Fallout 3 Retrospective (Revised)

Hey guys. This video I originally published on what was my main channel a couple years ago. It fits the theme of this channel a lot better and so with a little revision and updating I'm presenting my Fallout 3 Retrospective here.
Remember to like and subscribe for more content! Have a great day gaming!

[@groalerable]

Fallout 3 was a WRPG with a 3D open world, action combat and some level of roleplay, that was fairly intuitive to non CRPG players. That was not very common in 2008. You can find a few examples, but it's not anything like today. This has basically become the default AAA critic bait genre, so it's easy for people to point out flaws in the combat style and lack of roleplay. WPRGS pre oblivion were 99 percent PC centric and not particularly intuitive if you weren't used to playing DnD.

[@heetheet75]

lack of roleplay only in the main story, the side quests have a ton of choice

[@Splicer87]

The Fallout community will always find their way to video essays about these great games.

[@shreksnow1918]

Great video. You did a good job of summing up my thoughts on various things the game did good and bad. This game was my introduction to the Fallout series so it has a special place in my heart. When I was a kid I’d watch my dad play the game and really loved the dark setting (it has the best atmosphere of the 3D games). I am well aware of the game’s numerous flaws, missteps, and various ways it could have been done much better. It would have been nice to have an Enclave quest line, the Brotherhood Outcasts simply were not developed, and the game takes place way too late in the timeline for the world to be as devastated as it as and for people to be so familiar with the old world. The interesting thing is Bethesda can write as evidenced by Far Harbor with the various moral implications of that dlc, various side quests, the terminals doing a good job of fleshing out the pre-war setting, and the many lore breaks/retcons. The biggest problem is they have the wrong people in charge and don’t really develop the current setting very well. The biggest strength of Bethesda games is that they make these amazing sandboxes you can get lost in for hours with all kinds of fun destructions along the journey. That being said they definitely need to improve a lot of aspects of their games.

[@samuelvincent848]

One of the most nostalgic games of my early life.

[@z304legend]

One of my first experiences playing fallout 3 is I left the vault and decided to go left after I went up to mega city or whatever it's called then rive minutes later I faced my first super mutant and omg it was wow. Lol

[@Turnsup]

That's what I really dig about this version of fallout. The sheer chaos of this region they created. Playing New Vegas right now for review and while the factions and characters feel better there is an element missing from that foreboding exploration of Fallout 3.

[@victorymansions]

@@Turnsup I agree. I find F3 feels a lot more dystopian and futile in atmosphere. The fact two of the major settlements can be destroyed at any moment really portrays how peoples desperation for normality seems so pathetic given the abnormality of the entire situation. I also love the green hue that some complain about. It helps to visualise the sickly state of the land. A similar technique was used in The Matrix.

[@cosmicusstardust3300]

I honestly feel like Bethesda took Fallout in the right direction with Fallout 3, sure it wasn't as well written as Fallout 1 & 2 but you can tell some effort was put into this game; this was Bethesda's first Fallout game after all. Fallout 4 however was a huge slap in the face for Fallout fans it was like they took everything they learned from making Fallout 3 and threw it out the window of a car speeding down a freeway with absolute lazy writing, horrible bugs, and the horrid creation club (Bethesda pathetic attempt to make bank off of modders) among other many mishaps like how on the PC version its so unoptimized even a high-end PC can't handle loading in Boston without it being a stuttery low fps mess (and my PC is overkill for Fallout 4 with a Ryzen 7 5800X, 64 GB RAM, and a RTX 2080 Ti). One of the things I hate the most about Fallout 4 is the fact you could be the most evil character imaginable in the game and it has no real consequences to your choices you made like in Fallout 3 blowing up megaton or in New Vegas when you start killing too much people in a certain faction or making evil choices that screws over a faction. And don't even get me started with Fallout 76....

[@sevasurmin9858]

Liked your video, a nice sum up I agree with. Fallout 3 is my teenagehood game and it is nice to see someone taking it apart like this. I started my introduction with Fallout 3 and finished the second and the first game because of it. Same with New Vegas, which I also liked very much. A tiny remark: the exclamation mark is after the question mark. I think the explanation behind the grammar could be that fact your brain processes the question before loading up the intonation. With another way around it kinda feels a bit... Odd (third bullet point).

[@n-tertainmentx-tended4760]

Most importantly, it's a lot of fun. New Vegas was a chore to explore, and I didn't enjoy it as much as Fallout 3.

[@sx3708]

how so

[@n-tertainmentx-tended4760]

@@sx3708 Lack of random encounters. Lack of dungeons. Small details missing from the world - something Fallout 3 excelled in.

[@cobmeister.1930]

@@n-tertainmentx-tended4760 i share this sentiment, the dreary atmosphere of fallout 3 is missing as well, NV feels lived in, too lived in, while in the capital wasteland everyone is just trying to survive

[@thebronzeknight5498]

I recently went back to this game but I am playing it through the Tale of Two Wastelands mod for Fallout New Vegas. I highly recommend playing fallout 3 this way

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

Now,i'm found myself replying F3.

[@xezberzs96]

Great analysis. I enjoy your voice and editing. Subbed.

[@endrew_one]

Great retrospective

[@testogel85]

The one thing that bothers me is people constantly measuring FO3's gunplay by FPS standards... the game isn't a goddamn First Person Shooter. It's as silly as criticizing a Far Cry game for having an ability unlock system that isn't very fleshed out for an RPG.

[@Jrdotan]

The game is played from a first person perspective You use a gun It is labeled as an hybrid Therefore it IS a valid criticism. Even without the measure, it still would feel awful to play on its own.

