Hey everyone,

The atmosphere in Fallout 3 was amazing and that whole depressing vibe plus the music made the game special.

Fallout 4 has a similar atmosphere, however, It is not as depressing as Fallout 3 which for me leaves me slightly disappointed. I can't really explain why as I love Fallout 4 but feel that whole depressing vibe is missing.

I think I just enjoy the capital wasteland more to the commonwealth.

Anyone agree?

Hopefully dlc will push this game on and more epic stuff awaits!!

How was Fallout 3 depressing?

While I get what you are saying (that the atmosphere is different), I do not agree it is (to me) in any way, disappointing. My main reason for a different feeling is that I have traveled to DC 3 or 4 times and was struck by accuracy (even for a parallel universe), to what I recall of my visits and what Bethesda built (or destroyed). Since I have never been to Boston, I lack the familiarity I had with some locals in FO3. I'm sure those that live or have visited the Boston area will relate to that aspect while wandering the Commonwealth in FO4.

It rains a lot in FO4...that is a depressing atmosphere..

If you're not finding it as depressing you haven't finished one of the main faction questlines or come across Covenant.

Oh yeah and did you just want a Fallout 3.5? Why would you want the game to stay the same, allow something new to progress the series.

Depends on what you're meaning by "depressing atmosphere". Do you mean the stories & general hopelessness, or do you mean that annoying green filter they covered everything with?

There's certainly plenty of depressing to be found in FO4 (finding a distress call from some lady begging desperately to be let out of the jewelry vault she took shelter in, only to remember that this call is 200 years old. She didn't get rescued. Whee!)

The atmosphere may not be as depressing, but as a whole F4 seems to have much more of a serious tone,IMHO.

I came across a room the other day under a railroad signal building; in it there was an inclined table, on the table a dead woman. A car battery was nearby with jumper leads, a machete, hammer, sledgehammer, and a bucket of brokwn skull pieces: jaw, eye socket, cheekbone, etc. Blood was everywhere. On the wall was hung "Happy Halloween."

I would say that it gave a plentiful "Road-like" atmosphere.

yeahhhh, the game took a tone more dark for jokes and in general. Like the experiments on the vaults are all about making the residents suffer to achieve something great like the virus or the chems.

I really like the new dark tone Fallout 4 has.

Hang around your settlers more often...they always have depressing things to say..

Completely agreed: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/403433981212769803/35276F15645CF41F85453A9C55F0E12AF08D9A4D/

I haven't been to Salem yet in either of my run throughs ... I suspect it may be a pretty creepy place.

Na, disagree. I love how varied the environments feel in Fo4. Also, nothing in Fo3 compares to the bleakness of the Glowing Sea.

Not depressing as in boring, rubbish. The atmosphere was amazing and it made you have a connection with your character which left me feeling alone and depressed wondering this wasteland.

In Fallout 4 I get a similar vibe, but there is just something missing. Perhaps it's just nostalgic reasons and playing the game for the first time back in 2008.

I quite liked the green tint in Fallout 3 btw. I do think this adds to the vibe.

4 is just more colourful.

it's a bit too sunny too often... I'd like the weather to be more cloudy and darker ^^

but overall... the atmosphere beats both F3 and FNV by miles... the citiy and the landscape is just so much more detailed and more 'real'... <3

Set up base in the glowing sea.

Enjoy.

I'm finding Fallout 4 atmosphere less charming than Fallout 3 one.

Maybe not as depressing, but definitely more creepy IMO. I don't know if its the weather (rain, fog, etc) things popping out of the ground, new ghoul behaviors, or all of it; but its like they've taken the subway feel of 3 and added it to a lot more of the map

Haha , very true!!

I hate the glowing sea and can't wait to leave that place - due to how creepy it is.

March yourself on over to the southwest to that big, barren, wasted plain and wait for doozy of a storm.
Pretty dang freaky, depressing and disturbing.

Yes. Apart from game design, i think its because of novelty and expectation. The depressing atmosphere of the capital wasteland was something new and unique for us, when we experienced it the first time(s).Its unlikely to be repeatable , no matter how much we miss it. I missed it in FO NV and i miss it in FO 4. Still, i enjoyed and enjoy both immensely. But nothing is like the first time....

Fallout 3 was a more evocative game for me (artificial green filter aside). It really captured the the bleak, merciless nature of the wasteland while portrayed a kind of lost wonder to the once-mighty nation that came before. You got the sense that this world had indeed lost something immense all those years ago. It did make it a little depressing to play after a while, but I can still admire it in that respect.

In comparison, Fallout 4 is a lot more colourful, lighter, and vibrant than before. In a way, this allows it to be more expressive with its art style and provide some much-needed contrast that was lacking in previous games. This is particularly effective in the glowing sea, which feels much more like a kind of forbidden no-man's land with the widespread radiation and difficult enemies than even the harshest parts of Fallout 3. I hate it, but that's what I love about it, if you catch my meaning (bit like the Dwemer ruins in the Elder Scrolls games).

But there's something that puts me off about Fallout 4's atmosphere. It's hard to explain, but it almost feels a little too busy. The world map is crammed with locations, but they all feel a bit too close to one another. There's seldom a moment where something isn't happening: that's great from a gameplay perspective of having something to do, but I kind of miss my long treks in the scorched landscape of the Capital Wasteland. I miss that sense of journey in previous games.

That doesn't make Fallout 4 a bad game, of course (in some ways it's far ahead of 3 and New Vegas), but it does feel like it's missing something.

I know what OP means...FO4 lacks the 'isolation' that wandering around FO3 created. You had to leg it through a lot of empty to get to many places, and you had big sweeping vistas with wind eddies, and few people apart from a few random encounters and clusters of folk. FO4 is more closed in and cluttered.

Really you find fo4 more closed in than fallout 3 ? Fallout 3 is a more linear environment.