Haha, Keen observation.

In hindsight you are absolutely right. The only worthwhile loot was caps, and those would be sold almost solely for medpacks.

To be honest, I find this game to be great. At this point in my playing (The Waters of Life, level 10) I still find myself using the standard Hunting Rifle. And I frickin' love it. VATS made this game for me, and I adore how I can stage an assault on an abandoned building full of super mutants and then blow them away with headshots.

Perks were a cheerful and enjoyable part of the game, and it helped style the kind of gameplay I used. However, after doing the Reilly's Rangers quest, I find myself chock-full of ammo and caps, and I do agree that there should be something *awsome* to buy with a LOT of caps. I usually only switch to my Chinese Assault Rifle when there's a load of Super Mutant Brutes or Masters, and I hardly use the Rocket Launcher and Minigun. The Fat Man is my behemoth-killer.

Ah yes, that's what was missing. I picked up Fallout 3 due to hype and it was Oblivion-esque but I was angry there was no Rockhammer for me to pummel people with. No posioned arrows that would kill an enemy in one fatal shot.

Loot is the only reason I go back to Oblivion and usually you can find some humorous weapons or one of a kind weapons

I kinda like what loot they had even though it was a small selection. I was intrigued by some of the weaponry that they had thought up( a sword on fire, a gun that shot railroad spikes, a rocket launcher that fires teddy bears and other rubbish that you found lying around) and enjoyed finding and crafting each and every one, even if it was kinda easy for finding some of the weapons(go to building in the middle of nowhere and get or steal)but still fun to find as usually the place to where they are placed had some kinda back story.

See this is where i start to think i'm weird, if what you say is true, Oblivion has no loot either.
In Oblivion, i picked up a sword, used it till i found a better sword, same way that as in fallout 3 i used a pistol till i found something better.
You have my permission to say something like "but, but in Oblivion you get rings", and i'll agree with you, till i get to throw stats giving clothes and sunglasses in your face, i've spent more time searching for loot in fallout 3 than i ever did in Oblivion.
Everything was delivered to my feet in a pool of blood in Oblivion and sometimes that is also the case in fallout, like my 'Vance's Leather Coat' and 'Kneecapper', but i had to hunt down my 'Lucky Shades'.
Diablo 1 and 2 have given me more than enough loot grabbing than i needed in my entire life, any time anyone says something about loot being an integral part of a game, i vote burn them at a stake for talking bollocks.

Hum, Oblivion was exactly the same, you could find the most powerful sword and armor, then you're off, atleast in Fallout 3 you need to find ammo to power your killings...

I'm a big story nut first, but loot comes in a clooooose second, so understand the author's lament. So MY biggest disappointment was the craptacular ending. Bethseda CANNOT DO ENDINGS TO SAVE THEIR LIFE

"WAIT, thats IT? What a gip!"

i understand the author's points and i agree about the scarcity of loot, however i think its a good thing. the capital wasteland is dangerous, and the fact that you are not encouraged to grind like in many other games is exceptional. many rpgs seem to adhere to a very basic formula that im getting sick of grind->lvl up->kill big monster->Get weapon->kill boss->meet new monster->grind->lvl up...ect constantly having to grind to kill a monster to get a weapon from the monster so you can kill a boss

everything should be possible from the get go, but its got to take some degree of skill, not just macros and keybinds

oddly enough though, on my second playthrough(played more natural e.g. evil) i was constantly tripping over ammo, caps and weapons, which kind of broke the game experience for me.

There's loot but it's just not obviously apparent. Like I found this recorded message from a dead guy to his daughter... found the daughter and she gave me a sweet stat pumped 10mm sub machine gun.

I can also kill another woman to get a sidekick ghoul.

I mean, you are right.. there isn't loot in the traditional sense but between the schematic built weapons and unique gear from bizarre side missions and odd found objects that lead to quests.. well.. there's some stuff to be had.

Geamo:

Perks were a cheerful and enjoyable part of the game, and it helped style the kind of gameplay I used. However, after doing the Reilly's Rangers quest, I find myself chock-full of ammo and caps, and I do agree that there should be something *awsome* to buy with a LOT of caps.

You can buy a ghoul slave for 2000 in Underworld

BallPtPenTheif:
You can buy a ghoul slave for 2000 in Underworld

You can buy another slave for 1000 caps in Paradise Falls.

