POST OFICIAL: FALLOUT 3(Actualizado 21-03-08)

Eso sí, tengo la pequeña curiosidad de saber por qué han optado por el número 101 para el Vault en el que vive el personaje. En un primer momento pensé que podría ser el número 3 en código binario, pero resulta que es el número 5

En EEUU, los cursos introductorios o básicos sobre una materia reciben el número 101: por ejemplo Matemáticas 101 significaría el primer curso más elemental de matemáticas. Una vez terminas ese curso podrías pasar a hacer el Matemáticas 102, 103, etc... Por eso supongo que han puesto ese nombre al Vault: porque se trata del nivel que sirve de tutorial de iniciación al juego.

 

Salu2,

Mr B

Listin del sinfin de previews k salieron del Fallout 3 como quien no quiere la cosa

http://www.duckandcover.cx/#9263

Las leería todas con sumo interés pero toy de exámenes,tiro pal bar

Eso sí, tengo la pequeña curiosidad de saber por qué han optado por el número 101 para el Vault en el que vive el personaje. En un primer momento pensé que podría ser el número 3 en código binario, pero resulta que es el número 5

En EEUU, los cursos introductorios o básicos sobre una materia reciben el número 101: por ejemplo Matemáticas 101 significaría el primer curso más elemental de matemáticas. Una vez terminas ese curso podrías pasar a hacer el Matemáticas 102, 103, etc... Por eso supongo que han puesto ese nombre al Vault: porque se trata del nivel que sirve de tutorial de iniciación al juego.

 

Salu2,

Mr B

Interesante mrbandwidth, gracias por la información. Al menos parece una buena teoría

Listin del sinfin de previews k salieron del Fallout 3 como quien no quiere la cosa

 

http://www.duckandcover.cx/#9263

 

Las leería todas con sumo interés pero toy de exámenes,tiro pal bar

Bueno, no pasa nada, yo estoy trabajando, o sea qué tengo más tiempo , En principio me las había leido y había respondido sobre la marcha, preparandoos un bueno tocho, pero, por fortuna para todos, se me ha caido y se me ha borrado, así qué solo pondré un breve ( y comprensible ) resumen.

 

En primer lugar, un dato técnico irrelevante para mi pero importante para muchos; Fallout 3 correrá en PCs de gama baja-media y no requerirá windows vista ni directx 10.

 

En segundo, y para disipar algunos fantasmas, he leido por ahí qué " elevar la carcteristica de carisma ´hará qué aparezcan más opciones de dialogo ". Bueno, si aun hbía gente qué dudaba qué existiesen dialogos y opciones del mismo; Existen.

 

Habrá 300 NPCs, cada uno tendrá de 1000 a 1500 frases y los qué se han visto ya ofrecian una "falsa vida" mucho más completa qué la de Oblivion. Tambíen comentaban qué si robabas a un NPC la ropa, podias conseguir qué algunas personas te confundiesen con el.

 

De la radio comentan qué se podrá usar para escuchar las melodias ( unas 20 de música de los 40,50 y 60 han comprado ) para localizar eventos y patrullas en las proximidades, y tambíen qué, cuando cojas fama, se hablará de ti por ella.

 

De la radiación, qué se va quitando con el tiempo, salvo algunos eventos especiales qué te envenenan por siempre, elevando tu nivel de radiación de forma permanente.

 

Existirá un sistema para crear no solo armas, sino items de toda clase, para los "crafters" de la vida. Aunque aun no se sabe nada.

 

Existirán perks otorgados por tus actos, como el de "experto recogedor de excrementos"

 

el juego durará unos 20 horas la historia principal y 20 las subquests. Pero será rejugable. Aun así, no será tan largo como otros. Lo describen de esta manera " No es tan enorme ni tan lleno de secretos como oblivion, pero todas las cosas se trabajan con muchísimo más detalle "

 

Se podrán contratar merenarios , como el fallout 1, aunque no formarán parte directa de tu grupo. No sé sabe, aun si habrá un "grupo" ( y encima, nadie lo pregunta )

 

y bueno, como detalles llamativos, me ha llamado la atención un arma extraña qué practicamente todas las previews alaban, pero a mi me suena estúpida, qué es un arma qué coge items del escenario para dispararlos al enemigo, o algo así, y tambíen qué existe un contador de "cuerpos comidos" ¿¿?? no han querido responder nada al respecto. matar niños no, canibalismo si. Muy bíen, muy correcto.

 

Habrá 21 "bobbleheads" para buscar. Era casi inevitable, está de moda. Bueno, o no pienso buscarlas. Eso si, dicen qué algunas darán "perks"y habilidades.

 

Y poco más. Respecto a la política de los niños, pondré las palabras (casi ) exactas de Todd Howard " Bueno, miren bioshock. Están preocupados por como puedan aplicarles la censura a un juego en el que puedes matar niños. Pero es porque la elección es importante en ese juego. En Fallout decidir si vas a matar a los niños o no no es una elección qué forme parte del juego. Ir por ahí con una pistola disparandole a los niños no es nuestra idea sobre el juego. Así qué tenemos qué pensarnos seriamente qué vamos a hacer ".

 

O sea, qué si les censuran el juego= niños inmortales.

De lo dicho algunas cosas suenan muy bien. Lo que el juego dure 40 horas me parece muy muy poco (si finalmente es asi) pero bueno los dos primeros fallout eran cortitos también (sobretodo el 1).

Lo de mejores diálogos, con más opciones que se abren según tu carisma tendré que verlo. Una cosa es que se abran nuevas posibilidades, y otra que tenga buenos diálogos y que estos sean largos.

También nos contaba uno de los devs en que rpgcodex que los diálogos de Oblivion iban a ser largos y extensos y luego ya vi lo largos que eran

De lo dicho algunas cosas suenan muy bien. Lo que el juego dure 40 horas me parece muy muy poco (si finalmente es asi) pero bueno los dos primeros fallout eran cortitos también (sobretodo el 1).

Hombre 20 horas la historia principal para un juego en l que las misiones están medidas de manera que tengan su consecuencias como por ejemplo en el karma,y no en plan poner por poner como cierto elder está muy bien sobre todo comparado con los fallout originales.Aparte que si el juego tiene entre 9 y 12 finales,ya sería pasarse el juego unas 9 veces mínimo la campaña para verlos.

 

Y siempre nos quedará previopago las expansiones

PREVIEW

We do have a full preview as well, written by Dan Stapleton, supplemented by a related piece I contributed to, so theres lots of info coming. I havent read the GameSpot piece (or Dans), so I dont know how much they overlap Im also doing my column in the following issue on Fallout 3, as a sequel to my memo to Bethesda column a year or so ago, commenting on how I think things are looking on what I highlighted in the earlier column as the five most important Fallout features I was looking for in a sequel.

But if you have any additional questions on anything youve read anywhere - shoot - Ill try to answer them now that Im no longer prohibited from doing so. Ive waited a year and a half to be able to talk about Fallout 3, so Im more than happy to do so, heh.


I actually think people will be very happily surprised with the writing, and the characters, in Fallout 3, compared to Oblivions NPCs. The dialogue options are meaningful and different, not just a list of items that NPC can speak about, organized in a list where the only real choice is the order in which you hear the items. Theres only a few hundred NPCs (down from 1500 or so in Oblivion, and 2500 in Morrowind), so theyre much more fleshed out and unique it also helps that theres 30-40 different voice actors instead of just a handful in Oblivion. At least from what weve been shown, that stuff feels much more like Fallout 1/2 than Oblivion.


You also wont be a jack of all trades, as in Oblivion - you have to make real choices that matter, and which dynamically change the fortunes of other characters. Aside from enhancing replayability, since you obviously wont be able to do competing objectives, those choices deepen the roleplaying. To elaborate more on the Megaton bomb quest when you arrive at that town, you can greet and be friendly with the sheriff. When you get the quest to potentially blow up the bomb, you can instead inform the sheriff that these dudes are trying to blow up the town. Or you can decide to blow up the town, but actually be unable to because you lack the mechanical skills to activate the bomb. Or you could just decide to blow the sheriff away when you meet him, in which case youll likely be attacked by his buddies when walking through the town. Or you could, after blowing him away, decide to put on his sheriffs uniform, in which case some NPCs may attack you for killing the sheriff, but others may actually defer to you as the new sheriff. In short - meaningful options and real choices, and interesting characters to interact with - in that respect, I think Bethesda is appropriately emulating some of Fallouts best and most distinctive features.


