Postingan
Eyes on with Bethesda's awe inspiring entry into the classic Fallout franchise.
Imagine for a moment that the world as you know it has ended. Nuclear war between nations has rendered the planet into a dead and barren wasteland. In order to survive, the last remaining humans in the world lock themselves down in underground shelters called vaults while all kinds of mutants and monstrosities roam on the surface. Welcome back to the world of the Fallout series.
While the original Fallout games were developed by the now defunct Interplay Entertainment, Fallout 3 is being developed by the very capable hands over at Bethesda, whom you may know from a little game franchise called The Elder Scrolls (More specifically Morrowind and Oblivion). Bethesda was kind enough to invite us to their E3 meeting where they walked us through an hour long demo of Fallout 3.
Fallout 3 takes place 30 years after the events of Fallout 2, but this time the action is centralized in the shattered remains of Washington DC, or as it is now called, the Capital Wasteland. While the vast majority of humans in the area have been long dead, a handful managed to find refuge in the underground shelter known as Vault 101. However, for some reason, the doors that lead in and out of Vault 101 have been shut ever since the world ending disaster that took place 200 years ago. It’s here in Vault 101 where our demo begins.
The first thing that we noticed and the first thing that was pointed out to us by our guide, Todd Howard, is that Fallout 3 is primarily played from the first person perspective. However, much like Oblivion, a simple press of the button will cause the camera to zoom back and present you with a third person camera that appears over the shoulder ala Resident Evil 4. The option to go into a third person camera isn’t just for showing off how your character looks either, as Bethesda assured us that the game would be entirely playable in both third person and first person modes. It’s simply a matter of preference.
After taking some time to explain what was just mentioned above, we moved out of the medical clinic and spoke with the main character’s father. Conversing with NPCs is entirely reminiscent of Oblivion right down to the camera zooming in on the character’s face and the various responses that you can choose to reply with. What response you choose can actually play a huge role in what direction the story will go and what quests you receive, but we’ll get into that a little later. Another interesting point to make about your character’s father is that his appearance will be based on what you make your character look like when you create him. In the interest of time, our demonstrators skipped past what would normally be about an hour or two worth of character building and opened the gate that led to the outside world. Why would our character leave the comfort and safety offered by Vault 101? It turns out that his father had mysteriously fled the Vault for unknown reasons. Eager to learn the reason why his father left both him and the only home he’s ever known, our character steps out into the vast wasteland that is the surface world of Fallout 3. After wandering around in the wasteland for a little we finally saw our first enemy, a giant ant. Using the simple strategy of backing up and firing away while the ant gave chase, the ant was brought down in about four or five shots. As we approached our eventual destination, we were attacked by a pack of three ants at once. This was a good opportunity to show off the game’s V.A.T.S, or Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. With a click of the left bumper, time will come to a halt and various parts of the enemy’s body will be highlighted, complete with a life bar and a percentage. The life bar obviously shows how much health that particular body part has, while the percentage shows the chance you have to hit it. What’s cool is that using this system, you can keep on queuing up consecutive attacks as long as you have enough Ability Points which recharge automatically when you’re not attacking. Once you’ve inputted your commands, just sit back and watch as the battle plays out in slow motion with the camera following the speeding bullet as it pierces through its target in all of its gory glory. The demonstrator aimed for the ant’s antennae, saying that if it loses its antennae, there is a chance that it will become confused and start attacking it’s allies. Unfortunately this happened to be one of the smarter giant ants as it pushed forward even after losing its right antennae. Despite our character being out numbered three to one, the three ants fell with relative ease.
And when I say vast, I mean vast. You know that feeling you got when you first stepped into the enormous and beautiful world of Oblivion? It’s like that, except there are no trees, no grassy fields, no rivers, no castles, nothing except for the remains of something that used to be considered civilization. As our demonstrator walked around the wasteland he came across a mailbox, from which he pulled out an old rifle. He also noticed a puddle of water and noted that survival is a big theme in Fallout 3. In order to survive you will have to find water sources that may or may not be contaminated with radiation. Later on in the demo he actually drinks water out of a disgusting looking toilet citing that it was actually better because of the fact that it was underground and therefore was not exposed to radiation.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar