Bethesda has a new developer diary up talking all about the Brotherhood of Steel faction in the upcoming Fallout 3 -- a title that promises to be one of the most important releases of 2008. Along with some really interesting backstory about the Brotherhood and its ways, a number of concept artworks have also been provided, which you can view below.
Technology is worshipped, simply and plainly, through obsession and attainment. We are a people dominated by technology, from our electrically-powered cities right down to our scientifically engineered anti-depressant medications. And every Sunday mass we miss to stay home and watch football on our HDTVs is further proof that now, more than ever, technology is the deity we hold most dear.
Now imagine all of that compulsion, all of that addiction we as an entire race share, and encapsulate it into one group of people. Imagine the obsession and fervor, the unending need for technological superiority, and the ultimate futility of such a goal.
Imagine, if you will, the Brotherhood of Steel.
Fallout 3 is shaping up to be something most engrossing, although I confess I am not intimate with the series so my optimism comes a little from ignorance. What say you? Are there any diehard
Fallout fans in the audience who are excited/nervous about Bethesda's take on the franchise? This is going to be a hot one when it finally sees a release, so let us know how eager you are to take on the Super Mutants.
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Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
1:26 PM on 01.09.2008
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ZOMGASM!
There is a certain dark humor to the Fallout series that I'm not sure Bethesda -- with its more commercial orientation as opposed to original developer Black Isle -- will be able to capture effectively.
The original games had some very mature thematic content (prostituion, drug use, child exploitation, etc.) that Bethesda might be hesitant to address.
I'm not suggesting that Bethesda won't make a great game -- I just aren't sure they'll make a great Fallout game.
And that sledgehammer is awesome.
-Rev
Actually they ignored the fans and are doing what they think is cool. Which is ok for them I guess but from what I read the game is steering away from what made fallout 1 and 2 great. I mean, Intelligence no longer affects your speech. In fallout 1 and 2 if you had an int of 2 your speech was mostly gibberish and gruntings. No more hacking based on a skill, its going to be like oblivion where despite your skill sucking a minigame determines if you can truly hack or not.
Some other changes (along with the obvious no more Turn based or Isometric view) are what is scaring the Fallout Fan club. But money is what counts these days and most of those who never played the first fallout should have a blast with this one. I think it could be a fun game in general but I don't think it will be a good fallout sequel.
Still, the art shots are really nice. I can't wait for that game, even if it tickles some parts of the Fallout fan in me.
I hear an uproar about how horrible this game is going to be, and how interplay sold black isle's kids... Sure the kids might have been sold, but they were being whored out long before the divorce. Anyone remember Fallout Tactics and F:BoS?
It tried its hardest!
Well, shit, now my socks are sticky.
these two games were made in very different contexts. These were offshots games, not a direct follow-up to Fallout 1 and 2.
When I tried to focus on the non violent skills on Oblivion it got me nowhere, I needed to be able to fight. On the other hand when I focused on the violent skills, all the non violent aspects where still do-able... (I HATED the speech minigame)
Fallout had many 'thats damn cool' moments whereas Oblivion only had one, the moment where you looked upon the world for the first time and saw how huge it was. After a few hours it just became captain Bland's monotonous adventure.
So I'm very VERY afraid of Bethesda not 'getting' what made Fallout great...
Bethesda shows many mature themes in their games. In the Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, there is drug use, tragedy, sexual mistresses (although you have to kill them lol) and they manage to keep humor in the game. I'm sure they'll have no problem.
I'm also very afraid of this being dumbed down because it's going to be on the consoles... This has been an illness that has plagued many games...
Bioshock, even though it was a great game, lacked a lot of the depth that System Shock had.
Oblivion was also made less complex for the console crowd. (Speech minigame, enemies leveling 'with' you, botched interface when you played it on the PC)
There are a few other examples but those are the most recent. And don't get me started on the disaster which was Deus Ex 2...
What's really a shame is that Troika died... I loved Arcanum a lot and it captured a lot of the things which made Fallout great, not surprising as a lot of the old Fallout devs went to Troika... The setting was also great (A Tolkienesque world entering the industrial era, yes please!) and it really grabbed me. Shame they only got the creative minds there and not the coders as their games had quite a few bugs...
though some of the other terrain art they have released seems to encapsulate the fallout 'look' quite well, ill remain sceptical though until proof of its awesomeness arrive. (eg. more in game trailers/art etc.