I also wouldnt read anything negative into not being able to kill kids - its still definitely an M-rated game - theres graphic violence, swearing, and adult topics like slavery, etc. some other stuff that Bethesda isnt revealing yet, involving mutation, and one tracked stat was corpses eaten, which makes me suspect therell be something similar to the Vampire-path in Oblivion/Morrowind, where you can get into doing some nasty stuff. It doesnt feel sanitized. I also like the changes to the level-scaling, the use of SPECIAL and level-based character development as opposed to the use-based skill system of the Elder Scrolls games.


And more from today:


Other general impressions while calling it Oblivion with guns is an oversimplication given some of the differences Ive described above (and without also getting into the combat differences, etc.), I also think its a superficially apt description because it definitely looks like Oblivion, not like Fallout, because of the perspective. Sure, theyve doled out the carrot of being able to view the game from an isometric perspective, but Im skeptical that itll be in any way practical to do so. But the graphics look great - far better than I think they come across in still screenshots.

Areas of uncertainty - the VATS system looks really cool, and is visually spectacular, but I think we need to see more of the combat to judge how it feels in practice. I really like the VATS system, but Im not sold on combat in general - theres also a few pieces we havent seen at all, like melee combat (which is definitely an important part of the game). Also, everything in the demo occurred in relatively congested areas as well, with lots of rubble around blocking views, etc. - Id like to get a better sense for how large the world feels, and looks, by seeing more expansive vistas, etc. (obviously one of the real strengths of Oblivion).

Other stuff I really like - the implementation of the PIP boy, and the ability to pick off radio broadcasts as youre wandering the wasteland. The use of robots like Mr. Handy from the Fallout 1 cinematic - the nuke effects and the overall atmosphere: the perspective gives you a better sense that youre exploring a place thats been blown apart and is messed up (suitably postapocalyptic) as opposed to a flat, top-down view. Its actually kind of creepy its one thing to see a giant castle in the background while playing Oblivion, and think thats a cool, realistic view its another to be walking around and then to look up at Washington D.C. buildings that have been fucked up, since we have a vested attachment to that setting.

Which is another question ARE THERE companions of any sort?

There wont be a party, or controllable companions (even the original Fallout games had AI-controlled companions), but there will be characters that fight alongside you. Expect Dogmeat or his doppelganger.

I think the plan is definitely to support modding. I did ask if Fallout 3 would ship with a construction kit like the past 2 Elder Scrolls games, and that hadnt been decided yet. To be honest, that stuff doesnt interest me personally, so I didnt delve deeper into it.

Do you talk at all about the food/water/radiation poisoning thing that the game previews keep mentioning offhandedly, as if any game ever had made Tamagotchi mechanics fun? (and Im excluding you people that play the Simsif thats what you call fun, I want no part of it. I understand those games from the perspective of a simulator or something, but thats about it.)

Im not certain what you mean about Tamagotchi mechanics. Water is basically a precious resource in the game, which you need to restore health (or stimpacks) surface water is often irradiated, so if youre going to drink it youll need radaway to avoid radiation effects. But its not an Iolo-in-Ultima7-style caretaking system.

Saxman - I think the inventory graphics, etc. we saw were placeholder, but it seemed pretty standard press I to pull up inventory style system, not Oblivions goofy journal tab system.

Im hoping to god that they are more intelligent than Oblivions combat AI for companions, and not nearly as buggy (or as buggy/stupid as STALKERs friendly AI). I really cant take another battle where they rip me in half with the minigun because theyre too stupid to realize that Im between them and their target.

We didnt see any friendly fire incidents in the combat that was demonstrated, which was basically you and some Brotherhood of Steel guys against supermutants. They seemed intelligent enough to be fanned out - I dont know if friendly fire is possible or was disabled, but it didnt seem to be a factor.

Like I said, even though you wont have a controllable party in the traditional sense, you can have allies and/or followers, to a greater degree than in Oblivion (and there were actually quite a few occasions in that game where you worked with other characters).

Do you know if they will be like Fallout 1/2 and have their own backstories, quests, and ways to change them over time? How about secret followers? Skynet in Fallout 2 was awesome.

Well, even in Oblivion there wer characters who would tag along with you who had backstories and associated quests, but I think its overly optimistic to think much beyond that. Followers/allies on occasion may be more frequent or easier to obtain, but its a single character game, not a party-based game.

Can you complete the game using VATS exclusively, never aiming in real time? Is that a play style theyre balancing the game for?
Can you pause even if you have no AP, just to stop and think?

1. VATS action points are a limited resource, sort of like fatigue in Oblivion - I think they are still tweaking how fast it regenerates, etc.

2. Yes, definitely, and doing so will offer tactical advantages, since it allows your character to make a perception roll, which will give you additional information.

They already made the design choice to design the game around A) mostly real-time combat, B) in first-person, and C) without a controllable party or even companions. Youre already dealing with something thats at least part-way to being a FPS/RPG hybrid rather than a pure RPG.
Because frankly, my reaction to VATS is that while it sounds -interesting- Im somewhat skeptical about how it will work in practice. It seems too abstract to provide the enjoyment of good FPS combat, and too limited in its options to provide the depth of turn-based combat. Maybe that will change when they get around to producing some gameplay trailers and I can see it in action and in context. But right now Im still somewhat skeptical.

Wow, thats one awesome set of assumptions, extrapolations, faulty recollections, inaccurate comparisons and gross misinterpretations of everything thats been said to date, haphazardly stitched together with the skepticism it sounds like you were predetermined to rationalize.

I think youre right to hone in on the fact that there are a lot of questions surrounding how the combat will work in practice, and to note that the game is primarily designed around a first person perspective, but suggesting its not a pure RPG is ludicrous and completely counterintuitive given the statements of everyone who has actually seen the game.


SCANS PC GAMER

you will be able to choose your character's stat alignment, something that will be very hard to change later on in the game

¿Y que cojones quiere decir eso? , ¿que elegiremos ser caotico-maligno p legal-neutral y que los npcs reaccionaran a esta eleccion y no a lo que hagamos? >:-\ , ¿donde queda el sistema del karma?

 

Claro que lo mismo es un error de la gente de Action Trip en su articulo, porque dicen cosas tan idiotas como esta

 

As you know, the old Fallout series was turn-based, and Fallout 3 sort of continues that spirit. Though you can execute combat in real-time, there is an option to stop time and use action points to perform powerful shots in the head, torso, or extremities. This will, in turn, allow you to deal with multiple enemies more effectively

Creer que Fallout 3 es por turnos es de nota...

 

Un saludo

E3

Joystiq

In a dark yet comfortable mini-theatre, Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard guided us through the first 45 minutes or so of Fallout 3, played on an Xbox 360. Though a lot of what was shown and discussed was already revealed at their pre-E3 presentation late last month, but we did manage to glean new details on the title and its direction.

The atmosphere of the game (and its soundtrack) is very akin to the 1950s look of the first two Fallout titles, yet as Ron Perlman explains, the nuclear destruction happens in 2077. According to Howard, we're dealing with the future as envisioned from the past ... and the future had nuclear-powered cars and apparently never changed their taste in music. (Not that we mind at all.)

Comparisons to Oblivion are inevitable, so let's get those out of the way. As previously known, it does use an improved version of the Elder Scrolls game's engine, and you can really tell (for better and worse) with the animation "You can think of Oblivion as our freshman effort on next-gen platforms," said Howard. The movement was much more fluid, thanks likely to their new in-house motion capture capabilities coupled with the Havok physics engine. As many

However, in this build, the facial animations (and, as later pointed out by Pete Hines, the gestures) are not at this point realistic, though the lip syncing is accurate. According to Hines, much of the development time between now and its Fall 2008 release date will be spent tweaking such things, and hopefully we'll get some moving eyebrows. Say no to avatar botox!
The draw distance was fantastic, as the entire demo had us moving away from one town that we could still see once we reached our destination (and, spoiler alert, watched it explode).

