New Las Vegas and the possible future of Fallout...
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:10 am
Before any of this continues, this post is very long, and I'm not getting my hopes up about this game. However, with the announcement of Obsidian (the current house for previous Black Isle/Interplay employees) as the developer, I have hope. However, how much control Bethesda has on the project could completely affect the game.
I had not heard of the Fallout franchise until the announcement of Fallout 3. At the time, I owned Oblivion and was convinced it was the greatest RPG ever (ignorance if I've ever known it, but we all must learn some time) and was excited about this game. Having no clue about the direction of the franchise, I got on Wikipedia and began reading about this franchise I had never heard of (I was born in 92', so I was a little young to be playing Fallout).
I downloaded the original Fallout (via torrent because I'm cheap) and found it a mediocre experience, especially because I couldn't get the patch to work that removes the 100 day limit (or however many days it was). I uninstalled Fallout and waited awhile until trying the second one, which does not have the same day limit. My entire outlook on gaming changed after that I finished it.
Playing Fallout 2 revealed to me my own ignorance about gaming. Without a guide, I could not even make it slightly far into Fallout 2, not understanding the way the game is meant to be played as compared to current RPG's. I learned the quests are there to be done, not as an option to leave behind because you've already killed 200 rats. You helped people not just because of the experience or the rewards reaped, but because the simple helpful act actually made a difference in the world. Sure, reclaiming a teddy bear is not exactly glamorous, but you actually got a good feeling that you made some kid stuck in a sucky world's life better for just 1 minute.
The real surprise came whenever I returned to the village at the beginning of the game to find out that everyone had been killed, and I already had the G.E.C.K.!!! The game didn't wait for me, it didn't sit in some kind of time-warp people to await my messiac return with salvation. The game killed off characters because I took too long to save them. This experience made me realize the simplicity in modern RPG's. While you get choices, there are plot events that are completely unavoidable. In Fallout, there were no boundaries other than life and death.
So, after my discovery of the masterpiece that was Fallout 2, I played Bethesda's child known as Fallout 3. Not truly disappointed, I felt the game had a good base, combat was different but the original Fallout's systems weren't exactly nobel-prize worthy, environments were renderred beautifully (for the first few hours), and character models were adapted well to a new environment. I didn't mind the FPS transition as it allowed a bit more detailed exploration and appreciation for the models around me.
The only problem (which for me shows the true fault with the game in comparison to its predecessors) was the lack of depth and care in the game. It turned from the pity ridden post-apocalyptic wasteland to the post-apocalyptic theme park that for some reason hasn't changed over 200 years. True, with bigger technology the Fallout universe needed expansion, however it needed expansion in a way that makes sense. I don't believe super heroes, Tenpenny Tower, and ghoul political activists really made a deep experience, just a chance to show you how much Bethesda can take a great idea and run in the opposite direction.
With DLC came more reasons to blow up raiders with even bigger guns and ridiculous armors. I like Bethesda's ideas to expand into new territories, but it still presents the same lack of depth as the base game. The game that changed my entire outlook on games as a whole was reduced to primitive status by explosions in V.A.T.S..
Now, onto New Las Vegas. Bethesda has brought in a third-party developer to create this game that, as I said before, has previous employees that created the original Fallouts. This got my hopes up. I knew that the FP view was probably here to stay, and that the overall feel would be predominantly FO3ish. The hope for me lies in the possible creation of depth, a chance for players of this generation to experience the reality of Fallout: the world is not waiting for you to fix it. It will continue to die and grow.
As for how Obsidian can do this is beyond me. With the current demand for NPC's, talking-heads will seem like a step backwards to some. But at least NPC's can have some depth and dialogue to them, to the point where what comes out of their mouth is actually important. If Black Isle didn't hook you in with drama, humor, or other weird sayings, then the character was probably trying to kill you. What's the point of having these dead characters walking around that only say the same things?
I'd like to see actual consequences to the choices you make as a player. Oh somebody died, well you 500 karma so it's okay!!! No, you killed someone so be prepared for the entire town to turn against you. Maybe actually create quests that benefit people, not just a run and collect quest to make a bomb out of soda pop. Show the effects of your job in the ending, of every single choice that you made in the game. Not just two different endings where you can be either apocalyptic saint or apocalyptic anti-christ.
I'm still wary of New Vegas, but if Bethesda kind of backs up and lets Obsidian take the wheel than maybe some of the old can meet the new. However, I know that Bethesda won't do this so I'm still scared.
