f03 vs NV

[ghostfc3s]

So after playing through New Vegas for the first time ending with the NCR,with an 80 hour save I find myself reinstalling Fo3. I think one of the main reasons why, the atmosphere. Fo3 was dark and gritty and mostly urban setting and some decent 50's flavor. That mixed with some nice mods for interiors and lighting effects I found it a much more immerse post apocalyptic environment. New Vegas seemed too alive for me, too many npcs doing nothing too much wide open spaces and brightness. New Vegas and Free side was pretty much the only urban setting, I really enjoyed those parts of the game. The open waste with it being mostly desert seemed off, more like Oblivion I guess. Not to mention all the power armor was very out of place in this western heavy new Vegas. I enjoyed the new story, the faction system, the crafting, hardcore mode, different ammo types, and yes more npc out in the waste with you. That being said 90% of that can be found in the Modding community for Fo3. I understand that New Vegas was the return to the roots of the game. Fo1 and Fo2 were in the western deserts I understand that. I just think that world they built in Fo3 was more complete more immerse and a more compelling world. Fo3 felt like the world had ended and everyone you meet was a meal away from death, where as New Vegas seem comfortable and the troubles and pearls seemed trivial in a day to day way. Wasn't about serviving with what ever you could find, it was about power and war true to fo1 and fo2. I just miss mowing down super mutties in my 45D and not saying "I feel like I need to be in a Duster to fit the rest fo the game."

 

Just my 2 cents

[Thoreai]

You may be right about the dark apocalyptic atmosphere that FO3 had, but then again i always felt the enviroments were very sterile and dull and the whole setting was rotating about gore, wich i think was used too much and on too many places, u had wide space to explore yet it was mostly tunnels full of ghouls and other vermin with nothing else to do then shoot and loot, in NV i feel like the exploration has more meaning then just getting xp. The liveness of NV is just great, there is always something interesting going on and after i remade my character and started to play on wery hard settings and hardcore mode..now thats real survival. Picked just a throwing spear and gone hunt, after half day hunting and running away from damn hard monsters i realized i had so much fun with just this, i did not even started to play the game by full.

 

I was skeptic when i saw NV coming, becouse i knew there wouldnt be much changes around the gameplay and the engine and it would be full of buggs, but i have to say Obsidian did a great job with NV in terms of game/quest design.

[leetgamer]

Basically, this.

[frank lee]

Basically, this.

 

I disagree with that reveiw, mostly;

 

"This has got to be the most satisfying of things in New Vegas, the fact that there is an overall sense of conflict in the game. Fallout 3 seemed a bit too overwhelming in the sense that you didn’t actually know what to do aside from the main storyline. In New Vegas, the tables are set, everybody in the wasteland are more aware of what’s going on around them, you can easily figure out who the good and bad guys are, and you have a plethora of decisions to make."

Most of what you did in Fo3 didn't effect the main quest so you could get a feel for where the story was going. Nigh on everything you do in NV affects the main story, before you have any idea whats involved. Once affected that's it, your locked into one story track.

 

I can see what the devs are trying to do (and appreciate the effort) I just don't think its done well enough to work. they have pushed the complexity past the limit for me, where one bug can stop a quest in its tracks an that one quest will bend the whole outcome.

 

I preferred Fo3.

[CarlBratananadalewski]

Funny. that reviewer liked the story in NV better than f3; it was totally opposite for me. f3 had interesting characters and some great choices that really made the campaign resonate with me. NV's main quest just felt confusing, especially as none of the factions where particularily intersting. My favorites from f3, the Enclave, BoS, and Super Mutants are only minor players in NV, something that really saddened me. All in all I like NV but I think f3 had a much better sense of what it was trying to accomplish, and a great atmosphere. The 50s thing was cool in 2008; now it justs seems a little boring and weird IMO.

 

 

just my 2 cents.

[moirai]

Funnily enough I wrote something down to get it off my chest a week or so ago, with a mind to maybe post it somewhere. It seems that this particular thread may be the most relevant place for it:

 

The problem with Fallout New Vegas - Personal viewpoint

 

I have a problem with New Vegas as a game, and it's not one of any technical reason, or even basic gameplay mechanics. It's one of story.

 

You see, when I played Fallout 3 the first time I had no idea what to expect. True, I knew my character had to find their father, but that's as far as it went. I had no idea whether they would do so, or what would actually happen even if they did. I had no idea about the Enclave suddenly turning up, or 'my' father's death, or what would happen because of that. Because of this, the whole game was not only one of physical exploration of the land and its inhabitants, but also one of story, direction and outcome. That made it a lot of fun.

 

And then there's New Vegas...

 

Not that far in, it's made rather clear where the game is going. A big fight. Not only that, but you are pretty much handed a list of instructions on what you should be doing before that big fight, which is to travel around meeting people and making/breaking alliances with them to affect the nature of the 'big fight'.

 

And that's it. It's all laid out for you. Nothing dramatic hidden or left to discover...

 

True, there's a few variations on a theme as far as who you make your allegiances with, but the outcome is fundamentally the same. Lots of jumping through your chosen faction's hoops to make them happy, and then a big fight.

 

Personally, I'm finding that aspect rather boring. Sure, there's all the funky weapons modding and gambling and whatnot. But that's just fluff and filler. True, there are some very good 'exploration' quests, like Vault 22 or Vault 11, and they were a lot of fun. But that doesn't change the fact that the main story arc is fundamentally all laid out for you in advance.

 

I realise that, as a game 'story' concept, this is nothing new, and it wasn't that long ago really that I was doing something extremely similar in Dragon Age Origins. The only major difference here with New Vegas is that I get to fight with the Darkspawn if I choose.

