Some Fallout 3 Gameplay Details Released

[Queasy]

Link

The first details on Bethesda's Fallout 3 have emerged from the latest issue of US Game Informer magazine.

The long-awaited sequel runs on an evolved version of the Oblivion engine, although Bethesda says it's reworked the third-person view because of negative feedback from its last role-player.

Fallout 3 kicks off with your birth and your mother's death in a vault hospital. This is where you get to create you character as your father (voiced by Liam Neeson) hands you over to the DNA analyser, before removing his mask to reveal similar traits to the ones you picked.

According to Game Informer, the battle system in Fallout 3 is called the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.). You'll certainly be able to tackle enemies in real-time using first-person shooting, the article says, but V.A.T.S. lets you pause time and select a target at your leisure.

This works using action points, which when used up will leave you with only real-time fighting until they charge back up again. If you're not in to all-out killing, Bethesda says you'll also be able to play through the game by being stealthy, or even talking your way out of trouble.

Enemies can target you using the exact same targeting system, so you'll get injured in very specifics points on your body. In addition to this is a new health and radiation system, which lets you measure how radiated water and other consumables are before you use them.

Fans will be pleased to hear that the Karma system is making a return, and there are 9-12 possible endings based on your actions. If it's even half as good as Oblivion, this should turn out to be something very special indeed.

 

[Canai]

Cool.

 

[razor2025]

So.. just like everyone said, it's going to be Oblivion with guns.

 

[Starbuck1975]

So.. just like everyone said, it's going to be Oblivion with guns.

A heavily modified Oblivion engine based game that incorporates much of the game elements from the Fallout series.

Oblivion did not have area specific body damage.

Oblivion did not have action point combat.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Starbuck1975

So.. just like everyone said, it's going to be Oblivion with guns.

A heavily modified Oblivion engine based game that incorporates much of the game elements from the Fallout series.

Oblivion did not have area specific body damage.

Oblivion did not have action point combat.

Oblivion did not have 9-12 different ending based off your karma.
Oblivion did not have a way for you to talk your way out of trouble.

These are only the first of the gameplay details mentioned so far. I imagine that more is coming and it sounds like they are trying to stay true to Fallout.

 

[fierydemise]

I don't want to be a pessimist but while some of this stuff looks cool a lot of it feels like hype, especially in light of oblivion.

The long-awaited sequel runs on an evolved version of the Oblivion engine, although Bethesda says it's reworked the third-person view because of negative feedback from its last role-player.

I liked 3rd person at times for sneaking but its loss is no big deal.

Fallout 3 kicks off with your birth and your mother's death in a vault hospital. This is where you get to create you character as your father (voiced by Liam Neeson) hands you over to the DNA analyser, before removing his mask to reveal similar traits to the ones you picked.

Sounds like a very cool little feature.

According to Game Informer, the battle system in Fallout 3 is called the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.). You'll certainly be able to tackle enemies in real-time using first-person shooting, the article says, but V.A.T.S. lets you pause time and select a target at your leisure.

This works using action points, which when used up will leave you with only real-time fighting until they charge back up again.

This sounds like a glorified fatigue/stamina bar again not necessarily a problem but not as revolutionary as they are making it out to be.

If you're not in to all-out killing, Bethesda says you'll also be able to play through the game by being stealthy, or even talking your way out of trouble.

This would be great if true but this sounds a lot like what we were told about Oblivion, "We track that on a faction basis, as well as every individual. You can make friends anywhere in the game, it's just harder with enemy factions. "

Enemies can target you using the exact same targeting system, so you'll get injured in very specifics points on your body. In addition to this is a new health and radiation system, which lets you measure how radiated water and other consumables are before you use them.

I like the sound of this

Fans will be pleased to hear that the Karma system is making a return, and there are 9-12 possible endings based on your actions. If it's even half as good as Oblivion, this should turn out to be something very special indeed.

Heres hoping the story works out better then we saw in Oblivion, also 9-12 endings strike me as too many to get high quality stories without a lot of repetition.

 

[Bateluer]

Well, this is positive news.

 

[RedBeard]

I read about this at No Mutants Allowed.

