Heh, quite true.
Tbh if both games were launched at the same time, I would enjoy fo3 more for sure cause of its stronger exploration/sandbox aspect. Not saying that i wouldn't enjoy fnv ofc -as you said the mq, factions etc are more interesting.

But comparing them is not that bad, if we try to make constructive criticism that is. I'm sure that the developers will appreciate that, and maybe even do something about it and get closer to perfection. Thats what we want, right?

So far I'm loving New Vegas.

Fallout 3 has....

Better Music


Fallout New Vegas has....

Better Perks
Better Gameplay (hardcoe mode)
Better npc dialogue
More engaging quests
Better weapons (mods, variety, ammo)
More enemy variety
More advlt content (for me this is key to believing in a post apocalyptic society)
No Liam Neeson (seriously I love the guy but his dialogue in F3 was dull and may aswell have been phoned in for all the emotion he put into it.)


I really can't find much to put that I find better in Fallout 3, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed fallout 3 a lot and it did a lot of things right but Obsidian has the advantage of building on that and with the exception of some bugs they just improved on almost all of it.

I am not going to disagree with that, but the point is revenge. Sure, you don't have to go looking for dad, and you don't have to go looking for revenge, but the revenge plot is a better plot device in my opinion.

Every RPG is, at it's core, all about the phrase "it's the journey, not the destination." The journey in fallout 3 is fun, I love that game, but compared to what I have experienced in New Vegas so far is like comparing apples and something that isn't an apple.

I like Oblivion, I like Fallout 3, but in New Vegas i actually have fun traveling the main road. In Oblivion, if you travel the main road, you find a highwayman, some wolves and an imp or two, maybe some campers. You can do most of the main quest and explore the world around you farily easily. you have to go off the path to find anything to do in that game. You have to look for side quests. Fallout 3 isn't that different. The occasional raider camp, a few Super Mutants and we are good to go. In New Vegas there is a lot more to experience. Each and every location where I find "bandits" has it's own flavor to it. Right outside of prim, for example there are female gangsters hold up in an abandoned Nevada Highway patrol station with abandoned cars. Inside you find a body/person that was fed to their pet mantis, and visually, their bodies/textures are different than other people. They look bruised and abused. the next camp over the freeway closing in on Novack splits the desert in two. Also, for my character, i had to make a choice. Do I camp out here and risk getting attacked by more gang members when they return to camp [which I did] or do i push forward to go into town... that was overrun by the Legion?

I can give you example after example, but this world is far more entertaining to play in. I said it already, I enjoyed Fallout 3 and oblivion, but this game is so much more than people give it credit for. In fact, I am willing to bet some of you just want to be master Chief and blow through the game and rarely, if ever stop to look around you and enjoy all the work Obsidian put into this game.

PGaither84 a question: Have you played beyond Novac? Or explored most of the game? If you haven't you can't really tell, can you? If you have, i respect your opinion.

I'm with the OP, and to your specific example, the Patrol station was deserted when I got there and a bit further on just another raider gang attack by the side of the road, shoot, reload, rinse, repeat.

Where are the cool abandoned military installations? The awesome rusting pre-war armor & weaponry to loot? The eerie static crackles & morse code as you wander into the signal of a distant radio tower?

New Vegas isn't doing it for me and the glitches and bugs are just making it more annoying

LMAo at people. the only reason a few say 3 was better was nostalgia, it was the first fallout many played. Vegas is far superior in almost every way, the RPG aspects and much deeper. 3 had a lot of filler and bland content. NV is a better fallout sequel then 3 ever was.

Yeah I am the same the OP musn't be doing the right quests or visiting the right areas, the quests are SO much better than FO3's so far, alot more involved, damn just going to Vault 22 was enough, didn't notice anything like that in FO3! NV has very clever dialogue with humorous overtones, much improved weapons including mods, and the clan battles alone are worth the price of purchase IMO. I ran after the Legion after they attacked a certain town I won't mention due to spoilers, I wiped the whole party out by hurling 42 sticks of TNT at them that I had stockpiled for just such an occasion lol Just so so much fun and as you go along you get more and more hooked ! Love the companions and so far they have been pretty good I hardly ever lose them anymore lol

Maybe less in area but much better IMO even though I pumped 300+ hours in to FO3 GOTY!

HUH? you mean cool installaions with 3 ghouls, some food and a stimpak? 3 was fulll of places with NOTHINg in them,. Also, think you need to explore more, Im not out of novac on my second play through, there are dozens o caves, places to find, with more interesting quests, and things to find then 3 had. I'll take quality over quantity.

