Fallout 3 Review From Sweden

Swedish PCGamer reviews Fallout 3, gives a 81% score, and Dupa got us some bits and pieces in English:

I just got the October issue of  swedish PC gamer and they have a review of the PC version of fallout 3.
In short:
score: 81%
Pros:
VATS
SPECIAL
Megaton at night
Cons:
A feeling of lifeless backdrops
Lifeless/stale Characters
To much on a too small area

Its Written by Joakim Bennet, who has proclaimed love for Fallout many times over the years he has been at PC gamer sweden.

Other short stuff(not quotes):
Vats is great, realtime combat isnt. The realtime combat (damage/hits etc) doesnt seem to be in sync with whats happening on the screen.
HtH combat in 3rd person is just as bad as in oblivion
Bennet misses the world map, random encunters, the empty wastes.
AI isn’t great. Enemies running in circles and no reaction from NPC that gets hot from a long distance is quite common.
You can pick up anything that isn’t bolted to the floor.
The SPECIAL system and Perks works great

He also writes about four important points and compare them to the originals:

The Fallout atmosphere
The story
Combat
Perspective(transition to 3d)
Bennet writes that the game delivers on these four points but not all the way.

Heres some short translated segments (English isn´t perfect though :D):

“I`m going to take the edge of this review right away. Fallout 3 IS “Oblivion with guns”, No matter what i said earlier. There, I said it, now theres no return.”

“…And everything would be wonderful but that feeling that the game is missing something. I cant quite define it, Call it a feeling, call it whatever you want, but when the gates of vault 101 lies far behind me, the eyes have adapted to the light and 15 hours have passed i start to think. About hopes that have fallen short.
Because in fallout 3 i get most things served on a silver plate right away. Bethesda has tried to fit as much content as possible on a little area. One second im running into a pack of Radscorpions while 30 meters further ahead theres a little settler town. Around the corner i meet some slavers with their captured slaves and beyond the hill some raiders have set up camp. A few minutes of running brings me to some ruins swarming with lethal deathclaws that wants to eat me. Its compressed, maximized and anonymous all at once. It feels like a huge orgy where no ones want to actually “do it”. A lot of bumping and grinding but no friction and no excitement. Many parts but they don’t paint a whole picture.”

“Fallout 3 is an uneven game if I´ve ever seen one”

“I manage to “aquire” a house that I decoratedin pre-war style, and my very own robot-butler, Wadsworth, that always greets me with a delighted cry and calls me madame. But when i sit down in an old dusty sofa and listen to Maybe by The Inkspots on my Pipboy 3000, i notice how soulless my own character is. Lifeless eyes, skin that looks like plastic. Fake. Phony. Bethesda still haven’t managed to instill life into many if the people that inhabit their universe.”

He doesn’t like the voice actors but the dialog is good:

“the dialogs will piss people off, but mostly because  they are recorded with voice actors of extremely varying quality. Had some of the lines been put into the original games or vice versa, no one would have complained.”

“… But first and foremost, the game doesn’t let go of you, despite flaws. the story always makes you want to take a few steps more, and after every disappointment there will be a moment of awe. The details, the at times stunning landscape and the possibility to change the main characters look in all eternity.”

“Its hard to let go of my baggage as an old Fallout player, but when i sit down with the third part of the game i really try to stop comparing the games, and at once it feels much better.”

Thanks Dupa.

7 thoughts on “Fallout 3 Review From Sweden

  1. It’s difficult ofcourse to make a Fallout 3 that is almost the same as the previous titles… Time has moved on so that is not a viable option.

    I hope this game will somehow be a ‘reincarnation’ of the spirit of the previous games. I have my copy reserved and I hope Bethesda won’t disappoint me 😛

  2. I’ll be getting a copy of Fallout 3 once I purchase a PS3. Fallout 2 is one of my favorite games of all time and I think this game will equal or even surpass it.

  3. Here’s the thing, by trying to limit the limitless Oblivion engine, there are side effects. For example, when you finish a main quest, side quests are gone.

    Then, gear and weapons need repairing. Please, whose idea was it…

    Be prepared for a lot of disappointment, from a game that really should not have any (like 3rd person view, etc.).

    GameSpot has a lot of quality info (and videos): http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/fallout3/

  4. Old5school good point about weapons and gears which required repair. i don’t understand it lol??
    also i’m not sure but i think u can only repair stuff when its 50%lower of 100% cnd. or this is in the shops only.

    Second think is Inventory i mean what the hell, no images of weapons armors everything look so simple in green pictures ??!!!
    whole idea with fallout was to collect stuff open inventory and see your nice Advanced Power Armor Makr II or your weaps.
    don’t get it how they could release something like that? someone should be fired…
    As for the game itself i think it should be good didn’t go to far yet as im lvl 4 now.
    about different creatures allover the place.
    how can you have simple ants or raiders and behind the corner 2 mutants one with Miniguna when i’m lvl 4 ?. they haven’t been so hard to kill but still?
    in F2 there where locations when you could expect mutants or Enclave Patrols or other, but it was sorted out.
    i think i need to play more and then we will see.

    alan

Leave a comment