what ive seen so far in my 4 hours of play I like. So far, Bethesda hit it outta the park imho. I hope it stays that way!

I thought I'd take advantage of Good Old Games and replay the original fallout as a bit of a warm up, I'd forgotten how awkward the interface was ]

I'd imagine much of my nostalgia will get beaten out of me in the next few hours of play leaving me free to really enjoy FO3

I read that "Charisma" was mostly useless, but I decided to go with high charisma anyway. I am not a combat character really so if I fail I will probably have to play the game all over again. Or cheat.

I have just ran the "tutorial" up to the time in which you leave the vault and I found it to feel a lot like fallout even if it feels weird to be "in" the vault rather than looking down from above. There were a few occasions that I got an "Oblivion-feel" but not in a bad way. I enjoy the story so far and for once I thought it was nice to see NPC's who feels more than randomized.

I don't think it's as witty and stylish as the originals, it's a lot more "down to earth" which I think was bound to happen. However, it does have rather impressive graphics with the washed-out sky look and long viewing distance, and a lot of work seems to have gone into the crafting of the map/gameworld.

There seems no mysticism in the rpg conversation aspects, that your character is capable of, so you can use the "save before talking" and try untill you get the roll as much as you like. I'm guessing some options won't come up at all if you don't have the required stat/skill score - I certainly haven't had many charisma roll opportunities with my base stat of 5 (4 with my Enclave Power Armour Helmet I'm currently wearing).

I've had very little trouble with crashing or bugs so far and none since I updated to this months Nvidia drivers release. Same system I've had for awhile plays it on high nicely (3800+, 8800GTS, 3GIG RAM edit: XP). I have had some corrupted textures pop up though rare and maybe before I updated can't remember.

Enjoying it so far…

You guys talked me into it. I just bought it. If it disappoints, I swear I'm going to send a Vault Boy voodoo doll stuck full of pins to Bethsoft. Or something.

It feels much like a Bethesda game than a Troika or Interplay one so it may well feel like a vain attempt after getting through the story. The NPCs aren't exactly full of charisma but I thought the same of The Witcher.

Originally Posted by BasiliskWrangler
I think we are going to see a lot of people bash what might be a generally good game simply because it fails to mimic it's predecessors.

It is not Fallout as we know it, but I really have to say I am having fun with it for what it is: a sprawling post-apocalyptic shooter with RPG elements. In some ways it's what I had hoped STALKER would have been. I have rated it "good" after about 3 hours of play time.

Exactly my opinion :-)
It's a solid post-apocalyptic RPG-Shooter with extremlely high production values and I truly enjoy it.

Just got it. Could only get the collectors edition since that is the only one available at this time, but what the hell the lunchbox and bobblehead Vault dweller are a nice touch.

It's pretty much as good as everyone has said, so far. I rely on Vats for every combat situation. I've only been killed once when I ventured too close to the river. Won't go into details but be careful where you venture if you only have a 10mm pistol.

I still think it's not Fallout but it's not that bad as a fun post apocolyptic game. Definatly better than BOS, lol. I guess if they had to do an offshoot of the original isometric Fallout this isn't that bad. I really wanted to hate this game too. I was going to buy it no matter what, but it would of been satisying to know that they screwed it up and we all could of said "I told you so, Troika should of got the IP." However they didn't screw it up. It's not perfect but definatly a lot better than I thought it would be.

I've had the same crashes that mostly everyone else has, but I'm downloading the latest drivers right now and hopefully it will help. *Thanks Woges for the heads up on updating your drivers.

I've heard it's pretty short - that true?

One thing I'm just wondering about (away from my comp here) is that the Pip-boy 3000 doesn't have a Pip-boy mascot on it. Or did I miss him?

Originally Posted by woges
It feels much like a Bethesda game than a Troika or Interplay one so it may well feel like a vain attempt after getting through the story. The NPCs aren't exactly full of charisma but I thought the same of The Witcher.

I do not know if I can say the same. I do not know what you associate with a "Bethesda game". Sure, this IS the Oblivion engine, that's one thing for sure, but the only things that gave that away for me is the face engine and the fact that almost every item in the game, including kitchen forks/knives, can be picked up.

The quests/dialogue so far felt closer to Bloodlines or KOTOR. I also like that the game isn't strictly good/evil.

The design, the artwork, the look of the game, the sound etc is Fallout. I also realised this morning that I have already associated I don't want to set the world on fire with the Fallout universe.

Originally Posted by Ionstormsucks
I've heard it's pretty short - that true?

It's as short or as long as you want (basically like the other Fallouts). If you just do the main quest, I guess it can be completed in under 20 hours (like almost any other 'open world' game). If you explore the world and do all the quests, it's probably more than 100 hours. I'm in the middle of the road, as I think most are, basically I do the quests I find without really exploring. So, I start in the vault, I do the quests there, then following the main quest I go to Megaton, then I do the quests I find there. When done I continue the main quest and go to the next place. If in the road there I find some town with more quests I do them. What I don't do is explore just for the sake of exploring. So in my case, I'm thinking the game will be a solid 40 hours or so. (And then, I'm planning on playing it again with a different personality character, which promises to be a completely different experience, so add another 40 or so hours there)

If someone who wanted to hate the game, "likes" it, I'm definately going to get it then. Already ordered a new 8600GTS video card ($20 from Newegg AR) for playing some of the newer games.

