Post by FroobUltimate 2.0 on Jul 5, 2015 17:31:42 GMT -4
If E3 is any indication, Fallout 4 could very well be one of the most popular games in the series, and it seems change is coming to the Fallout series in a big way. It appears Bethesda has their shit together, but I have quite a few concerns as to some of the changes in the series that might make it so the game is less enjoyable for people who have been with the series since Fallout 3, or even hardcore vets who have played since that distant year of 1998, when the original Fallout was released. It's clear they want to start appealing to larger audiences, but I have a few reasons why I'm actually seriously debating whether or not I should actually buy it.
Don't get me wrong, this does not mean I don't think Fallout 4 will be a good game. In fact, I think it has potential to be the best in the series. I just believe that quite a few very major changes have been made that could make Fallout 4 to Fallout 3 and New Vegas what Fallout 3 was to the original Fallout games. Fallout 3 was a significant stray from the original game's path, and look at how well those games turned out: entertaining, realistic, immersive-feeling sandbox RPG FPS games with hours of content to enjoy.
However, this leads to the basis of my concerns. You see, Fallout 3 was widely rejected by fans of the original series due to how much they abandoned the original style of the game: a turn-based RPG where strategy is valued over running into combat willy-nilly. It wasn't the same game they knew and loved. Despite this, Fallout three has shipped 4.7 million copies to this day, well beyond the original games. With new fans being introduced to the series by this game, the game got a whole new lease on life. My worry is that it'll be a repeat of that fateful day in 2008: it may have the name on the game case, but it won't be the game we know and love.
So without further ado, here are a few reasons why I fear for the future of Fallout.
1:) Speech is boring
Remember those classic lines in every other Fallout game that just made you laugh out loud when you read them? The options you knew you absolutely HAD to choose for the humor of choosing them? You can kiss that goodbye. Instead of a few lines for your character to say, you now get vague two or three word options which very roughly describe what your character will say. You can kiss the days of Fallout 2 goodbye where your 2 Intelligence character whines about not getting ice cream. Adios to the days where you could literally say 'F*** you' to Colonel Autumn. How about the million hilarious lines that managed to get packed into New Vegas? Well, I can tell you with absolute certainty those days are GONE.
2:) Cinematic speech scenes/styling
This wouldn't be so bad if it didn't absolutely give the finger to one of the best qualities of the past two games: immersion. In F3 and FNV, you feel like you're actually in the shoes of the character. You're the one crossing the bridge into Rivet City. You're the one blowing up an entire Brotherhood of Steel bunker. You're the one toting a Laser Gatling into battle while wearing a winterized T-51b you took from an old pre-war armory. It's YOU in the action. The E3 footage makes it look like it'll feel like you're looking over the shoulder of your character all the time, and the fact there's a voice actor now doesn't help. Instead of being the guy gunning down Enclave officers, you're looking over shoulder of the guy that's ACTUALLY doing it. Sure, gameplay itself will be first person, but that doesn't change how immersion-breaking the third-person cutscenes will be. And although it can be changed, the voice acting will still be a constant reminder that, while you control the character, it isn't YOU.
3:) A plastic look and feel to everything/everything is too perfect
Some might say this fits under the cinematic feel section, but I gave it its own section anyway. This isn't to say the graphics look bad (they're a helluva improvement on Fallout 3,) but they don't look right. Let me explain: everyone looks like a pristine action figure. The dog's fur looks like it's plastered on. The Sole Survivor looks like a G.I. Joe from my childhood. The Vault Outfit and Pip-Boy are unreasonably pristine. The sky is a perfect clear blue despite the obvious destruction around the character that's meant to feel depressing. The power armor looks like it's just been assembled to be shipped out to Anchorage. Even the guns, which, I remind you, are built by YOUR untrained hands most of the time, are all perfect-looking and well-assembled. Let's face facts: Fallout is a gritty, dirty world. It's a ruined world, it's war torn, it's a living hell of a world, and nothing is going to be perfect, not even if you were sealed in a Vault for 200 years. The sky will be a depressing green, the world will be dirt stained, and the armor you use won't look like it was just polished.
4:) It feels more like a movie than a game/they basically turned it into Mass Effect
This is really a combination of the previous three. The game looks like it's meant to be a movie or a new Mass Effect title, and that just isn't how Fallout is. The way speech is, the way everything looks, and several other things that just aren't changes for the better make this look more like a Mass Effect game or a movie than anything else. This isn't to say Mass Effect isn't a good game, but Mass Effect isn't the game series I waited 5 years for to make a new freakin' game. If I wanted Mass Effect, I'd BUY Mass Effect.
5:) Still uses outdated Gamebryo Engine
Of all the things they could've changed, this had to be the one they didn't. It's clear they wanted to at least try for ground-breaking visuals, and yet this engine is still in use for some reason.
This is why I'm honestly concerned that the Fallout we know and love is dead. Combat mechanics are widely the same, which means all will be okay on that front, but the way the game feels will be different, and no longer the game we know. We've waited for a new installment to this widely beloved series, but, in the end, it just won't be the same.
