Fallout 3 E3 Preview
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Does the post-apocalyptic atmosphere well implemented?
With the wasteland filled with destroyed, rusted, moulding artifacts, yes. If we refer to previous Fallouts, it is clear that the game designers opted for a less original setting, despite it being so bound to the series. We find certain visual things: Vault Boy, ads for Nuka Cola etc,. Even more, the world of Fallout 3 feels empty. Too empty. The explanation of a nuclear holocaust is plausible, but wandering the wasteland we only came across one mutant dog and a sort of giant mole aroused a boring sense of loneliness. We can ransack various places (trash cans, -- buildings, etc) but the things that we find spoilt a bit the atmosphere of the game. For example, we found three frag grenades in a letter box along with a dose of Psycho.
Does the AI suck as much as it appears in the gameplay videos?
Yes, unfortunately, it's one of the main faults of the full version of Fallout 3. The mobs are totally stupid, with NPCs that flee in the direction of their aggressors, enemies that find themselves running on the spot, blocked by a too-low platform ( enabling me to re-arrange their faces during combat), rats that charge you so close as to bump into you then jumping up and down in a vain attempt to cause you harm. It is the one point that Bethesda should be taken to task over.
Are quests solvable in multiple ways?
For the quests, the developers affirm that they wanted to allow the player to complete them however they wish. The example of Megaton should be a relevant one: the bomb in the centre of town remains armed and undetonated years after the apocalyptic events that gave rise to the wasteland. The locals worship this as a religious artifact. The Sheriff asks you to disarm it permanently. If you have the necessary skill in explosives you have the opportunity to disarm it or disable it. If you spend a bit of time in town you might run across an unsavory character that asks for your help in his plan to detonate the bomb. You are free to help him, send him to hell or denounce him to the sheriff. Concerning progression in the world I was aware at all times of a certain repetitiveness. Peter Hines confided in us that near each turret in the game there could be found a terminal for hacking said turret. It is interesting to let the player choose how to find his way but systematically offering the same alternative solutions every time risks getting old.
Technical Aspect
With regards to implementation, first impressions are confirmed: It's ugly. The textures are faded, un-detailed for sure, the game is really aliased and the colors are really, really poorly chosen. Badly chosen in terms of coherence and not just because (it fit in with the spirit of the original). Take this with a grain of salt, this was the 360 unfinished build, but it does not bode well for Fallout 3 shining on its technical merit. A example to illustrate my point. I approached a broken window of a building: the texture was so pixelated as to make me wonder whether the texture was stolen from doom.
