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You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Gaming > Fallout 3: A Retrospective

Fallout 3: A Retrospective
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sek929
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Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Cape Cod, MA
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Feb 18, 2013, 02:27 PM
 
As the forum notified me after typing this up for the first time, the original Fallout 3 thread is to old to bump, so here goes....for the second time.

I had been playing Skyrim again lately, because I never finished any of the major storylines. As with the other Bethesda games played via the 360 the loading times can get tiresome, and have a tendency to break the flow of the game. Load game, load character, load fast travel, load building, repeat. New Vegas certainly took the cake with its memory leak issue.

At the same time, I started thinking about the past generation of games and what game I would call my favorite. Predictably, Fallout 3 was always at the top of that stew. Then as I was staring at the umpteenth Skyrim loading screen I had an epiphany. Fallout 3 runs pretty well on my iMac, and my iMac also has a nice new SSD beating at its core. Screw it... I deleted everything related to DayZ on my XP partition (which only has 20GB to work with) and pirated the hell out of Fallout 3.....don't give me that look, I bought the game on Xbox and every piece of DLC, over a hundred dollars worth. The content is mine, I paid for it, go to hell.

First off the game looks amazing, despite having to tone down the draw distance a bit. Runs between 30-50 FPS with textures on high. I dunno if it's the settings or just the higher pixel density on the screen, but I'm seeing this game through a fresh set of eyes right now. Secondly, the SSD makes a mockery out of my preconceptions about loading times. Booting the game up and loading my character takes 10 seconds, and most of that is due to the menu not being quick enough. Fast travel across the map takes 2 seconds, at most. Loading interiors, less than 1 second, sometimes instantaneous.

I present to you (mostly Bogues) my look back at my favorite game of the last gen, and one of my all times favorites, as shown through screenshots. I gifted myself a Rifle with 100 rounds, Recon armor only available through the console, and 100 skill points in guns and speech. This was just to offset the tedium of starting a fresh character, everything else will be legit. I'll add little quips to, hopefully, keep it interesting.


I always wished more gameplay took place in Vault 101, instead of being a glorified set of cutscenes.


Hello Megaton...


...and goodbye


During my recent trip to DC (we stayed in Arlington) I would not shut up about Fallout 3s accurate portrayal of the Metro system.


F3 is not a beautiful game like Skyrim, but it has its moments.


Always loved the design of the vault door, down to the noise it makes when you open it.


Matrix eat your heart out.


The Pint-Sized Slasher strikes again. The Vault 112 sequence is certainly one of the high points of this game.


Poor little Alien, probably on the cellphone.

Moar to come
     
Kevin Bogues
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Feb 19, 2013, 07:41 AM
 
Just the title of this thread alone makes me want to pop in the F3 disc.

Absolutely love these screens, no game in my gaming history created such immersion in a world, I have 120+ hours logged and never once felt like my game was complete.

If I think back to my first playthrough so many fantastic stories and situations come to mind, not to mention some of the best DLC this gen.

Is it the best FPS? No way (VATS does change the game here)
The best graphical display this gen? No
Best RPG? No again

Best single player gaming experience this gen? Yes


...I think I need to take a trip back to Vault 101
     
subego
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
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Mar 2, 2013, 11:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
F3 is not a beautiful game like Skyrim, but it has its moments.
I think coming out of V101 to the reveal of D.C. blown all to hell is one of the most beautiful visual moments in gaming.
     
   
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