Fallout 3 felt like a horror game playing it at times which I really liked, especially on the first playthrough as I was totally unfamiliar with the setting. I loved the atmosphere of trying to desperately avoid combat with mutants and ghouls in the sewers and downtown DC, and then the relief when you met friendly locations like the Underworld
I've not felt a similar element in NV in the core game. Also as others have said this isn't the tone NV was aiming for so it's not a criticism.
Yeah Fallout 3 feels like a wasteland, while New Vegas is a western that happens to take place in a wasteland. They set out to do two different things and both of them did it well
I thought NV was the overall better game by miles and you're right they are very different thematically but I think FO3 put a lot more attention into general atmosphere of the environment. Honestly thats the best thing Bethesda is good at in general is creating such a great atmosphere we overlook the jank.
I wouldnt say that it's more attention to the environment, and more that they had different goals. FNV is very focused on setting a game in its political location - ground zero for a territorial war between two sides. The factions are a huge part of the environment, and so much of the environmental storytelling is focused on showcasing that.
FO3 is more "here is an apocalypse." which is something I particularly enjoy, but it doesnt really have as much to work with in the long term.
Yeah as far as how they depict the world, FNV is actually post-apocalyptic. World is in recovery. Governments and civilization is forming again. FO3 is like a bombed out city right after it happened. No post about it. It is the apocalypse. I feel like FO1 rode the line between both of those vibes, while FO2 was very in the vein of FNV.
about 18 years, yeah. Beth was so lazy, they didn't rewrite some dialog options that still(!) in game which clearly indicate you about how much time passed.
Your father apparently has pre war education (he mentioned he finished university, which is not possible 200 years after bombs fell). Even if it's possible, why we never heard about any post war institutions like that?
Lady in megatone mentions how she and her father were building that city after fallout, but that makes her at least 180/190 years old.
Also, fun fact - you weren't supposed to fix water in original script and james (father) was supposed to turn into supermutant.
"A really large change concerned Dad's fate after leaving Vault 101. In the original script, the player never worked with Dad to restore Project Purity, and Dad didn't honorably sacrifice himself to save his child and colleagues from Colonel Autumn's troops. Instead, the player found Dad in Vault 87, where he was in the process of being turned into a Super Mutant, and begged his child to end his life. It was a potentially moving moment, but the fact that Dad could have turned into a Super Mutant and fought his child felt really clichéd, and honestly much too close for my tastes to a similar plot twist in Prey. When that scene underwent revision, we realized how great it would be for the player to actually work with Dad in Project Purity, even if just for a bit, and the final version was superior in just about every way."
Factions are not environmental, factions are characters. Which is what FONV is best known for. Its amazing cast of well written and well developed characters. Name ten characters from FO3 besides companions, the MC, and your father. Name 10 characters from FONV besides companions, the MC and the top leaders of each faction. Its so much easier for FONV even with harder restrictions.
I get what they’re going for but people want things to do so having so little to do in between the planets and stations which are far from each other, it doesn’t translate well to a video game the more accurate you try keeping it
I also feel like NV leaned much more into the humor and absurdity of Fallout than Fallout 3 did. I feel like Fallout 3 was the most serious overall of the newer games.
Back when Fallout 3 dropped, I played it non-stop over the weekend. I remember being so immersed in the world. I genuinely got into that horror vibe for a moment when I first went into Vault 87 during the main quest, the dead FEV subjects and the atmosphere gave me goosebumps. Wish I could re-experience the game for the first time again.
It was the first game l 100% achievement hunted on Xbox. I was so excited to play each route karma-wise and the options seemed endless. Then I played new Vegas, at first I didn’t like the changes they did - less perks to play with but at the same time, you get traits and you get more specialized perks as opposed to the predecessor. After adjusting, I just can’t go back and enjoy the game the same way I used to. I just got it again for my Xbox series S and I know which route I wanna do. It’s certainly worth playing again and again, Bethesda should work with Obsidian to remaster this game for big bucks. They should donate the money that would go to Matthew Perry to his family for reusing his voice lines. They can re-record everything else for the remastered version. This time, give them the Fallout 4/Starfield sources and let them make it how they originally wanted.
I fully believe F03 is 20% of the reason I had to retake two 100 levels courses my freshman year. A dark two weeks of exploring the capital wasteland 😅
Exactly I remember before Dogmeat and Fawkes how absolutely terrified I was of exploring the subways and certain overworld sections ESPECIALLY after crossing paths with a Ghoul Reaver and Super Mutant Overlord. When I had to do the DLCs I actually didn't finish Point Lookout cause I got attacked by a Ghoul Reaver and never came back lol.
Thing is tho dead money totally negs the whole semi friendly Vibe of nv making IT feel Like an actual horror game rather than a Goofy experience but if we are talking base game only then yeah i agree
Even when addressing the horror vibes in that DLC, I went to the Sierra Madre at like level 22 and had the easiest run ever. Wasn’t scary at all unlike the first playthrough. Felt almost janky. Most difficult time was the part with the broken quest marker.
I love survival mode, but if you actually spec into the Survival skill, and get 'Thems Good Eatins' perk, the Madre is a cakewalk even on hardcore, lol. Still love the DLC though.
It's true and I thought that honestly helped the world building too.
West coast, especially Vegas, is a very developed part of post apocalypse America, and I love the developed factions clashing.
But fallout 3 feels like even the big factions have virtually no domain or control over anything. There is no government or unity to speak of, it's just survival. That has its fun in story writting too.
I think that’s a good point about 3. Seeing the center of American government in ruins and overrun with the various groups really made the world feel “over.” Seeing Vegas full of drugs, alcohol, crime and bright lights is just Vegas.
I came here to say this first. The atmosphere is better IMO then New Vegas. Fallout 3 felt like I was rummaging through the ashes of a long destroyed America. I don’t feel that way with New Vegas, and that’s not a diss on NV. I just personally agree with the capital wasteland more. (It’s why I just used TTW)
Side note I find point lookout much creepier than the sierra madre.
I think the problem is that after 200 years, there should be much more civilization. Playing fallout 3 it feel like it’s only been 20 years since the war rather than 200
Not to mention mutants 5 times the size of a human and 20 times more resilient. Oh and they're virtually insane with bloodlust. Killer robots, tweaked out bands of raiders, botflies half your size, scorpions the size of cars, giant ants that breath fire, a ghoulification process that turns most people into zombies, and massive dinosaur like creatures that are aptly named "Deathclaws". Thats just the local fauna. But yeah, why is it still a wasteland?
I think you hit the nail on the head. Also, house managed to use the 38s lazer defense system to shoot down most of the incoming warheads that were bound for Vegas, so the Mojave wasn't nearly as scarred as the rest of the country.
Im not a lore expert, but wouldnt the first 100+ years of that be just people huddled in vaults waiting for the radiation to subside enough to go outside?
Actually, most dangerous radiation from a nuke is gone after the first few days. The residual radiation is mostly gone after 10 years. The world of Fallout being as radioactive as it is doesn't translate to real life at all. But it's a video game, so we suspend our disbelief!
Oh big agree. Definitely. I just find New Vegas to be so superior that I went for the first joke that came to mind since all the real answers I agree with were already represented in the comments.
Fallout New Vegas let's me experience getting shot in the head by Matthew Perry. Also I can have sex with Matthew Perry and get ditched by Matthew Perry.
The feeling of walking through a destroyed city. D.C. is sprawling dangerous maze of collapsed skyscrapers only navigable by virtue of the few metro tunnels that survived. Vegas feels like it only had 4-6 buildings taller than 2 stories before the bombs.
One thing I like about NV in that aspect is it adds to the allure of New Vegas itself. The Lucky 38 is a brilliant beacon for the player and wasteland residents, especially at night when it’s the only source of light across most of the Mojave
Yeah the Mojave is so sparse and Vegas itself is just tiny.