I am beyond it now, and the more I go, the more "wow factor" come into play. The world keeps getting deeper and deeper as I play. I havenot finished the game. I am not even close, but my initial impressions and experience is far better than Oblivion and Fallout 3. I feel in love with those games too, but with each one that came out, you can see how they got better and better. I know Obsidian made New Vegas, but still. Oh, and I started with Morrowind on my original XBox. Looking at Morrowind and New Vegas... wow.

I've been from Nellis Array to Jacobstown to Mojave Outpost to The Sniper Shack - I'm pretty far in; that was just an example of different people finding different things in the same place. It's all perception I guess, but New Vegas isn't doing it for me. I'm pleased it's hitting the spot for some people though.

It's taking me a bit longer to "get into" New Vegas. The initial pace is much slower, and I'm not feeling as connected to my character (playing from birth in FO3 was awesome!). However, I've created and deleted two characters, and am now using a third. This initial characters allowed me to make mistakes and truly experiment, learn how crafting works, effects of skills, etc. Now my third character is set up exactly how I want him to be. I'm still debating the pros and cons of companions, but I'm actually taking my time with it.

The problem lots of people have with NV is it gives almost absolute freedom. Coming from a mostly Elder Scrolls and FO3 background the amount of choice in the game is astounding and truly overwhelming. Now I'm getting used to working with that environment I'm starting to have a lot of fun, and I think that overall NV is going to be my prefered game. I do have to say that I miss elements of exploring DC though, like the memorials, and science museum. I've yet to see anything in New Vegas with the same impact. Again, in time I'm sure it'll grow on me. I played FO3 slot.

i finished it at about 70 hours
since i have the quide book i know the list of main quests and side quests
i did all the side quests i could except i chose not to do vault 34
since i sided with the ncr i could not do ceasrs quest
by exploring first and doing the quests as they came up in the individual towns
i was also doing parts of the main quest

i had all the factions at like or higher
except caesar of course

if u just do the main quest
it is very very short
as was fallout 3's

so i can say that since i really did play this i still was very disappointed in it
i did not craft, not my thing
i did not play caravan, but have no interest in it
the strip was a boor
the mall in dead rising 2 was superior
they had it FILLED with zombies- so it can be done
where NV had a dearth of people-EMPTY


game waaay too glitchy

i played fallout 3 on the xbox with no issues except for the dlc
i also bought it for the ps3 goty - nothing but a glitchy mess
which was never fixed

fallout nv is nothing but a glitchy mess and i would never replay it without assurances that it will NOT destroy my console

and i will say i prefered fallout 3 as there are more interesting things to see in 3 over nv
there are less places to find in fallout 3 but when u do you can explore the places and the map is far bigger than nw

now oblivion had over 360 places to find, an even bigger map
and the places in oblivion you could explore them unlike fallout nv and its boarded up doors [ i think in fallout nv they went for the numbers of quantity vs quality]
the dlc in oblivion added to those numbers and the expansion was even greater-shivering isles
hopefully the next TES5 will even be better
as i still play oblivion

sorry folks there is no way u can play this game for 100 hrs plus and have something to do
wondering around is not what i would want to do without an object, such as finding a new place

fallout 3 u want looking for dad and ended up doing something greater
in oblivion you were set on a path as a hero to save the world
in fallout nv you are a courier who tries to find the person who shot them and ends up siding with a faction [or yourself] to keep the hoover dam safe or to gain it for another or yourself

in all if you explored you helped people along the way or did not help them
fallout nv complicates it a lot- i prefer keep it simple s...
others miight like that

i have 6000 saves on one xbox for oblivion, played it on another for over 1000 saves [xbox counts them]
played it on the ps3 and my pc as well
i wish two worlds had not been put off in the states, i have heard it has outdone itself
and i will be getting it if it ever releases here
maybe zenimax should BUY Reality Pump as well-
i put that in here because that was my game of choice over new vegas

It's the opposite for me. I found F3 to be a joke of a game. It was just plain horrible. The story was rubbish, the writing was something you'd expect from a 5th grader and it didn't properly use the SPECIAL system.

New Vegas feels like a real Fallout game and I love the fact that a majority of the quests aren't combat related.

There has got to be some kind of disconnect when one thread says that "this is what Fallout 3 should have been along" with others who have said this is one of the better games they have ever played; then there are other threads that ask if you feel ripped off and this one asking if it feels lacking to you.

What is the disconnect? What is it that some people love about the game that make others go "meh." What is it that infurriates you that makes others say "Who cares?" I will tell you one thing, it is interesting to read these forums.

I'm really mixed on this.

I love the writing, the characters, the quests. I love some of the game play elements. However, I think Obsidian went too far in trying to balance the game and just made it cheap in favor of the enemies. They can out run, out shoot, out range, and out damage you from the very start. It's not coming off as challenging so much as it is "How in the hell can the AI do that?" moments. VATS is useless because of the changes, and a total liability since enemies can move and shoot in real time while you're stuck in slow-mo.

A lot of the exploration is dampened by the fact there's not that much of worth out there. A lot of the unique weapons are reskins, the all too few "new" suits of power armor are minor alterations or reskins, and too many locations are just tiny blips on the map with some blob of enemies that will roll over you in seconds.

I like it, I just think it's got a lot of things that leave a sour taste in my mouth. And yes, I've been playing since the FO1 days.

Most of the people who are going "meh" are the people who loved the world Fallout 3 gave you to explore. This includes the locations, the total atmosphere, and so on. It's impossible to deny this game has improved on almost everything from Fallout 3, but those things aren't an issue here. What is at an issue is that Obsidian simply didn't make as good a world to explore as Bethesda did, and for some people, such as myself, those improvements just aren't enough to raise it past Fallout 3 in our eyes.

If you're curious, I played Fallout 3 for 8 months, clocking in 300-400 hours across a handful of characters. This was not because Fallout 3 was an RPG, but because the exploring was so fun and entertaining. With New Vegas, on the other hand, even though the RPG elements are vastly improved, exploring is extremely boring to me and after bringing myself to explore about 80% of the game I'm just stopping because I can't take it anymore. I'll continue to finish all of my quests, but once that's done I will have absolutely no urge to play the game again, all because the exploring is worse. Essentially, the exploring being the way it is is why New Vegas will only be a 50-100 hour game for me as opposed to the 300+ hours I can squeeze out of Bethesda games.

For me, it was most important for FNV to nail the 'feel' of the original 2 games. FO3 felt more like Oblivion than Fallout and I am happy to see that we have returned, somewhat, to the roots with FNV. FO3 had a pretty catchy main quest line that was definitely more engaging at the beginning. The main quest in FNV feels like it is building up to something exciting but itsn't gripping me the way the FO3 one did. Overall, FNV is not lacking at all...it's just being made by different developers with a different philosophy with some of the main devs having worked on the original games.

A few posts have gone away which included flaming and response to flaming. Please don't do that. I don't want to have to resort to warnings and such on such a nice day in the middle of my coffee hours.

It feels like you're in my head :foodndrink: Very well put!

I have nothing against people who are enjoying NV, I'm pleased for them that if FO3 wasn't to their taste then this is; for them this is as awesome as FO3 was for us. Just pleased we can have a reasonably civil discussion about it.

I liked both games. I spent literally hundreds of hours in the Capital Wastelands, and have no doubt that I'll do the same around New Vegas.

Many things are superior the new game, characters and story being the best examples. Though, I have to admit I liked the setting better in FO3. The DC ruins, Rivet CIty (gotta love the idea of a town built out of an aircraft carrier), Megaton, Tenpenny Tower, Paradise Falls ... the Capital Wastelands was full of memorable places and a lot of potential, even if much of it was unrealized.

Right now I'm liking New Vegas better, but the new hasn't worn off. Which will I ultimately like best when all is said and done? Only time will tell.

I honestly could not get into Fallout 3 until later in the year when I had no games to play, i was into it for about a month, yes I thought it was a great game and well made but I personally could not get into it. From the point I started NV I was hooked, and what made the game even more awsome in my opinion is the hardcoe mode, not because it makes "killing" more difficult, but it makes "surviving" more difficult, you have to actually eat drink and sleep as seperate survival needs and I find that very realistic and enjoyable, aiming down the sites is also a step up and how the "misc" items in fallout 3 that were useless are actually used to create things in NV including drinks and food.

Sanctuary,

I have to strongly disagree with you. It does not sound like you have played enough of the game to make such a statement but I believe I understand your position. I felt similarly to you when I was less than 15 hours into my game. At that time, I felt the quests were not as compelling/interesting, with some exceptions, as the early ones in FO3 and I only used my weathered 10mm handgun for practically everything -- I am almost level 20 now and still have not hit the strip so I am exploring and taking things slow. As you level up, gun and ammo options open up and I think you will find there is a good amount of variety in comparison to vanilla FO3. I no longer use handguns at all and have a variety of guns to choose from depending on the situation though the sniper rifle seems beastly in every situation.

Also, get ED-E in Primm and you will never again be surprised by hostiles. ED-E's perception distance perk is stupid far--annoyingly so IMO.

I think if you stick to it, you will enjoy the game. At this point, I still like FO3 more than FONV as the Capital Wasteland is less civilized and more dangerous but there is a lot to like in FONV and in many ways it is superior, IMO, to vanilla FO3.

