An objective critique, why Fallout 4 is good & worth pri

Post » Sat Dec 19, 2015 6:41 pm


Of course. How much you enjoy a game is entirely subjective.

On the other hand, (playing Devil's Advocate for a second) you can generally find broad consensus about the relative quality of artistic works. Ever read "Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?"
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Nathan Risch
 
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Post » Sat Dec 19, 2015 4:59 pm

Again I'm not talking about any kind of general consensus, just what that piece of art means to you personally, I really don't need to know what a bunch of strangers think of it to know what I think of it. That's all I'm saying.

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james tait
 
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Post » Sat Dec 19, 2015 5:12 pm

LOL. Fallout 4 is "worth" the price only because of the content and moddability.

Graphics - While upgraded from FO3 and FONV, they're nothing like the best looking games now. Since EA has come up with a new trick to make its stuff look ground-breakingly awesome, Bethesda should at least put some man hours into researching the methods and doing it instead of wasting man hours doing the whole console modding and console mod vetting thing. It will go absolutely nowhere and will only be a liability as costs run up.

Load screens - No one uses that crap. it's 2015, not 2000. Bethesda has the correct idea: cells. But why they do not utilise it to cover places that would trigger load screen is beyond me. Look at MGSV (another crap game, though good looking one). Look at the http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/8058/? mod for Skyrim. Do not make excuses for Bethesda, it is possible even with the current code, it is just not done.

Content - Like I said before, content and moddability are the only 2 things why FO4 is worth the price it is.

Combat Mechanics - PC and Console are different. Coders should implement them differently/separately.

Combat - Ever played ARMA3? There are no such thing as bullet sponges in real life. But thanks to mods like http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/217/? , I do not have to deal with rubbish like that.

Dialogue - Not only because of the severe lack of options (only 4), but because of the dialogue themselves. Most notably, the crap that Settlers say when the player speaks, or go near to them.

Atmosphere - I am not "kept on my toes".

Stability - It is expected of a product to be reliable and not CTD every few seconds/minutes/hours. Do you expect your car's engine to stop working while you're on the highway? This is what internal testing and beta testing are for.

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Bambi
 
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Post » Sat Dec 19, 2015 10:58 am

OP's post reads like a PR damage control letter. lol.

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dav
 
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Post » Sat Dec 19, 2015 1:19 pm

You really just proved my point.

The thing is there is an objective measure what makes a good fps. A lot of good singleplayer fps design is directly tied to level design and fo4 simply lacks here. Indoor dungeons are just straight corridors with nothing interesting happening in them.

Good level design in a bethesda game: Broken Oar Grotto in Skyrim.

You have this cave that loops back to the entrance and has this huge river splitting the cave. There bunch of rock bridges and tunnels which provide lots different ways you approach the pirate boat at the "end" of the tunnel. Bridges can used for sniping enemies from afar while providing protection from melee enemies and create choke holds which to funnel enemies to. You can even swim in the water (for the first and only time it felt like my argonian race choice mattered). The only downside this dungeon has is that it is in a bethesda game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_WQDbR-_AI

Bad (and the usual) level design in a bethesda game: Triggerman vault in fo4

Basically the player is funneled through a tight and long corridor with bullet sponge enemies. While the dungeon provides different kinds of gameplay it feels really forced. You start with a more open area of a metro tunnel with lots of crates and enemies creating this usual fps shootout arena. Variety of enemies is really boring. Either you got guys who shoot with smgs or dudes who try to whack you in the head. The arena doesn't change during the fire fight and the enemies don't try to call reinforcements. Next you got a sniping section when you enter the vault. People line up so you can plant some lead and I'm so [censored] bored and I'm not even half way through the dungeon.

After saving nick you got your sneaking section except you don't get to sneak. Dungeon gives you an open enough area to avoid enemy patrols but you have lug around this pos robot and the only exit you have is lit. If you kill any of the enemies nick will comment with "gunz blazing". Doesn't matter if you used a knife or you were an invisible ghost. Stealth is then followed up with tight corridors with enemies you can't evade and you have no cover. What annoys me the most is the fact that architecture allows for a more open and interesting design but for some reason the level designer decided to block routes with impassable boxes. When the dungeon is over the game remembers "oh wait this gaem is an rpg n' [censored]. Lets put some choices and consequences here" and have this sitcom charisma check with option to either "shoot everybody" or "don't shoot everybody".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1MdinGiSg

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Jeffrey Lawson
 
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