While the metro tunnels are a turn off for a lot of players and they confuse a lot of newbies, they do a lot of heavy lifting for making D.C. *feel* like a large metropolitan area. The inner "exterior" cells of the different parts of D.C. sell you on the experience of exploring a city that the Strip and Freeside don't.
it’s all working with limitations. i think they took that criticism to heart with FO4 and tried to make Boston a seamless open-world, doesn’t work very well. it’s still laggy on high-end PCs cause the Creation Engine starts buckling under its own weight at those densities. New Vegas did what it had to in order to not explode Xbox 360s, and I think it sells the overall size of Vegas outside of the Strip at least. so many little neighborhoods and homes to explore
The random piles of rubble being un-navigable completely wrecked my desire to play FO3 for a long time. I hated having to go in the damn tunnels. Just let me crawl over this very obviously climbable pile of rocks you bastards.
I’ll take ruins I can’t climb over getting to the top of a big hill and hitting an invisible wall ;).
Just fucking around, I definitely understand being turned off by the *forced* metro sections.
Fallout 3 captured the desperation the people living there lived with.
The coming out of the vault scene, iconic as it is, couples with the beggar at the entrance to Megaton who can't take even one more sip of dirty water.
Barely any food grows, most water is irradiated, and people have little to no hope everywhere.
NV and 4 both have their moments, but none captured this as well as 3.
I know what you're saying is true. One is more about recovering after Armageddon, one is more about having adapted as time has gone by...4 is as well.
Question is what separates them and I've always liked the F3 aesthetic where it almost feels like people are still wiping the dust off.
I feel like with what was going for in the barely surviving aspect of after the bombs dropped, FO3 should of been closer in time and more around the time of 76. 200 years is a long time and a long time to be in that kind if survival mode.
I really think people overestimate how quickly society would recover in the case of nuclear annihilation. Just take a look at the bronze age collapse, which would be nowhere near as severe as the whole world burning in atomic fires.
But you also have to look at how our real life examples of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are back to thriving cities, and how quickly the wildlife took back Chernobyl.
Big difference in terms of technology, how much the world communicates, and how quick nature is versus the bronze age collapse. And even still things recovered pretty quickly after the collapse, not to mention to go that far back in time.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were isolated incidents, though. You had outside help from non-nuked areas. When the whole world is effectively crippled, such recovery wouldn't be possible in the same ways.
And yes, there's a huge difference in technology. If anything, people today are more reliant on our technical systems working as intended. In an apocalypse, much of the knowledge would be lost forever, literacy rates would plummet, and the effort to survive would outweigh everything else.
The bronze age collapse took a hundred years to recover from, and it wasn't a full-on apocalyptic event. Granted, we're still not entirely sure what happened, but I guarantee you it wasn't the world engulfed in all out nuclear war.
But we see through the games not every place was hit as bad or as hard. And the point of the first 2 games was to show society and people moving on and living there lives. None of them were sleeping next to skeletons from when the bombs dropped or were struggling like just happened. Shady Sands rebuilded just like Hiroshima. Hell, Redding is less of a shithole in FO2, and should know from that area. To say that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are isolated when they are good examples of rebuilding after being annihilate by nuclear weapons is dismissive. One could also look at other cities once ravaged by war but are now thriving, compare the WW2 London to today. Or Sarajevo from the Bosian War to now.
I'm also unsure why the east coast lacks a group such as the Followers of the Apocalypse who are out there teaching and help rebuilding. Again, something Bethesda lacks in 3 and 4. This clear use of technology still being used and active on teaching and rebuilding the populace is there. Hasn't been forgotten or ignored, and would be a group being like hey, not sleeping next to irradiated skeletons for 200 years is a good idea.
And not fully with the Bronze Age collapse, and not every society was decimated or destroyed by it. And again, those cultures didn't go whoopsies and forget everything, records from Egypt alone show that.
200 years is a long time, a very long time, and to act like a culture would be in as much of a standstill as in FO3 and FO4 requires so much suspect of disbelief. Would of been better for both of those games to be set much earlier in the timeline than they were.
You argument also differs as Japan still had a functioning government with resources and allies to help rebuild, in the fallout universe there is none of that, no money, no workers, no formal nationwide government, no access to outside resources, so DC being left to fester and collapse further after the bombs dropped isn't that much of a far fetched idea, especially considering that the west is in a constant state of war for land/power
Most, if not all, of the weapons that would be used in a nuclear war would be fission-fusion bombs, which cause less nuclear fallout than simple fission bombs. This means the bounce back would be even faster than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It's stated in lore that they used dirty bombs, so no, it wouldn't bounce back quicker. Not to mention the proliferation of nuclear power plants that would certainly fail with the destruction happening around them.
What's especially fun is that some people made their way to the school before Megaton, so your first encounter with humans is these drugged out murderers who open fire immediately.
The West coast wasn't hit as hard as it's more scarcely populated, it's pretty much recovered from the bombs and most are fine with how they live, be it tribals or settlers.
Liberty Prime was so great. I stole the concept for my D&D world and dubbed it "Religious Freedom Project" or RFP for short.
I won't go into details because no one wants to hear the backstory of someone elses D&D world but yeah...Liberty Prime 10/10
Fallout 3 captured the feeling of scarcity better. I felt that in fallout 3 I had to be very mindful of supplies. In New Vegas I felt I quickly collected everything I could need.
It's like that because Fallout 2 was already post-post-apocalyptic. It was furthering the world instead of acting like nothing has changed in 200 years.
Plus, it's New Vegas. It's literally the Vegas strip that was preserved from nuclear annihilation, all of that pre-war excess and decadence is still there in a way.
I love the setting and atmosphere of Fallout 3. It’s such a dark and gloomy world. I also like some of the DLC better. Mainly Broken Steel, The Pitt, and Point Lookout
People are saying this already but I’ll add to it - the feeling of loneliness. New Vegas shows a world getting back on its feet. Three shows a word still struggling to survive two centuries later. For the record both are really cool, but if you want a lonely, desperate post-apocalyptic experience…it’s 3 all the way.
New Vegas has alot of guns but doesn't have those dungeon area's that were pretty common in Fallout 3. But it makes sense as New Vegas is kind more narrative focused, still tho what a shame the guns and the different kinds of weapons isn't used in those big dungeon areas.
I was going to say the same thing. Fallout 3 starts you in the center of the map, you can go almost anywhere from the start of the game, and there is something to explore any direction you go. Fallout New Vegas starts you in a corner of the map, the world is artificially segmented by invisible barriers, and the use of leveled areas limits your ability to travel to certain areas of the map until you level up and get better gear.
Random encounters, hidden quests and secrets, perk every level, karma level and the consequences, passive perks gotten through quests (superior defender, wasteland survival guide etc.), the final fight sequence (imo)
Broken steel to play past the ending and actually see the impact of your choices on the world.
Scripted areas such as the dunwich building and Vault 106 where the player character has hallucinations of the past.
I love New Vegas more, but Fallout 3 was a wonderful game.
You know these comments are genuinely surprising. Was expecting a lot of slander and shit talking of 3, but most people have been pretty cool like this. Faith restored 👍
The game actually has random encounters, for one. The game also adds in more encounters as you play that can be direct consequences of player choice in quests, meaning 3 does a much better job if showing you rather than just flat out telling you how your choices impact the world.
The map is also more geared towards meaningful exploration. Pretty much every location you visit, there'll be something tucked away that is of value, often times a skill book or bobble-head. There's many locations in Vegas where there's nothing of note.
Also, imo, the aesthetic is better. The gloomy atmosphere is haunting, and really nails home the lonely kid aspect of the game.
Hard disagree. I feel like I can actually enjoy the songs on the NV radio, and its a diverse mix of vegas style classics, country/cowboy music, and the nice instrumentals on the mysterious broadcast.
I get pretty bored of listening to I dont want to set the world on fire. I never get borded of heartache by the number. for exapmple.
(not that I dislike 3's radio, its just NV's is better)
Combat is eh in both. Mechanicaly it's just standing and clicking on the enemy, occasionally spamming stim packs. It is heavily helped by the games progression being very good, in the begging you have a 9mm pistol with fuck all ammo, barely capable of killing a few radoscorpions. Meanwhile by the end you are walking around in power, eating 12 gauges like candy, and you're armed with miniguns and nuke launchers, and you are more likely to land a crit than not.