NPCs are much fewer, but many of the same voice actors we heard from Oblivion are also in here, and we noticed at least one time where the same voice actors was obviously used twice. However, the character's voicing also seems more expressive, which helps differentiate them in a way Oblivion never did. Liam Neeson's voice work for your character's father was already in place, and worked well. Since your dad does portray many of your chosen characteristics, however, we're not sure how his voice might mesh should someone try to create a radically un-Neeson protagonist.

The game's introductory hour are designed to give you the feeling that have lived for a long while in the vault. It also serves as a way to assign your stats. At age one, for example, you are given a book by your dad that tells you how special you are, whereby you then choose your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, luck) attributes.

The game world will be approximately the same size as Oblivion, according to Hines, with 25% of that world being the Washington, D.C. area.

There will be fewer "quests," but unlike Oblivion each one has their own set of good / evil morals. We say quests with reservation, because Hines was very adamant about not referring to them as such. These, er, "ventures" will not pop up on the screen this time, but Hines said that they will be logged somewhere for later viewing.

The violence and humor are still very much a part of the Fallout universe. The game's atmosphere is best described as gritty, and we admit that it was surprising at first to hear a character curse and later see a sign outside of the vault that read "Let us in motherf**kers" (asterisks added by us). The headshots and limb shots are very gruesome, and with a laser gun you actually cut their head off instead of causing it to explode. Though the Fallout universe may precede it by a while, we can't help but be reminded by Gears of War. Highlight of the event: a friendly Vault robot, who turns bitter and obnoxious once you turn your back on it.

Water reflection and refraction were subtle but welcomed additions, as was the much-discussed decay of the environment. Howard talked up all the dead bodies often, but the number of skeletons that remained that was saw were minimal. We guess they must've already turned to dust.

Some details for the true Fallout fanatics:

The two-headed Brahmins make a return, and Pete Hines told us after the demo that Rad Scorpions are also coming back.
The toughest weapon in the game will likely be the Fat Man, a portable launcher that lobs nuclear grenades.
We've seen Super Mutants; as to the existence of the more folky mutants from previous games, Hines would not comment.
Random encounters are making a return, but Bethesda isn't ready to say how.
Action points, used for the turn-based combat mode V.A.T.S., are being designed to regenerate fast enough so that gamers can use it almost exclusively for fighting.
Speech options and convincing utilizing the Speech are still there, noted by the [ Speech 29% ] tag besides a talking option.
Computer security will be done via a game best described as akin to Mastermind, where you have a list of words (embedded amongst gibberish "code") and you will be told how many letters you have right.

"We spent what I refer to as an obscene amount of time on [the PIP boy menu screen]." said Howard. More pixel shaders used on it than all of Oblivion, apparently.
You can zoom the third-person view out to give it the camera view akin to the previous Fallout title.
As a fan of the original franchise, we're impressed by Bethesda's ability to retain the core elements of the franchise and improve upon mechanics. They still have over a year to develop it, but the outlook is so far great. War never changes, but the way you play it can certainly be improved.


CD-Action

"It's clearly visible that Fallout 3 is in good hands. It's all because every element that made Fallout an extraordinary work was kept or rather recreated."

"If you think "Fallout 3 is not Fallout anymore", remember the conversation with NPCs in the previous games, which were always presented face-to-face. I dare say that only because of technical limitations Fallout didn't use FPP from the beginning. There is no better way of quickly identifying with the character you roleplay than looking through their eyes, from their perspective..."

"Dogmeat or - more likely - one of his descendasnts is going to appear."

"It's worth noting that you'll be able to spectacularly destroy most - if not all - elements of the environment."

"As Pete Hines said: "We have no intention of removing elements that made Fallout well... Fallout". Let's take, for example, the system of radiation and using drugs - one of the screenshots shows effects of an overdose, maybe a side effect of taking a superstimpack. The sphere of sexuality will most likely be similarly treated."


IGN

We'd already written about the Fallout 3 demo a little over a week ago but that was no reason to pass up another chance to see the game in action again. The demo hadn't changed and neither has our high impressions of the work that Bethesda was putting into reviving the Fallout franchise. While some opinions have been divided with regard to the game's new perspective and some of the game mechanics, we're still convinced that Bethesda is on the right track to bring Fallout to a new generation of gamers while also staying true to the spirit of the franchise.

Bethesda's executive producer Todd Howard and designer Emil Pagliarulo were both on hand once again to take us through the demo and answer our questions about the new game. Having seen it once before, we were impressed this time with some of the details we missed the first time around. To begin with, the faces look much more realistic and varied. Where the faces in Oblivion sometimes looked a bit mushed and repetitive, those in Fallout 3 have much more lifelike detail. You can see that for yourself in the screens posted in our original preview.

We had the chance to revisit some of the content in the Vault and discover some of the new story elements there that we hadn't heard about the first time. To begin with, we learned a bit more about the Tunnel Snakes, the gang of bullies who inhabit the Vault, and the object of their attention, the young girl with whom you've had a lifelong friendship. We won't spoil the details of the story, but the connections definitely add some weight to the story.

Journeying on to Megaton and the DC Metro, we found things very much the way we left them on our last visit. This time around however, Todd flubbed his hacking attempts to get the Protectron up and running so he had to search out the key code to gain access again. Fortunately, whoever made the demo happened to place it conveniently on the desk in front of him.

The final chapters of the demo, as the character joins up with Sentinel Lyons' platoon and meets Mr. Burke atop the Galaxy News Building played out exactly as they had during our previous viewing but they were no less dramatic or thrilling even though we knew what to expect.

In all, Fallout 3 looks to be a great if somewhat modernized take on the franchise that's sure to please those who are new to the franchise as well as those old timers who don't mind the shift in perspective. We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on this one in the coming months.

F.A.Q. E3

http://www.neogaf.co...ad.php?t=170921

Separate PC / Console UI?

Yes, they learned their lesson from Oblivion and are making sure that the PC GUI will be suitable for keyboard+mouse users

PC/360/PS3 simultaneous release?

Yes.

Mod support on PC or Console?

Hasn't been decided yet.

More celebrity voice overs?

Besides Ron Perlman, they aren't ready to make any further announcements at this stage. No Jean-Luc

Any returning characters?

Not saying at this moment.

How dialogue works?

Branching dialogue tree, different choices/chances of success based on charisma and speaking skill.
Poor INT will NOT affect your dialogue choices.

Weather system?

Yes.

Fanbois?

They understand they're passionate about the brand and want to live up to their expectations but they are definitely making a game that they themselves want to play

How far can camera zoom out?

Pretty much full control over camera and can get into an iso/top-down view.

VATS?

Pauses game and lets you queue up actions, according to how many Action Points you have.
Action Points regenerate in real time based on Agility.
AP cost is dependant on weapon, skill.
Can queue up actions on multiple enemies.
My impression.. the combat looks like alot of fun!

Game areas?

Game areas are not scaled such as in Oblivion although there will be some minor scaling of creatures withing a predefined range of levels to maintain a fair bit of challenge.
Because XP and Levels are used, they are able to determine PC level/power better and be able to tailor quests/direct players to zones appropriate for their levels.

Random encounters/easter eggs such as Alien ship?

Maybe.
FYI, on the Energy Weapons skill info pane, it affects these types of weapons:
Alien, Cyro, Laser, Plasma and one other I think I missed.

Children?

In the game, killable (directly)? Not yet decided.

Groin/Eye shots?

They figure that a crit on the eye will gib the head anwyays so probably leaving that out. Groin shot is a maybe.

NPCs? Dogmeat?

Animal companions.. maybe. NPC followers are recruitable based on karma (good/evil/neutral) and controlled through dialogue.

Bloody mess perk?

Yes

Does the game end? Is there a level cap?

Yes to both questions.

How much it ties into the previous games?

You'll find out!



OTHER TIDBITS:

Weapons have decay. They are repaired using the repair skill which requires weapons of the same type to get parts from. Weapons decay has many effects such as Rate of Fire, Cone, Damage

Water is an important theme in Fallout, it's one way you can heal.

The Super Mutant Behemoth... looked like something out of GeOW, but in GeOW you don't actually get to fight the big monsters.

The Fat Man nuke effect is really cool.

Hacking minigame... hack into the BIOS for passwords to terminals. There will be alot of terminals.

XP mostly comes from quests.

Towns and Buildings are zoned like in Oblivion (load times between each, etc).

Other factions: one of the radio stations mentioned by in game dialogue is apparently run by The Enclave.