Originally Posted by JemyM
I do not know if I can say the same. I do not know what you associate with a "Bethesda game". Sure, this IS the Oblivion engine, that's one thing for sure, but the only things that gave that away for me is the face engine and the fact that almost every item in the game, including kitchen forks/knives, can be picked up.

The quests/dialogue so far felt closer to Bloodlines or KOTOR. I also like that the game isn't strictly good/evil.

The design, the artwork, the look of the game, the sound etc is Fallout. I also realised this morning that I have already associated I don't want to set the world on fire with the Fallout universe.

I don't think the look and art design are the same, the originals are more comic book like a la 2000AD, a "real yet drawn" style (though looking at Van Buren Bethesda seem to have done a fair job of where Interplay were taking it). The way you talk to the NPCs is the same as Oblivion and it's a free roam (for the most part) over the whole game map in 3d. The music is very Morrowind unless you're listening to the radio (both rather different to the John Carpenter eerie ambience of Fallout) but sure there is influence (and homage) to the previous games. After all, little point in buying a license if you're not using any of it. There seems to be more conversational RPG elements than in previous Bethesda endeavors. It's a mix of both styles.

im not too thrilled w/ the vats thing. I mean, from an entertainment standpoint - sure. I like watching the head go boom real good too, im down w/ the old ultraviolence as much as the next fun-loving cyber criminal.

But from a utilitarian point of view, it's like im cheating or something. I just cant help but feel a little diminished when i square off mano/mano and suddenly freeze time and go grab something out of the fridge while my bullets careens toward my defenseless opponent. I know for a fact that samurais wouldnt be hip to it, and while im not as stringently bound to a code of honor or anything I still like to think of myself as a legitimate badass now and then.

Still kinda torn on how much I'm going to use it, as it stands now I'm not really using it unless I know Ive already pretty much beaten the opponent and want to see him/her/it go boom for the yucks. Pending further investigation

Walp, I just started it and… it's okay. Not mind-blowingly wonderful, but not cringe-inducingly awful either. Definitely more Bethsoft than Fallout, but in a good, Morrowindy kind of way. Writing is more Bioware than Fallout -- "How nice to see you, stranger, now let me tell you about my mother…" -- and lacks Fallout's twisted, light-hearted, evil wit.

Early days yet, but I have to admit that BN and VD nailed it -- it's a pretty good game, as long as you forget it's supposed to be a Fallout sequel. Oh, and, melee definitely seems too easy. I'm a total wimp (STR 5, no points in melee), and I easily beat up multiple thugs and armed guards during the tutorial mission.

Originally Posted by JemyM
I do not know if I can say the same. I do not know what you associate with a "Bethesda game". Sure, this IS the Oblivion engine, that's one thing for sure, but the only things that gave that away for me is the face engine and the fact that almost every item in the game, including kitchen forks/knives, can be picked up.

The quests/dialogue so far felt closer to Bloodlines or KOTOR. I also like that the game isn't strictly good/evil.

The design, the artwork, the look of the game, the sound etc is Fallout. I also realised this morning that I have already associated I don't want to set the world on fire with the Fallout universe.

Really? I have found the writing mediocre at best and downright awful at worst - I thought Brian Mitsoda did pretty good stuff by video game standards in Bloodlines. I really can't see the writing or quests as anywhere near Bloodlines.

The Oblivion comparisons are everywhere - from the identical conversation system to the way the Pipboy is organised similarly to Oblivion's interface to many of the same animations. It's definitely not "Oblivion with guns" but there are plenty of similarities.

I also don't think the art is the same but I must say I'm really enjoying their version of a post-apoc urbane landscape.

But the writing….really?

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
Still kinda torn on how much I'm going to use it, as it stands now I'm not really using it unless I know Ive already pretty much beaten the opponent and want to see him/her/it go boom for the yucks. Pending further investigation

In my experience, you'll tear through your ammo way too fast without it. Once you get to dealing with supermuntants and the like regularly, I wouldn't want to go toe-to-toe with them.

I voted "Excellent" for this one! Really enjoying it so far. In fact it's the best game I've played for a long long time… since "Eschalon Book 1" I think A nice surprise after a couple of let-downs (on a varying scale) like "Mass Effect", "Warhead", "Sacred 2" and "Assassins Creed".

I've had a full on lock up tonight, had to switch the computer off kind. Just to amend what I said before about problems.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
Really? I have found the writing mediocre at best and downright awful at worst - I thought Brian Mitsoda did pretty good stuff by video game standards in Bloodlines. I really can't see the writing or quests as anywhere near Bloodlines.

I think I find the writing a bit better than you … but agree on the 'not up to X' standards (insert classic RPG of choice here).

I find it best to think of it as a STALKER-like with more extensive RPG elements.