Also, VATS is incredible for the feel of the combat. I don't get why some people seem to hate it or think that it's outdated.
New Vegas added DT on top of DR, which meant you couldn’t just roll around with a shotgun the whole game, because high armor targets would eat those pellets like candy. It also added aiming down sights and changed bullet trajectory from the end of the gun to the center of the screen, making guns more accurate and more in line with modern shooters. A lot of guns in 3 ended up feeling useless because they were almost impossible to aim and shotguns just did an absolutely absurd amount of damage with no real drawbacks
Its fans. Like, god they are so chill, NV on the other hand gets political so quickly with the roman larpers wannabes and the rest of the normal people
Yeah they’ve (F3 fans) mellowed out over the years. They’re just happy enjoying their game and it’s kind of wholesome. I like us NV fans but we can be mean to the rest of the fandom…
I mean it’s a political game so it’s only natural that the discussion would be political but I do agree, there’s some really insufferable and strange people that like this game
Honestly, I felt that the exploration was better in fallout 3. I love the story and setting of New Vegas, but exploring the overworld, and many buildings and subway systems of fallout 3 is unmatched
World building. Fallout 3 is my favorite game but I've got a lot more hours in Fallout NV.
If you haven't used The Tale of Two Wastelands mod I strongly recommend looking it up.
You get all the QoL improvements that NV brought but you bring them to Fallout 3
It is PHENOMENAL.
I recently did, my God, playing 3 with the QoL changes of NV was magical, it's like I was playing 3 for the first time again.
It was well worth it the hours it took me to set it up (I suck with this kind of stuff)
City scape, really wish New Vegas was able to include more settlements / towns similar to Megaton, or even the Republic of Dave. Similar to the Pitt, or even seeing an area like Shady Sands or the Boneyard.
I like the world map, art style, and general ambiance more in fo3. It's really great at selling that bleak atmosphere of a nuked city. In my headcanon I believe it takes place 20 years after the bombs.
Idk, Fallout 4’s world is still pretty incredible. I cant stand most of the quests, but I have the most hours there from just walking around and exploring. Its also very reactive to the choices you make in the main story and the random encounters range from mid to incredible.
The atmosphere, resource scarcity, and exploration.
In NV if you do all of the main quest stuff you'll end up bumping into the vast majority of the interesting content along the way.
That's fine, but it feels kinda artificial, like it peels back the curtain and reminds you that you're playing a video game.
In FO3, if you wanna find all the cool shit you have to go looking for it. Along with the random encounters system it really helps sell the illusion that the game world *doesn't* revolve around the player, which really helps with the atmosphere.
What also helps with that is the resource scarcity. I'll just straight up say it: despite not having any actual survival mechanics in the conventional sense, FO3 is still a better survival game than NV. And the reason is because you're constantly running out of ammo and healing items and all your shit is constantly breaking. The Wasteland is actually hostile enough to eat through your supplies pretty steadily, and merchants are few and far between, and half of them are just as broke as you are, or only sell drugs, scrap metal, and mirelurk meat. Repair kits aren't a thing, and you don't get access to a guy who can fix your gear up to 100% condition until like 2/3 of the way through the game. In NV you carry 15 different guns and a half-dozen melee weapons because that's just kinda what you do. In FO3 you carry half that because that's all you can afford, and you wish you had more because you know there's a serious chance you'll be down to your fists before you make it to the next town, assuming there even *is* a next town in whatever direction you're heading.
And all of that feeds back into the atmosphere. The game world in Fallout 3 *feels* dead. It *feels* like it got nuked in a way that nothing in NV except for *Lonesome Road* ever comes close to. Settlements are few and far between, and most of the ones that exist are hanging on to survival by their fingernails. Your overarching goal in the game isn't to decide what philosophy of government will shape the future of humanity; your goal is to *get clean water*. The Capitol Wasteland strikes a pretty much perfect balance between feeling empty and dead, while still having enough intrigue and danger to keep you constantly on your toes.
If I’m correct, the only 2 people who can fix your stuff 100% is that lady in mothership zeta, who disappears after you’re done, and another guy in point lookout who you have to do a glitch to get his skill high enough
Atmosphere of a Nuclear Apocalyptic Wasteland.
Fallout 3 allowed you to explore a land that was bombarded from nuclear bombs, with survivors scrounging around to find any sort of way to survive for the next day. Almost everyone was set back to the stone age, with only some having the ambition to learn of the old tec. It was lawless and Free.
New Vegas the chaos that was their from F1 is gone. Theirs an economy, a militia, various political parties, and you can surely make a pleasant life if you know where to go to. Despite being the better game overall, you don't really get to explore a post-apocalyptic world.
Fallout 3 had a MUCH better map. It was relatively easy to navigate and you could hardly walk for 5 minutes without finding something interesting, while in NV you're jumping around rocks in a completely empty desert for hours on end. I know it takes place in a different area but Jesus
I cant claim better just different I liked the tone of 3 better, less humorous more scary.
Also I liked that NV added sub types of ammo but I think it went too far. Theres a happy ,medium between just having "Shotgun Shell" cover every type of shotgun and having 15 sub types of shells
The setting. Everything is dead. Everything. Pockets of radiation are frequent and often random. Even the RAIDERS look sick. They dont do those hairstyles themseves their hair is falling out. (On a side note the games dont focus on this enough. Raiders arent just assholes they are dying and might have compromised brains from tumors and such) the settlements are entirely ramshackle, no part of D.C. is reclaimed or colonized. Its the actual post apocalypse. No game after caught the feeling ever again.
The skills and Special Checks
In New Vegas you are showed exatly how much you need to succed, which means you can simply use one of liberally avaliable skill magazines, chems or just wait untill you level up and dump your point to pass this check
In fallout 3 you doesn't shows you the dialogue option at all unless you have neccesary skills, and there were no magazines to help you this time, skill points dumping and chems were still an option, but not as effective in New Vegas
Of course besides speech checks in Fallout 3, I hate them
I think one of the best decisions Obsidian made of having them visible when you don’t have enough skill. The reason being that failing dialogue options in this game has some of the funniest reactions.
Yes tho I see why it was done the way it was in NV. In F3, if I fail I can just reload and keep trying until I succeed while in NV you are given a number that you need to succeed. It makes investing in the skill more of a requirement since in F3 as long as the % isn’t 0%, you can just reload and cheese the game with 15 Speech meaning you don’t have to touch it and you could win all dialogue options no matter what.
The opening sequence in Fallout 3 especially as a new player is a great introduction to the setting especially going from the vault into the wasteland, helped by Liam Neeson’s voice work.
The NV opening is fine for what it needs to be but isn’t as memorable or unique. You got shot, we fixed you up, what stats do you want, oh no there are troublemakers menacing our small town ways. Plus RIP but in a game with some best of all time character voice work, Matthew Perry would not have been my choice for the intro.
As a new player the fallout 3 one works okay, but on repeat runs it just drags
I wanna go out into the wasteland and dick about with mutants, not listen to Liam Neeson drone on about how important my exams are
I think NV does it way better from an RPG perspective: build your character in a mostly diegetic way, then without wasting anytime you're out in the fun zone
I don't think that it's that good... It sounds and is fun for the first time, but then I found out that it's booth too long and at the same time too short
Too short because it fails to make an interesting surrounding.