But hey, don't knock it if you haven't tried it. I guess I really need to try it first before I actually judge it. I'm judging this based on trailers and leaked gameplay footage, so I really can't say any of these will really effect the game without trying it. Who knows? It could end up being the best in the series.
Don't get me wrong, this does not mean I don't think Fallout 4 will be a good game. In fact, I think it has potential to be the best in the series. I just believe that quite a few very major changes have been made that could make Fallout 4 to Fallout 3 and New Vegas what Fallout 3 was to the original Fallout games. Fallout 3 was a significant stray from the original game's path, and look at how well those games turned out: entertaining, realistic, immersive-feeling sandbox RPG FPS games with hours of content to enjoy.
However, this leads to the basis of my concerns. You see, Fallout 3 was widely rejected by fans of the original series due to how much they abandoned the original style of the game: a turn-based RPG where strategy is valued over running into combat willy-nilly. It wasn't the same game they knew and loved. Despite this, Fallout three has shipped 4.7 million copies to this day, well beyond the original games. With new fans being introduced to the series by this game, the game got a whole new lease on life. My worry is that it'll be a repeat of that fateful day in 2008: it may have the name on the game case, but it won't be the game we know and love.
So without further ado, here are a few reasons why I fear for the future of Fallout.
1:) Speech is boring
Remember those classic lines in every other Fallout game that just made you laugh out loud when you read them? The options you knew you absolutely HAD to choose for the humor of choosing them? You can kiss that goodbye. Instead of a few lines for your character to say, you now get vague two or three word options which very roughly describe what your character will say. You can kiss the days of Fallout 2 goodbye where your 2 Intelligence character whines about not getting ice cream. Adios to the days where you could literally say 'F*** you' to Colonel Autumn. How about the million hilarious lines that managed to get packed into New Vegas? Well, I can tell you with absolute certainty those days are GONE.
2:) Cinematic speech scenes/styling
This wouldn't be so bad if it didn't absolutely give the finger to one of the best qualities of the past two games: immersion. In F3 and FNV, you feel like you're actually in the shoes of the character. You're the one crossing the bridge into Rivet City. You're the one blowing up an entire Brotherhood of Steel bunker. You're the one toting a Laser Gatling into battle while wearing a winterized T-51b you took from an old pre-war armory. It's YOU in the action. The E3 footage makes it look like it'll feel like you're looking over the shoulder of your character all the time, and the fact there's a voice actor now doesn't help. Instead of being the guy gunning down Enclave officers, you're looking over shoulder of the guy that's ACTUALLY doing it. Sure, gameplay itself will be first person, but that doesn't change how immersion-breaking the third-person cutscenes will be. And although it can be changed, the voice acting will still be a constant reminder that, while you control the character, it isn't YOU.
3:) A plastic look and feel to everything/everything is too perfect
Some might say this fits under the cinematic feel section, but I gave it its own section anyway. This isn't to say the graphics look bad (they're a helluva improvement on Fallout 3,) but they don't look right. Let me explain: everyone looks like a pristine action figure. The dog's fur looks like it's plastered on. The Sole Survivor looks like a G.I. Joe from my childhood. The Vault Outfit and Pip-Boy are unreasonably pristine. The sky is a perfect clear blue despite the obvious destruction around the character that's meant to feel depressing. The power armor looks like it's just been assembled to be shipped out to Anchorage. Even the guns, which, I remind you, are built by YOUR untrained hands most of the time, are all perfect-looking and well-assembled. Let's face facts: Fallout is a gritty, dirty world. It's a ruined world, it's war torn, it's a living hell of a world, and nothing is going to be perfect, not even if you were sealed in a Vault for 200 years. The sky will be a depressing green, the world will be dirt stained, and the armor you use won't look like it was just polished.
4:) It feels more like a movie than a game/they basically turned it into Mass Effect
This is really a combination of the previous three. The game looks like it's meant to be a movie or a new Mass Effect title, and that just isn't how Fallout is. The way speech is, the way everything looks, and several other things that just aren't changes for the better make this look more like a Mass Effect game or a movie than anything else. This isn't to say Mass Effect isn't a good game, but Mass Effect isn't the game series I waited 5 years for to make a new freakin' game. If I wanted Mass Effect, I'd BUY Mass Effect.
5:) Still uses outdated Gamebryo Engine
Of all the things they could've changed, this had to be the one they didn't. It's clear they wanted to at least try for ground-breaking visuals, and yet this engine is still in use for some reason.
This is why I'm honestly concerned that the Fallout we know and love is dead. Combat mechanics are widely the same, which means all will be okay on that front, but the way the game feels will be different, and no longer the game we know. We've waited for a new installment to this widely beloved series, but, in the end, it just won't be the same.
But hey, don't knock it if you haven't tried it. I guess I really need to try it first before I actually judge it. I'm judging this based on trailers and leaked gameplay footage, so I really can't say any of these will really effect the game without trying it. Who knows? It could end up being the best in the series.