Hope you guys enjoyed the post, I just felt the need to express concern for the game. Any criticism or praise will be welcome below : )
I had not heard of the Fallout franchise until the announcement of Fallout 3. At the time, I owned Oblivion and was convinced it was the greatest RPG ever (ignorance if I've ever known it, but we all must learn some time) and was excited about this game. Having no clue about the direction of the franchise, I got on Wikipedia and began reading about this franchise I had never heard of (I was born in 92', so I was a little young to be playing Fallout).
I downloaded the original Fallout (via torrent because I'm cheap) and found it a mediocre experience, especially because I couldn't get the patch to work that removes the 100 day limit (or however many days it was). I uninstalled Fallout and waited awhile until trying the second one, which does not have the same day limit. My entire outlook on gaming changed after that I finished it.
Playing Fallout 2 revealed to me my own ignorance about gaming. Without a guide, I could not even make it slightly far into Fallout 2, not understanding the way the game is meant to be played as compared to current RPG's. I learned the quests are there to be done, not as an option to leave behind because you've already killed 200 rats. You helped people not just because of the experience or the rewards reaped, but because the simple helpful act actually made a difference in the world. Sure, reclaiming a teddy bear is not exactly glamorous, but you actually got a good feeling that you made some kid stuck in a sucky world's life better for just 1 minute.
The real surprise came whenever I returned to the village at the beginning of the game to find out that everyone had been killed, and I already had the G.E.C.K.!!! The game didn't wait for me, it didn't sit in some kind of time-warp people to await my messiac return with salvation. The game killed off characters because I took too long to save them. This experience made me realize the simplicity in modern RPG's. While you get choices, there are plot events that are completely unavoidable. In Fallout, there were no boundaries other than life and death.
So, after my discovery of the masterpiece that was Fallout 2, I played Bethesda's child known as Fallout 3. Not truly disappointed, I felt the game had a good base, combat was different but the original Fallout's systems weren't exactly nobel-prize worthy, environments were renderred beautifully (for the first few hours), and character models were adapted well to a new environment. I didn't mind the FPS transition as it allowed a bit more detailed exploration and appreciation for the models around me.
The only problem (which for me shows the true fault with the game in comparison to its predecessors) was the lack of depth and care in the game. It turned from the pity ridden post-apocalyptic wasteland to the post-apocalyptic theme park that for some reason hasn't changed over 200 years. True, with bigger technology the Fallout universe needed expansion, however it needed expansion in a way that makes sense. I don't believe super heroes, Tenpenny Tower, and ghoul political activists really made a deep experience, just a chance to show you how much Bethesda can take a great idea and run in the opposite direction.
With DLC came more reasons to blow up raiders with even bigger guns and ridiculous armors. I like Bethesda's ideas to expand into new territories, but it still presents the same lack of depth as the base game. The game that changed my entire outlook on games as a whole was reduced to primitive status by explosions in V.A.T.S..
Now, onto New Las Vegas. Bethesda has brought in a third-party developer to create this game that, as I said before, has previous employees that created the original Fallouts. This got my hopes up. I knew that the FP view was probably here to stay, and that the overall feel would be predominantly FO3ish. The hope for me lies in the possible creation of depth, a chance for players of this generation to experience the reality of Fallout: the world is not waiting for you to fix it. It will continue to die and grow.
As for how Obsidian can do this is beyond me. With the current demand for NPC's, talking-heads will seem like a step backwards to some. But at least NPC's can have some depth and dialogue to them, to the point where what comes out of their mouth is actually important. If Black Isle didn't hook you in with drama, humor, or other weird sayings, then the character was probably trying to kill you. What's the point of having these dead characters walking around that only say the same things?
I'd like to see actual consequences to the choices you make as a player. Oh somebody died, well you 500 karma so it's okay!!! No, you killed someone so be prepared for the entire town to turn against you. Maybe actually create quests that benefit people, not just a run and collect quest to make a bomb out of soda pop. Show the effects of your job in the ending, of every single choice that you made in the game. Not just two different endings where you can be either apocalyptic saint or apocalyptic anti-christ.
I'm still wary of New Vegas, but if Bethesda kind of backs up and lets Obsidian take the wheel than maybe some of the old can meet the new. However, I know that Bethesda won't do this so I'm still scared.
Hope you guys enjoyed the post, I just felt the need to express concern for the game. Any criticism or praise will be welcome below : )