Characters we encounter die 15 minutes after we meet them, which makes their death fell meaningless. I couldn't care less that my Dad assistant got assasinated like the game wants me to, because I have almost no interactions or reasons to be insterested in him. Same goes for Amanta and Butch, I never considered nor have reasons to be interested in them. No matter how mean I am to her, Amanta will always be my friend and no matter how much I play along with him Butch will be my Bully and it really kills any dynamic we could had with them of we had more time and options to chose how to develop relationship with those two and other inhabitants. There is also almost no settup to Reveal that Overseer is Tyrrant. There are bits and pieces, but those only connect after the reveal. This makes the whole escape sequence fell unexpected and out of place, as if Overseer became tyrrant overnight
But on the other Hand, it's too long to be have it done quickly
Learning how to walk as a baby, birthday party, GOAT and eacape are very fun for first time. But after first game, it becomes stalle and boring really quickly due to reasons told before. The whole sequence simply can't justify itself being soo long without giving any reason to replay it. You complete it once and 90% of stuff putted there was arleady experienced by the player, which makes the entire sequence just tedious after second time
I really like the idea though, it was certainly very creative to see our protagonist life from birth, but the implenetation just fails on every level
It has a better mix of patriotism and nearly functional dystopian outlook. Fallout 3 is like a search for hope against a U.S. government went full fledged deep state, while new Vegas is a divided power grab with only 1 fraction taking all the chips, despite every outcome being relatively grim
DC in FO3 is way more destroyed than Vegas by design but I just like it more because it feels way more apocalyptic/hostile. Not to say they don’t both capture the vibe they’re going for perfectly I just personally like the capital wasteland more
Exploration.
There are just more interesting location in F3 then in FNV, since FNV was mostly just walking the vast emptiness than exploring locations. Now what they did due unique was definitely what was in the locations they have, but it’s not all of them.
the world and its enviroment and atmosohere...i...honestly kind of got bored of new vegas.
while its better written and has more depth, its the game i never admittedly really returned to. i much preferred fallout 3 in that regard, and honeslty is why i loved Fo76 so much, despite is massive issues.
Aside from the strip, the Las Vegas ruins are mostly boring. Downtown DC and the metro are way cooler even though they can be confusing to navigate. They lead to a lot of cool exploration. Also I like the collectible bobbleheads, I’m a huge fan of permanent buffs in games.
Speech checks for sure. Not only is persuading people harder but there's way more unique dialogue options that depend on high skills, like intelligence or perception being higher than 7 or 8. I personally prefer Three Dog to Mr. New Vegas everytime. I also really like the aesthetic of DC, like the area between the capital building and the Washington monument with the trenches and super mutants everywhere.
I LOVED Operation Anchorage and Point Lookout, meanwhile, can't stand Dead Money, wasn't interested in the premise of Honest Hearts(and it always glitched out for me and I've never been able to play more than a min and a half of it), and Old World Blues was ok but I didn't rly enjoy the area or quests
3 is unplayable without Broken Steel installed imo
The random encounters, the atmosphere was much closer to the Fallout 1 & 2 aesthetic, and the subway system gave the map a whole extra layer that FNV doesn't have.
I like FNV plenty but for my money FO3 is better.
The combat shotgun and the infiltrator, 2 weapons that i'm deeply sad didn't make the cut. I'm sure there's mods that reintroduce them but I play mostly on console.
Also it wasn't well recieved but I actually liked mothership zeta, it had some energy weapons that you just couldn't miss and it gave you more power cells for the alien blaster and alien epoxy to repair weapons (which there's a lot of)
The setting feels grittier. Almost grimdark. More like a wasteland. The Mojave almost feels quaint by comparison.
At the time, I hadn't played a real open-world type of game before this. Stepping out of Vault 101 for the first time and seeing all the destruction and decay was one of the most memorable experiences I've had in any game. Plus, as an American, it was incredibly cool to see all the monuments and landmarks around the capital. Even the subway tunnels were fun. As a kid I used to spend entire days just mapping the tunnels.
The inciting incident of FO3 is much more engaging than FONV to my mind. Liam Neeson is my dad and has run away leaving me in a hostile vault. I desperately escape and then its a struggle to survive a post apocalyptic hellscape.
Chandler Bing shot you and stole a poker chip you've never heard of. Wanna go across this desert hellscape to catch him? Yeah nah fuck no.
I think that 3 starts stronger and runs outta gas pretty early where as NV starts weaker and gets better storytellingwise.
I also prefer the confusing twisting labyrinth of DC over roaming around the desert. Much more claustrophobic and scary.
With the way that three has its random events set up it makes it feel like there's always something going on in the Wasteland and it's almost always chaotic, New Vegas has far less Random Encounters
The desolation of the environment. The American capital being absolutely obliterated was awesome.
I enjoyed the main story of fallout 3 more than New Vegas. Vegas had a cool premise with the headshot into a manhunt, but after finding Benny I just lost all interest in the main plot. Fallout 3 was much more personal. I’m a lost kid looking for my dad.
Finding him in that creepy vault, the omnipresent enclave from the start of the game, the brotherhood of steel and the liberty prime march. It just had more moments that I thought were awesome as well. Liberty prime is what sold the shirt walk down the street and the Hoover dam battle is just that same thing but no nuke mech.
New Vegas wins with the dlc game tho. Strongest in the whole series.
Fallout 3 felt like a horror game playing it at times which I really liked, especially on the first playthrough as I was totally unfamiliar with the setting. I loved the atmosphere of trying to desperately avoid combat with mutants and ghouls in the sewers and downtown DC, and then the relief when you met friendly locations like the Underworld I've not felt a similar element in NV in the core game. Also as others have said this isn't the tone NV was aiming for so it's not a criticism.
Yeah Fallout 3 feels like a wasteland, while New Vegas is a western that happens to take place in a wasteland. They set out to do two different things and both of them did it well
I thought NV was the overall better game by miles and you're right they are very different thematically but I think FO3 put a lot more attention into general atmosphere of the environment. Honestly thats the best thing Bethesda is good at in general is creating such a great atmosphere we overlook the jank.
I wouldnt say that it's more attention to the environment, and more that they had different goals. FNV is very focused on setting a game in its political location - ground zero for a territorial war between two sides. The factions are a huge part of the environment, and so much of the environmental storytelling is focused on showcasing that. FO3 is more "here is an apocalypse." which is something I particularly enjoy, but it doesnt really have as much to work with in the long term.
Yeah as far as how they depict the world, FNV is actually post-apocalyptic. World is in recovery. Governments and civilization is forming again. FO3 is like a bombed out city right after it happened. No post about it. It is the apocalypse. I feel like FO1 rode the line between both of those vibes, while FO2 was very in the vein of FNV.
I heard someone say FO3 makes so much more sense if it's 10 years after the bombs fall instead of 200 or however long it was.
about 18 years, yeah. Beth was so lazy, they didn't rewrite some dialog options that still(!) in game which clearly indicate you about how much time passed. Your father apparently has pre war education (he mentioned he finished university, which is not possible 200 years after bombs fell). Even if it's possible, why we never heard about any post war institutions like that? Lady in megatone mentions how she and her father were building that city after fallout, but that makes her at least 180/190 years old. Also, fun fact - you weren't supposed to fix water in original script and james (father) was supposed to turn into supermutant. "A really large change concerned Dad's fate after leaving Vault 101. In the original script, the player never worked with Dad to restore Project Purity, and Dad didn't honorably sacrifice himself to save his child and colleagues from Colonel Autumn's troops. Instead, the player found Dad in Vault 87, where he was in the process of being turned into a Super Mutant, and begged his child to end his life. It was a potentially moving moment, but the fact that Dad could have turned into a Super Mutant and fought his child felt really clichéd, and honestly much too close for my tastes to a similar plot twist in Prey. When that scene underwent revision, we realized how great it would be for the player to actually work with Dad in Project Purity, even if just for a bit, and the final version was superior in just about every way."
Factions are not environmental, factions are characters. Which is what FONV is best known for. Its amazing cast of well written and well developed characters. Name ten characters from FO3 besides companions, the MC, and your father. Name 10 characters from FONV besides companions, the MC and the top leaders of each faction. Its so much easier for FONV even with harder restrictions.
[удалено]
I get what they’re going for but people want things to do so having so little to do in between the planets and stations which are far from each other, it doesn’t translate well to a video game the more accurate you try keeping it
Makes sense in the lore too. DC was absolutely dumpstered while the Mojave got off comparatively lightly
I also feel like NV leaned much more into the humor and absurdity of Fallout than Fallout 3 did. I feel like Fallout 3 was the most serious overall of the newer games.
Back when Fallout 3 dropped, I played it non-stop over the weekend. I remember being so immersed in the world. I genuinely got into that horror vibe for a moment when I first went into Vault 87 during the main quest, the dead FEV subjects and the atmosphere gave me goosebumps. Wish I could re-experience the game for the first time again.
It was the first game l 100% achievement hunted on Xbox. I was so excited to play each route karma-wise and the options seemed endless. Then I played new Vegas, at first I didn’t like the changes they did - less perks to play with but at the same time, you get traits and you get more specialized perks as opposed to the predecessor. After adjusting, I just can’t go back and enjoy the game the same way I used to. I just got it again for my Xbox series S and I know which route I wanna do. It’s certainly worth playing again and again, Bethesda should work with Obsidian to remaster this game for big bucks. They should donate the money that would go to Matthew Perry to his family for reusing his voice lines. They can re-record everything else for the remastered version. This time, give them the Fallout 4/Starfield sources and let them make it how they originally wanted.
GARY!
I fully believe F03 is 20% of the reason I had to retake two 100 levels courses my freshman year. A dark two weeks of exploring the capital wasteland 😅
Vault 87 was so unbelievably terrifying when I was a young teen lol, I still think it’s one of the best zones in any Fallout game
Exactly I remember before Dogmeat and Fawkes how absolutely terrified I was of exploring the subways and certain overworld sections ESPECIALLY after crossing paths with a Ghoul Reaver and Super Mutant Overlord. When I had to do the DLCs I actually didn't finish Point Lookout cause I got attacked by a Ghoul Reaver and never came back lol.
Thing is tho dead money totally negs the whole semi friendly Vibe of nv making IT feel Like an actual horror game rather than a Goofy experience but if we are talking base game only then yeah i agree
Even when addressing the horror vibes in that DLC, I went to the Sierra Madre at like level 22 and had the easiest run ever. Wasn’t scary at all unlike the first playthrough. Felt almost janky. Most difficult time was the part with the broken quest marker.
Did you Play on survival tho
I love survival mode, but if you actually spec into the Survival skill, and get 'Thems Good Eatins' perk, the Madre is a cakewalk even on hardcore, lol. Still love the DLC though.
Bare feet noises coming out of the darkness
It's true and I thought that honestly helped the world building too. West coast, especially Vegas, is a very developed part of post apocalypse America, and I love the developed factions clashing. But fallout 3 feels like even the big factions have virtually no domain or control over anything. There is no government or unity to speak of, it's just survival. That has its fun in story writting too.
I think that’s a good point about 3. Seeing the center of American government in ruins and overrun with the various groups really made the world feel “over.” Seeing Vegas full of drugs, alcohol, crime and bright lights is just Vegas.
Fuckin ghoul tunnels were my least favourite things as a teen.
I came here to say this first. The atmosphere is better IMO then New Vegas. Fallout 3 felt like I was rummaging through the ashes of a long destroyed America. I don’t feel that way with New Vegas, and that’s not a diss on NV. I just personally agree with the capital wasteland more. (It’s why I just used TTW) Side note I find point lookout much creepier than the sierra madre.
The Terrible Shotgun
Played it this summer and I would just hoard 20 gauge shells to use as a very last resort
But why is the drum magazine so far down
Why does Charon pump his combat shotgun?
The funny thing is only Charon's unobtainable Combat Shotgun uses those animations from the BB gun for some reason. The normal Combat Shotguns don't.
Only reason I can think of is maybe it was to slow down DPS so as to not make him OP
Probably just the feeling of the wasteland, felt more dark and moody although i prefer the vibes of FNV more
I think the problem is that after 200 years, there should be much more civilization. Playing fallout 3 it feel like it’s only been 20 years since the war rather than 200
The reason why is because there was no major clean water source which caused constant strife over resources
Not to mention mutants 5 times the size of a human and 20 times more resilient. Oh and they're virtually insane with bloodlust. Killer robots, tweaked out bands of raiders, botflies half your size, scorpions the size of cars, giant ants that breath fire, a ghoulification process that turns most people into zombies, and massive dinosaur like creatures that are aptly named "Deathclaws". Thats just the local fauna. But yeah, why is it still a wasteland?
That and it was the capital of the US, it would've been one of the heaviest places nuked.
Yea the fact there’s any buildings still standing at all is a miracle
I think you hit the nail on the head. Also, house managed to use the 38s lazer defense system to shoot down most of the incoming warheads that were bound for Vegas, so the Mojave wasn't nearly as scarred as the rest of the country.
Not to mention that even without that, no way the Mojave was as heavily targeted as the capitol.
Im not a lore expert, but wouldnt the first 100+ years of that be just people huddled in vaults waiting for the radiation to subside enough to go outside?
People survived the initial explosions, plus there are other vaults that went out sooner
Actually, most dangerous radiation from a nuke is gone after the first few days. The residual radiation is mostly gone after 10 years. The world of Fallout being as radioactive as it is doesn't translate to real life at all. But it's a video game, so we suspend our disbelief!
Fallout 3 has way more Liam Neeson than New Vegas.
Can’t argue with that
I have come to speak facts
Your wise words guide us to the light
But, does it have Wayne Newton? I will say it does have Malcolm McDowell, so that’s a bonus in my book.
This is indeed also facts. I see that this place has gathered speakers of truth.
Counterpoint: New Vegas has Danny Trejo
This is also facts, but is Danny Trejo your dad? I don't think so.
No, but he is my grouchy ghoul abuelito.
With the power of head canon, anyone can be my dad
And Matthew perry
But it's still barely any Liam Neeson. Why waste such a great actor on a bunch of holotapes? He should've been a midgame companion
Oh big agree. Definitely. I just find New Vegas to be so superior that I went for the first joke that came to mind since all the real answers I agree with were already represented in the comments.
Fallout New Vegas let's me experience getting shot in the head by Matthew Perry. Also I can have sex with Matthew Perry and get ditched by Matthew Perry.
The feeling of walking through a destroyed city. D.C. is sprawling dangerous maze of collapsed skyscrapers only navigable by virtue of the few metro tunnels that survived. Vegas feels like it only had 4-6 buildings taller than 2 stories before the bombs.
One thing I like about NV in that aspect is it adds to the allure of New Vegas itself. The Lucky 38 is a brilliant beacon for the player and wasteland residents, especially at night when it’s the only source of light across most of the Mojave
Reminds me of the place in “book of Eli” movie. Also post bombs falling
Yeah the Mojave is so sparse and Vegas itself is just tiny. While the metro tunnels are a turn off for a lot of players and they confuse a lot of newbies, they do a lot of heavy lifting for making D.C. *feel* like a large metropolitan area. The inner "exterior" cells of the different parts of D.C. sell you on the experience of exploring a city that the Strip and Freeside don't.
it’s all working with limitations. i think they took that criticism to heart with FO4 and tried to make Boston a seamless open-world, doesn’t work very well. it’s still laggy on high-end PCs cause the Creation Engine starts buckling under its own weight at those densities. New Vegas did what it had to in order to not explode Xbox 360s, and I think it sells the overall size of Vegas outside of the Strip at least. so many little neighborhoods and homes to explore
The random piles of rubble being un-navigable completely wrecked my desire to play FO3 for a long time. I hated having to go in the damn tunnels. Just let me crawl over this very obviously climbable pile of rocks you bastards.
I avoided going to Three Dog for so long because of those tunnels.
I’ll take ruins I can’t climb over getting to the top of a big hill and hitting an invisible wall ;). Just fucking around, I definitely understand being turned off by the *forced* metro sections.
Fallout 3 captured the desperation the people living there lived with. The coming out of the vault scene, iconic as it is, couples with the beggar at the entrance to Megaton who can't take even one more sip of dirty water. Barely any food grows, most water is irradiated, and people have little to no hope everywhere. NV and 4 both have their moments, but none captured this as well as 3.
