Has playing New Vegas changed your view of FO3?

[WizardOfAtlantis]

I've noticed in myself these last few days the desire to revisit the Capitol Wasteland. I haven't yet, because I simply can't stop playing New Vegas. I really like the setting, the arms and armors you can find, the backdrop, everything.

 

However, I've felt a little nostalgia recently, and have been thinking of taking a trip back into a...well, I can't say UNmodified Capitol Wasteland, but I am thinking about a severely-limited-in-terms-of-mods DC (something like Arwen's or FWE, some hairs and that's about it), so I can get the flavor of the vanilla game.

 

I have a greater appreciation for that certain alchemy that Bethesda created with FO3 than I did before playing New Vegas, that's for sure. The gamescape itself is far more grand, with tons more to explore, and seems overall much more Epic now, with all of its moving parts, if you get my drift. Sure, it has its holes, but it seems a much finer-faceted diamond than it did before...before having any real comparison, of course.

 

What are your thoughts? Having new views, or refreshed views, on the Capitol Wasteland?

[Herculine]

NV really hasn't changed my opinion of FO3. Speaking strictly in terms of storyline and atmosphere and disregarding gameplay mechanics and dynamics that Obsidian has done slightly differently, NV to me feels like a natural continuation of the game. It merely feels to me like watching a television series and progressing from one episode to the next. Sure, I'll go back and play FO3 again at some point, but when I do I won't be feeling like I'm returning to the better of the two games in that regard. I think they are both excellent chapters in the series, and I hope the next game will continue in the same vein.

[CarlCorey]

NV hasn't changed my view of FO3 and I did go back and start a brand new FO3 game the night before last because I'd grown a little tired of Veronica. I'm on my way to check out and old Super Duper Mart for that crazy Moira woman in Megaton but then I'm heading into DC to find that Three Dog guy. One thing that did change is that I had decided to play NV with no quick travel whatsoever this time and I'm loving it. The Capital Wasteland is a lot bigger than the Mojave (what did Dukov say about the long walk to Fort Constantine?) so it'll be even more of a challenge there.

[minngarm]

Well I love the mechanics to new vegas, ive been playing FO3 since release without ever touching a mod, so for me the NV experience was full of rich new flavors. However on a overall comparison I do have to lean towards FO3 being a "better" game. Mostly because the environment is far more rich, the characters feel more in depth and alive, and the basic story was far more engaging on a emotional level.

 

This is not to say that NV is doing anything wrong, I adore the game and have logged nearly 200 hours on it so far. Rather that I find while NV adds a much more preferable game experience, especialy with the ammo types and weapon mods, that fallout 3 has had a lot more storyline process done along its somewhat more limiting tracks.

 

Now I am preparing to do another run of FO3, this time picking and choosing certain mods to include and make the game mechanics closer to that of NV. Being personaly addicted to hardcore games, with no super human like main character, realistic combat that is vicious both ways, and especialy digging the sleep/food/h2o requirements in NV, I hope the mods im going to try out with FO3 are going to really make the game kick my arse this time around.

[secksegai]

While I'm not terribly fond of certain changes (namely DR to DT) I've found FONV more enjoyable than FO3 with all the DLCS combined, which is a bit ironic with all the bugs I've experienced in FONV thus far. You know something's working when people are willing to stomach so many issues (at least PC wise).

[WarKirby3333]

It has, yes. It has made me realise how inferior certain aspects of FO3 were.

 

Most notably:

 

1. The long linear section at the start (growing up in, and leaving, the vault) during which there's little choice. This discourgages replayability. Doc Mitchell's diagnosis in NV is comparitively very short and typically done with in 10 mins. You don't even have to go see sunny and you're free to do what you want from there on.

2. The linearity of the storyline. NV has more endings, more paths, and in general more choice. thus is more replayable

3. The inferiority of the gameworld. Holy mandatory subways everywhere, batman! FO3 seemed to be full of copy and paste dungeons like subways and sewers, which just served to pad things out and were quite boring. Their necessity to navigate the ruins of washington were also a constant annoyance and it really hampered immersion that you couldn't just climb over that pile of rubble. By contrast, NV is a lot more open, and a lot more of the game is spent in the overworld, actually in the wasteland.

[pjz]

I got the impression that a lot of the restriction on where you could go above-ground in FO3 was due to trying to keep down the amount of geometry and textures that had to be loaded at once, and that more for console platform constraints. NV does feel less restrictive in a lot of places - until you run into the many many many places where there's an invisible wall that keeps you on the train track (surrounding Primm to the east e.g. and dozens of other places). The beginning of FO3 was pretty train tracked, yeah, but on the other hand if you're paying for Liam Neeson to do voiceover for you then you probably want to feature him pretty prominently...

 

Wayne Newton/Mr. New Vegas though, beats the crap out of Three Dog hands down.

[CarlCorey]

Wayne Newton/Mr. New Vegas though, beats the crap out of Three Dog hands down.

I think there's a number of folks with the exact opposite view. According to Mr. New Vegas, Primm just got a new sheriff "today" and a courier just survived getting shot in the head ... but, at least he loves us.

[RazorKnight]

Both have good and bad points, and just like Fallout 3 didn't make me stop playing (or liking) Oblivion, FONV won't make me stop playing FO3. Once the rush of the new mods wears down (because the rush of the game itself wore out a while ago,) I'll probably be back to killing Talon Company morons in FO3 for a long while.

 

Good points of NV: Incorporating a lot of mods that were already in FO3 into the game itself.

Bad points: Mr. New Vegas. The loser just keeps on repeating the same news. Makes me miss Three Dog, the guy I used to toss grenades at... But at least the FO3 dude had some different news now and then and actually seemed to pay attention to what sidequests/main quest bits you were completing and how you solved them. And RNV is actually the best radio station. Yeah. Haven't had any radio on in the game for a month now (whereas I still tend to leave GNR on when I play FO3.)

Also, stuff like Malcolm "Bottlecap Ninja" Holmes, Hardcore not being very hardcore, some NPCs being voiced by doped robots (Benny's "hello" is a very good show of that,) and not having a clue on what sidequests you have to do and where .Three Dog did a lot of help for that in FO3. In here? It usually goes like this:

 

Me: *Kills random Legion dude.*

Game: YOU FAIL QUEST! Also, they hate you more now.

Me: I totally knew some random shmuck that started shooting me out of the blue would be a part of a quest. My bad! Really! Also, you suck at quest hinting.

[pjz]

Very odd, I don't see any difference in the mechanism of how radio news is delivered at all. You do quest X, the results of quest X are added to the pool of stuff that can come up on the radio, same in both games.