The faces are much better, especially the female ones.

Your in-game father (Liam Neeson) will physically reflect the choices you make on your own character's appearance.

Overall... I want to play this game!

Actualizada 1ª página con la lista de previews

PREVIEWS

IGN
http://pc.ign.com/ar...0/800570p1.html
http://pc.ign.com/ar...3/803937p1.html

GAMESPOT
http://www.gamespot....ml?sid=6173397#

VOODOO
http://ve3d.ign.com/...0/800884p1.html

WORTHPLAYING
http://www.worthplay...e.php?sid=44075

NEXTGEN
http://www.next-gen....d=6215&Itemid=2

JOYSTICK
http://www.joystiq.c...look-fallout-3/
http://www.joystiq.c...uclear-bomb-at/
http://www.joystiq.c...ions-fallout-3/

EUROGAMER
http://www.eurogamer...id=78752&page=1

DESTRUCTOID
http://www.destructo...t-3-34063.phtml

CRITICAL HITS
http://www.critical-hits.com/?p=898
http://www.critical-hits.com/?p=890
http://www.critical-hits.com/?p=891
http://www.duckandco...pic.php?t=18012

1UP
http://www.1up.com/d...age?cId=3160714

GAMEDAILY
http://www.gamedaily...701112409990001

KOTAKU
http://kotaku.com/ga...demo-274035.php

SHACKNEWS
http://www.shacknews...x?id=411&page=1

GAMESPY
http://pc.gamespy.co...3/800771p1.html

PC GAMER
http://www.duckandco...18007#Fallout 3

MAYOR NELSON
http://www.duckandco...pic.php?t=18011

INSIDEGAMER
http://www.insidegam...mpressies/16146

CD ACTION
http://www.duckandco...pic.php?t=18108

Poor INT will NOT affect your dialogue choices

Adios a jugar como un idiota que no sabe hablar , habra que ver si dejan otras opciones validas para que inteligencia sea un atributo util o se rinden descaradamente al munchkismo de poder jugar con inteligencia 1.

 

Que haya "minijuegos" para hackear ordenadores y no dependa de una habilidad suena rematadamente mal si esto pretender ser un rpg.

 

Un saludo

Lo que siempre pienso: el doblar a los personajes hace que los díalogos vayan a peor. Si no tienen presupuesto para todo (ja ja), que no se empeñen en tenerlo todo. Es perfectamente posible jugar a un RPG sin díalogos de voz, lo hemos hecho durante años.
Esto claramente, como has indicado, Fodel, obedece primero a vaguería y roñosería, y segundo al poder munchkinear a tu personaje. Es ridículo que un personaje de inteligencia 1 pueda incluso retenerse a la hora de cagar.

Sin duda será un juego entretenido, pero se cargan las cosas que tendrían que dejar en paz a favor de la cutrez y el casualismo gratuito (porque podrían hacerlo de la mejor forma posible, y venderían igual de bien).

Eso sí, tus elecciones estética se reflejarán en el rostro de tu padre, y el padre estará doblado por Liam Nesson. Excelente, será un gran juego.

imágenes en alta definición







PC GAMER

Explicación del sistema de autonivelado


Gaining power to kick some serious butt is a hallmark of RPGs. Typically, you're initially relegated to exterminating rats and similarly mundane vermin, but after questing for a few dozen hours, you're capable of dragon slaying. One of the great perks of becoming more powerful is the ability to strut through previously ominous territory and beat the crap out of enemies that used to terrify you. But Oblivion scales in difficulty and denies you that sense of accomplishment. If you return to a crypt after gaining some experience levels, hoping to stomp the zombies that previously manhandled you, you discover that those blasted undead have upgraded to deadly Wraiths. Oblivion's enemies reorganize into groups, and as you advance in level, enemies are supplanted by more powerful creatures within those groups. So, the Goblins you once encountered are replaced by Goblin Skirmishers and finally by Goblin Warlords. There isn't even a reprieve once you've encountered a group's most powerful creatures, as those enemies constantly scale up in attributes and equipment to match your level. Oblivion's scaling makes level advancement less rewarding, makes its world unrealistic-eventually, bandits demanding pennies end up decked out in glass armor and magical equipment worth more than lavish estates. You're actually regarded for not advancing in level-quests such as the Kvatch Siege are easier you undertake them as a pleb, since you'll only encounter Stunted Daedra instead of their more formidable counterparts. A demonic invasion isn't so terrifying when its bridgehead forces could have been routed by a lone wild bear.
Fortunately, Fallout 3 will not use Oblivion's level-scaling, but contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, scaling isn't completely discarded. The first important change is that creatures never scale up in abilities to match your level, so each Deathclaw in F3 will always have the same attributes, regardless of your character's level when you have the misfortune of encountering it. Second, each territory in the game is now assigned an encounter level that determines the level and equipment of critters when you discover that area, so a first-level character that wanders into an area designated as "encounter level 5" will be badly outmatched by the inhabitants. Loot is also generally scaled to the area's encounter level, but some item items will be hand-placed, which is similar to how Morrowind handled loot.
An area's level doesn't remain static, but it gets locked as soon as you enter it. If you enter a city block designated as a level 5 area, it will remain a level 5 area and never scale up in difficulty. Areas you haven't yet encountered do "tether up" in difficulty level, but the tethering level doesn't linearly scale with your level, so there's still an advantage to gaining experience levels. The city block that's initially designated as a level 5 area will tether up and be designated as a level8 area if you don't wander into it until you're a level 15 character. But since an area's level is locked once you enter it, you'll still get the satisfaction of returning to a previously difficult area and annihilating its residents once you have a more powerful character.
Bethesda's still tweaking these systems, but they should make exploration more interesting and not diminish the regard for advancement by making you feel like you can never really get ahead. I'd still prefer a static world like Gothic's, where encounters are always consistent regardless of your character level, but this toned-down scaling system sounds like a huge improvement over Oblivions.



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Pues lo de la "inteligencia" la verdad que es una cagada si aquí todo el mundo se la pone en 1 y habla cual bardo con un speech de 100.Espero que eso lo modifiquen o que por doquier te obliguen a tener un mínimo pa aparentar y eso.

ACTION TRIP

http://www.actiontri...7fallout3.phtml

Still trying to get adjusted to the hallway light after being treated to a rather lengthy, 40 minute demo of Bethesda's Fallout 3.

One thing that needs to be noted right away about Fallout 3 is that Bethesda is obviously taking a very similar approach to what they did in Elder Scrolls IV, in terms of how the game is being played. While the third person view is functional and often useful (over the shoulder look mostly), the main way to play the game would definitely be in the first person. Beth's executive producer, Todd Howard, calls this the most immersive way to experience an RPG title.

Now, personally, I may object somewhat to this statement, but the fact of the matter is this is how the game's gameplay is executed and this is what Fallout fans should expect. Is this a good thing? A matter of personal preference really.

The game starts off inside Vault 101, the safe haven or the bane of the survivors of the nuclear holocaust. The demo kicks off with our main character being a young 19 year old guy (who looks at least 30 by the way) getting ready to undergo his test of mental abilities a rather neat way to determine your characters traits, similar to what Beth did in Elder Scrolls games. The trailer that was released on the net is the actual start to the game, so the story picks up as the "young" man gets familiar with his surroundings. Also, the whole game conveys a retro sci-fi look, which should be familiar to all Fallout aficionados. As the plot unravels, you learn that your father has somehow escaped Vault 101. The trick here is that, under the government of the Overseer, the vault was thought to be impossible to either exit or enter.

After a sequence of events that was speeded up in the demo, Todd took us out of the vault and into the barren wastelands of the Fallout world.

While the engine still looks very much Oblivion-ish, if you catch my drift, with nice detail in the game world and on the models, but with animation that's a bit stiff, a marked improvement was immediately noticeable in the sheer number of objects in each scene as well as their intricacy. Bethesda is definitely going for the portrayal of an aftermath of total death and destruction, and they are pulling it off quite decently in the game.

As you exit the Vault, you are faced with a world of moral ambiguity and a rather uncompromising style of humor; again trademarks of the Fallout series. In that sense, the designers are staying true to the core concept of characterization and storytelling, something that a lot of fans will regard as music to their ears. Expect a lot of "fucks" as well as crass humor, but wrapped in an intelligent and ironic take on life.