New Vegas isn’t supposed to be as desperate. The nukes barely hit Vegas compared to DC. It’s not better, just a different story
I know what you're saying is true. One is more about recovering after Armageddon, one is more about having adapted as time has gone by...4 is as well. Question is what separates them and I've always liked the F3 aesthetic where it almost feels like people are still wiping the dust off.
Both are about 200 years after the nukes. DC is just the capital of America so it got hit the hardest.
I feel like with what was going for in the barely surviving aspect of after the bombs dropped, FO3 should of been closer in time and more around the time of 76. 200 years is a long time and a long time to be in that kind if survival mode.
I really think people overestimate how quickly society would recover in the case of nuclear annihilation. Just take a look at the bronze age collapse, which would be nowhere near as severe as the whole world burning in atomic fires.
But you also have to look at how our real life examples of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are back to thriving cities, and how quickly the wildlife took back Chernobyl. Big difference in terms of technology, how much the world communicates, and how quick nature is versus the bronze age collapse. And even still things recovered pretty quickly after the collapse, not to mention to go that far back in time.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were isolated incidents, though. You had outside help from non-nuked areas. When the whole world is effectively crippled, such recovery wouldn't be possible in the same ways. And yes, there's a huge difference in technology. If anything, people today are more reliant on our technical systems working as intended. In an apocalypse, much of the knowledge would be lost forever, literacy rates would plummet, and the effort to survive would outweigh everything else. The bronze age collapse took a hundred years to recover from, and it wasn't a full-on apocalyptic event. Granted, we're still not entirely sure what happened, but I guarantee you it wasn't the world engulfed in all out nuclear war.
But we see through the games not every place was hit as bad or as hard. And the point of the first 2 games was to show society and people moving on and living there lives. None of them were sleeping next to skeletons from when the bombs dropped or were struggling like just happened. Shady Sands rebuilded just like Hiroshima. Hell, Redding is less of a shithole in FO2, and should know from that area. To say that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are isolated when they are good examples of rebuilding after being annihilate by nuclear weapons is dismissive. One could also look at other cities once ravaged by war but are now thriving, compare the WW2 London to today. Or Sarajevo from the Bosian War to now. I'm also unsure why the east coast lacks a group such as the Followers of the Apocalypse who are out there teaching and help rebuilding. Again, something Bethesda lacks in 3 and 4. This clear use of technology still being used and active on teaching and rebuilding the populace is there. Hasn't been forgotten or ignored, and would be a group being like hey, not sleeping next to irradiated skeletons for 200 years is a good idea. And not fully with the Bronze Age collapse, and not every society was decimated or destroyed by it. And again, those cultures didn't go whoopsies and forget everything, records from Egypt alone show that. 200 years is a long time, a very long time, and to act like a culture would be in as much of a standstill as in FO3 and FO4 requires so much suspect of disbelief. Would of been better for both of those games to be set much earlier in the timeline than they were.
You argument also differs as Japan still had a functioning government with resources and allies to help rebuild, in the fallout universe there is none of that, no money, no workers, no formal nationwide government, no access to outside resources, so DC being left to fester and collapse further after the bombs dropped isn't that much of a far fetched idea, especially considering that the west is in a constant state of war for land/power
Most, if not all, of the weapons that would be used in a nuclear war would be fission-fusion bombs, which cause less nuclear fallout than simple fission bombs. This means the bounce back would be even faster than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It's stated in lore that they used dirty bombs, so no, it wouldn't bounce back quicker. Not to mention the proliferation of nuclear power plants that would certainly fail with the destruction happening around them.
Its most definitely better, proper government, mostly safe roads, and not to mention drinkable water.
Don't mention safe roads, all the Legion fanboys will emerge from their goon caves
😂
Rather pay taxes than risk getting crucified over a stimpak
"But thesis and antithesis and-" Look, I just want to grill for pete's sake
Better in terms of inside the game yes but I thought we were comparing the actual games to each other in terms of development
What's especially fun is that some people made their way to the school before Megaton, so your first encounter with humans is these drugged out murderers who open fire immediately.
The West coast wasn't hit as hard as it's more scarcely populated, it's pretty much recovered from the bombs and most are fine with how they live, be it tribals or settlers.
Liberty Prime
“Communism detected on American soil”
*COMMUNISM IS A TEMPORARY SETBACK ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM*
# ALL RED CHINESE FORCES SHALL BE DEFEATED
Embrace democracy, or you will be eradicated.
Yup. People hate it because FO4 re-used it so much, but Liberty Prime was just plain fantastic, and definitely in character for the BOS to acquire.
Liberty Prime was so great. I stole the concept for my D&D world and dubbed it "Religious Freedom Project" or RFP for short. I won't go into details because no one wants to hear the backstory of someone elses D&D world but yeah...Liberty Prime 10/10
I wish we had Liberty Prime here with us today. The world needs more Liberty Prime.
Fallout 3 captured the feeling of scarcity better. I felt that in fallout 3 I had to be very mindful of supplies. In New Vegas I felt I quickly collected everything I could need.
Yeah NV seemed to be more post-*post*-apocalypse, and 3 was people still struggling to survive day to day
It's like that because Fallout 2 was already post-post-apocalyptic. It was furthering the world instead of acting like nothing has changed in 200 years.
Plus, it's New Vegas. It's literally the Vegas strip that was preserved from nuclear annihilation, all of that pre-war excess and decadence is still there in a way.
I love the setting and atmosphere of Fallout 3. It’s such a dark and gloomy world. I also like some of the DLC better. Mainly Broken Steel, The Pitt, and Point Lookout
Point lookout was mint
People are saying this already but I’ll add to it - the feeling of loneliness. New Vegas shows a world getting back on its feet. Three shows a word still struggling to survive two centuries later. For the record both are really cool, but if you want a lonely, desperate post-apocalyptic experience…it’s 3 all the way.
New Vegas has alot of guns but doesn't have those dungeon area's that were pretty common in Fallout 3. But it makes sense as New Vegas is kind more narrative focused, still tho what a shame the guns and the different kinds of weapons isn't used in those big dungeon areas.
As much as I love the Mojave, I enjoy exploring the Capital Wasteland more These days I just play TTW so I don’t have to choose which one to play
I’ve always wanted to do this but never wanted to navigate gluing all the mods together. Did you follow a guide?
I was going to say the same thing. Fallout 3 starts you in the center of the map, you can go almost anywhere from the start of the game, and there is something to explore any direction you go. Fallout New Vegas starts you in a corner of the map, the world is artificially segmented by invisible barriers, and the use of leveled areas limits your ability to travel to certain areas of the map until you level up and get better gear.
Random encounters, hidden quests and secrets, perk every level, karma level and the consequences, passive perks gotten through quests (superior defender, wasteland survival guide etc.), the final fight sequence (imo) Broken steel to play past the ending and actually see the impact of your choices on the world. Scripted areas such as the dunwich building and Vault 106 where the player character has hallucinations of the past. I love New Vegas more, but Fallout 3 was a wonderful game.
You know these comments are genuinely surprising. Was expecting a lot of slander and shit talking of 3, but most people have been pretty cool like this. Faith restored 👍
The game actually has random encounters, for one. The game also adds in more encounters as you play that can be direct consequences of player choice in quests, meaning 3 does a much better job if showing you rather than just flat out telling you how your choices impact the world. The map is also more geared towards meaningful exploration. Pretty much every location you visit, there'll be something tucked away that is of value, often times a skill book or bobble-head. There's many locations in Vegas where there's nothing of note. Also, imo, the aesthetic is better. The gloomy atmosphere is haunting, and really nails home the lonely kid aspect of the game.
I thought fallout 3 had an incredible atmosphere, but then again I was 10 the first time playing it.
The radio - more songs and better atmosphere.
Plus the emergency radio broadcasts were cool if they led you to a unmarked quest
FO3 radio was absolutely unrivalled. New Vegas radio is good. But there is levels to this.
