I know, minor in the big scheme of things. But I’m disappointed. I really expected to like it.
I rented Fallout 3 and absolutely loved it. Not being ready to plunk down $60 at the moment, however, I decided to wait a few months. In the meantime, Fallout 2 was highly recommended to me and I ordered it off Ebay.
It’s boring. The humor is kind of funny but other than that the game itself is incredibly tedious. I spent a good portion of the beginning of the game poking things with a spear. A fucking spear. Then I finally found a 10 mm pistol. Thank gooodness.
I hate the bartering system and don’t have the hang of it. When I last played, more than a week ago, I accidentally gave away all of my stuff instead of bartering. I hadn’t realized I had to fiddle with his offer, too.
Turn-based combat? Yuck! I want real-time, even if it is at the level that little game can handle. What I mean, is I don’t want to have to use up action points and take only so many steps.
And the map system is AWFUL. I rely on maps and mini-maps in games or I get lost constantly. WTF is that little arrangement of greenish dots supposed to be? Some kind of satellite mapping system? Nothing is labelled! Is that end of the map to the next place or is the other end?
Is it worth continuing? Does it get better? I know the things I complained about are not going to change…but I can dig that, if only the game itself gets better. Right now even the quests/storyline is boring the piss out of me. The only thing semi interesting is the dialogue and the commentary.
It does take a while to get some decent firepower. The beginning of the game is indeed quite tedious. Hopefully you got a piece of flint to put a little more oomph in that spear of yours. Get the car and you can carry enough goodies for you and all your band of merry men that you pick up. It will grow on you.
Aanamika, and I hope you will take this wel, you are in the position of someone who has eaten a decent meal, like say, a well-cooked (not well-done) hamburger, with excellent fries and a declicious shake.
You are now being offered caviar and truffles and Sauternes.
It takes some time getting used to. There are ways to very quickly get yourself some firepower, but you don’t know about them quite yet. I assure you that if you seek, you shall find. The bartering system is quite open to you doing what you want. The turn-based combat is vastly more flexible than pretty much any other game ever made.
The mini-map is pretty damned old. Yes, it’s not up to modern standards. You’ll just have to live with that, or stop playing. However, it’s not nearly as important as some modern games; the stages are not laid out like mazes and you don’t need to constantly check it to navigate.
Fallout 3, frankly, isn’t Fallout. It’s a totally unrelated game with a similar world. Play Oblivion or something, if you don’t want an exceedingly deep Role-Playing-Game. That’s a good game, too, it’s just not as exceedingly deep.
It’s almost always tough to take a step back in a series of games. I enjoyed Fallout and Fallout 2 immensely, and when I heard that Fallout 3 was in the works I thought I’d go back and reply the first two. Didn’t get far in the first one before I said, “the hell with this!” and installed Fallout 2. Much better, but now that I’ve played Fallout 3 I can’t imagine that I’d want to replay Fallout 2. By the same token, I don’t really have a desire to play Elder Scrolls: The Arena because the gameplay is so slow and clunky. Doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it when I first played it back in the day, though.
Specifically, head south along the coast. I hear rumors that even low-level characters can successfully steal some power armor and high-powered weapons in certain locations near San Fran…
I’ll give it another shot. I do own Oblivion, and it is hands-down one of my favorite games ever. I only long for a real party (not all of the misc NPCs you can get, though they do help) and perhaps a romance. I know I will just love Fallout 3; it’s the structure and the combination of open-endedness and plot to follow that I love, plus the realistic guns and the great feeling of blowing mutants away. I, who normally cower at the mere sight of mutants, was traversing the subways and blowing them away, alone at home, at nighttime. This was all caused by Oblivion, who got me into first person perspective finally.
Ahem.
All that aside, like I said, F2 is just not clicking. I’ll try it again. Maybe i’ll see if I can steal some of that good stuff.
I kid, I kid. Fallout 1 & 2 are among my all time favorite games, but they certainly aren’t for everyone. Some people just don’t like older style turn based RPG’s and these games probably won’t change your mind. If interesting dialogue doesn’t cut it for you, there really isn’t that much else to recommend the game in this day and age. The beginning is definitely the slowest part, though, so if you’re willing to stick it out things will get better. Things get incrementally better until you reach Vault City, at which point I would say things take off. New Reno is particular is excellent. Very few players manage to get through that area without tarnishing their karma. Personally, I always enjoyed the early scrounging part of the game, where finding anything of value is a reason for celebration. But I can see why most people wouldn’t like that.
The map does completely and utterly suck, though. Fortunately, it is also completely unnecessary.
Garula, and everyone else, that’s just the thing. I fully expected to love it. I love immensely long, immersive RPGs that wrap you in. I suppose it’s like reading a book wherein the first few chapters are all exposition.
One thing you must realize is no matter how good a game it was its still an 11 year old game. Complaining about turned based combat in fallout is like complaining about having to put the ball in the basket in the NBA though, you take that back woman.
Haven’t played Fallout 3 yet (going too soon!) but I honestly can’t imagine it being any better than Fallout 2. The SPECIAL statistics system and combat system are probably the best I’ve ever seen in a western RPG. If you’re not a turn-based fan, I suppose it makes sense that it won’t click for you, but I love turn-based combat and in my opinion F2 is the pinnacle. I was one of the people who was horrified when I heard F3 was going to be first-person and real-time, and I admit to feeling a slight annoyance when I see how hugely popular F3 has become with people who haven’t played or sometimes even heard of the first two, as I count them among my favorites of all time (yeah, the band was cooler before they went major-label ;))
But I wouldn’t force yourself to play it if you’re not having fun–there are way too many other great games out there. I hope I like F3 as much as I did the first two (I think I’ve accepted and prepared myself for the fact that it’s going to be first-person).
(For all its greatness I do acknowledge that the temple in the beginning of F2 is boring as hell)
Edited to add: I didn’t mean to imply that I have any annoyance with you personally for playing Fallout 3 first and not liking F2. In fact I think it’s great that you’re giving it a chance!
The game is showing its age. It’s not surprising to me that someone who went back and tried to play Fallout 2 after playing Fallout 3 isn’t going to enjoy it very much. By todays standards the gameplay is simply substandard. Yeah, I’ll catch some flak from people who love the game. I loved the game when it was released but it plays way too slowly now. I have the same problem with Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment. Both of them were fantastic games but they game play itself hasn’t aged well.
Odesio
Have to disagree with you. Those games often lacked specific elements of control smoothness, or have some slightly-behind-the-times presentation, but they’re all still very fun and the core gameplay is a blast.
Fallout 2 is a little tougher because it comes from a tradition of turn-based gameplay that isn’t popular anymore in RPG’s. Although I think it’s great and wish there was more of it, although I like real-time, too, and wish. It’s control schema is a little older, too, and it makes you work for your rewards (but the rewards are oh so sweet!). Many modern games, including Fallout 3, have a tendency to simply dump piles upon piles of stuff on you, most of which you simply have no need for, or they simply do away with type of resource management anyway.
But I don’t intend to spend $60. $60 for a medieval game is acceptable (in my book).