The RPG elements in Fallout 3, naturally, play a big role. Through your little retro PDA, you will be able to choose your character's stat alignment, something that will be very hard to change later on in the game. In addition, our hero will be presented with a number of moral choices. For instance, he will enter a city which has survived and sort of grown around a nuclear bomb, which has miraculously never detonated. A chance would have it, a shady and overly-eloquent character in the town's sleazy bar will give you the option to actually rearm the bomb and blow the town to bits. Lo and behold, that is exactly what our game demonstrators did. Bearing in mind the AI routines of the NPCs, which did seem more life-like and engaged in more meaningful actions than in Elder Scrolls IV, the choice to blow the town to hell was an interesting one. As most of the guys in the room would agree, a more entertaining one at that.

Another important thing to note about the game is the combat system. While looking rather like your classic shooter combat, with a crosshair and all, Fallout 3 is actually very different in that sense. As you know, the old Fallout series was turn-based, and Fallout 3 sort of continues that spirit. Though you can execute combat in real-time, there is an option to stop time and use action points to perform powerful shots in the head, torso, or extremities. This will, in turn, allow you to deal with multiple enemies more effectively. The gore of the game seemed quite excessive, but this all fits into the unapologetic nature of this surely M-rated title. At any rate, this is what people expect from Fallout.

Near the end of the presentation, Beth treated us to a level of post-apocalyptic Washington DC, which was very impressive in the amount of damage done to the city.

Final scenes included combat with multiple soldiers and mutants with you right smack in the middle of it all. Granted, this is something that has been the big wow factor of Oblivion, but the gameplay was sort of diluted as you progressed through the campaign.

I am very much hoping Fallout 3 won't have that detached feeling to it. It didn't in the presentation, but then neither did Oblivion under similar circumstances.

Fallout 3 is scheduled to appear in stores in the fall of 2008. As always, expect this date to change once we get closer to something resembling a beta build. What I've seen of the game at the show here, it looked pretty complete and functional certainly a sign that Bethesda knows what they're doing.


GAMING NEXUX

http://www.gamingnex...FullNews&I=5107


Bethesda Software had a tremendous showing of Fallout 3 and we were privileged to check out the 45 min demo of the game. While the game's still a year away, Fallout 3 looked really polished and exhibited the style from the first two. A lot of the art and music will be familiar to Fallout fans so don't fear as the property is in good hands. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. are the seven stats that determine your characters traits while there's the usual abilities available as well. When you create your character your father, voiced by the great Liam Neeson, will look different depending on the look of your character.

The game has you starting out being born and lets you experience key events in your life until adulthood. We were shown the main character leaving Vault 101 for the first time and entered the city of Megaton. The city is built around an undetonated nuclear bomb and it's here where you can have a few options for missions. You could help the mayor and defuse the bomb but the path we saw was an NPC asking you to detonate Megaton and wipe out the town from the face of the Earth. Even when you get the item to set the bomb to explode you have the choice of turning the guy in that hired you. Fallout 3 is about choices and Bethesda offers plenty to choose from.

Action takes place in real time but you can pause the game and queue up action by using points. This feature retains some of the aspect of the original two games and lets you plan out where you want to attack an enemy without having to frantically select the spots to hit. From the demonstration, I like how the system works and think it'll be a nice feature that will appease old fans. You won't need to be a great action gamer to succeed in Fallout 3 combat.

You can play from the first person view or float the camera around to a position of your liking. The demonstration even went old school as the camera was moved far away and at an isometric view. So you don't always have to play in first person mode if you don't want to.

All weapons have a state about them so some can be in better shape than others. If you pick up the same weapon you can break one down to some smaller parts which fit easier into your inventory and also take those parts to fix other guns in your arsenal. The demo had a gun that was firing a pretty spread out pattern but fixing it with parts from another gun generated a tighter concentration of bullets.

Graphically, the game's a feast for the eyes as the modified Oblivion engine never looked so good. When you first walk out the world is in such a harsh shape from all nuclear fallout. The designers did a really great job at modeling a desolate world with highly detailed textures and top notch architecture. So much little detail in what I saw made the world come alive. One impressive effect was the passing of some sand and dirt in the wind as you looked around. The mutants exhibit great detail as well with some very nice motion capture. Havok is working overtime here generating dynamic movement. All objects were thoughtfuly designed and Bethesda tried to think of why a button would be in a certain place or a gauge was in a certain place. They really gave a lot of attention to detail in designing not only the landscape but the objects in the world. The game just oozes style and the artists at Bethesda should be commended for creating such a highly detailed world.

In reality there are so many things we saw about the game that I could go on and on about Fallout 3. Suffice to say the game's going to be huge and it's going to be a long year wait for the game to come out. Fallout 3's a long time coming and it looks like fans of the first two will be happy at what Bethesda is doing for the third game.
TEAM XBOX

http://previews.team...0/Fallout-3/p1/

When last we saw Bethesda Softworks Fallout 3, we were sitting in their studios impressive theater, viewing the game for the very first time. After the company obtained the rights to create a new game in the post-apocalyptic role-playing series, hardcore fans wondered if the development team could recreate the near-perfect combination of writing, RPG mechanics, and combat that made the original game such a hit. Although the critical response to the new game was overwhelmingly positive after the first showing, old school fans on the Fallout forums and message boards werent convinced. Well fans, I was given a second chance to see the game in action again earlier today, and Im happy to say that I was even more impressed than I was the first time I saw it.

The game kicked off with an extended version of the trailer that hit the web a while ago, during which Ron Perlman declared, War. War never changes. He then proceeds to narrate the backstory, which details the nuclear war that ravages the world. He explains that humanity had taken shelter in massive underground vaults, and that Vault 101 was the only one that remained locked. Its where your character was born, and its where hes supposed to die. Youll spend the early part of your life in the Vault, and its where youll learn that skills that will (hopefully) keep you alive when you finally venture into the wasteland.




When in the vault, youll obtain the wrist-mounted PipBoy computer that youll use throughout the game to do everything from checking your attributes to changing your gear. Your core attributes are set when youre a year ld, when youll find out that youre S.P.E.C.I.A.L. This acronym stands for Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck, each of which is given a numerical rating depending on the choices you make. Youll also have to answer plenty of questions on the General Occupation Aptitude Test (or G.O.A.T.), which will determine your ratings in 21 core skills, including Big Guns, Repair, Speak, Science, Medicine, and Throwing,

Once you finally leave the vaults protective confines, youll be thrust right into the action. The combat in the game is best described as first-person shooting, but its much, much deeper than your standard shooter. Since bullets are at a premium in most post-apocalyptic wastelands, trying to run and gun your way through the game is a pretty bad idea. Instead, you can use V.A.T.S. (VaulTec Assissted Targeting System) to pause the action and queue up your targets. You can target individual body parts, and youll be told how likely you are to hit them. Its a great system, offering a much deeper experience than your standard shooter.

One of the things that most impressed us about Fallout 3 is the writing and overall tone of the game, which puts the player in what someone from the 1950s might imagine is the future. The design is excellent, featuring a retro-futuristic aesthetic that could best be described as the bastard child of The Jetsons and Mad Max. I mean, the fact that shooting the fusion reactor in a car that looks like a Studebaker will cause a miniature nuclear explosion speaks volumes about the artists.

Theres a lot to like in Fallout 3, as it offers one of the most unique experiences weve seen in a video game. Although some people wonder if its just going to be Oblivion with guns, were happy to report that the game also features plenty of over-the-top gore, profanity, and laugh-out-loud funny dialogue. We cant wait to get our hands on the game in the coming year (yes, its that far off and still looks amazing), as well as delve into some more of the games features. Check back often for updates!



THE ESCAPIST

http://www.escapistm...-2007-Fallout-3

War never changes, but Fallout has.

This will undoubtedly upset a great many people. (Perhaps the same folks running our new layout through the ringer.) But it was inevitable.

It's been a decade since the original Fallout was released, and so much has changed about gaming, and games, that a new Fallout made like the originals would be largely unplayable, and deeply disappointing. And before you start saying "Van Buren" remember that that game, too, was made almost ten years ago. It would not be the same game today.

We asked Bethesda's Pete Hines what he thought about the departures his company has made from the original formula, and if they'd sought the input of any of the original developers.