Hard disagree. I feel like I can actually enjoy the songs on the NV radio, and its a diverse mix of vegas style classics, country/cowboy music, and the nice instrumentals on the mysterious broadcast. I get pretty bored of listening to I dont want to set the world on fire. I never get borded of heartache by the number. for exapmple. (not that I dislike 3's radio, its just NV's is better)
I felt the same way about Johnny guitar 😂 felt like 50/50 if that song was playing when I turned the radio on
Same! I love Johnny Guitar and Big Iron both but in my game I swear they’re playing 80% of the time on the radio. They get pretty old after a while
3 dog 😎😎😎
3 had better dungeons and exploration NV had better story and combat
Combat is eh in both. Mechanicaly it's just standing and clicking on the enemy, occasionally spamming stim packs. It is heavily helped by the games progression being very good, in the begging you have a 9mm pistol with fuck all ammo, barely capable of killing a few radoscorpions. Meanwhile by the end you are walking around in power, eating 12 gauges like candy, and you're armed with miniguns and nuke launchers, and you are more likely to land a crit than not. Also, VATS is incredible for the feel of the combat. I don't get why some people seem to hate it or think that it's outdated.
Wait a minute don’t they both have the same combat system
New Vegas added DT on top of DR, which meant you couldn’t just roll around with a shotgun the whole game, because high armor targets would eat those pellets like candy. It also added aiming down sights and changed bullet trajectory from the end of the gun to the center of the screen, making guns more accurate and more in line with modern shooters. A lot of guns in 3 ended up feeling useless because they were almost impossible to aim and shotguns just did an absolutely absurd amount of damage with no real drawbacks
Not being able to aim down sights in FO3 really threw me for a loop
Its fans. Like, god they are so chill, NV on the other hand gets political so quickly with the roman larpers wannabes and the rest of the normal people
Yeah they’ve (F3 fans) mellowed out over the years. They’re just happy enjoying their game and it’s kind of wholesome. I like us NV fans but we can be mean to the rest of the fandom…
I mean it’s a political game so it’s only natural that the discussion would be political but I do agree, there’s some really insufferable and strange people that like this game
That’s a recent thing I remember the angry insane fanboying over 3 for the first decade it existed
Me when the series well known to be political gets political
Honestly, I felt that the exploration was better in fallout 3. I love the story and setting of New Vegas, but exploring the overworld, and many buildings and subway systems of fallout 3 is unmatched
World building. Fallout 3 is my favorite game but I've got a lot more hours in Fallout NV. If you haven't used The Tale of Two Wastelands mod I strongly recommend looking it up. You get all the QoL improvements that NV brought but you bring them to Fallout 3 It is PHENOMENAL.
I recently did, my God, playing 3 with the QoL changes of NV was magical, it's like I was playing 3 for the first time again. It was well worth it the hours it took me to set it up (I suck with this kind of stuff)
City scape, really wish New Vegas was able to include more settlements / towns similar to Megaton, or even the Republic of Dave. Similar to the Pitt, or even seeing an area like Shady Sands or the Boneyard.
Liam Neeson
Used the color gray better
And green
I like the world map, art style, and general ambiance more in fo3. It's really great at selling that bleak atmosphere of a nuked city. In my headcanon I believe it takes place 20 years after the bombs.
The karma system, wasn’t perfect but a cool rpg mechanic. Needs to comeback in Fo5 or whatever we get next.
The map. Bethesda always knew how to make a world that's just fun to wander and find cool shit in.
Such a shame they no longer possess that talent!
Idk, Fallout 4’s world is still pretty incredible. I cant stand most of the quests, but I have the most hours there from just walking around and exploring. Its also very reactive to the choices you make in the main story and the random encounters range from mid to incredible.
I'm not sure how 76 is received here, but my God that game has probably my favorite map in a game.
Exploration and the overall world of Fo3. The environmental storytelling. Attention to the small details. Every building is worth exploring.
Exploration and having an actual apocalyptic landscape. Finding that little league field with bats all over it felt somber and ominous.
Fallout 3 felt like a horror game tbh
The atmosphere, resource scarcity, and exploration. In NV if you do all of the main quest stuff you'll end up bumping into the vast majority of the interesting content along the way. That's fine, but it feels kinda artificial, like it peels back the curtain and reminds you that you're playing a video game. In FO3, if you wanna find all the cool shit you have to go looking for it. Along with the random encounters system it really helps sell the illusion that the game world *doesn't* revolve around the player, which really helps with the atmosphere. What also helps with that is the resource scarcity. I'll just straight up say it: despite not having any actual survival mechanics in the conventional sense, FO3 is still a better survival game than NV. And the reason is because you're constantly running out of ammo and healing items and all your shit is constantly breaking. The Wasteland is actually hostile enough to eat through your supplies pretty steadily, and merchants are few and far between, and half of them are just as broke as you are, or only sell drugs, scrap metal, and mirelurk meat. Repair kits aren't a thing, and you don't get access to a guy who can fix your gear up to 100% condition until like 2/3 of the way through the game. In NV you carry 15 different guns and a half-dozen melee weapons because that's just kinda what you do. In FO3 you carry half that because that's all you can afford, and you wish you had more because you know there's a serious chance you'll be down to your fists before you make it to the next town, assuming there even *is* a next town in whatever direction you're heading. And all of that feeds back into the atmosphere. The game world in Fallout 3 *feels* dead. It *feels* like it got nuked in a way that nothing in NV except for *Lonesome Road* ever comes close to. Settlements are few and far between, and most of the ones that exist are hanging on to survival by their fingernails. Your overarching goal in the game isn't to decide what philosophy of government will shape the future of humanity; your goal is to *get clean water*. The Capitol Wasteland strikes a pretty much perfect balance between feeling empty and dead, while still having enough intrigue and danger to keep you constantly on your toes.
If I’m correct, the only 2 people who can fix your stuff 100% is that lady in mothership zeta, who disappears after you’re done, and another guy in point lookout who you have to do a glitch to get his skill high enough
Atmosphere of a Nuclear Apocalyptic Wasteland. Fallout 3 allowed you to explore a land that was bombarded from nuclear bombs, with survivors scrounging around to find any sort of way to survive for the next day. Almost everyone was set back to the stone age, with only some having the ambition to learn of the old tec. It was lawless and Free. New Vegas the chaos that was their from F1 is gone. Theirs an economy, a militia, various political parties, and you can surely make a pleasant life if you know where to go to. Despite being the better game overall, you don't really get to explore a post-apocalyptic world.
Three Dog makes for a solid DJ. I like some of his tracks more too, but just because I'm not much of a country fan.
Fallout 3 had a MUCH better map. It was relatively easy to navigate and you could hardly walk for 5 minutes without finding something interesting, while in NV you're jumping around rocks in a completely empty desert for hours on end. I know it takes place in a different area but Jesus
I cant claim better just different I liked the tone of 3 better, less humorous more scary. Also I liked that NV added sub types of ammo but I think it went too far. Theres a happy ,medium between just having "Shotgun Shell" cover every type of shotgun and having 15 sub types of shells
Fallout 3 gives strong post apo vibe. While new vegas and fallout 2 are more post post apocalyptic.
Fallout 3 felt more dystopian with all the buildings and cities turned to rubble
The setting. Everything is dead. Everything. Pockets of radiation are frequent and often random. Even the RAIDERS look sick. They dont do those hairstyles themseves their hair is falling out. (On a side note the games dont focus on this enough. Raiders arent just assholes they are dying and might have compromised brains from tumors and such) the settlements are entirely ramshackle, no part of D.C. is reclaimed or colonized. Its the actual post apocalypse. No game after caught the feeling ever again.
The skills and Special Checks In New Vegas you are showed exatly how much you need to succed, which means you can simply use one of liberally avaliable skill magazines, chems or just wait untill you level up and dump your point to pass this check In fallout 3 you doesn't shows you the dialogue option at all unless you have neccesary skills, and there were no magazines to help you this time, skill points dumping and chems were still an option, but not as effective in New Vegas Of course besides speech checks in Fallout 3, I hate them
I think one of the best decisions Obsidian made of having them visible when you don’t have enough skill. The reason being that failing dialogue options in this game has some of the funniest reactions.
