Why do people seem to prefer Fallout New vegas to fallout 3.

[kevkiev]

Without re-quoting what GenocideLolita said, and followed up by Q, I also like FONV because of the characters. And the companions. The characters are much more fleshed-out and interesting in FONV, imo. And, after trying FO3 once with companions, I never play that game except solo. Well, except for a few times with the FO3 Lucy West and Sydney companion mods (there might even be better ones now, it's been awhile since I strayed from the Mojave back to the Capital Wasteland). I thought the vanilla FO3 companions just sucked. On the other hand, when it comes to vanilla, I greatly enjoy Cass and Veronica, ED-E and Boone (Cass and Veronica especially) I thought it was a great idea to have the FONV companions have their own quests - really brought 'em to life imo. Tho I'm not that big a fan of Lily, Rex or Raul, but I did enjoy Raul's story. And I did like helping out poor 'ol Rex.

[marharth]

In NV, you do have a backstory. You just don't know it yet.

 

1. You have been to New Reno and listened to Bruce Isaac sing before.

 

2. Its possible you have been to Montana, however it could of just been a random location for the joke.

 

3. Its likely you don't know where you were born.

 

4. You like to drink.

 

5. You are immune to plant spores for some reason.

 

6. You have been to Utah.

 

7. You have never heard of old world religion.

 

8. After the start of the game, you get a brain condition due to the bullet.

 

9. Obviously you know Ulysses, or used to know Ulysses.

 

While a lot of these things are picked through dialogue and possibly optional, it doesn't necessarily mean its not part of everyone's background since it would still be in your mind, you simply don't say it.

 

That's the way I see it anyways, the lonesome road DLC will clearly show you most of the couriers background.

[Gnubee]

Having now played both for some time, I have to say that I prefer the game mechanics of FNV to FO3. The repair/workbench/reloading bench functions feel much more refined. Dealing with companions is better and, the biggest one for me, wandering the desert is far more appealing than struggling to find the one path through a maze of sewer tunnels to get where you are going. The balance of the two games (energy weapons & power armour vs regular firearms & armour) is considerably different, and I like that. Personally I think FO3 played via FNV, (using a mod like Requiem) would be ideal. Have't tried it yet though.

[Mogwilson]

New Vegas wins hands down regarding the gameplay aspects & mechanics, It also shines through it's narrative & the companion system fixes what was highly annoying in FO3, So yes, FNV has massively improved upon FO3 in so many departments apart from a major one.

 

Atmosphere......The beautiful DC ruins & historical locations let me wander for hours, The white house plaza is where i sit to roll a cigarette & noclip to get a better look at the crater, FNV is just sand & rocks.

 

I love them both equally...Like my wife & my dog;)

[RileyEvan]

I've always felt F:NV to be a poor follow up to FO3. I know that this will make me unpopular. But the common theme I seem to find is that those that love F:NV most are those that played the original games. The most common reason for loving F:NV is because it seems to flow straight from the old titles.

Let me make this argument: Compare each game's improvement over what came before.

Before FO3, the Fallout franchise was dead in the water, despite being loved by long time fans. Think of all that had to be created to bring Fallout back. Not only that, make it accessible to the average gamer (such as myself). I keep recalling all the praise that was heaped on FO3 when it was first released. And I still have my collector's art book from FO3. The art development was spectacular.

Compare this to the step F:NV had to make from FO3. Ask yourself how much actual new material was added to F:NV. The majority of material is taken directly from FO3. I'd argue that the mods that allow you to play both games together and those that port a mod from one game to the other prove my point.

If developers follow this simple formula, all the developers need to do is take the sum total of FO3 and F:NV, add a couple of new improvements and it will be the greatest Fallout ever. Everyone will be sitting around, scratching their heads, wondering why everyone thinks the new game is so much better.

My greatest problem from F:NV is the lack of immersion. When I played Oblivion, I got lost in the game. I played FO3, and got lost in the game. More then once. I played F:NV, I kept being reminded of things that came straight from FO3. You pick up a weapon, enter a room, look at the scripting, it was pulled almost whole from FO3.

It takes more to create something new then to copy something already done.

[Sepherose]

Fallout 3 had sub-par writing, zero replayability, a bunch of uninspired DLCs and suffered from the post-2006 Bethesda philosophy of treating the player like an idiot and showering him/her with gadgets that give significant permanent skill/stat bonuses.

 

New Vegas offers infinitely more interesting characters (especially the companions), factions, a proper wasteland setting, no copypasted subway stations and DLCs that are actually worth getting.

