# Fallout 3 or Oblivion **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 4, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567 "2009-10-04T18:33:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/21 "2009-10-14T15:54:31Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Fallout 3 is just more…fun and beautiful to look at than Oblivion. I could barely play Oblivion for twenty minutes and I had to stop. I just didn’t like the way the fighting interface/items inventory, etc was. While I agree that FO3 is stunningly beautiful. It’s weird that you and I think that way - FO3 is a nuclear wasteland. Oblivion is Middle-Earth. (The nice new-zealandy bits) I like FO3’s scenery but I also like Oblivion’s. But… oh living OG the characters in Oblivion are _hideous!_ ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/22 "2009-10-15T08:52:56Z")
I would vote ‘neither’ ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/23 "2009-10-15T18:15:13Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > While I agree that FO3 is stunningly beautiful. It’s weird that you and I think that way - FO3 is a nuclear wasteland. Oblivion is Middle-Earth. (The nice new-zealandy bits) > > I like FO3’s scenery but I also like Oblivion’s. > But… oh living OG the characters in Oblivion are _hideous!_ Yeah, it’s a nuclear wasteland, but its such a beautifully rendered, massive, interesting one. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/24 "2009-10-16T01:20:09Z")
If I want to play an Elder Scrolls game, I’ll play Morrowind. Oblivion was good when it was new, but it hasn’t aged anywhere nearly as well as Morrowind has. Fallout 3 wins by default. I do have high hopes for the next Elder Scrolls game, though. Fallout 3 is a good indicator of how far Bethesda has come since Oblivion. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/25 "2009-10-19T02:38:27Z")
Of the two, Fallout 3. But if Morrowind was in there, I’d pick it nine times. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/26 "2009-10-19T14:19:50Z")
Voted for Fallout 3, but I don’t think it should be winning in a blowout. Oblivion’s is a bigger world, and I’m pretty sure I spent a lot more time on it. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/27 "2009-10-19T14:53:24Z")
Fallout 3 made me conclude that Oblivion, in retrospect, wasn’t that good of a game. Very pretty and interesting world to walk around, but the gameplay is a boring grind most of the time (in repetitive dungeons and demon realms). In fact, I’d say gameplay in general isn’t Bethesda’s strong suit. Combat in Oblivion involves running around in a circle with your enemy blocking and hacking. Combat in Fallout 3, while somewhat tactical with VATS, usually involves a group of enemies converging on you and advancing pretty much right next to you until they’re close enough to reliably hit you. There’s no reason why the combat couldn’t have been more robust and realistic (cover system, better enemy AI, quick weapon switching, less decapitations). The Operation: Anchorage DLC would have been the perfect opportunity for Bethesda to overhaul the combat, but I guess they were more interested in continuing to crank out new add-ons that they could sell. That said, exploring the game world in Fallout 3 is an absolute joy and the missions and storylines are more interesting than Oblivion’s. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/28 "2009-10-20T19:47:42Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Oh, Ok, Understood. > > FO3 - [almost] perfect out-of-the-box. (except for a far too early level cap, which is only actually a problem once you reach it. I am up to level 35 and still have at least five or six perks to aim for and skills to play with, and an unknown amount of Point Lookout still to ‘do’) > > ETA: Not to mention all the non expansion pack quests I haven’t done on this, my third time playing it. > > ETA Again: How does one go about exploding a pair of pants? Sneak up on someone and use pickpocket, only instead of taking things, leave a grenade.😃 [crap, somehow missed Mekhazzio’s post when I typed that, oh well] And I don’t agree with the too early level cap, unless you’re one of those that wants to max out everything (and if you are there’s nothing wrong with that). You get insanely tough long before you hit the cap. I mean, I never even hit the cap (and I didn’t have the expansion that raised the cap) and all I had to worry about when entering battle was getting my gear damaged, not being killed. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/29 "2009-10-21T23:33:20Z")
One thing that I think is worse in Fallout 3 is that you’re down to hat + glasses + other + weapon when it comes to customising your equipment, where Oblivion had, IIRC, gloves + boots + trousers + top + helm + weapon + shield. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/30 "2009-10-22T05:09:31Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > FO3 - [almost] perfect out-of-the-box. (except for a far too early level cap, which is only actually a problem once you reach it. I am up to level 35 and still have at least five or six perks to aim for and skills to play with, and an unknown amount of Point Lookout still to ‘do’) I must be missing something. My FO3 level cap is 20… As for the OP, I’d go with FO3 being more enjoyable for me. I have both for the X360 and I like the effects better in FO3 (and I don’t like post-apocalyptic genre games, books or movies normally). ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567/31 "2009-10-22T05:51:48Z")
I disliked Oblivion because I just didn’t care about the quest, the world, or any of the NPCs. In Fallout 3 I cared about all three of those things. So I’m going to go with FO3. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-3-or-oblivion/512567.md?page=1)