Game Reviews
Issue 240 / December 2008 More from this Issue
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Fallout 3
Bethesda
Street: 10.27.08
RPG Shooter
Hear me! I am Dante Stryve, paragon of wastelandmorality, head-shooter extraordinaire, and I shallhave my vengeance! So . . . I’ve had Fallout 3 fortwo weeks now and I’ve lost about 48 hours to it,but I feel justified, gameslike Fallout come alongvery rarely. It’s not perfect, but it’s one of the mostengrossing and fully developed titles in the next-genline up. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s start with thegame world.
The Capital Wasteland is epic––it’s bigger thanany single play-through could reveal. The scopeof destruction and decay around every corner is aharsh and somber backdrop for Fallout’s massivecampaign. Anyone can build an open world full ofmountains and forests, but when we’re talking aboutthe aftermath of the apocalypse, every block andevery city ought to be original and distinct, and thisis the case. Fallout’s sandbox world is probably thegreatest of the game’s umpteen achievements. Asyou step out into the wastes for your first time, andyour eyes adjust to the bright sun, the sense of possibilityis palatable.
The intro to this game is probably the best and mostcreative character creation sequence I’ve ever seen. Interaction with NPCs is very Oblivion-esque, andwhile plenty of the voice acting is fine, plenty of itsucks. Not surprising, considering the sheer volumeof voice recordings needed to cover every possiblereaction and scenario. Probably the worst part of thegame is your character’s dialog options. While youdon’t actually hear yourself talk, your conversationoptions are always poorly worded and continually underminethe information you’ve just been given. Thismay seem nit-picky, but the game is very invested inthe dialog, and it’s sad that you can’t be as articulateas you’d like. My only other gripe is with the charactermodels: gestures are sparing and stiff, and (justlike in Oblivion) people don’t seem to be touching theground when they walk, but floating just above it.
However, the new V.A.T.S. combat system is a blast.Sighting an enemy, you pause the game and highlighta body part of theirs you’d like to see removedwith speeding molten lead. You cue up a few triggersqueezeswith your trusty magnum and the gamegives you some cinematic camera angles and filtersto watch the carnage you’ve created. Great fun.You can shoot in real-time, too, though it’s mostly asupplement when your AP is down.
Despite the awesome character creation, I feel likeFallout 3 starts pretty slowly, which may deter somegamers. At about 10 hours in the game’s momentumstarts to build, so stick with it. By the time you hitlevel 10 I promise you’ll be bloodshot-drooldrippinghooked.I know I am. –Jesse Hawlish
4.9 super-mutant decapitations out of 5
Dead Space
EA
Street: 10.17.08
Horror Shooter
When I popped Dead Space into my Xbox, Iexpected a solid horror title––plenty of gore andplenty of twisted demons to slay. It has thesethings in spades, but Dead Space is far and awaya more impressive and polished game experiencethan I expected.
The basic premise: Resident Evil 4 got togetherwith Half Life 2 and they watched Event Horizon onBlu-ray. In other words, it’s a third-person over-theshouldershooter that takes place on an enormousspace craft where evil goings-on have left thevessel gutted and dangerous. You are Isaac,a member of the repair crew sent to help, and adepressed-looking deep-sea diver as well (you’llget it when you play it). Isaac’s abilities are shamelesslyborrowed from successful shooter conceptsover the last few years. He can slow time, use hiskinetic suit ala the HL2 gravity gun and upgrade hisweapons and armor in a very RE4 fashion. But inthe video game world, the only shame in borrowingideas is doing it unsuccessfully, and there’s noneof that here. Save for a few sluggish movement issues,every aspect of the game has been polishedto an impressive degree.
You’ll hear it everywhere soon enough, but DeadSpace has a menu system that literally steals theshow, and needs to be seen to be fully understood.Every menu is built for Isaac, not the player, andexists in the physical space of the game world,some are projected from his suit, others on wallsand consoles, and the effect is gorgeous. It’sdifficult to describe concisely, but the system reallytakes immersion and gameplay fluidity forward abig step. The art direction and graphics are asgood as we’ve seen on the Xbox to date. Add thetop notch sound effects and Dead Space really is avery complete game.
