FalloutNow!

I just got the October issue of Swedish PC gamer and they have a review of the PC version of fallout 3.

In short:
Score: 81%
Pros:

• VATS
• SPECIAL
• Megaton at night

Cons:

• A feeling of lifeless backdrops
• Lifeless/stale Characters
• Too much on a too small area

It’s Written by Joakim Bennet, who has proclaimed love for Fallout many times over the years he has been at PC gamer Sweden.

Other short stuff (not quotes):

• Vats is great, real-time combat isn’t. The real-time combat (damage/hits etc) doesn’t seem to be in sync with what’s happening on the screen.
• HtH combat in 3rd person is just as bad as in Oblivion.
• Bennet misses the world map, random encounters, the empty wastes.
• AI isn’t great. Enemies running in circles and no reaction from NPCs that get shot from a long distance is quite common.
• You can pick up anything that isn’t bolted to the floor.
• The SPECIAL system and Perks work great.

He also writes about four important points and compares them to the originals:

• The Fallout atmosphere
• The story
• Combat
• Perspective(transition to 3D)

Bennet writes that the game delivers on these four points but not all the way.
Here are some short translated segments (English isn’t perfect though ):

“I’m going to take the edge of this review right away. Fallout 3 IS “Oblivion with guns”, No matter what I said earlier. There, I said it, now there’s no return.”

“…And everything would be wonderful but that feeling that the game is missing something. I can’t quite define it, Call it a feeling, call it whatever you want, but when the gates of vault 101 lies far behind me, the eyes have adapted to the light and 15 hours have passed I start to think. About hopes that have fallen short.
Because in Fallout 3 I get most things served on a silver plate right away. Bethesda has tried to fit as much content as possible on a little area. One second I’m running into a pack of Radscorpions while 30 meters further ahead there’s a little settler town. Around the corner I meet some slavers with their captured slaves and beyond the hill some raiders have set up camp. A few minutes of running brings me to some ruins swarming with lethal Deathclaws that wants to eat me. It’s compressed, maximized and anonymous all at once. It feels like a huge orgy where no one wants to actually ‘do it’. A lot of bumping and grinding but no friction and no excitement. Many parts but they don’t paint a whole picture.”

“Fallout 3 is an uneven game if I’ve ever seen one”

“I manage to ‘acquire’ a house that I decorated in pre-war style, and my very own robot-butler, Wadsworth, that always greets me with a delighted cry and calls me Madame. But when I sit down in an old dusty sofa and listen to Maybe by The Inkspots on my Pipboy 3000, I notice how soulless my own character is. Lifeless eyes, skin that looks like plastic. Fake. Phony. Bethesda still hasn’t managed to instill life into many if the people that inhabit their universe.”

He doesn’t like the voice actors but the dialog is good:

“The dialogs will piss people off, but mostly because they are recorded with voice actors of extremely varying quality. Had some of the lines been put into the original games or vice versa, no one would have complained.”

“… But first and foremost, the game doesn’t let go of you, despite flaws. The story always makes you want to take a few steps more, and after every disappointment there will be a moment of awe. The details, the at times stunning landscape and the possibility to change the main characters look in all eternity.”

“It’s hard to let go of my baggage as an old Fallout player, but when I sit down with the third part of the game I really try to stop comparing the games, and at once it feels much better.”

…And everything would be wonderful but that feeling that the game is missing something. I cant quite define it, Call it a feeling, call it whatever you want, but when the gates of vault 101 lies far behind me, the eyes have adapted to the light and 15 hours have passed i start to think. About hopes that have fallen short.
Because in fallout 3 i get most things served on a silver plate right away. Bethesda has tried to fit as much content as possible on a little area. One second im running into a pack of Radscorpions while 30 meters further ahead theres a little settler town. Around the corner i meet some slavers with their captured slaves and beyond the hill some raiders have set up camp. A few minutes of running brings me to some ruins swarming with lethal deathclaws that wants to eat me. Its compressed, maximized and anonymous all at once. It feels like a huge orgy where no ones want to actually “do it”. A lot of bumping and grinding but no friction and no excitement. Many parts but they don’t paint a whole picture.

FEV-Infizierter wrote: Ich hoffe nach wie vor auf eine geile ISO-Perspektive. Ich bin da vielleicht etwas konservativ, aber ich will in FO3 gar nicht so viele revolutionäre Neuerungen. Wenn man sich anschaut wie groß die Maps in Fallout sind will ich mir nicht ausmalen das alles in 3D durchlaufen zu müssen, das Ödland ist nunmal größtenteils Öde und wer hat schon lust stundenlang durch die Wüste zu latschen um zur nächsten Siedlung zu kommen. Das wäre wie GTA SA ohne Autos. Wer will da über die ganze Map rennen zumal die ganze karte dann ja noch viel größer wäre? Auf die Simulation wie lange ich von der NKR nach Bunkerstadt laufe kann ich jedenfalls verzichten. Die Alternative wäre die Lokalität arg einzuschränken, viel mehr Fahrzeuge bereitzustellen oder die Zeit zu straffen aber das fände ich Grütze.
Ausser ein paar Sandstürmen und Wechsel von Tag und Nacht würde da gar nicht viel passieren, es geht da einfach nicht die ganze Maps mit Monstern und Raidern zuzupflastern wie in Morrowind, weil es nach nem Atomkrieg eben kaum noch Leben gibt.