"At this point, I've worked on this game as long as anyone who's made any Fallout game," he replied. Admitting that, while it might be desirable to receive a "blessing" of sorts from the creators of the series (as opposed to simply buying the license and running with it), at the end of the day, as creators, they felt they needed to own their own creation, even if it is based entirely in someone else's world. And make no mistake, Fallout 3 is quite firmly rooted in the world created in the first two games.

Set two hundred years after a nuclear war devastated the Earth, Fallout 3 puts you in the shoes of one of the descendants of a brave, careful few who hid themselves away from the nuclear terror in a communal fallout shelter called a vault. But unlike the vaults portrayed in Fallout 1 & 2, this one is on the East Coast of the United States, and has remained completely sealed for two centuries. No one has come in, no one has gone out. ("You're born in the vault, you die in the vault.") Until your father, a prominent vault citizen, mysteriously vanishes, and you have to leave the vault to find him.

Part of the intro movie for Bethesda's Fallout 3 made it out onto the net several weeks ago. Their presentation at E3 today revealed the rest. And yes, the entire thing was narrated by Ron Perlman, and yes, he said "War never changes" (the tagline from the original) at least twice.

After we watched the movie, Bethesda Executive Producer, Todd Howard, played through about 45 minutes of the game, revealing a number of weapons, demonstrating the various control schemes and making a lot of things go BOOM.

For starters, fans of the original games need to know this: much of what you loved about Fallout is in there. The Pip-Boy has been faithfully updated, as has much of the character stat system, and the turn-based aiming mechanic. While the combat in Fallout 3 is not turn-based, you can enter the VATS system to target individual body parts of your opponent, and allocate action points, then watch as your character cinematically executes the attacks, often triggering explosions of gore.

The look (the vault is surprisingly familiar), feel (guns, ammunition and violence all have the same "grit" as before) and humor (Mr. Handy calls you a stupid git behind your back) of the Fallout world has survived, been updated and made new. Although the new game is in 3D, and features a first-person perspective, it's still Fallout. It's the same world. It is new, but the same. I can't say this enough. Change, in this case is good.

Still, to the chagrin of some, it is, in fact, much like Oblivion meets Fallout. It is first person, NPCs do feel more like Bethesda NPCs than Black Isle NPCs (although the dialogue options are still hilarious and wonderful) and the world feels much more malleable. In Fallout, one always felt as if the world was what it was, and you would live or die without making much of a difference. War, after all, never changes. You could stomp out the bad guys if you wanted, but that would leave only a gaping hole, not rejuvenate the world.

I get the feeling from this demo that Bethesda's Fallout will feature much more quest feedback, and perhaps offer the chance to change, if not war, then perhaps a few lives. And although this lessens the sense of alienation and isolation, that isolation may not have been entirely planned to begin with. After all, a lot of PC games from that era felt "isolated" merely because they were. The technology didn't yet exist to create living, breathing worlds. Bethesda's improved radiant A.I. and unparalleled world-building expertise have combined to create a much more immersive experience, and while not exactly the Fallout you remember, is still Fallout.

While it's impossible to say whether or not the finished game will please all fans of the series (or even newcomers) based on a staged 45 minute demonstration, I went into the presentation expecting to be at least a little disappointed, but I was not. The degree to which the Bethesda team remained faithful to the word of Fallout is staggering, as is the level of detail and ... there's no other word for it ... "love" put into the game.

This is another one I'll definitely be picking up (in Fall 2008), and it will go right up on the shelf beside my original copies of the first two games. Right to the left of the space where Van Buren would have gone

RPGFAN

http://www.rpgfan.co.../2007/1219.html

Fallout is a series that remains dear to many, many PC RPG fans worldwide. Despite the fact that the last two titles, Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel were not quite as well received, Fallout and Fallout 2 reain perennial favorites. Many were wary when Bethesda Softworks took the reins on the newest Fallout title. After all, how could some guys who had worked mainly on a fantasy-oriented series capture not only Fallouts wonderful gameplay, but its post-apocalyptic flair? With Bethesdas early demo at E3 2007, one thing is clear: while it is far from a carbon copy of the first two titles, the franchise is in safe hands. Todd Howard, one of the brains behind Bethesdas Elder Scrolls series and executive producer of Fallout 3, took us through an hour of their Fall 2008 release, and we couldnt have been more impressed.
Fallout 3 begins in Vault 101, one of the iconic vaults of the series, located in the Washington DC area, not far from Bethesdas own headquarters. Unlike Vault 13, out of which the main character in Fallout 1 was sent to find a replacement water chip, the main character leaves Vault 101 against orders. After all, the Overseer says that when one is born in the Vault, theyll die in the Vault. As the main character ventures out to find his father, however, he becomes only the second to venture out. Interestingly enough, the players father will resemble the character, whose features are set in the first hour of the game.

Character creation can be done either via character sheeting the easiest way to twink for veteran RPG fans or by following quests in the first hour of the Vault, as the main character advances from birth to age nineteen. Characters will gain statistics through the SPECIAL system that Fallout fans are familiar with, setting perks and flaws, and gaining key abilities. One thing players will notice is that Bethesda has painstakingly re-created the 2D Vaults from earlier titles in full 3D. Theres detail in everything, from the knobs on devices to the PipBoy 3000, which looks absolutely amazing.

Not only is the Vault created with care, but all of the graphics found within Fallout 3 are as well. Once emerging from Vault 101, players are introduced to a world ripped to shreds, with the futuristic world portrayed in the 1950s given a grisly makeover. All of it is rendered in real time and looks absolutely amazing. Bethesda has created environments that can be changed on the fly, so not only does the devastation look amazing, but all of the damaged caused on the fly looks absolutely real. Now, environments looking fantastic in a Bethesda game arent exactly new: both Morrowind and Oblivion had fantastical environments, though the characters themselves looked a bit off; not so in Fallout 3. Characters look just as good as they do in any other top-tier game, if not better. Fans of Bloody Mess shouldnt worry, either, as enemies in Fallout 3 fall apart just fine.

Graphics arent everything, but Fallout 3 seems to have nailed a new style of gameplay that varies greatly from the original titles, yet remains faithful at the same time. Players who want to play in real time, like the battle system seen in Oblivion, are welcome to do so. However, those who want to spend their AP can do so using the VATS system the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. Players will hit the right bumper button, or equivalent button on PS3 or PC, and be introduced to a menu similar to the aimed shots from earlier titles. While there didnt seem to be an option to shoot enemies in the groin, Bethesda did add a feature where weapons can be attacked and damaged (though the Vault Dweller should beware, as his own weapons can be damaged in the exact same way).

Enemies are incredibly intelligent in Fallout 3. Very early on, we saw a super mutant attempt to flank Todd Howards character, though the super-statistics of his demo character allowed him to easily take down the underground foe. Players will be able to use a wide variety of weapons, from a .22 hunting rifle seen at the beginning of the game to a hand-held nuclear catapult called the Fat Man. Combat is very tactical and players must balance risk versus reward. Is it worth it to blow up that nuclear-powered car to take down a group of super mutants if youre going to be bombarded with radiation because of it?

Combats not the only place where choices matter; Fallout 3 will use branching quest and speech trees, allowing players to make just about any choice they want. Early on, the Vault Dweller will encounter a town called Megaton, built around an un-detonated nuclear weapon. He can be hired on to detonate the weapon, or he can save the town. If he chooses to destroy it, the explosion can be seen, in real time, from miles away, where the detonation device is.

Risk versus Reward seems to be the theme in Fallout 3, not only inside the game, but Bethesda Softworks view of the game. While they remain true to Black Isles vision of a post-apocalyptic world, they are making their own, brand new game. It may not be the hex-based combat that the ultra-hardcore are looking for, but Fallout 3 is on track to be one of the most fantastic games of 2008. Good Work, Bethesda. Good Work.



GAMERSINFO

http://www.gamersinf...07/12/fallout_3

Ive got to warn you - Fallout 3 isnt coming until fall 2008.

So, youve got a lot of time to get excited about it.