 

I guess that with any game of this type it's very easy to get lost in the minutia of its complexity and miss the bigger picture. But that's invariably what happens. There's so many little things to do that you rarely step back to view it as a whole. But, increasingly, that's exactly what I've found myself doing. And for that reason I've lost a lot of interest in the game. Effectively, all I'm doing is just working my way through a open checklist of things to achieve before the predetermined big punchup at the end. It's just one big task list, not story exploration, discovery or revelation.

 

I guess, with any story, I just dislike knowing the end that clearly before I actually get there. I like to be surprised, caught out, and blindsided by events. I like to be hit by something I didn't expect and didn't see coming.

 

Like, for the sake of being completely over the top...just when everyone was resigned to the big fight, the Legion infiltrate the NCR, blow up the Hoover dam, plunge New Vegas into darkness and then steamroller in catching everyone off guard in the confusion. :P

 

I'm not being totally serious with that, true. But you get the general idea. Jaw dropping, WTF moments that up the ante and the pace overall, and not just sidetrack you for a short while.

 

Like the Enclave suddenly turning up and killing your father...

 

The unexpected is what makes any story exciting and involving, be it book, game or film, and not just a plod from A to B.

 

Unfortunately, for me, the latter seems to sum up New Vegas very aptly.

[gsmanners]

Fallout 3: Lots of lame Hollywood style writing and in-jokes (Planet of the Apes? Seriously?). Lots of mediocre voice acting, and a few spectacularly bad actors (the guy who did Sheriff Simms, for example). The main story was predictable, cliche, and unbearably linear. It felt like I was riding a Disneyland roller coaster more than playing an RPG.

 

Fallout New Vegas: Lots of surprisingly well-written story and some funny jokes here and there (especially with the Wild Wasteland perk). The voice acting is decent, but still nothing to boast about. At least they didn't turn in any really horrible performances (that I've noticed). The whole game feels a little boxed-in, but otherwise feels very much RPG-ish, the way an RPG should feel.

[Thoreai]

I have to say that i am enjoying playing NV more then FO3 but the main story is too predictable also one thing that really iritates me is Obsidians nevereding same quest design, thats why it becomes so predictable becouse it was the same with dragon age and all their other games.

 

I really wish next fallout game would be done by some new company, someone with fresh ideas that isnt polishing one and the same game/quest style for years repeating it in all their games, it just gets old and boring after such long time.

 

In FO3 main story when i first played the game i had no idea what waits me and what its about, so i dont agree that FO3 story was predictable.

After playng 4-5 hours of NV i knew where it was going, and the typical Obisidian quest choices just made it easier to predict.

 

Still i have more fun with NV the FO3, but im not yet done with the game, so i have yet to see the outcome.

[ghostfc3s]

Like I said before for me its the environment. I love power armor, and it seems very out of place and not in the right setting trekking across the desert with wind sand storms at your back, the only real set that fit was the NCR ranger stuff and that was imposable to get with mods or killing rangers. The sense of survival is lacking and the problems of the land are more supply and demand issues not who gets to live and who has to die (outside of the whole you need allies to fight the legion, when really you could have cleared out the camp solo). I think I might have enjoyed it more it they had built Vegas more to scale, and had more then just Freeside and the strip being New Vegas. Vegas is a big city, it was reduced in what 4 blocks in game? the DC ruins were huge by comparison and even at that DC was cut down from its real size. The inclusion of Germantown and surrounding areas was nice. Same way the Nipton, Primm are real locations, once again cut down to one street.

I also find that I'm not as attached to my character in NV as in Fo3

no back story you have no idea who you are!

 

I did however remember I the first time I came to Nipton and found the town slaughtered and my out rage at the legion. I let the lead fly there in after at ever moment I could until Cesar was died. NV did a job at making you hate them, and over looking the NCR's faults.

 

I guess it comes down to Fo3 is a explore, scab, survive and shoot (special with the survival mod), where NV is run here talk shoot western?

[leetgamer]

Basically, this.

 

I disagree with that reveiw, mostly;

 

"This has got to be the most satisfying of things in New Vegas, the fact that there is an overall sense of conflict in the game. Fallout 3 seemed a bit too overwhelming in the sense that you didn’t actually know what to do aside from the main storyline. In New Vegas, the tables are set, everybody in the wasteland are more aware of what’s going on around them, you can easily figure out who the good and bad guys are, and you have a plethora of decisions to make."

Most of what you did in Fo3 didn't effect the main quest so you could get a feel for where the story was going. Nigh on everything you do in NV affects the main story, before you have any idea whats involved. Once affected that's it, your locked into one story track.

 

I can see what the devs are trying to do (and appreciate the effort) I just don't think its done well enough to work. they have pushed the complexity past the limit for me, where one bug can stop a quest in its tracks an that one quest will bend the whole outcome.

 

I preferred Fo3.

 

What I was trying to say there is that FO3 felt way too complex for me. Okay, I got the idea of the main storyline, however, once you step out of vault 101 the capital wasteland is simply thrown in your face. You have no sense of direction, whereas in New Vegas if you ask around people will tell you about the outlying areas. Working for a faction is even better since you know where to find them. And thus, you have a somewhat clear picture of what the places are in the game and you vaguely know what to do, whereas the only guiding hand in FO3 was the main quest. And surprise-surprise, when the main quest ends, the game ends. This is present in New Vegas as well, which I don't like.

 

Chasing after Dad does seem similar to chasing after Benny, however since the map in New Vegas is more populated this means there are more quest hubs, which will send you out adventuring more, which in turn will make you discover more places, which will give you more coordination.

 

I'm not sure if you get what I'm saying but New Vegas simply felt more friendly to me than Fallout 3. The huge number of crashes in FO3 may have played a part in me losing my enthusiasm, though. I don't know.