews you like the most because they give a game you personally dislike a low score seems a little questionable to me.
You didn't mention that we posted other postive reviews before, but instead you claim Dhruin doesn't like the game and intentionally posts newsbits with a low score for Fallout 3. That is in no relation to what he actually posted as newsbits before.
Your other statement is that Dhruin visited Blue's, spotted all the reviews and handpicked the ones he felt most happy with. It wasn't a question so you are sure that is what happened. I don't know if that is the case and neither do you.

And even if it is true it's irrelevant, at least to me. The track record of Dhruin on RPGDot and RPGWatch has convinced me a long time ago that Dhruin is one of the most thrustworthy persons I know.
 
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