Here at E3, Bethesda took us through an approximately 45-minute demonstration of some of the beginning parts of Fallout 3. Some things that they pointed out, Id like to note up front:

No, its not isometric. The default viewpoint for the game is first person, because they believe thats the way to make it the most immersive. However, you can play in third person, effectively, and you can pull the camera out quite a ways.
Bethesda wanted to capture the feel of the original Fallout game. They did a lot of work to recreate Vault 101, while expanding on it and making it live and breathe. While the first Fallout says youve lived here all your life and now youve been kicked out, in Fallout 3, youll actually go through some of the major points of your life - and then have to escape the Vault!
This is definitely a rated M game. It is extremely gory in parts, and there is lots of foul language.
For the demo, the character wasnt created from scratch - instead, we joined in when hes 16 and supposed to go take his G.O.A.T. test. This test will basically help set up your skills.

When youre 1-year old, we were told, you have to read the book Youre S.P.E.C.I.A.L.! which will set up your stats. Such stats as luck, agility and strength will have a great bearing on the game and are hard to change once it starts. You have to make some hard decisions for a 1-year old!

But even before that, youll set what your character looks like. After customizing his (or her) look, the game uses that decision to make your father, a respected scientist in the Vault, look like you. Your father, by the way, is voiced by Liam Neeson, who reminds you that you were born in the Vault, you die in the Vault. Then he disappears (but that happens at 19, not 16 )

So, we walked around. For the demo, we tried to lie to our father, but with only a 29 percent chance of succeeding, it was a failure, and he ordered us to go take the G.O.A.T. As we walked to the classroom, people would say hello or go about their business - we got to see some Vault greasers (stereotypical 1950s gang members) harassing a young woman, and we couldve gotten involved with that if we wanted, interacting with the Radiant artificial intelligence. Instead, acting like we were 19 - when you leave the Vault - we headed out of the Vault.

Before leaving the Vault, we ran into a handyman-type robot who complimented the look of the overalls we wore - then insulted us after we left. It was quite funny.

Once outside, you see a wide open view of the world. Theres nothing out of bounds - you can go anywhre you want. The quest that youre on will suggest that you go to a town called Megaton to look for your father.

Remember those greasers I mentioned? If youre not familiar with Fallout, let me get you up to speed. Fallout 3 takes place approximately 200 years after a worldwide thermonuclear war wiped out civilization in 2077. The United States of 2077 bears more of a resemblance to a futuristic version of 1950s society than todays. World War 2-esque recruiting posters and 1950s-esque advertising still dominate the landscape. The cars are all large and nuclear-powered.

Even looking at your Pip-Boy - the computer on your wrist that tells you your attributes, health, radiation count, equipment, basically all of the game information - has a 50s feel to it. And speaking of the Pip-Boy - the developers like to point out that there are more pixel shaders on the Pip-Boy than they used in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. They wanted it to look perfect.

So, you wander the landscape. At a Red Rocket - a refueling station for those nuclear-powered cars - a few shots set an old car (a Chryslus Highwayman, if I remember the name correctly - each car will be identified to you when you look at it) on fire and blew it up in a mushroom cloud. Developers showed us how the system used to show all the destruction also allows the change in the scenery if you, for instance, shoot the scenery.

Then there were a few skirmishes with giant spiders.

Combat is something that a lot of people had questions about. In the original Fallout, it was turn-based using a system called VATS. Now, you have a choice.

For instance, you have a targeting reticule. With your trusty .22 rifle in hand, you can take potshots at the spiders, with a chance of hitting a body part (such as a leg, to slow it down, or an antenna to try to make it go berserk and attack his friends). But if youre not good at shooting like that, you can still use VATS.

Using VATS will cause time to pause, and you select what actions you want to take based on how many AP you have - action points, which regenerate at a rate determined by your agility - as well as the chance to hit certain parts of the creature. You can even set up multiple targets in VATS to switch back and forth.

A later battle against a super mutant showed us that. First, a couple of shots went into the leg of a mutant who was charging us with a super sledge. The next shots then went toward the head of a mutant with a Chinese assault rifle, blasting at us from a platform, and the last APs were used to reload.

Why use VATS if youre good at shooting?

Well, for one, Bethesda doesnt want this to be a shooter - they want it to be a role-playing game. Theyre still ironing out the combat system, but your chances of doing something good - a critical hit, a hit to a body part - will be better using VATS. Also, even in twitch mode, your skill still affects your accuracy and damage with a weapon.

Plus, when using VATS, you get cinematic! Instead of being completely focused in the first persons must shoot it out with mutant, you get a brief dramatic movie of your actions as you fight it out!

A great example of that came near the end of the demo - but Ill save that for later.

After shooting it out with spiders, it was time for a visit to Megaton. Megaton is named that because it grew up around an atomic bomb that dropped but didnt explode. Theres even a cult that worships said bomb.

As you walk into town, youre first scanned by Deputy Weld, a robot sentry, who allows you entry. The towns sheriff and mayor will talk to you, and you can play it cool or just act obnoxious. From there, you can explore the town, or do as we did - walk to the bar, meet a mysterious stranger who wants you to blow up the atomic bomb in Megaton, and agree to work with him.

We headed to the bomb, installed a device in it and then went to meet up with the stranger farther away. After all, you dont want to be close when that goes off!

The best way to get there is Metro. Climbing into the tunnels led to a couple of battles with super mutants and later showed off the hacking system. Instead of fighting with two super mutants, we found a dormant security robot and hacked it.

Basically, hacking entails getting the right password. Youll look at a scrambled file with a number of words in it. Each time you try a word, itll tell you how many letters were right in the word. STREP might go to TRACK which might go to AWAIT, for instance. Get it right, and the bot is yours - get it wrong, and youll get locked out.

In this case, the robot came out, didnt know thered been a war and so asked the super mutants for their tickets; when they didnt show any, the robot killed them.

(Im glad that Metro doesnt actually have that!)

From there, we exited out into Chevy Chase.

Yes, the game is set around Washington, D.C. - after all, Bethesda is from those parts. (And so am I, so I dug that! I also noticed that the Metro logo was similar to the logo in real life, though the Metros design isnt based off the real Metro.)

When we came out of the Metro, we were attacked again. Unlike Oblivion, enemies will be of set level when you encounter them and will stay at that level. Shooting up the hulk of a car, we dove into a personal fallout shelter to keep the radiation down when it blew up to take out some of the mutants.

You see, you dont have to worry just about health in this game - you also have to worry about radiation. Its all around, and you can get it from doing such things as blowing up nuclear-powered cars or even drinking contaminated water or food, such as the water we drank from a toilet bowl. (Pay attention to the water, too. For those of you that complained about the water in Oblivion, its much better here, with true reflection and refraction.)

Fortunately for us, the Brotherhood of Steel - armored and laser-armed guardians - happened to be around, and we met with them to make it safely to our objective. We fought through more mutants and arrived at the Galaxy News tower

just to be jumped by an enormous super mutant behemoth, wielding a mace made of concrete and a fire hydrant.

Our lasers didnt do much to him, so we ran over, grabbed a Fat Boy - basically a nuclear rocket launcher - and took a pot shot at him. It missed.

Dodging his wild swings, it was back into VATS, and the cool scene I mentioned earlier.

The good thing about shooting, well, NUKES at a bad guy is that even if you miss, you can still hit. So, instead of shooting for his torso or head, it was his right leg that was the target. As one of our erstwhile comrades dodged out of the way of the rocket, blasting him with laser fire, the fat little nuke shot right past his leg

and hit the ground behind him, going up in a huge mushroom cloud. Scratch one super mutant behemoth.

But while still in slow-motion, watching the carnage, bodies of our friends came flying past us, whipped and kicked up into the air by the huge blast. Uh, sorry guys.

It was a good way to show off the Havok physics engine, though.

From there, it was a quick walk to the top of the building, meet our mysterious friend and push the big red button. Scratch Megaton.

Those are the kind of situations youre put into in Fallout 3. Its a character-driven game with lots of hard choices of what to do - do you go goodie goodie or evil? Or just stay neutral? Every choice you make has consequences. But youve got a definite goal that youre working toward - finding out what happened to your father - so always keep that in mind.

RPG GAMER

Once the lights dimmed in Bethesda's makeshift theater in their downstairs suite, an image of a light burning into life appeared as he creaking sounds of a 1940s song warbled into the air. The camera began to pull back showing a broken up, beaten down jukebox that, it soon was revealed, was nestled in the midst of a ruined trailer. The camera continued to roll back until an entire blasted landscape was revealed -- the nuked ruins of a once proud city. The craggy voice of Hollywood veteran Ron Perlman slowly intoned about the unchanging nature of war and the fate humanity had condemned itself to. And this was our introduction to the heavily stylized, incredibly detailed world of Fallout 3.

