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In terms of time commitment, Fallout 3 remains one of my favorite games. Indeed, to say that its formula is addictive in nature would be an understatement to say the least.
That grand sense of exploration that Bethesda conjured, intermingled with interesting and varied encounters, created a world ripe for investigation and adventure. After 130 hours dedicated to the main game there are still areas left unexplored and new adventures to be had.
With the announcement of Fallout New Vegas I was prepared to take that adventure again. Playing the game at E3 2010 left me with some worry that the game would be more of the same. After spending so much time with the original, I wasn’t entirely sure that I was ready to make that same type of time investment in something that seemed so similar. I was ready, however, to relinquish those fears and dive headlong into it. Something I did right upon release day.
It’s now been just over 50 hours of my new adventure in the steaming, somewhat barren, landscape of New Vegas and I can say with assurance that more of the same would have been welcome compared to what I’m seeing now. Of course the main aesthetic of the game remains the same, that same one which always compelled me onward throughout the wasteland. But surely things are different in quality here. Different than what they were and surely different than what they were becoming. To truly ascertain where Fallout: New Vegas is on the map we have to look not only to Fallout 3, but to the expansions which came thereafter. These, for all intents and purposes, give a glimpse into the later stages of development. That thing which Fallout 3 was becoming on top of what it was.
The story arc’s in Fallout 3 were nothing short of amazing. The pacing, especially at the beginning of the game, are some of the best threaded I’ve ever experienced in a game. To have the character begin his life in the Vault, and there to be a grand reveal of the wasteland only at the zenith of that particular story arc was nothing short of masterful. No one can deny that they were not in awe when the vault door opened, your eyes adjusted to the sunlight, and the great barren wastes lay ahead of you. No such reveal is anywhere evident in New Vegas. The wasteland is simply there, as it always was.
A grand reveal of that type could have taken place with New Vegas itself, but so much time is spend just out of reach of it that the city never really seems especially exciting. And unfortunately, to compound the problem, New Vegas itself is just not that interesting anyway. It is vaulted, it is bland, and it is unpopulated. Practically a wasteland itself, so that once inside you wonder why people ever wanted to go there in the first place.
But this is just one small example, one moment, however large, but just one. There are countless beautiful story arc’s in Fallout 3, none of which can readily be found in New Vegas. Anything as grand or moralistic than your question regarding the fate of Megaton? As demurely beautiful as attending the wedding you saved at the impressive Rivet City? And what about Rivet City itself? I’m sorry but weathered dinosaurs and mile after mile of rustic shacks simply do not come close.
Then look at the expansions of Fallout 3, specifically Pointe Lookout. The change of scenery reflected an improved graphical approach to the series and the improved quests reached an almost feverish pitch with the Walking with Spirits quest and your experiences with the Punga Fruit. That quest in particular shows a real “outside the box” thinking that allowed the real creative juices of the developers to spring forth. Juices that New Vegas seems to be sorely lacking.
The problems also expand larger than simple side quests. The problem with story arc is evident in the main quest as well, and it is one that permeates all the game play which falls under it. Mainly, that it is too apparent. In Fallout 3 there are a few main character motivations which compel you into the wasteland. Sure your father has escaped and you have a sense that you need to find him, but you’re main motivation is simply to get out of the Vault which has becoming an overbearing place to live and which, by all intents and purposes, is now dangerous to your very existence. Your main motivation is to get out of the vault and form a new life in the wasteland, so that is what you do. It propels the player to explore, to carve out that life. Once you link back up with the main story it happens at a time when you are already in that explorative mode, and the player is able to seamlessly assimilate their wasteland existence into it.
In New Vegas however, your motivation is to find your killer in a place where you already have a life. So that’s what you do, you start the quest. You rail along following your main motivation directly to the front gates of New Vegas. Any exploration you do is done away from your main motivation, not in accordance with it. It is forced and it is certainly the wrong way to play a game of this type.
It may seem outlandish to call out these issues on a game where I have over 45 hrs invested, I certainly can see the oddity in that. Certainly the game has that “something” which makes the newer Fallout games great, it just simply lacks the spice. It lacks those spectacular moments which made up the ‘cream in the Campari’ of Fallout 3.
New Vegas, then, is a sequel in name, but not in form.
An alliteration of a franchise, but not an advancement of one.
I only hope that the next try is truly a move forward.
Comments
13 years, 5 months ago
Sorry Joseph but I have to completely disagree with you xD I played Fallout 3 and New Vegas. I started playing Fallout 3 interested to see how I'll be able to explore as I havn't really played any open world games like this ever. Started playing and after about 5-6 hours I kind of got tired of it. It seemed like I was doing the same things over and over again.
