Fallout 3′s Hookers Are Leaving a Sour Taste
I finished Far Cry 2 last week and needed something to ease my lust for more gaming so I went and bought myself the very highly acclaimed Fallout 3. From gameplay footage and talking to friends, I got the impression it could go either way with me.
I went into the game with a (relatively) open yet cynical mind. I knew the animation would annoy me and that the RPG-ish elements might get tedious, but sadly it’s neither of these parts that is really starting to frustrate me.
It’s the bugs. Not the critters that roam the Wasteland, but the game breaking, annoying as hell, “aww crap I’m stuck in the scenery” bugs. For a game so polished in every regard, I was very, very surprised to have to be reloading my last save within literally 30 minuets of loading up the game. I went to sit my G.O.A.T. exam to determine the type of person I am (very cunningly disguised character customisation), sat down and was stuck. The test didn’t start and I wasn’t allowed to stand up.
Still, that was only one rare example right? Sadly not. Just a few missions later (I think at this point I had completed a grand total of 4 whole missions) I was looking for some kid in some cave, or something. I went to smack a giant scorpion with a base-ball bat (as you do) and found myself waste-high in the stairs. I could look around, swing my bat, but as hard as I tried I was stuck.
It’s not just these game-stopping glitches that I found annoying. The character I’m trying to play (to avoid the generic nice-guy I always end up playing) is basically a Nathan Drake-esk chick. What would a chick like this do upon arrival in Megaton? Get a hooker of course! The Wasteland is a desolate place and a woman has needs.
I pay up my 120 caps and patiently wait in the bedroom. In comes my evening’s entertainment. Now, knowing the game isn’t AO I wasn’t expecting much. My lady-friend lay down on the bed and went to sleep. Fair enough, but I wouldn’t mind a quick chat before bed. We get out of bed and start to talk about her, me and Megaton before I get bored of the chatter and decide sleep would be more fun. I stop talking expecting her to come back to bed, only to watch her slowly walk out the room.
Upon questioning wtf she is doing, I was met with apparent radiation caused amnesia. The worse 120 caps I’ve ever spent.
Apparently things improve after the first few hours so I’m going to give it more time. But if the same frequency of fun-stopping bugs keep cropping up, combined with the surprisingly harsh enemy difficulty levels, I’m not sure how much more I can take.
Incidentally, my housemate who is a massive RPG nut had to stop playing. He’s a touch OCD about collecting everything and there is so much worthless junk you can pick up in Fallout 3, he just got disheartened and bored.
The bugs ruined this game for a lot of people and that sucks. I was a lucky bastard in that I only had to restart due to bugs four times.
I got stuck in between rocks and in shrubs a few times. Mostly due to my trying to make short cuts that weren’t intended. Those I consider my fault and really didn’t get too pissed about it. Falling through a set of stairs however is bullshit.
I hope you give the game more time as I enjoyed it, but it would be understandable if you didn’t.
WOW, I must be the only person who hasn’t had any game breaking bugs. Stick with I’ve really enjoyed it, I was really good on the first playthrough and now I’m doing it again being an evil bastard, it’s a lot of fun being evil.
My only major gripe is that the you can skip major quests without realsing, I managed to skip out three mission at the start by speaking to someone I shouldn’t have and starting their mission.
I’m with nikmonroe — I’ve only experienced two instances where I got stuck in the scenery and had to reload, and both those times were kinda my fault (I tried to go somewhere I shouldn’t have, essentially).
Fallout 3 is, indeed, slow for the first five hours or so, but Bethesda has put such an unbelievably high level of detail into the Capital Wasteland that I can’t help but be drawn into the world they’ve crafted. There’s just so much to do! I’ve put over 55 hours into the game, and I’m only about halfway through the main story (I’ve spent a lot of time with side quests).
Also, why is your server on Mountain Standard Time? lol
Bah, it wouldn’t be Fallout if it was bug free!
As for your RPG roommate, packrat syndrome is a bitch with that game. I found myself unconciously memorizing the weight/cash ratios of loot, even though I didn’t need to. It’s a serious problem, dammit!
It’s not just Fallout3 that has the scenery issue. I recall it happening to me in Morrow wind and to a buddy while he played oblivion. Personally I look at it as a by product of the huge open world.
The dev team couldn’t possible make every rock and bush idiot proof. I of course being one of the idiot’s, that try the road less than intended.