Bethesda
Street: 10.27.08
RPG Shooter
Hear me! I am Dante Stryve, paragon of wastelandmorality, head-shooter extraordinaire, and I shallhave my vengeance! So . . . I’ve had Fallout 3 fortwo weeks now and I’ve lost about 48 hours to it,but I feel justified, gameslike Fallout come alongvery rarely. It’s not perfect, but it’s one of the mostengrossing and fully developed titles in the next-genline up. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s start with thegame world.
The Capital Wasteland is epic––it’s bigger thanany single play-through could reveal. The scopeof destruction and decay around every corner is aharsh and somber backdrop for Fallout’s massivecampaign. Anyone can build an open world full ofmountains and forests, but when we’re talking aboutthe aftermath of the apocalypse, every block andevery city ought to be original and distinct, and thisis the case. Fallout’s sandbox world is probably thegreatest of the game’s umpteen achievements. Asyou step out into the wastes for your first time, andyour eyes adjust to the bright sun, the sense of possibilityis palatable.
The intro to this game is probably the best and mostcreative character creation sequence I’ve ever seen. Interaction with NPCs is very Oblivion-esque, andwhile plenty of the voice acting is fine, plenty of itsucks. Not surprising, considering the sheer volumeof voice recordings needed to cover every possiblereaction and scenario. Probably the worst part of thegame is your character’s dialog options. While youdon’t actually hear yourself talk, your conversationoptions are always poorly worded and continually underminethe information you’ve just been given. Thismay seem nit-picky, but the game is very invested inthe dialog, and it’s sad that you can’t be as articulateas you’d like. My only other gripe is with the charactermodels: gestures are sparing and stiff, and (justlike in Oblivion) people don’t seem to be touching theground when they walk, but floating just above it.
However, the new V.A.T.S. combat system is a blast.Sighting an enemy, you pause the game and highlighta body part of theirs you’d like to see removedwith speeding molten lead. You cue up a few triggersqueezeswith your trusty magnum and the gamegives you some cinematic camera angles and filtersto watch the carnage you’ve created. Great fun.You can shoot in real-time, too, though it’s mostly asupplement when your AP is down.
Despite the awesome character creation, I feel likeFallout 3 starts pretty slowly, which may deter somegamers. At about 10 hours in the game’s momentumstarts to build, so stick with it. By the time you hitlevel 10 I promise you’ll be bloodshot-drooldrippinghooked.I know I am. –Jesse Hawlish
4.9 super-mutant decapitations out of 5
Dead Space
EA
Street: 10.17.08
Horror Shooter
When I popped Dead Space into my Xbox, Iexpected a solid horror title––plenty of gore andplenty of twisted demons to slay. It has thesethings in spades, but Dead Space is far and awaya more impressive and polished game experiencethan I expected.
The basic premise: Resident Evil 4 got togetherwith Half Life 2 and they watched Event Horizon onBlu-ray. In other words, it’s a third-person over-theshouldershooter that takes place on an enormousspace craft where evil goings-on have left thevessel gutted and dangerous. You are Isaac,a member of the repair crew sent to help, and adepressed-looking deep-sea diver as well (you’llget it when you play it). Isaac’s abilities are shamelesslyborrowed from successful shooter conceptsover the last few years. He can slow time, use hiskinetic suit ala the HL2 gravity gun and upgrade hisweapons and armor in a very RE4 fashion. But inthe video game world, the only shame in borrowingideas is doing it unsuccessfully, and there’s noneof that here. Save for a few sluggish movement issues,every aspect of the game has been polishedto an impressive degree.
You’ll hear it everywhere soon enough, but DeadSpace has a menu system that literally steals theshow, and needs to be seen to be fully understood.Every menu is built for Isaac, not the player, andexists in the physical space of the game world,some are projected from his suit, others on wallsand consoles, and the effect is gorgeous. It’sdifficult to describe concisely, but the system reallytakes immersion and gameplay fluidity forward abig step. The art direction and graphics are asgood as we’ve seen on the Xbox to date. Add thetop notch sound effects and Dead Space really is avery complete game.
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