Go find your father, oh wait he's not here, go somewhere else, oh wait he's still not here! 4 hours later you find him. Yeah there's side quests and other things as well but I personally think New Vegas is superior.
For one, the dialogue is a LOT more interesting, I'm actually listening instead of just flipping through cause I'm bored of the same things behind said. The sidequests are very different from each other and also have you make moral decisions. They are neat, creative, and very entertaining.
Not only that, but the main story is HUGELY improved in this game. Theres a LOT of twists and things that made me very surprised. But everybody IS entitled to their own opinion.
I mainly blame my opinion on the fact that I didn't play as much of fallout 3 as I wanted too. I blazed through the story doing a side quest here and there, but thats about it.
13 years, 5 months ago
I actually prefer the factions and the lore more in Fallout New Vegas. The problem is it does'nt do much to seperate itself from Fallout 3 and makes it feel more like a 60 $ expansion then a sequel.
13 years, 5 months ago
Eh, I've been skeptical about playing this game ever since it hit and word started to spread about the game breaking bugs. Probably going to lock this one out till a GOTY edition comes out. Maybe, give it a rent a couple of months from now but for now I'm staying away from it.
13 years, 5 months ago
"For all intensive purposes" is wrong, the phrase is actually, "For all intents and purposes" I let it go the first time, but when you used it again I just had to say something. :P
13 years, 5 months ago
I agree with most of your points Joseph and I do prefer Fallout 3 over New Vegas. Before you jump to conclusions, yes, I did read the whole post.
But.
My OCD is telling me to inform you that the saying is "intents and purposes", not "intensive purposes". I've noticed you use the saying incorrectly multiple times and just wanted to point it out. Sorry. :/
13 years, 5 months ago
Fuck, ninja'd
13 years, 5 months ago
Hm, I played Fallout 3 after the GOTY edition came out; where I imagine most of the glitches have been stamped out. Glitches were one of my main issues with NV; but those should be taken care of in due time (Note the "should"). I do agree alot of the key moments in FO3 are absent in NV, but other than that I felt NV had alot improved on it also. Currently FO3 and NV equate to about the same in my heart; both for different reasons
13 years, 5 months ago
I didnt enjoy Fallout 3 as many did. I played it for about 20 hours. My main grip with the game and the HUGE world was that there wasn't some sort of vehicle you could construct to traverse the area. The Zelda and Elder Scrolls are some of my favorite game franchises because they use mounts to traverse the enormous terrain. If people are saying new vegas is different that fallout 3, then count me in.
13 years, 5 months ago
I completely agree with you. About how addicting Fallout is, how Fallout 3 provided motivation to explore, etc. Fallout NV is still addicting, but it does lack the "pizazz" of number 3. Good article!
13 years, 5 months ago
It sounds to me like you're playing a Bethesda game for the story, Joseph. Bethesda games have never been about a particular story. Indeed, the main quest is almost always the most throwaway part in any Bethesda game.
13 years, 5 months ago
INTENTS AND PURPOSES you eeeeediot =/
good article. I'm still looking forward to new vegas, but i need to finish fo3 first
13 years, 5 months ago
I have to disagree too, I've been enjoying New Vegas a lot more than Fallout 3. Obsidian brought a lot of small features like crafting from Fallout 3 and made them more important and easier to do. The game just feels more open and the story hasn't gripped me as quickly as Fallout 3 did but Fallout 3's story lost me about halfway through.
13 years, 5 months ago
As a person thats played Fallout 3, I complety agree with all the point you made about it. The first time you saw the wasteland. The fate of megaton. And the sense that you have no home in this wasteland but still you must survive, were great examples. I haven't played FO:NV so I cant give my opinion about it. But I certainly enjoyed reading this badger.
PS. I love your writings btw
13 years, 5 months ago
"New Vegas, then, is a sequel in name, but not in form."
Maybe not a sequel for a Bethesda game. But more new content went into this game than we'd see in two or three sequels of another franchise. Seeing how this is a game from a different studio, using the same engine, and complete in about a year and a half, I'm not surprised people think this way.
Look at what a sequel to a God of War or a Call of Duty game does. Do we really dare compare if we ignore the jump in graphics?
People are bitching because of visuals. Same shit happened when they did KotoR 2.
And on a core design level, I'd argue that Fallout 3 was lacking in the same motivations. Building up weaponry, equipment, and wealth isn't nearly as interesting in these Fallout games versus Elder Scrolls. They have very little effect on your the way you build your character and how you play the game. "This armor has more defense than this one. This weapon is stronger than this one. Oh look, I have a ton of caps and nothing exciting to buy."