[@testogel85]

@@Jrdotan You can opt to play it in the first person perspective. You can opt to use a gun. You can even opt not to manually aim if you play a VATS build. Doesn't sound like a first person shooter to me where first person, shooting, and aiming are typically mandatory.

[@Jrdotan]

@@testogel85 thats why its a hybrid? It is first person, the third person perspective doesn't work properly and its extremely clunky. And again, regardless of the excuse, it would still feel awful, so your point is...

[@testogel85]

@@Jrdotan My point is that there's no such thing as a hybrid FPS. A game either is an FPS or it isn't and Fallout 3 isn't. Therefore it shouldn't by measured by FPS standards.

[@Jrdotan]

@@testogel85 ???? Obviously there is an hybrid fps/rpg The game was labeled as such, in the same way Deus ex was in 2000s If the gameplay combat is entirely based on guns and gunplay is a factor during its combat, it in fact plays like an Fps This is the same thing as saying an "action-adventure doesnt exist because you either have action gameplay or puzzle solving gameplay derivative from adventure games" But again, you dodge the point, even WITHOUT such measures, the gameplay would feel bad.

[@GothGfGG]

Subscriber 169 🎃

[@twilightknight7726]

When I first play fallout three I want to more when they had the DLC’s. I played through it, but I can never beat new Vegas. I realize I was playing it on PS4 and PS4 and fall. Don’t mix. Well that’s why I got a steam account.

[@Raztatic]

I'm subscriber 161 ;)

[@morganmckelvey4901]

Hey, I watch a lot of these retrospective videos, especially fallout ones, so I just wanted to give som feedback. Your inflections and general reading style sound very bored and disinterested, like you are reading from a list of corporate objectives. The lilt in your voice has a distinctive pattern that repeats every two sentences or so, which makes the whole video very monotonous. Other than that, I would have liked to see a longer format. There is a plethora of fallout retrospectives, and what makes them interesting is the creator getting into the nitty gritty and relating their experiences with both the minutia and big picture, not just a general overview that doesn't get too much into your own takes and opinions. I hope you make more fallout content! Much love!

[@Turnsup]

Hey thanks for the constructive feedback. The reading style is much the same as my speeching voice since I've trained myself to avoid stutters and the use of uh. It is pretty much what it is. Also learning to avoid cussing. Lol. If I get into long form videos I'll keep that in mind. Have a good one.

[@arar32333]

@@Turnsup MATN led me to this. so much lore to explore

[@AlchemistOfNirnroot]

Night of the Living Dead :D

[@JimUK]

I was a fan of the first two Fallout games, but I was also a fan of Morrowind and extremely disappointed in the way the Elder Scrolls had been dumbed down with Oblivion, I came into Fallout 3 expecting the worst and in a lot of ways the worst is what I got, the writing is atrocious, especially characters who are mostly one-dimensional tropes who thanks to the writing come across as people suffering from some kind of head trauma. The choices from the first two games had gone as well, yes there's blow up Megaton or don't but that was idiotic. That said I did actually enjoy it, yes the writing was terrible, it barely qualified as an RPG and the shooting mechanics were beyond bad, but it did shine in one area, exploration. The problem with the main quest is it all takes place on the bottom third of the map with the exception of Raven Rock, even then you're teleported there and will probably fast travel back, it's a real shame that they did that because there's a hell of a lot to find in those other two thirds of the map, there are so many stories to uncover though terminals, side quests or some really good environmental story telling. Anyone who played it back in the day and gave up thinking it was terrible should give it another go, only this time when you come out of Vault 101 ignore the main quest and head north, there's a lot more to this game than meets the eye.

[@Turnsup]

Yes, I agree a lot on those sentiments. Mechanically speaking it left a lot to be desired. And, exploration was king. Which in the end, is what I like any in RPG. Helps to make me feel immersed in the story. Great post. Thanks!

[@elric5371]

Writing wasn’t atrocious it wasn’t as complex or compelling as the original two, but those originals suffer from being woefully outdated to the point that its not fair to even compare them. I have many issues with them, and I love dnd but as a videogame its not what I personally look for or enjoy Upisnotjump basically summed up my problems with the originals.

[@Jrdotan]

​@@elric5371the ogs engine is a technical marvel The gameplay used to be much better Writing in fo3 is def very bad. The gameplay either

[@elric5371]

@@Jrdotan wrong, and the writing has its moments.

[@Jrdotan]

@@elric5371 i don't understand the oposite opinion, i try but while in OG gameplay was fast and easy to adapt Newer games are slow and clunky (until 4) You can't even sprint in Fo3/NV which were a thing in Fo1/2 Now, this would be REALLY needed for an open world game based around exploration but its lacking The engine in Phoenix engine also allowed for Seanlessly transition between exteriors and interiors, the loadings could be placed properly in entrances/exits of zones This is lacking in Gamebryo which can't even support going in and out of a shack without loading times Theres action based gameplay, but the bullet spread makes it horrible, the sounds are low fidelity (specially for shotguns) and the enemies are bullet sponges They took traits out of the game, intensified the useless skill raise perks, dumbed down skills and made a lot of mechanics outright broken (Karma in Fo3 is a meme) I honestly can't see whats good

[@z304legend]

Where you're at 13:18 is where I lost my companion Lydia. I swear I lost her and then could never find her so I gave up not knowing I can go to another person and make her go back home lol also my ex best friend assumed I named her after my ex girlfriend I dated to please my mom it's funny how many times he accused me of stuff

[@CopeAndSeeth]

Good stuff my nigga 👍