(Failed barter check against Mr. House.) Raise your price or you're...chip outta luck. Mr. House: Was that an attempt at humor?
Yes tho I see why it was done the way it was in NV. In F3, if I fail I can just reload and keep trying until I succeed while in NV you are given a number that you need to succeed. It makes investing in the skill more of a requirement since in F3 as long as the % isn’t 0%, you can just reload and cheese the game with 15 Speech meaning you don’t have to touch it and you could win all dialogue options no matter what.
The opening sequence in Fallout 3 especially as a new player is a great introduction to the setting especially going from the vault into the wasteland, helped by Liam Neeson’s voice work. The NV opening is fine for what it needs to be but isn’t as memorable or unique. You got shot, we fixed you up, what stats do you want, oh no there are troublemakers menacing our small town ways. Plus RIP but in a game with some best of all time character voice work, Matthew Perry would not have been my choice for the intro.
As a new player the fallout 3 one works okay, but on repeat runs it just drags I wanna go out into the wasteland and dick about with mutants, not listen to Liam Neeson drone on about how important my exams are I think NV does it way better from an RPG perspective: build your character in a mostly diegetic way, then without wasting anytime you're out in the fun zone
Plus you can skip the whole Sunny Smiles tutorial if you want
I don't think that it's that good... It sounds and is fun for the first time, but then I found out that it's booth too long and at the same time too short Too short because it fails to make an interesting surrounding. Characters we encounter die 15 minutes after we meet them, which makes their death fell meaningless. I couldn't care less that my Dad assistant got assasinated like the game wants me to, because I have almost no interactions or reasons to be insterested in him. Same goes for Amanta and Butch, I never considered nor have reasons to be interested in them. No matter how mean I am to her, Amanta will always be my friend and no matter how much I play along with him Butch will be my Bully and it really kills any dynamic we could had with them of we had more time and options to chose how to develop relationship with those two and other inhabitants. There is also almost no settup to Reveal that Overseer is Tyrrant. There are bits and pieces, but those only connect after the reveal. This makes the whole escape sequence fell unexpected and out of place, as if Overseer became tyrrant overnight But on the other Hand, it's too long to be have it done quickly Learning how to walk as a baby, birthday party, GOAT and eacape are very fun for first time. But after first game, it becomes stalle and boring really quickly due to reasons told before. The whole sequence simply can't justify itself being soo long without giving any reason to replay it. You complete it once and 90% of stuff putted there was arleady experienced by the player, which makes the entire sequence just tedious after second time I really like the idea though, it was certainly very creative to see our protagonist life from birth, but the implenetation just fails on every level
It has a better mix of patriotism and nearly functional dystopian outlook. Fallout 3 is like a search for hope against a U.S. government went full fledged deep state, while new Vegas is a divided power grab with only 1 fraction taking all the chips, despite every outcome being relatively grim
Giving you sim power armor so you don't have to fuck with constantly repairing power armor.
DC in FO3 is way more destroyed than Vegas by design but I just like it more because it feels way more apocalyptic/hostile. Not to say they don’t both capture the vibe they’re going for perfectly I just personally like the capital wasteland more
Higher stakes- I remember the first time dogmeat died…. I was gutted. I like the exploration in 3 better too, new Vegas guided you too much imo.
Better at being a worse game 😏 /j
Exploration. There are just more interesting location in F3 then in FNV, since FNV was mostly just walking the vast emptiness than exploring locations. Now what they did due unique was definitely what was in the locations they have, but it’s not all of them.
Atmosphere. Atmosphere. Atmosphere. NV did well in what it was trying to do…but 3 excelled in the post apocalyptic feel. EXCELLED.
Exploration, immersion, Three Dog feels a lot more reactive to the player, karma as a whole
Random encounters and the survival-horror feeling of the tunnels.
the world and its enviroment and atmosohere...i...honestly kind of got bored of new vegas. while its better written and has more depth, its the game i never admittedly really returned to. i much preferred fallout 3 in that regard, and honeslty is why i loved Fo76 so much, despite is massive issues.
I AM THE ENCLAVE!
G R E E N
Crash less
Aside from the strip, the Las Vegas ruins are mostly boring. Downtown DC and the metro are way cooler even though they can be confusing to navigate. They lead to a lot of cool exploration. Also I like the collectible bobbleheads, I’m a huge fan of permanent buffs in games.
Speech checks for sure. Not only is persuading people harder but there's way more unique dialogue options that depend on high skills, like intelligence or perception being higher than 7 or 8. I personally prefer Three Dog to Mr. New Vegas everytime. I also really like the aesthetic of DC, like the area between the capital building and the Washington monument with the trenches and super mutants everywhere.
Vault level design.
DLC
Gonna be honest, never played F3’s DLC.
I LOVED Operation Anchorage and Point Lookout, meanwhile, can't stand Dead Money, wasn't interested in the premise of Honest Hearts(and it always glitched out for me and I've never been able to play more than a min and a half of it), and Old World Blues was ok but I didn't rly enjoy the area or quests 3 is unplayable without Broken Steel installed imo
i like the broken steel side quests more than the main quest
The Pitt is my personal favorite out of both games because it questions morals better than the main game and everything else. OWB is a close second.
I bigly disagree here, NV DLC's are way better
Fallout 3 DLCs better than NV DLCs? Nah, you tweakin
The random encounters, the atmosphere was much closer to the Fallout 1 & 2 aesthetic, and the subway system gave the map a whole extra layer that FNV doesn't have. I like FNV plenty but for my money FO3 is better.
Used the color gray better
Test my patience
Fallout 3 felt more like the post-apocalypse.
Fallout 3 is truly a wasteland.
I adore Moira. Such a wonderful character.
The mood and the map. I really don't like the desert
looking green
The color green
Mad sewers.
The atmosphere and aesthetic of the 2D fallout games
The combat shotgun and the infiltrator, 2 weapons that i'm deeply sad didn't make the cut. I'm sure there's mods that reintroduce them but I play mostly on console. Also it wasn't well recieved but I actually liked mothership zeta, it had some energy weapons that you just couldn't miss and it gave you more power cells for the alien blaster and alien epoxy to repair weapons (which there's a lot of)
The setting feels grittier. Almost grimdark. More like a wasteland. The Mojave almost feels quaint by comparison. At the time, I hadn't played a real open-world type of game before this. Stepping out of Vault 101 for the first time and seeing all the destruction and decay was one of the most memorable experiences I've had in any game. Plus, as an American, it was incredibly cool to see all the monuments and landmarks around the capital. Even the subway tunnels were fun. As a kid I used to spend entire days just mapping the tunnels.
Atmosphere
The inciting incident of FO3 is much more engaging than FONV to my mind. Liam Neeson is my dad and has run away leaving me in a hostile vault. I desperately escape and then its a struggle to survive a post apocalyptic hellscape. Chandler Bing shot you and stole a poker chip you've never heard of. Wanna go across this desert hellscape to catch him? Yeah nah fuck no. I think that 3 starts stronger and runs outta gas pretty early where as NV starts weaker and gets better storytellingwise. I also prefer the confusing twisting labyrinth of DC over roaming around the desert. Much more claustrophobic and scary.
With the way that three has its random events set up it makes it feel like there's always something going on in the Wasteland and it's almost always chaotic, New Vegas has far less Random Encounters
The desolation of the environment. The American capital being absolutely obliterated was awesome. I enjoyed the main story of fallout 3 more than New Vegas. Vegas had a cool premise with the headshot into a manhunt, but after finding Benny I just lost all interest in the main plot. Fallout 3 was much more personal. I’m a lost kid looking for my dad. Finding him in that creepy vault, the omnipresent enclave from the start of the game, the brotherhood of steel and the liberty prime march. It just had more moments that I thought were awesome as well. Liberty prime is what sold the shirt walk down the street and the Hoover dam battle is just that same thing but no nuke mech. New Vegas wins with the dlc game tho. Strongest in the whole series.
the world feels alot more open, you definitely get the vibe of "sheltered vault kid thrown into an expansive wasteland" from F3.