» Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:42 am ? New Story, New locations, just as big as FO3. They may have used a lot of elements from FO3, but this is no expansion pack.
? hardcoe mode: Makes the game a lot more rewarding, some of the changes in HC Mode:
– Ammo now has some weight
– You need to eat, drink and sleep regularly
– Companions can be killed
– Sleeping does not heal; stimpaks heal over time (not instantly), and only doctors bags (or an actual doctor) can heal crippled limbs.
What this in effect does is make you strategize your inventory better, taking what ammo you need, making sure you have some food and some water, and sleeping first before going out into the unknown. It also makes you use your companions better, maybe keeping them out of harms way if there is a particularly hard stretch in from of you. Also, everything you can eat or drink has properties; some heal (or hurt) better than others; some remove/add hunger and dehydration better than others, etc. so you can’t just go through and quickly eat everything you have for instant health.
? Crafting: similar to crafting weapons in FO3 but much bigger; now you can craft weapons, ammo, poisons, healing agents, better food, and more!
You can pick plants for ingredients, disassemble ammo for parts to create different ammo, and mod weapons with scopes and bigger magazines. Crafting potions can be done at campfires, crafting ammo at reloading benches, and making weapons and modding at workbenches.
Factions: Taken straight out of Morrowind and expanded from FO3, there are several factions running around the Vegas wasteland, and helping one may piss off others. if you have a bad reputation with a particular faction, however, you can disguise yourself with one of their uniforms and infiltrate; just don’t forget you’re wearing it, as other factions may mistake you as one of them and attack you on sight!
? Gambling: Obviously being set in Vegas there’s gambling to be done in the game. A fun little diversion.
? Courier Boxes: In strategic places on the map are Courier Drop-off boxes; if you discover 2 or more of them you can actually mail stuff from one to another! Good for scavengers that have a lot of parts and ingredients they don’t want to carry around.
? The dialog seems better written, and the humor is back from the original games; FO3 had it’s moments, but it seemed forced by people who didn’t really know the series. Obsidian seems to have fixed that in NV.
? Two words: Grave-Robbing!
? Since everyone already knew how to use the GECK from FO3, there are already several Mods out there, many of which fix certain elements (i.e. I already downloaded a few that darken the nights, increase the binocular’s range and lets you fill empty water bottles.)
Cons:
? Graphics, while not at all bad, are identical to FO3; no attempt to update the engine was made whatsoever, and thus while it may not be, it gives the sense that it’s just a huge mod. Even the exact same graphical bugs and glitches that plagued the first game are back. Fortunately, a lot of the FO3 fixes also work for NV.
? Expanding on the first point, many, many of the resources from FO3 were reused in NV: Sounds, textures, buildings, items, creatures, skins, posters on walls, etc... For example, passing by an old metal radio tower sounds exactly like passing by Rivet City; Some of the posters on the walls advertise the Washington D.C. Planetarium (keeping in mind we’re now in Nevada), they didn’t even bother reskinning the clocks, which all apparently stopped at same time as in FO3, despite being in a completely different time zone. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of new stuff, it’s just sometimes jarring to see so much of the old stuff regurgitated, frequently pulling me out of the experience by giving me the sense that the game designers were just lazy.
? Yay, micro-stuttering! Just like in every other game design with the Gamebryo Engine, this game has stutters and scenery-popping galore. Like in Oblivion and FO3, there are fixes, but nothing completely removes them.
? Crafting is a little clunky, especially ammo; it’s a little painful figuring out what you need to make a certain type of ammo that you need, and scrolling down the list of ingredients is slightly buggy. Also, for all crafting, it’s a little unbalanced in that you need super high skill points to craft anything useful, which at first would seem logical, except by the time you get up to those stats you’re probably not worried about having to create your own stimpaks or ammo anymore.
? Towns are just as small and deserted, if not moreso, than FO3. Keeping in mind I haven’t visited them all yet (especially the Vegas Strip, which is supposed to be huge), but there are still many ‘towns’ that consist of no more than 4-5 people, one store and a few empty houses. And there are just as many ‘points of interest’ on the map that pan out to have absolutely nothing of interest whatsoever, like drive-ins, outdoor parks and so on.
?Even though the dialog is better written, the voice acting is horrid, especially for minor characters. Most of the actors didn’t seem to realize the context of the dialog they were speaking, and many sound rushed through, with no inflection of emotion whatsoever.
? There’s even less on the radio than in FO3. It seems I hear the same 5 songs over, and over, again. Fortunately, there’s already a few radio Mods out there that gives us more to listen to.
Other additions:
The Damage Threshold: DT is a new calculation based on the weapon you’re using and the armor of your opponent. Unlike in FO3, where eventually you’d be able to kill anything with any gun, DT can limit (or even eliminate) the amount of damage done. For an extreme example; A scorpion, with it’s tough shell, may have a DT of 12; if you have a BB Gun (which may have a DT of 3), then no amount of shooting at it will incur damage, since BBs will just bounce off. You get a little shield icon on your screen if the Damage Threshold isn’t enough to do real damage to an opponent, which helps you keep aware of what works against certain enemies.
Magazines: Unlike books in FO3, magazines impart a temporary boost in skills.
In summary, there is nothing in New Vegas that I think was done WORSE than in FO3; There is much that is the same, there is much they could have improved on (like fast traveling with a certain level of danger involved would have been nice), and there is much that was added or tweaked that allows the player more flexibility in the way they play the game, which is always good. The short answer: If you liked FO3, you’ll like NV, maybe even a little more. If you didn't like FO3, chances are there's not enough new or changed to make you like NV. Despite it's flaws and missed opportunities galore, I loved the first one, and I'm loving this one. :fallout:
