Fallout 3, A disturbing rumor

[Grandmaster_Skweeb]

We all know Bethesda picked up the slack on the Fallout 3 project. I was't
too worried at the time 'cause i know bethesday can weave a pretty good
yarn.

Heres where bad ol' Murphey kicks in. We all also know that Bethesda has a
fascination with First Person View games. I've heard from more than one
source that Bethesda scrapped the graphic work so far and traditional
Isometric view for their obsession with FPV. Thus turning Fallout 3 into an
RPG FPS, what the hell are they trying to do? A Sci-Fi Morrowind?
Just thought i'd give this a run by you guys 'cause this is a good place to toss this out to.

Anything to dispell all our fears?

Good news is, Interplay/black isle still holds the rights to a Fallout MMORPG

[Lockeownzj00]

Well, I wouldn't be entirely worried. So what if it's first person? I think you're suffering from the old video-game complex of, "every sequel should be more of the same."

So what if they try to innovate it? Let them. Maybe it'll turn out like Deus Ex; maybe it'll turn out like Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines; maybe it'll turn out like Metroid Prime; maybe it'll be like the whole surge of upcoming RTSes which utilise an innovative new first person mode; maybe it'll turn out to be like when Curse of Monkey Island was drawn, and people were outraged at first, but then it actually rocked. My point is that many times something "different" was going to be made and it turned out to be good.

Fallout's a great universe, and exploring it through the literal eyes of a character wuold be cool. I know it has a possibility to suck, but doesn't everything? If it sucks we'll lynch them, if it doesn't, I'll be glad they made a new step forward.

[Deathosaurus Wrecks]

i'm guessing you havn't played System Shock 2, since if you have you'd probably realize just how cool Sci-Fi FPS/RPGs can be.

considering how much shooting is done in Fallout and Fallout 2, i would kind of think it made sense. the important thing though, is that they not neglect the non-combat content.

[Mirai Gen]

Well wasn't there that FPS-style game that was basically Diablo? And all the producers got offended when game magazines said "FPS"?

It could end up like that. Which would be badass in Fallout world.

[darkt0aster]

Originally Posted by Grandmaster_Skweeb

Thus turning Fallout 3 into an
RPG FPS, what the hell are they trying to do? A Sci-Fi Morrowind?

Assuming The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion turns out to be as great as it is looking to be, I wouldn't be against Fallout 3 using that engine as long as it stays true to the style developed by it's predicessors..

[Jon Garrett]

I, personally, don't think Fallout 3 should be a FPS. Should there be a FPS of Fallout? Sounds good to me. But I don't think the way Fallout plays would really work in a FPS style game. FPS is ideal for huge ammounts of action, but for exploarition of larger areas, a third person view is better. At least for me.

I dunno...I've never really liked FPS games myself, even things like Deus Ex. Just not my bag. But what would kick ass? The option to switch to First Person for fights and such. That I could quite happily do.

Of course, I still think the wrong company is developing Fallout 3, but I'm something of a fanatic on the subject.

[Demon with a Glass Hand]

Possibly, and this is derived from conjecture and an elementary school style of fear, FPS and Fallout mean "Lots of Guns, Lots of Bullets" style to me. And that style reminds me too much of Brotherhood of Steel on the PS2.

The setting is a post apocalyptic wasteland where there there is very little of anything left. The old world, food, natural resources, and so forth. Conservation is the name if the game. Last thing I want to see, again, is an abundance of ammunition.

However, this is Bethesda Studios we're dealing with. After the amount of hours of entertainment that they have provided me through Daggerfall, I'm willing to swallow my fear of change and paniked conjecture. For them.

If it were someone else, I might not extend that courtesy.

[Lockeownzj00]

Why does FPS mean this? It means, instead of looking at that house from above, you're looking at it from the front. And yes, this does allow for certain new gameplay mechancis to be introduced--but I don't see the problem even if at its core it becomes a Deus Ex.

Deus Ex was highly innovative and quite a landmark for video games because it was finally a complete, full and professional manifestation of what game makers have always wanted. Genres like RPGs, strategy games, etc. (while I like them, don't get me wrong) exist because of hardware limitations. What is a roleplaying game? Philosophically speaking, I mean. If they could, the first game developers would have orgasmed at the thought of making a Deus Ex. Obviously, they couldn't--it was simply beyond the limitations of the time. But Deus Ex is an example of what RPGs were actually "meant" to be. The modern concept of RPG (even though I adore it) is technically a perversion.

So what if you're able to shoot guys from the front now? Wouldn't it be cooler to be exploring this post-apocalytpic world through someone's "eyes," so to speak? When you enter a town, there's no one there and someone pops out from the pile of junk and starts firing? And it doesn't have to even be a complete FPS--it can be even more turn-based or different than Deus Ex was; it could employ some sort of half-action half-i don't even know what gameplay that makes it all the more exciting.

I used to get all riled up about different developers making games. With certain situations, I think this is valid, but otherwise this is the new game, this is the nwe company, the old person/company isn't coming back, so don't hate it just becasue of who made it, especially if it's good.

And isn't Daggerfall in the Morrowind series? And if it's anything like Morrowind...why are we worried?

FPS is ideal for huge ammounts of action, but for exploarition of larger areas, a third person view is better. At least for me.

I think this is a little misplaced. FPSes are often used for a single sort of purpose: intense action. But think about it: What about having a first person camera makes you have to run around like a mad man shooting wildly? You're just "looking" at things, initially. Why can't you explore in a first person view? Why can't there be games like that? The thing is, you can and there are.

If the developer does it correctly, they might logically add a new element of action to the series through an understandable viewpoint-change, but they also might make the game like Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. Look, instead of being omniscient, I'm looking at this guy. Look at this guy's scars, his bedraggled appearance, his apathetic stare. Will I be able to persuade this guy? Will he draw that pistol from his boot and plug one in my stomach?

I think it's all very exciting, and even if it does depart from the series' traditional gameplay, if it's well-done, exciting, and uses the excellent Fallout universe, I'll be happy.

[Demon with a Glass Hand]

It's fear, s'all it is, on my end. I certainly know what an FPS can potentially be when merged with a RPG. I'm just afraid of losing everything I ever loved with another bastardization pushed through the gate too soon by petty business politics.

Additionally, I would like to point out that I am a very old man who grew up in the 'apparent' golden age of gaming. Gaming thses days tis'int like gaming in the days of yore. The days in which I remember that companies could do no wrong and there was never a sucky game until the console wars of 1995.

Old men like me hate change. Especially when it reminds us of how, when gaming went 3D on the consoles, everything we ever loved about gaming died.

I don't want to cradle Fallout 3 in my arms, its torso bloody mess, shredded into hamburger, screaming demands to know 'why' towards a silent heaven. Rain falling ...

I did that once with Brotherhood of Steel. My weekend was ruined and I'll never get that part of my life back.

[Living Bobbeh]

I think it will add to the experience if it is a FPSRPG because in the previsous Fallouts, you were the character. You was the person that splattered countless heads on the pavements of the Post-Apoc landscapes and going FPS will make you think that you are even more. It was the same in Half-Life 2, Gordon didn't have a voice so that it didn't make you think you're playing as Gordon, It made you think you are Gordon and Gordon is you. He didn't have a shadow so you don't think "Gordon's putting on a bit of wieght". If Fallout 3 is anything like that imersion wise and like the old Fallouts, I will be happy.