Fallout 3 E3 Previews

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Written by BuckGB on July 16th, 2008

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"And if the developers of Bethesda usually manage to compensate their lack of artistic cohesion by a high-end engine, Fallout 3 was this time disappointing at all levels with its dull characters evolving amidst poor textures and low-poly models."

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"If it's too soon to give a final judgement about this game, one has to admit that our first hour with the game at the E3 made us rather think of a somewhat clever Fallout mod for Oblivion than a real sequel of the Black Isle series. Whether it is at a design level, gameplay or the general feeling of the game, we are having a hard time making the link with the previous episodes of the post apocalyptic franchise. It does not mean that we did not enjoy Fallout 3, which should probably find an audience among Oblivion fans, probably growing tired of perpetual heroic fantasy universes...However, among fanatics of the "good era", it seems rather unlikely that Fallout 3 could manage to make them forget what could have been if Black Isle did not fall at the end of 2003."

Some things must be made clear. One, I played Bethesda's Fallout 3 today. Two, I have never played a Fallout title before, so I can't judge it based on the merits of the series. Joystiq will detail the differences between Fallout 3 and its predecessors in its hands on preview llater this week. With that out of the way, let me just throw this on the table: Fallout 3 is Oblivion with guns. It's a short analysis, but I stand by it. If one were to expand upon this analysis, one might say that Fallout 3 is a post-apocalyptic Oblivion with guns. Having said that, allow me elaborate that this is a compliment. Oblivion fans will understand this. Upon hearing my analysis, our own Xav de Matos noted, "I think I need a cigarette.... that sounds awesome."

We decided to dedicate every action point we had to try to score that elusive assault-rifle headshot. The results were worth the effort. The camera swung around to show our attack from over the enemy's shoulder. Our rifle round streaked through the air and -- hello, M Rating -- blasted apart our foe's skull in a hail of brains.

"Stay in school!" I shouted.

The control scheme was very intuitive, and the sound, played at a lower level through headphones captured the wasteland perfectly. The graphics could be a little bloody at times. As the created character (Bethesda had stations with pre-created characters on it) walked through the wasteland, he was beset by a wild dog. Taking the typical first-person shooter route, he backed up while emptying his clip on his 10mm gun into the dog. He literally blew the head off the animal. Anything destroyed or killed in the game does have the option of a loot drop, which can be placed into inventory and then sold later.

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