System Shock 2 was also an FPS which lended a lot of RPG elements. Bioshock was touted as the spiritual successor to System Shock 2 and in many ways it is, hell theyre VERY alike except for the part that Bioshock is a lot more shallow...
I was being sarcastic about TES.
Funny thing: Fallout 3 will probably be more like SS2 than BioShock as far as gameplay(the fact that's it's an FPRPG).
Not to mention that developers can't win either way. Look how much crap sports games get, or the Halo series, for example, for not changing enough in the eyes of gamers. Sometimes staying true to the origins of something gets you more criticism than anything.
Oh, and anyone who thinks that Oblivion was bland needs to re-evaluate some things. The game world and activities you could partake in were full of variety and very distinct. The storylines were great, as were many characters. Hell, the assassin's guild storyline itself eclipses 99% of game storytelling, including (in my opinion) the main quest of Mass Effect.
The vast wasteland? Undoubtedly players of the Elder scrolls games know that Bethesda are world builders, they go as far back as maybe the second elder scrolls game :"Daggerfall" to build a game that, if you felt like, could wander for hours and still not have crossed the game map....i mean HOURS...
The style, OK so this is where i can see many people being apprehensive. Its Fallout, its dusty, its post apocalyptic and there sure is no call for THAT much lens flare and bloom... if its one thing that Bethesda should look into, its to ensure that the peeps you meet, including yourself do not have access to copious amounts of tanning oils.... I have had many a laugh with a friend you cannot even look at oblivion for this very reason, and old Fallout fans, i can see them cringe at what are supposed to be "the future of graphics" and simply ask for the old isometric bitmaps.
Lastly the point of view... well a first person Fallout already seems like it has its pros and cons, i mean, to actually experience the Fall out world, to look up at broken buildings, or the horizon of the wasteland... i look forward to it, but how the fighting and tactical aspect will change, it might be more than some can bear.
Personally though , and forgive this long winded post, it will be an experience to remember. A leap for the genre, and hell if you can forgive any graphics peeves you may have, i think you may be in for another long haul of gaming.
Will the new one be worth it? Well, I trust it will. Will it live up to its ancestors? Admittedly, Bethesda folks will have to try a bit harder. Oblivion was not a bad game. Some people will consider it as an excellent game, even, amazed at the vast, complex world which is yours to explore. Others, however, find its very complexity to be, also, its worst flaw: sometimes it is all a bit too simple from the non-exploration point of view. For instance, the dialogues are pretty simple and break the suspension of disbelief. Or at least they work like that for me. Also, in order to be able to explore the world at will, you need level scaling, which I personally hate.
For me, the way to go would be to make a more complex story and a less complex world than those featured in Oblivion, sporting a better combat system. Here's to hoping it will be all right in the end.
Blasphemy.
Hitch-hikers; A sperm whale and a bowl of petunias.
Maybe after I play F3. But there's no way I'll play them before hand. It's a shame too. Because I'm sure they're wonderful games, But this fanboyism has really left a bad taste in my mouth.
Yes I think Oblivion was bland, they had like 5 voice actors, they reused so many textures in this huge world that so many places looked the same, the quests where also not too varied and the only good quests where, like you said, the assasin's guild quests... It seemed as if the magnitude of the world was the only thing they focused on and filled it up with genericness...
I think there was a fair amount of repetition, sure. I can't really deny the limited number of voice actors. I do think that the cities had good enough variety. I mean look at real-life cities from within the same countries...there will be a few things that stand out architecturally and help create a "feel" for each city, but you will also find a lot of pretty standard looking stuff. Not everything in the real world is made to be distinct and different, and I don't think it's fair to criticize Oblivion for being that way as wel. I think the quests were as varied as the game engine will allow. It's not as if you can do driving missions, etc. There are missions where you deliver things, get information from people, kill people, become a gladiator, steal things without killing people, go into a living painting and rescue someone, just plain explore, find ways to rid people of evil scamps, etc., etc. I don't see how they could have added much more variety without making it corny or unnecessary.
To everyone else, can someone explain to me why level-scaling is a terrible thing? This was my first Elder Scrolls game, so perhaps there's something I'm missing here. It's a bad thing that you can do whatever you want in whatever order you want and expect to meet enemies who (usually) are not too difficult and also not too easy? How is that a negative thing?
Gasp. Imagine that.