Check them out, they have scans and lots of information.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

9-12 endings? Horrible. One of the best parts of FO1 and 2 was the way endings were handled. You didn't get some cosmic score which got added up to the end and compared against a chart - each individual location had it's own ending dependent solely on the actions you took there. If you were a nice guy and made the Den into a nice place, then went into Vault City and decided to go rambo cause the door guard called you a name, then the Den got a nice happy ending and vault city got exterminated.

As for the combat system, sounds interesting, but since Bethesda hasn't even managed to get a single mode combat system working especially well, I'm more then a little skeptical of their ability to balance a game for two modes.

And of course, much of it is going to be hype(read:lies), like always. If you don't always like killing, then talk your way out, or sneak. Pretty sure they said that about oblivion too. Didn't quite work out that way.

 

[ramj70]

The magazine said you can do either a first person view or the over the shoulder third person view. Also your weapons can degrade through time, like stalker. Your weapons can also be damaged in fights but you can repair them by using scrap from other weapons. It appears it can be very violent also, there is one screenshot in the mag that shows a head being blown apart. Fallout 3 does not scale your enemies to fit your level like oblivion. The mag also said there will be the fallout humor also. They saw an hour gameplay demo, one instance showed your character in a subway trying to find a way past two mutants. He hotwires a security panel and releases a security bot who proceeds to ask the two mutants "tickets please". The mutants laugh and talk about tearing the arms off the robot, the robot then proceeds to shoot the mutants with its lasers because they don't have their tickets. There will also be less NPC's and because of this they say the dialogue will be better.

I'm an old school fallout fan and was hoping for a game similar to first two in gameplay, but its looking like Bethesda might do a very good job on this game.

 

[imported_sushicide]

so...it's sort of like STALKER with a better story? If it is I'm sold

 

[Shadowknight]

I've never liked the "weapons degrade over time" thing like in System Shock 2. I would, however, be willing to take weapon damage if someone runs up to you and beats the crap out of you, you use a "secondary fire" to bludgeon someone with your weapon, you hold your weapon up to block body-blows to reduce any health damage taken, you get blindsided by an explosion, or you find a pre-existing weapon that's already damaged, but NOT just because time passes. That's lame.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Shadowknight
I've never liked the "weapons degrade over time" thing like in System Shock 2. I would, however, be willing to take weapon damage if someone runs up to you and beats the crap out of you, you use a "secondary fire" to bludgeon someone with your weapon, you hold your weapon up to block body-blows to reduce any health damage taken, you get blindsided by an explosion, or you find a pre-existing weapon that's already damaged, but NOT just because time passes. That's lame.

I'm not sure if that bit is accurate. The standard game mechanic is for weapons/armor to degrade through use. For it to degrade over a period time is completely different...unless they're going with the "Radiation causes weapons to degrade" bit.

 

[kobymu]

http://www.nma-fallout.com/article.php?id=37054

 

[kobymu]

Originally posted by: fierydemise

According to Game Informer, the battle system in Fallout 3 is called the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.). You'll certainly be able to tackle enemies in real-time using first-person shooting, the article says, but V.A.T.S. lets you pause time and select a target at your leisure.

This works using action points, which when used up will leave you with only real-time fighting until they charge back up again.

This sounds like a glorified fatigue/stamina bar again not necessarily a problem but not as revolutionary as they are making it out to be.

Its not, it worse, this is the result of be Bethesda thinking, "fallout fans want action point so we will give them action points, and now that the game have action points its a hardcore RPG, with a deep involving tactical combat".

This is nothing more than a bullet time/RTwP for the console players, the fact that this has AP is pure fluff.

 

[imported_Imp]

New Info & Screenies

Ok, this looks absolutely amazing. Pretty short/minor/confined screen shots, but I'm sold. There's definately an Oblivion 'feel' to it cause of the HDR, but looks like there is a lot of potential.

 

[Harabec]

Interesting. The strange combat system will make or break the game.
I'm not sure thats the right system to use for a FPS game (would be different if it was far-distance 3rd-person, like WoW etc.) but we'll see.
No doubt my own computer won't be able to run it smoothly (poor old Radeon 9700), or at all.
Perhaps I'll upgrade...in a few years.

 

[hdeck]

there is a huge article in this month's game informer that goes over a ton of info and talks about the demo that they were showed. i can't wait for this game.