 

^1000x This

 

Well, you just took the words right out of my head before I even got to think of them lol. I would also like to point out the much more lore friendly actions of the creatures in the Mojave wasteland, primarily, Deathclaws.

 

They are supposed to live in tight-nit family groups, with an Alpha male and a Matriarch. In FO3, you get one place, WAAAAY far removed from where they originated from, and you also have a chance of running into them pretty much anywhere in the game world, but only one or two at a time. They are pack animals, and hunt in packs, so that made little sense. Also, they are supposed to inspire fear in even the toughest of characters outfitted in the meanest gear. The Brotherhood even feared them in FO1 and 2, not so much in 3 considering if you take an energy wep into a fight with them and your skill is decent, not great, but decent, you will own it. In NV on the other hand, they ARE something to be concerned about, if not simply for their toughness, for their sheer numbers when you do come across them (although the legendary one was... a let down...). Then again, I typically play on hardcore/hard which is a bit closer to the first two in difficulty scale. Hmmm... speaking of which, I need to find me a good mod that makes things harder...

 

I've always felt F:NV to be a poor follow up to FO3. I know that this will make me unpopular. But the common theme I seem to find is that those that love F:NV most are those that played the original games. The most common reason for loving F:NV is because it seems to flow straight from the old titles.

Let me make this argument: Compare each game's improvement over what came before.

Before FO3, the Fallout franchise was dead in the water, despite being loved by long time fans. Think of all that had to be created to bring Fallout back. Not only that, make it accessible to the average gamer (such as myself). I keep recalling all the praise that was heaped on FO3 when it was first released. And I still have my collector's art book from FO3. The art development was spectacular.

Compare this to the step F:NV had to make from FO3. Ask yourself how much actual new material was added to F:NV. The majority of material is taken directly from FO3. I'd argue that the mods that allow you to play both games together and those that port a mod from one game to the other prove my point.

If developers follow this simple formula, all the developers need to do is take the sum total of FO3 and F:NV, add a couple of new improvements and it will be the greatest Fallout ever. Everyone will be sitting around, scratching their heads, wondering why everyone thinks the new game is so much better.

My greatest problem from F:NV is the lack of immersion. When I played Oblivion, I got lost in the game. I played FO3, and got lost in the game. More then once. I played F:NV, I kept being reminded of things that came straight from FO3. You pick up a weapon, enter a room, look at the scripting, it was pulled almost whole from FO3.

It takes more to create something new then to copy something already done.

 

I would like to point out that NV has a fairly original story, and if you haven't played the first two, here is a sum up:

 

 

FO1:The water chip, which cleans the drinking water for you vault, breaks and you are sent out to recover one. At one point meeting the BoS whom due to their xenophobic nature try to trick you into killing yourself with radiation poisoning. After that you have to fight and destroy a SM army along the way. You get the water chip and bring it back, get told to kill the SM leader/creator then come back, and then get told, and I quote from the first game "I'm sorry, you're a hero, and you have to leave." Then get the boot from your vault.

 

FO2: Your village is dying because the land is too irradiated as well as the water, and you need to recover a G.E.C.K. to save it. In the process you meet the enclave, then you find a G.E.C.K.. The Enclave kidnaps your village, so you have to save them and, in the process, blow up the Enclave main base in a massive fireball.

 

And now, to sum up FO3:Your dad was researching Project Purity when you were conceived and born, which was a project to purify the drinking water so those in the DC wasteland don't die off slowly from radiation poisoning. When you turn 18, your father ditches you in the vault and everything goes down the toilet, so you get the boot from the vault and chase after him. While following the leads you get you come across a SM army and have to fight your way through it to meet up with the (magically) non-xenophobic Brotherhood of Steel whom inexplicably broke their oath that they are essentially brainwashed to follow from birth, also, you might meet the Outcasts which still follow their indoctrinated oath to their death. After this, you get to Rivet city, follow more leads about your dad, find him, discover that you need a G.E.C.K., and start having run-ins with the Enclave. At this point you might go back to the Vault and help them out, and if you put Amata in charge or Kill the current overseer, or some other good guy solution, you get the line: "I'm sorry, you're a hero, and you have to leave." So you go to get the G.E.C.K. and it's in the SM main headquarters so to speak, you fight through that, get the G.E.C.K., and the Enclave comes and kidnaps YOU. You fight your way out and blow up the Enclave base in a giant fiery explosion, then use the G.E.C.K. to purify the water for the entire DC wasteland.

 

 

I'm sorry, but it just seems to me like the writer couldn't think of anything new, so they put it in a different place and mashed a bunch of key points together from FO1 and 2. That is another reason I don't like FO3.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Sepherose

[myrmaad]

I skimmed over this but want to thank Genocide Lolita for stealing my thunder. lol just kidding, but yeah that's pretty much how I see it.

