Hi

I've been offered this game new and unopened (incl all the expansions) for a really good price and I have read that it has a "pause during combat" button which is vital for me

So, can someone please tell me if it plays anything like the KotOR games or maybe Risen - with the very simple interface that those games have ??

Or is it the type that requires a key to be memorised for practically every different action or weapon etc etc - like Mass Effect ??

And is the combat single player + team (like Baldur's Gate for example) or an "in formation" arrangement like the Final Fantasy series ??

Advice much appreciated, thanks.

Cheers.

Mad

Hi ya Mad,

Son just happened to walking by when I read this. He says that the interface on the PS3 was simple, but he has not played it on Pc. You can pause it to swap weapons, etc.

He also says you can hire one mercenary to go with you, and you can swap them out, but they are more AI controlled.

Given the games you compared them too, he asked me if you realized Fallout 3 is a first person shooter....not an RPG like Baldur's Gate? He knows I love RPG's but can't hit the broadside of a barn in FPS.

Hi Mad

I just looked in my Fallout 3 manual, and basically interface works like it did in Oblivion (if you can play this game?) [Bethesda that made Oblivion also made Fallout 3, so this really isn't that surprising].

You move with the wsad keys, activate via the the 'e' key.

However, when you press the V-key, you get into VATS, which is sort of like pressing space bar (in combat) in Baldur's Gate 2

And I wouldn't call Fallout 3 a first person shooter, especially since you can play in a very nice third person mode. Its is a bit difficult to explain, but when you hit V, the game will pause, and you can use this mode to select an enemy. You can also use this mode to select a special body part, say the head, arm or torso...

You can also, as I recall? attack with the left mouse button as well as aim/block with the right mouse button.

AN FPS game to me is more like Call of Duty where it is your aiming skills that determines whether or not you will hit your target. In Fallout 3, it it is your character's skills that will determine whether or not the character will hit or not. [This is modified to an extent in Fallout 3, I think you'll always hit? but the damage done is depended on your character's skills]

And you can use an Xbox 360 controller...

Thank you both for the info !!

I'm still "on the fence" at the moment ....

[What a ditherer, eh ?? One reason why FPS stuff is obviously not my style ]

I'm looking at my manual and the controls for the pc are as follows...

Tab - Opens up your Pip Boy (That's where you change weapons, armor, manage your items, etc)
Caps Lock - Always Run
Q - Auto Move (I don't think I ever used this one)
W - Forward
A - Strafe Left
S - Back
E - Activate
D - Strafe Right
R - Arm/Reload
T - Wait
F - Switch between 1st/3rd person view
V - VATS Targeting system.
Z - Grab
Space - Jump
Left Shift - Run
Ctrl - Sneak

Seems like a lot now that I look at it but while I was playing it hardly bothered me at all. You get used to the controls after a bit and you don't even think about it, you just hit the one you need. I think you can even turn on auto Reload so you don't need to manually do it. I could be wrong about that though.

As far as a team goes, you can have one companion plus a dog named Dogmeat. There are 7 companions in total but some you won't be able to recruit depending on your character's karma. Your companions do their own fighting. Personally I finally got rid of my one companion, Fawkes. Nice guy but he always saw the enemy way before me. I'd be running along and all of a sudden I'd hear him screaming and his laser gun going off. Everyone would be dead by the time I got there. The dog was plenty help to me in the game.

The game is really an RPG lite, at least to me. There are plenty of missions for you to go on and many of them don't involve combat at all. I adore the game and really can't praise it enough to anyone. I'd recommend it to most everyone, even someone who normally didn't care for shooters. I paid 29.95 for a new game of the year edition which came with all the expansions and I felt it was well worth the money.

Thanks Anne, that is some great information and I'm betting it will be very helpful.

Yes !! Thanks very much for all that, AnneG

Those controls don't seem too bad at all so I am going to buy the game and have a go

I'm re-playing the original Divine Divinity at the moment - and having a blast - so maybe I'll get to it after that

Cheers.

Mad

I absolutely loved Fallout 3 even though I hate keyboard controlled games.
It has a very nice learning curve and is quite easy to get into.
There's also tons of really fine MODS out there to help you

Thanks for your recommendation, misslilo

I've ordered the game now

You're welcome and you won't regret it.

Myself, I'm waiting for the new fallout game Fallout: New Vegas.

I'm happy to help and I'm glad you decided to take the plunge, Mad!

I'm like misslilo. I've preordered New Vegas and waiting (somewhat impatiently) for that.

Happy Gaming then !!

Like with Oblivion, there is a (rather long) tutorial level in which you'll learn about stuff. And by that I mean how to play the game the controls, how VATS works and some other stuff. You'll be taking different exams...to decide which way is the most correctly one for you to take in life...

Exams ????

Aw, yes. The G.O.A.T. My results indicated that I was best suited to a life in the clergy.


Yeah right.