Posted June 23, 2018
I don't get the whole empty world complaints for F3. F1&2's maps were plenty empty too except for the set locations. Wander the wasteland with a shit-ton of random encounters. At least in F3 and later you can actual discover places and the occasional loot stashes that did not need to be tied into some sort of quest line. And then one can just bounce around places at will due to fast travel. Wandering the wastes in the originals was never all that fun. The car in F2 was definitely introduced because of that.
I do agree, the game can be vague at times (intentional or not), leaving many things for the player to interpret to their own liking.
SPOILERS beyond this point. You have been warned.
Manya Vargas explains how Megaton was built, how it all started: "When the war happened, the machines started dropping from the sky. Everyone around here thinks that the bomb made the crater, but it didn't. The crater provided good cover from the dust storms and when my daddy and the rest of the town decided to build the walls, they used what they had." To which the player replies: "There are a lot of parts here for just one machine"... So Manya mentions an "air station a couple of miles from here. It'd been stripped of everything except the planes. My daddy got a bunch of people together to go out there, break apart the machines and drag back what we could use. It took 'em a couple of months." So much so, that in 2277 there's no trace or track of the aforementioned airport. Yet there's edible Pre-War food in a supermarket located near Megaton.
Springvale might not be the most viable solution indeed. Not for the lack of fortifications (could've managed with those seeing they've built a whole town from scratch), but for another reason - its proximity to the bomb. But as one can notice, bombs seem to affect select structures only (see the White House reduced to a crater, while nearby buildings are still standing).
There were at least two better choices for building a large settlement: the D.C. ruins, or anywhere else in the Capital Wasteland, as long as it was far away from the bomb. These people should fear such a destructive weapon (what about learning from past mistakes?), not build a town around it. And hear this - disarming an atomic bomb is easier than disarming a grenade bouquet or a rigged terminal. What does that tell you?
What about launching a mini nuke with the Fat Man and its blast radius (see the battle at GNR)? Then what about all those cars with nuclear reactors? Are they supposed to serve a tactical purpose, even if the basic concept does not make sense? Sure, you can bait enemies near a car or two, or more, and trap them in the explosion with a bit of luck. But that's about it. The Lone Wanderer can disarm traps, but is unable to set them wherever he/she pleases. At least there are mines...
Which brings me to the combat itself: it's rather poor. Three tactics are on display when fighting whatever the game throws at you, namely backpedaling, shooting straight for the enemy's weapon, and using what cover is available (which works quite well actually).
What does it mean playing on Very Hard difficulty? It's all about damage received (200%) vs damage inflicted (50%). Which transforms the enemies into bullet sponges. See, a raider can withstand even two clips from an assault rifle to the face or several shotgun shells to the chest. For comparison purposes a level 12 feral ghoul reaver has no less than 1100 HP, a level 13 albino radscorpion 1500 HP, whereas a level 13 super mutant master only 360 HP.
Now, concerning the behavior of its NPCs. Four examples I've to offer.
How does Amata react if the Lone Wanderer kills her father? She's somewhat upset.
What's Moira's reaction if the player blows up Megaton? "Well, okay, as long as you're sorry. But I expect you to apologize to everyone in town, okay? And don't do it again." Say what?!
What about James' reaction to the same event? He's very disappointed in you.
And finally, let's assume the Lone Wanderer initiates combat in any given settlement or steals something and the inhabitants turn hostile. Return after 3 in-game days and everyone will turn a blind eye, as if nothing would've happened at all. That's some bad memory right there.
Which brings me to the utterly flawed karma system. Let's assume you blow up Megaton. That means -1000 karma points, making you very evil. Broken Steel introduced several karma-related perks, Elevator to Heaven among them. Choosing this perk grants you no less than 2000 karma points, which obviously makes you very good. What's the player supposed to learn here? That his actions bear no real consequences? That can't be!
Anyone familiar with Carlos, the beggar asking for water outside Rivet City? Giving him a single bottle of clean water grants you 50 karma points. According to Bethesda, blowing up a town can be countered by giving away 20 bottles of purified water or Aqua Cura. What's this then? Megaton has a population of roughly 42. In the event of a certain disaster occurring, Moira alone survives (since she was out of town for some odd reason). In other words, a single bottle of water is worth two human lives and some unknown part of a brahmin.
How did Bethesda implement choice and consequence in the unmarked quest Water Beggars? Take for instance Micky, a beggar plopped right in front of Megaton's gates. If the player refuses to give him clean water, Micky will die. A straight up NO leads to a man's demise. Yet no one seems to be aware of him. No one in Megaton (or at the gates) is willing to help this guy. If he dies, no one will pick up the body. No one gives a damn about him.
And some of the locations...
Arefu developed on a collapsed overpass, for everyone to see and take advantage of. No wonder those wannabe vampires killed their brahmin.
Girdershade consists of two shacks in the middle of nowhere, next to raiders and other creatures, such as yao guais, radscorpions and deathclaws. One of the inhabitants is looking to "plow" a "bean field", whereas the other is addicted to Nuka Cola.
The Republic of Dave sits in Old Olney's proximity, an inherently dangerous place.
Dukov's place is surrounded by raiders, mirelurks, super mutants, centaurs, and the occasional Enclave soldier. Yet no one bothers the trio, since Dukov is a crack shot.
Why would Tenpenny want Megaton destroyed? Hoping people will be forced to move in his tower, perhaps? No one seems to bring up the question whether or not these people have the means to pay Tenpenny. Most of them don't have jobs, where are they going to get caps from?
The inhabitants of Andale have taken to cannibalism since their food supply ran out. Apparently they're unaware food can be found in the wasteland, even if it's two centuries old. Nor have they heard about growing crops and animals. Why bother with such nonsense, right? Don't get me wrong now, cannibalism isn't so farfetched in this universe. Heck, the Lone Wanderer can indulge in such practices for -1 karma. Meanwhile, stealing someone's property leads to -5 karma. But I digress.
Have you heard about the Temple of the Union? This derelict building is home to several runaway slaves led by a fella named Hannibal Hamlin, who is all too eager to share their predicament with a complete stranger. Says Hamlin to the Lone Wanderer: "I'm not going to ask you who you are. For the moment, I don't care. We are all escaped slaves. I need your solemn promise not to betray us [...] Until I get that, you cannot leave here." Next thing you know, the Lone Wanderer is off the window (since the gate is locked), unceremoniously giving them the middle finger.
There are so many wrong things with Fallout 3, that I'd take a while to list them all. What baffles me is that folk overlook these glaring issues, rather focusing on coming up with all sorts of theories and excuses, or simply blame it on nostalgia and unwillingness to adapt and accept change. That's just hogwash.
Post edited June 23, 2018 by LiquidOxygen80