I think so many of us are looking back on Fallout 3 with rose tinted glasses because it was the first of its kind. That game has most of the issues this one has.
13 years, 5 months ago
I have to disagree also
While Fallout 3 is one of my favorite game's ever It still cant argue with the improvements New Vegas brings to the table.
While FO3 had grand Vistas and amazingly designed places like Megaton and Rivet City when you actually explored them they were pretty devoid of interesting characters. Each one you find were as unmemorable as the last barring a few exceptions of course.{Moria,Elder Lyons,Fawkes,Mister Burke}
Thats what New Vegas has in spades real characters with well defined personality's and looks, apart from the odd npc. Even if New Vegas wasn't packed with on-screen NPC's the ones that were there had a real Life about them.
Fallout New Vegas may not up the ante but it always plays to win.
(Sorry for all the lame puns)
13 years, 5 months ago
I'm afraid I have to strongly disagree with this. I have found Fallout New Vegas to be a much more compelling setting than Fallout 3. The core quest to start with remains similar; namely follow x person across the wastes for y reason.
However I think that Avellone and the folks at Obsidian captured the setting much better (which I suppose is only natural given the history there), with decidedly more complex factions. There is no "evil enclave vs pure brotherhood paladins" culminating in one of the most painfully disappointing endings I have seen in recent years. I absolutely love fallout 3, but the execution of the core storyline and much of the DLC wasn't really the high point for me.
Anyway, in new vegas you feel like more of a part of living world, with factions, politics and deep characters to interact with and decide how you personally feel. Every faction has good points and bad, even the legion has it's merits. None of them sit around twirling a devious moustache while pondering how to take over the world.
While many of the factions are vying for power they have complex reasons for doing so, from a twisted desire to bring unity, to a fallen ideology of saving and reforming people that became something entirely counter, yet oddly compelling despite it's outside perception. The decisions presented are more of a complex grey area, there are no good guys, only a bunch of self-interested folks you have to decide who you dislike the least, or just go to hell with them all I suppose. It provides more freedom than fallout 3 did in terms of finding where you belong, and how you wish to change things.
I found the world to be a bit more lively too, giving the feeling that numerous factions, civilians and the like are all trying to get by.
In terms of gameplay Obsidian brought in a lot of minor tweaks and subtle changes that I was pleased with. From the inclusion of iron sights and cinematic kills from non-vats attacks to the removal/tweaking of certain utterly broken perks that Bethesda added in Broken Steel that provided an easy outlet to get 100 in every skill and 10 in every special stat.
I found the tweaks and new mechanics to be refreshing. Also, Hardcore mode I feel lays the groundwork for a game varient for future iterations that could actually be very interesting, and at present serves to make combat more interesting, as stims heal over time rather than instantly, causing you to sometimes need to dive into a nearby room and hope they don't turn that corner before the stims kick in.
Also, the varied armour tiers and the faction recognition provide reasons for players to not always be in the best, potent piece of armour, which helps extend the early game struggle to get by which is where such a setting truly shines.
Personally I find the core narrative and characters in New Vegas to be a vast step up from Bethesda's usual (Which I have witnessed in morrowind, oblivion, fallout 3). I would love to see something in a fresh engine, taki
13 years, 5 months ago
I never really thought of that "Finding your new life" thing as to why exploration felt more compelling in Fallout 3. Good insight, Joseph.
I agree that the main quest in New Vegas starts weak. Even before the game came out, I was like "Why is it a big deal to find out why this guy shot me? I'll probably fight 50 million dudes trying to kill me for no reason before I find him" (and that's true) and there's very little pressure put on you to actually reclaim the platinum chip. The worst I've seen is the note that says something along of how you're held liable if the package is lost or stolen.