Once the introduction concluded, Todd Howard, our guide through Fallout 3, began his playable demo. We were located in Vault 101, a sealed-off city deep underground where humans escaped to avoid the fallout of a nuclear war. While most of the vaults were opened long ago, 101 remained isolated. Todd explains that Bethesda put a lot of work into its character creation system, though we can't see the 19 year old hero just yet -- we appear in a lab/clinic with a first person perspective. This is because, our guide said, Bethesda feels that when you're trying to become fully immersed into a realistic roleplaying game, where the idea is to feel like you've become another person, first person is the best way to achieve this. It's not mandatory, though, as there is a third person over-the-shoulder camera view as well. He switched to this mode to show it off, and it seemed just as functional. Todd then moved a bit around the lab, showing off the immense detail of the room. He said that one of their goals was to study up on the stuff they were making, because there should be a point to all the dials, levers, and whatsits that appear on the mechanical devices. It's all about achieving a greater feeling of realism.

Once this acclimation is done, we move through a door into the protagonist's father's office. Now an even more recognizable voice pipes up: Liam Neeson's. He's talking to another individual, but once this is done, pops turns his attention to his son. He wants you to go take a test called G.O.A.T., which will assess your skills and abilities to determine best how you can contribute to the Vault's community once you're older. Naturally, as the father talks, his son has the option of responding with various different dialogue branches. At this point Todd describes a pretty interesting feature that ties into the character creation system. The protagonist's father's appearance is based off of whatever you design the protagonist to look like, only older.

We walked around the Vault a bit and took in the sights. As we moved through the underground community, we again came across a few points where the hero had different choices for how he'd act in a situation. It emphasized the extent to which the player will have the ability to shape the sort of man (or woman!) the character becomes. There was also a nice bit of humor at certain points. When we encountered a robot named Mr. Handy, a muttered comment had most of the audience laughing out loud.

Skipping ahead a bit, our guided tour of Fallout 3 was eventually led outside of the Vault into the Wasteland above. Particularly interesting was the first moment stepping outside. The glare was intense and blinding as slowly things came into focus, the hero's sight gradually adjusting to the blazing sun. Once the vision cleared, the wasted grandeur of the outside world was quite a sight. The vista laid out before us, Todd stressed, was all real, all explorable. And as our hero descended from the hill he found himself on, he stepped around a puddle that displayed just how far Bethesda's come in making lifelike water.

As we explored the Wasteland, it wasn't too long before we came across some enemies: giant ants. This was the first opportunity we got to see how combat played out. There were two modes available. The first seemed pretty reminiscent of first-person shooters. The game's cursor was moved overtop the enemies and the hero fired his gun. In the second mode, Todd brought up a targeting HUD that displayed different sections of the enemy's body (like arms, legs, torso, head). Each section had a health gauge and an attack success percentage. Attacking through this method seemed much more like a typical RPG setup and should be more comfortable with those leery of FPS games. However, it definitely seemed like a lot of work was put into both styles of attack, and later battles in the demo showed that there was a lot more to both of them. For instance, our hero got into a pretty intense shooting firefight later on in the midst of DC's ruins, and this involved lots of rapid running and gunning. Meanwhile, a battle in some old abandoned metro tunnels showed us how the targetting system could be used to strategically queue up successive attacks against multiple enemies, and another battle against some giant ants demonstrated how hitting their antennae could cause them to become frenzied and attack their own allies.

We also got a few in-depth looks at Fallout's status screen, which was very coolly integrated into the game itself in the form of a personalized armband computer system (the Pit-Boy 3000) the hero wears. Here the RPG nature of the game was even more on display -- we could see the hero's stats (which, we found out from Todd, are set by the player at the time of the hero's birth), his large list of skills (which increase as he levels up), items, and personal status. The hero was, like enemies, divided up into different body zones, each with their own hit gauge. Weapons had damage counters, too; a damaged weapon would perform more poorly in terms of damage per second. Later on, we saw how a weapon could be repaired by scalping parts from like-named weapons. The hero also had a rad counter which would increase as he became more exposed to radiation from the nuclear fallout. For example, one way to restore health is to drink water, but a lot of the water is still tainted by radiation poisoning. Drink too much, and it can have negative long-term consequences. The Pit-Boy could also be used to generate the game's background music by tuning into some of the remaining broadcasting radio stations, which will be filled with classic 1940s songs Bethesda has licensed, like a piece by Bing Crosby's less successful brother Bob.

Part of creating a realistic world is being able to interact with it, and a lot of that was demonstrated. Back in your father's lab, you could pick up a bobble head from his desk and drop it. The precise movements of the object are guided by the Havok physics engine. Out in the Wasteland, Todd showed us how he could shoot the road and create bullet holes. He also took aim at one of the nuclear-powered cars. A few hits were all it took to cause it to explode, leaving a ring of radiation in its wake. Moving in too close caused the rad counter to start creeping up. Though the first examples were just for show, and the latter seems like something downright dangerous, the ability to heavily interact with the environment can also be used to the player's advantage. Luring enemies into the radiation zone, or igniting such an explosion near them, would certainly make for strategic maneuvers.

The meat of the demo came once the hero arrived in the town of Megaton, so named because it was built in a crater created by a nuclear bomb that never detonated. The people of the town, we learned, had come to revere the bomb -- it was a sign that God was protecting them. We met the sheriff of Megaton, and again got a nice look at the player's ability to choose different courses of action. Want to be nice to the guy, become his friend? That's doable. You can also be rude, turn violent... it's all a matter of choice. It was interesting how the townspeople engaged in conversations with each other as we walked by them. There was just a natural sense of interaction and vocalization within the town. The highlight here, however, was definitely a mysterious individual named Mr. Burke who was sitting by himself at the bar. He had quite a proposition for our hero. Megaton, he said, was a blight, and he wanted to offer the hero a whole lot of money to place a device inside the bomb that would allow Burke to detonate it. In talking to Burke, we saw how the hero's talking skill count have an impact on the game. The hero could try to persuade Burke to offer up more money, or persuade him to drop his ambitions to destroy Megaton. Again, choice was paramount.

For the sake of seeing an interesting conclusion to the demo, Todd accepted Burke's offer. Down to the bomb we went, where a device was inserted into Megaton's nuke. Then Todd took us down into the metro tunnels beneath the wasteland. There were fights with armed mutants -- these guys were definitely several leagues above the ants we faced before, as they seemed smarter, utilized cover and range more effectively, and carried weapons of their own (melee as well as other types of guns). But the neatest part was when the hero wanted to activate a computer console to operate a robotic security guard. This was done by hacking into the computer, which involved bringing up a hex editor. The player could pick out select words intermingled amidst random characters. Selecting the right passcode would allow entry to the system. If the wrong word was picked, the hack told us how many characters in which positions were correct, so we could better deduce what the right password was. Todd told us that this system is randomized, so it's never going to be the same thing twice. Sorry, guys -- no cheating by heading over to GameFAQs.

After leaving the tunnels, we arrived in the heart of DC where we faced some more battles with the mutants. Here we were assisted by the the knightly Brotherhood of Steel, a militaristic order whose goals are to drive back the mutants and reclaim this territory for the humans. They were initially scornful of our hero's presence, telling him to keep back and out of the way so they could escort him to safety, but after a few serious battles, they were instead complimenting how handy he was with a portable nuke launcher. Yes, a portable nuke launcher -- that was certainly a nice thing to have around when it came time to take down a gigantic mutant behemoth that quite easily eviscerated a few of the Brothers.

Once this major fight was done, we worked our way up to the tower where Mr. Burke was waiting. All that was left was to turn a lever, and boom -- Megaton became a new explosive mushroom cloud on the horizon. It was awesome to see, and certainly ended the demo with a bang. Fallout 3, which is being developed simultaneously for the 360, the PS3, and the PC, is still a long way off. Bethesda's aiming for a fall 2008 release. But what was demoed for us today showed incredible promise and this is unquestionably a title that everyone should keep their eyes on.




TOD HOWARD en acción