Yeah, I gotta agree with you Ms. Arendt. In Oblivion, I'd go into a cave somewhere, kill everyone inside and find, to my surprise, a beautiful Dwarven hammer, or a magical sword that I could never use but was too unique to sell. Going into a cave in Fallout 3, I found munitions.

God, it's true. But it really lends itself to the game experience of a wasteland. Everyone, including the player, is 'just getting by'. Frankly, i fell in love (FULL love) with the game the moment i stepped perplexed into Andale.

Copter400:

BallPtPenTheif:
You can buy a ghoul slave for 2000 in Underworld

You can buy another slave for 1000 caps in Paradise Falls.

Not me.. unfortunately I slaughtered the entire slaver compound (except for the slaves). I'm roleplaying as a Clint Eastwood type of character and the main slaver guy was giving me too much lip.

It turned into one of the more awesome firefights I've had in the game thus far.

very perceptive, I didn't think about it that way.. maybe I'll try playing it again.. hehe

The most disappointing aspect of the game (besides the horrendously bad ending and dialogue, of course), for me, definitely correlates with what you're saying, and that was the small amount of schematics in the game. When they were previewing this feature, it sounded as if what they were showing us was merely a small portion of what would be available in the retail product. When I started playing the game, I had no clue how many items I'd be able to create, so I literally picked up one of every miscellaneous object lying around. "I'll probably need this wooden spoon for something eventually... ohh, and this cooking pan might come in handy!" Unfortunately, I came to realize that the tiddly-winks I'd been stuffing into my inventory were mostly worthless junk, when I discovered that there were 7 schematics in the damn game.

Now, the custom items are pretty unique and I appreciated their designs, but I didn't find much use for them. Some are worthwhile, like the Dart Gun, especially for use against death claws and the Nuka Grenades are devastating against hordes of enemies. Others are just kind of worthless, like the Bottlecap Mine, which I never felt compelled to use or build (considering there's a free one at every work bench in the game). Some are just gimmicky and all around pointless, like the Railway Rifle and the Rock-It-Launcher especially.

I assumed their inspiration behind this feature was the similar system found in Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura. Honestly, if the people at Bethesda didn't play this game prior to making a sequel to Fallout 2, I'd be shocked, since it was developed by three of the biggest names behind the original Fallout and follows similar design principles. Coming off of this game, I had bigger expectations from Bethesda. You see, what really amplified my disappointment is that whereas Fallout 3 has less than 10 custom items, Arcanum had about 120, and pretty much every object in the game world was implemented as a component in their creation. I'll concede that there's obviously more polish and effort behind Fallout's items, but considering how few there are, it makes sense. Quality over quantity, but honestly, there's no reason their staff couldn't have given us both.

I think the last paragraph of this review gives the more convincing answer of why the game left the author with mixed feelings. I feel the same way about Fallout 3-- I don't dispute it must be a good game, but the world isn't to my taste. I like dark future, oppressive bloodthirsty corporations, religious fanatic space marines-- bring it on!! But I look at Fallout and don't see anything that excites me. The intro looks silly and burdensome; the rest of it just isn't a place I particularly want to be.

As for the loot, well, I'm playing the new King's Bounty, and the loot is almost an afterthought there compared to your average MMO, but it's a delightful fantasy world and the quest lines have kind of interesting stories which keep you going as your character does so many good deeds there should be a merit badge for playing it.

So, yeah, a game is perfectly fine without loot, if the world it paints is a place you want to be.

I have played them both extensively and I have come to the conclusion that you are off your rocker. In Oblivion assuming you aren't using mods, loot is defined by levels. You kill a bandit at level one you get a rusty nail, you kill a bandit at level 30 you get a daedric sword of awesome every time. This counted for the caves, chests, ruins, oblivion gates and where ever else you would expect to get some form of compensation for your work. The first ruin you encounter that yields a dwarven hammer may give you the warm fuzzys but if you try actively persuing loot you will find a dwarven hammer in every ruin until you have a pile of them; level up and now they are all replaced by dwarven hammer MK2's to make you feel like you wasted your time.

The only unique loot was from quests which sadly even the enchantmens on that loot was levelled so you needed a guide to determine when you would get the most bang for you buck; or they would come from statues that broke the game, skeleton key anyone? Yes there was loot that you could just find like those relics that would lead you into an entire questline but those were too rare, and their usefulness was mediocre compared to the levelled loot. *cough* fin gleam *cough*

The final nail in the coffin was that once you hit level 30 all loot stopped advancing yet the enemy's health continued scaling to the point where they could barely damage your enchanted armour, yet your enchanted weapon could barely damage them. The game also failed to deliver on eye candy loot to adorn your house so if you removed all weapons and armour from the shelves you would be the proud owner of the varla stone warehouse.

Fallout 3 gave the player weapons and clothes sufficient to complete the game but left the loot that actually required effort in the farthest coners of the game so completionists felt rewarded. All weapons have a unique upgrade, weapons can be made if the player collects schematics, there are unique clothes that aren't just regular clothes with a new name and a +2 fire resistance enchantment which Oblivion is guilty; the Mirv encourages massive searching just to unlock the door making it much more satisfying.

Fallout 3 also has more collectibles than Oblivion such as the quantum, bobbleheads, rare books, pre war cash and purified water. I know the robot butler has an infinite suppl of water but if you don't use it you will find purified water to be appropriately rare. The game also provides the player unique items to add to their house in memory of their travels; Lincoln's hat, the wasteland survival guide etc. Finally Fallout 3 has the tesla powerpack an item so rare it wasn't meant to be in the game.

If none of this is sufficient for your item collecting needs I suggest Morrowind as that game was a lootist's dream.

what a stupid way to assess this game - completely missing the point of it in the process. You are a survivour, scraping out an exsistence in a hostile, war-torn world. Finding health et al is incredibly satisfying due to the tenuous grasp you have on keeping alive. If the game pummelled you with treasure (gold whatever) you'd lose that 'living on the edge' atmosphere the game so brilliantly provides. Waltzing around with bags full of cash and lumbered with all manner of 'special powers' would not be in keeping with the game world and game set-up - thus would break the wonderfully immersive experience Fallout 3 is. I personally love going off piste for a little explorationa and poking around - all of a sudden a piece of scrap metal is the most valuable thing you could find - allowing you to exchange it for cash and goods - and I love that.

Susan Arendt:
I think it would've been helpful if you could've crafted more items from the bits of junk you found lying around the Wasteland. Even if it was something frivolous, like a lamp for your house in Megaton. Maybe with enough scrap metal, Nuka Cola bottles, medical braces and conductors, you could make a Nuka Cola machine. That would've been a good compromise - satisfies those of us hungry for loot, but doesn't break the realism of the game world.

I'd argue that the game has an inconsistent realism anyway. You'd expect after 200 years for there to be rebuilt cities and enclaves built from the ruins of the Capital Wasteland. Even Fallout's scenario eighty years after the war had more development with the wasteland than Fallout 3 (which is to be reasonably expected), and that's not mentioning Fallout 2 either.

Indeed, the artefacts of such a way of life would only serve to remind us how hopeless we are. I am pretty convinced a lot of gamers out there are still struggling trying to appreciate the game for what they want it to be. I hope as many as possible find their way to this article. Kudos!

RAKtheUndead:

Susan Arendt:
I think it would've been helpful if you could've crafted more items from the bits of junk you found lying around the Wasteland. Even if it was something frivolous, like a lamp for your house in Megaton. Maybe with enough scrap metal, Nuka Cola bottles, medical braces and conductors, you could make a Nuka Cola machine. That would've been a good compromise - satisfies those of us hungry for loot, but doesn't break the realism of the game world.

I'd argue that the game has an inconsistent realism anyway. You'd expect after 200 years for there to be rebuilt cities and enclaves built from the ruins of the Capital Wasteland. Even Fallout's scenario eighty years after the war had more development with the wasteland than Fallout 3 (which is to be reasonably expected), and that's not mentioning Fallout 2 either.

I was thinking about that, too. Considering the achievements of mankind and others in the second instalment, they should have gotten very far by 200 years. Fallout 3 is, however, simply one interpretation by the developer team behind the game, and that interpretation is explained in the introduction in the game manual. This makes me accept their dimension of it. How could I not, I love the concept. Fallout 2 is still the best game ever made.