 

It never even occurred to me, old skool gamer that I am, that a game that doesn't offer "upgraded gameplay and graphics" was by definition an expansion.

 

My favorite feature of New Vegas that sets it apart from F3 : the Humor. That's why I fell in love with Nv.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a perpetual rumor that RDR is coming to PC in August 2011. :woot:

[Jokkocze]

New Vegas just has a better fallout-feeling to it. The humor's closer to the original, the characters feel a bit more real and the references to the areas around you, where you've been before in the two real games, just makes it purrfect for me. (Compared to Fallout 3)

 

Also, the whole thing with you not being showered with awesome stuff all the time aswell as the hardcore mode.

[Sepherose]

Fallout 3 > New Vegas

 

Fallout 3 has a good back story to draw the player in. Post apocalyptic land mass > Vegas

 

From the beginning of the game you see your character being born as opposed to New Vegas where you are plopped in the middle of a small town ......

 

Actually, FO3 completely breaks the norm in the overall series by giving you such a definitive background. FO1&2 gave you a bit of background, but the kind of person you were growing up was entirely up to your imagination. FO3 you have to play through important moments in your childhood, and where in reality you would have many choices on how to deal with them, you have to follow a pretty much set path, unless you use mods. Personally, I would have liked to be able to skip the GOAT test, and have my character just focus on certain skills growing up. I also would have liked to beat Butch and all his buddies into a pulpy mass and have them actually respond to me like I had just brought them to the precipice of death with my bare hands. Or maybe use a pencil and shank him when he was causing the problems, making him afraid of you later on in the intro sequence. But, what I really would have preferred is to pick my tag skills and traits (sadly lacking in FO3) and then have to push though vault security to get out, coming up with who I actually am along the way and coloring my actions accordingly.

[Omny]

I don't really see FNV to be either superior or inferior to FO3. I like them both equally, but for different reasons.

 

In Fallout 3, the characters are a lot more "real". Yeah, the voice acting is sub-par and the characters just stare straight ahead at each other making vague hand gestures, but I still managed to feel attached to some of them, especially Moira and James.

 

Not only that, but the setting has more meat on its bones, so to speak. Not only is there always seems to be something new over the horizon wherever you go, but the Capitol Wasteland really looks like it was a nice place to live before the war. Compare that with the Mojave Wasteland, which is pretty flat and boring compared to the rolling hills and crumbling DC Ruins, which are a lot more impressive then the disappointingly small city of New Vegas. Plus, the Mojave Desert in real life is already an arid, God-forsaken hellhole, the only difference is the game adds giant scorpions and rapists in football gear.

 

Of course, it often feels unfinished and quite buggy, which is especially prevalent when you come across a building with missing polygons floating above a blank grey void.

 

Fallout: New Vegas improved a lot of little things in Fallout 3: consolidating Big Guns and Small Guns into just "Guns" and adding Strength requirements, and the new Companion Wheel interface is very useful. There's a lot more variety in weapons, especially with Explosives, Melee, and Unarmed, all of which I found to be quite lacking in Fallout 3 (though I do miss my dear Deathclaw Gauntlet). I also like the addition of different ammo types, as they add more strategy in battles. It's like I'm personally gift-wrapping the bullets to be delivered into my enemies' skulls!

 

The "Survival" skill, however, I found to be quite useless, since I practically trip over Stimpaks in the game every other step, rendering the need to eat or drink food and water pointless. Pretty much the only time I used campfires was to brew chems, which used the Science or Medicine skills rather than Survival. Plus, the "Hardcore" mode was more annoying than immersive. When I'm a badass mo-fo stomping through the wasteland gunning down ghouls with my massive, throbbing minigun, stopping to have a picnic and a nap just breaks the flow.

 

It's also a very cluttered game, with loads of useless loot littering the land. As much as I like different ammo types, I despise having a bunch of shells, cases, powders, primers and other junk cluttering up my already-cluttered inventory. Not to mention the arbitrary need to break down ammo before rebuilding it. Why not just turn regular ammo into hollow point or armor-piercing rounds straight away for, say, 2 regular bullets for 1 hollow-point and 4 for 1 armor-piercing? That seems like a fair trade-off to me. And why the planet of Hell can't I make more than 100 bullets at a time??? If I were to re-design the workbenches, I'd combine both the workbench and the reloading bench together, and just have separate menus come up for ammo, explosives, weapons, tools, etc... if I could be bothered to learn modding skills.

 

So yeah, both games have their strengths and weaknesses. I can't really hold one over the other.