YMMV

I couldn't agree more.

That's what made Morrowind so good to me - the story. Everything fit together.


Once again I completely agree.

I agree with everything you said especially the bold part. That is an excellent description of what I hated about Fallout 3 and what I was hoping was absent from New Vegas.

Regardless of what "role" you played Fallout 3 had no in-game support for the role. NPC's reacted the same way towards you whether you were imagining yourself as a hero or villain (unless you would routinely open fire on them).

Fallout 3 seemed like an appeal to the FPS demographic. Not a lot to read. Not a lot to distract one from just shooting everything that appears. Driven by the action not the story. It was just a collection of locations to clear out. From what I'm reading Vegas is just like that possibly even more so.

Oh, what I wouldn't pay for a game as deep as Morrowind with the graphics of Oblivion, F3, NV...

You know, I think you may have something here. Let me start by saying that I liked FO3...I was just disappointed with it because I really disliked the RPG mechanics, the core gameplay, the static and predictable storyline, the completely uninteresting characters, the fact that my actions as a player didn't matter much, and the fact that it really didn't come anywhere close to "feeling" like a Fallout game to me. That may sound like I didn't like it, but I really did...I just thought it could have been a LOT better than it was.

For me the core gameplay aspects are the most important part of the game and things like having a ton of locations to explore are secondary things that are nice, but not necessary. I'm a really busy guy and only get around 5-15 hours a week to play games, so I want all of my gaming time to be quality time. I'm not interested in squeezing many hundreds of hours out of a game. I just want the 40-150 or so hours I spend with a game to be satisfying.

Oblivion and Fallout 3 both have a ton of places to find and explore, and that's awesome. The problem I had with both of those games is that was the meat of them. While some of those places were interesting and had unique stories to discover, most of them were just samey mini-dungeons where I could find more Wonderglue, another glass dagger for my collection of >9,000 of them, a bit of money, scrap metal, some slippers, etc. Most didn't have any really distinguishing features. That would have been ok if I actually needed any of those things, but both of those games were set up in such a way that I didn't really need any of it. I felt like the exploration, while cool in small doses, was more of a time-sink than anything that was actually entertaining. I found myself wanting to know where the interesting stuff was so I could go check it out and move on. To make things worse, the sheer amount of stuff packed into the Capital Wasteland made it feel more like a theme park than a wasteland to me.

At the end of the day these games are a sandbox first and foremost and an RPG second...in some aspects a distant second. Nothing I did really mattered, from the way I chose to develop my character to my actions. In Oblivion I was head of the Mage's Guild, but nobody recognized it...nothing changed. In Fallout 3 I could try to create a character that matched the image in my mind, but by the time I was level 20 he/she was bound to end up being pretty much the same as every other character. At least a few skills were barely worth putting points into, but it didn't matter anyway because later in the game I'd find myself struggling to find ways to spend them. I found myself taking perks I didn't want simply because the game made me take one. With a few notable exceptions most NPCs were walking signposts at worst and robotic facsimiles of some character cliche at best. The atmosphere felt like a caricature of the Fallout series I knew and loved...garish and over-exaggerated. I was railroaded through a main storyline that, while having some high-points, was presented as though I were on the outside watching rather than an important participant.

Bottom line: the exploration is the meat of the game...there's very little to see when it comes to characters and there's very little interactivity for the player. You don't get to do things in the world that have any real effect on anything.

Ok, I'm rambling now. My point is that I think you're right. For folks like me that are more focused on core game mechanics, characters, setting, and interactivity New Vegas is a breath of fresh air. For folks like you that are most interested in a sandbox where they can wander around and find tid bits and hidey holes all over the place I can see it being a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see more things to explore in New Vegas, but not at the expense of the other improvements they've made over Fallout 3. The changes made in NV largely address my biggest disappointments in Fallout 3. Maybe Fallout 4 will be a good compromise for both types of players. Here's hoping. :foodndrink:

Edit:
Holy crap, wall of text. Didn't realize I typed that much.

TL:DR Edit (just for you, Mr. Fish):
I think I agree with you. Fallout 3 left me cold because it was first and foremost a sandbox and I felt its core gameplay, interactivity, setting, and story were lacking. New Vegas addresses these issues, but doesn't have as many places to find as Fallout 3. This is fine with me, as the core gameplay and interactivity are what I'm after, but I understand how the scroungers and dungeon hunters would be disappointed. I'd like to see more of that too, but not at the expense of making the rest of the game feel as hollow as FO3 felt to me.

My god why does no one use TL: DR?