Very good article, I'll admit that at first I was one of those elitist twerps you mentioned, but you made a lot of good points about the game. It's not for everybody, (Few games are) but you did manage to help me figure out exactly why I enjoy the game more than some of my fellow gamers do, aside from my obsession with the game series.

nixt_black:
You are a survivour, scraping out an exsistence in a hostile, war-torn world. Finding health et al is incredibly satisfying due to the tenuous grasp you have on keeping alive. If the game pummelled you with treasure (gold whatever) you'd lose that 'living on the edge' atmosphere the game so brilliantly provides. Waltzing around with bags full of cash and lumbered with all manner of 'special powers' would not be in keeping with the game world and game set-up - thus would break the wonderfully immersive experience Fallout 3 is. I personally love going off piste for a little explorationa and poking around - all of a sudden a piece of scrap metal is the most valuable thing you could find - allowing you to exchange it for cash and goods - and I love that.

I actually kind of agree with this post....(though I would've probably written it in a more agreeable manner)

Susan Arendt:
I think it would've been helpful if you could've crafted more items from the bits of junk you found lying around the Wasteland. Even if it was something frivolous, like a lamp for your house in Megaton. Maybe with enough scrap metal, Nuka Cola bottles, medical braces and conductors, you could make a Nuka Cola machine. That would've been a good compromise - satisfies those of us hungry for loot, but doesn't break the realism of the game world.

I agree, this feature wasn't exploited to anywhere near its full potential. The good-ish news for PC players is, if the modding community go anywhere near as gaga for F3 as they did for Oblivion, then there might be some pretty exciting customisation options on the way. I know its no remedy for console gamers (of which, for F3 at least, I am one), and that classical fantasy has its own breed of detail obsessive, but I think it would be awesome if the post-apocalyptic genre got the same sort of love from its fanbase.

I mean, just think of what could be done - vehicles, for one. More schematics, more historical remnants (for my money, anything from the American civil war, through the present day to almost Firefly-esque neo-western is viable). New mutant types, more miscellany (i.e. LEWT!).

Modders, take note!

I also think that there's a grim sense of humour pervasive throughout the game - mostly via the contrasting of pre- and post-apocalyptic worlds - that wasn't truly present in Oblivion, and could also be exploited to great effect by story/environment/mechanic modders. Anyone who played the 'Matrix, 1950s-style' quest should know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, nuff said, I think.

ConTrick:
Anyone who played the 'Matrix, 1950s-style' quest should know what I'm talking about.

Heh--I knew that reminded me of something, and I just figured it out the other day: it's partially an homage to _The Twilight Zone_'s episode "It's a Good Life", better known as Anthony and the Cornfield.

I think the best memory of Fallout 3 was when I was clearing through the Mercs base, and I picked up all sorts of stuff including a plunger. Then after a few hours of play, I took a break to go clean my bathroom. While cleaning out the cabinets under the sink, I found a plunger propped up on the pipes below the sink! Now that was some phat loot!

I haven't played any of the other fallouts either, but I enjoyed the game at least somewhat. When i realized that the game isn't built to let you collect EVERYTHING you find to go back and sell, and i stopped trying to, it became much more fun for me. Though i don't see much replay value, even to go back to get the karma achievements...

I'll get the DLC's when they come out of course...that and Fable II as well...

Recently though I'm practically alone in an icy northern new england campus town taking winter classes, so it's dead... NEVER play a post apocalyptic game when you're alone in a wasteland to begin with. I litterally went outside wishing i had a pipboy, a chinese assault rifle, and wondered how much DR my jacket had while thinking i heard a Radroach scurry by...

Susan Arendt:

ThaBenMan:

And I also must disagree with your dislike of the aesthetic of the world of Fallout 3, Ms. Arendt. I think the Capital Wasteland is very beautiful in it's own way. The deserted suburbs, hills dotted with blasted, withered trees, and the faded glory of Washington, DC, are locales that I'm sure I'll visit time and again.

I'm just glad that you didn't comepletely give up on it and gave it another chance :D

Beauty's in the eye, and all that. :) Don't get me wrong, I think the visuals of Fallout are extremely well done - Bethesda deserves heaps of praise for its attention to detail (though I do wish they had made the "unpassable" piles of rubble just a wee bit taller in some areas...if I can see over it, I should be able to climb it, dammit!). I just found it all so heartbreaking.

