Jonathan wrote:
While we're on it then, Fallout - I read all the reviews and very almost purchased the first one, having never played any of them, but went for some AWFUL Dragon Age or something game instead. Is Fallout worth the investment and how does it compare to TES?
I've played Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, which are the most recent instalments, and fucking loved them. There's no consensus on which is best and everyone seems to have their own favourite but for me Fallout 3 is just awesome. Of the TES games I've only played Skyrim but certainly both Fallout games are
very similar to it and by all accounts Fallout is 'sci-fi TES' so if you like one you should like the other (unless you've got a particular hatred for post-apocalyptic sci-fi settings with bags of understated dark humour I suppose). The only 'real' difference is the combat; it's pretty much all about the projectile weapons in Fallout as melee is a much harder sell in a sci-fi universe so if you liked specifically yer swords 'n' shields that could be a problem for you.
That combat difference brings with it an interesting addition in the shape of the VATS system, which adds a soucon of turn-basedness to fights (if you want, it's entirely optional). So when you go to attack someone you trigger VATS which pauses the action and allows you to see the status of your enemy's body parts and select exactly where you want to target your hits. Then you let it play out; in the background it invisibly does the virtual dice rolls that sit behind all these games and shows you your chosen combat actions and how much damage they did in real time. I'm describing it badly here and probably making it sounds horrible but it makes a massive difference in a game like this and I loved it despite generally hating anything turn-based. Indeed I quickly grew to hate the fucking combat in Skyrim and gave up on it, whereas I loved it in Fallout.
So, make of that what you will. If nothing else, Fallout 3 is cheap as shit these days so there's really little reason not to try it. As a fan of TES games there's a greater than usual chance you'll love it I reckon.