Bethesda wanted to give the player a feel of hopelessness, it's a gory, violent, and sad game. You walk around the landscape, looking at all the destroyed building and finding the various notes and audiologs, and a story unfolds, you wonder, "How was this like before its destruction" Every building has its own story, especially places like the Dunwich building and fort Constantine. I caught myself wondering "what must have it been like, to live as the bombs fell?" This kind of setting expands the story, it builds on the theme of Fallout 3, you living in a sheltered world in the vaults, but the world outside is a brutal one, where most people just don't care anymore.

An interesting article. I can understand where you are coming from. That sense of risk/reward is prevalent throughout a majority of RPGs and is a factor that keeps a person coming back to the game over and over again. As I'm writing this I'm pondering picking up Oblivion again, but for me, it's not the idea of finding treasure that brings me back. What sucks me into a game is its atmosphere and/or gameplay. Fallout had me from the moment the load screen popped up and that deep bass chord rang through my living room, signaling an ominous adventure ahead of me. I loved Fallout 3. I just finished it, and I had gotten it at a midnight release. I took my time with it because I wanted to enjoy every facet of it. I wanted to be swallowed up by it. I saw Fallout 3 as an invitation to live in a fictitious world that was based on a certain what-if reality. I suspended my disbelief, and to be honest it wasn't hard for me when it came to this game. Isn't that what the best kind of entertainment does? Take you on a trip when you are completely transported? Yes, it's true that the world of Fallout isn't necessarily any place you'd want to be in, but doesn't the best kind of art serve as a reminder or reflection upon one's self and of humanity as a whole and of what we are capable of? I thought Bethesda did an uncompromising and consummate job of creating something that was wholly believable, and utterly fascinating at the very least as a hypothetical. Damn the treasure, I just want to see how the ended.

An excellent piece of written in its own respect along with the content. I thoroughly enjoyed the last 30 seconds of my life. Kudos.

And this is the exact reason why I did like Fallout 3 and quickly got bored with Oblivion... The world is weird like that.

I love the supermarket with the guy who became so paranoid he made a domino track of boxes of detergent that triggers the exploding of the central heating when someone comes in. When you walk into the place you almost get your head blown off and then find a little corpse in the corner of the room because the fragger was too afraid to come out of the place and had long since run out of food. Thank you Mr Anonymous of Deadville. A complete yet wordless history tucked away in a random building.

After i got my enclave tesla armour and plasma rifle i was pretty much set. I think there should be a buy-able (or free) update to make the world effected by project purity or something. Simply making some parts of the Capitol Wasteland like oblivion and other parts like fallout 3 i guess. There should of also been veichle interaction, like flying a verti-bird would be pretty kick ass wouldn't you agree? Also if you could fix up those motorbikes or cars to drive(that would be cool as well)(also scrumiging fuel from fuel stations). There are so many more things that could of made the game alot better. If you could have a squad of enclave dudes (or brother hood dudes) follow you around. It was also shit how the main quest didnt even go long enough for me to reach level 14.

MAJOR CRAP THING IN FALLOUT 3: Why does not crippling someones head not kill them all the time? I'm pretty sure if you shoot any thing once in the skull they should be dead straight away.

actually i found fallout 3 very good, and i hated oblivion (with a passion). i couldn't explain it from the outside fallout 3 looked and felt like an oblivion mod, but unlike with oblivion i kept playing. and the V.A.T.S., OMFG that was the coolest thing ive seen for a while. that coupled with the bloody mess perk, OUuuu nice. i loved the beauty of the landscape, the combat shotgun and the laser rifle; two best guns in the game IMO, and story made the game like crack. ********MAJOR SPOILER*********And walking with my dad all the way from the vault to rivet city was entirely worth it. ******EVEN LARGER SPOILER******BUT the moment after the enclave finds you in the jefferson memorial, i swear to god i cried and turned off the game. i did do the whole darth vader 'nooo!' thing too

also if you go amidst the big wars against the super mutants and talon company (around the white house) its freaken awesome(you also get poop loads of ammo and guns to sell to traders.

I was the same too i loved my dad in the game and i was thinking man i wish things just stayed this awesome forever and then when he died i was thinking about not playing the game any more but i just kept playing to slaughter all the enlcave, super mutants, raiders, talon company and slavers. (also if you kill all the super mutants in an area do they eventaully return?)