13 years, 5 months ago
See, I have my problems with New Vegas, but they're definitely not the same as yours, Joseph. You seem to believe that the writing in FO3 is better than in NV, and must completely disagree with you. New Vegas has a lot more to offer story wise. I think the main story is only a portion of it. I had a much different experience with it than most, though. See, I wanted to get to the Strip right away, so right after I did the tutorial (for the caps and XP of course lol) I went North. Now, as many of you know, that was the worst idea imaginable. I encountered Rad-Scorpions, Giant Rad-Scorpions, and the dreaded Czardas', and that was before I even got out of the hills. But I persisted, and I found a way through that got me past most of the Rad-Scorpions and put me in a position to simply snipe the Czardas with my 10 mil pistol from an outcropping and slip on through. I snuck past Mantis's, Raiders, and then just ran straight through the fiends camps to Fort McCarren. It was difficult, but I would never pass it up if I were given the chance to do it again. The level of pressure, excitement, pure adrenaline I got from it was amazing and simply great. That sense of relief I got when I approached that NCR checkpoint was, well, relieving. The devs created an experience there, an experience you couldn't find with FO3. This great sense of fear, this sense that one wrong move and you were dead. In FO3, I'd often feel alone in this barren wasteland, which was nice and all, but it just isn't as good as that sense of fear and danger you get in the Mojave. Every step in the Mojave is full of danger, wether it be from Fiends, from Czardas, from the multitude of Deathclaws, ghouls, or from Legionaries. The only feeling better than that, is when you finally reach that level where, all of a sudden you can take them, you know that a Legionary hit squad isn't scary, it's just one more opportunity for caps. Then, when you think your on top of the world, and you waltz into a place like Vault 34 and realize "Oh my god, what the hell was I thinking", it's pure gold. I never got that feeling in FO3, maybe it's because I used the Chinese Stealth suit so damn much in FO3, but even then I always felt much safer in the Capital Wasteland than I do now in the Mojave. That, combined with the sense of accomplishment I get from helping the NCR, from dealing a death blow to Caesar, from knowing I was pulling all these little strings and I held in my hands the fate of every faction in the Mojave. Theres nothing like that on FO3, theres only two real choices, save the world and help the BOS, or fuck it over and release the FEV. The level of choice in NV is immense, I find myself sitting there for ages just trying to decide what to do, who I should help, should I just sit by and let them kill each other, then step in and take over. It's... Well it's great.
Okay, I'm simply ranting right now, I know, but I could go on for hours about this game and why it's better. I just find it to be a b
13 years, 5 months ago
I have to disagree with you Joseph, unfortunately. But I understand why you make the points you make and why you see it this way. Me no the other hand, I think New Vegas is so much better than Fallout 3, and I actually enjoyed F3.
Regarding the world:
Maybe it's because I'm playing it on PC, but I can not fathom why I keep hearing about how the world in New Vegas is disappointing. It is so much better, coherent and atmospheric than F3 in my opinion. And a lot of it has to do with the large landmarks. Something, that I'm GUESSING console players are missing out on because of crappy draw distance.
Examples: After walking away from Prinn I saw two gigantic statues from miles away and went "oh cool, I wonder what that is". Mojave Outpost.
Walking away from the Mojave outpost, I see some large gecko thing far away and decidee to go towards it. Novac.
Wandering around after finishing up in Novac I see this huge tower far off in the distance. HELIOS One.
Then, once again, I'm walking around during the night and see this huge glow in the sky over a familiar mast. I instantly guess that it has to be New Vegas over there.
These things never ever happened in Fallout 3 for me. The only landmark I ever saw from afar was the Washington Monument. That's it. Also, Fallout 3 felt so flat and segregated. New Vegas has huge hills, varying landscapes from red deserts, to forests to snowy mountains. They even play around with the hue. When you're near Black Mountain the contrast becomes so strong and the game gets this HDR feel, it almost looks black and white, whereas when you're over on the East-SouthEast side, there's almost no contrast and the world has this reddish tint. Again, I hope this isn't just something that is noticable on the PC version.
These are all visual aspects, I know, but it adds so much to the atmosphere I feel.
Besides, I feel that the writing in New Vegas is a shit ton better. The witty, whimsical and fucked up shit I missed from Fallout 1 & 2 is right here. Quests are much more interesting as well and discussing them with my friends lead me to know how insanely different the outcomes were. Fallout 3 quests were tremendously binary. Then we have all the unique and colorful factions in New Vegas. Which there are TONS of.
The actual gameplay is better too, I feel. Enemies have better AI, they take cover, run away when they are fucked. Aiming with the ironsight makes combat outside of VATS not utter dogshit and modding the weapons is actually fun. Also, companions are actually not useless anymore. They have TONS of dialogues, their own questlines, they give you perks, you can give them commands and set their behaviors, they make funny, unique comments about various environments, quests and NPC's that you run into.
Fallout 3 was a great game, but to me, the characters, writing and quests felt very bland and uninteresting (save for a few really really COOL ones). Also, for someone who played and loved Fallout 1 & 2, New Vegas ha
13 years, 5 months ago
FNV was made with a love for the crpg genre. it does not dumb down its aesthetic or pander to any specific audience except crpg lovers. Obsidian stuck to its guns and made possibly the best 'western' crpg in YEARS. the depth in FNV is immense and really rewards people who invest in its gameworld. the thematic elements in FNV are so ahead of most games these days it makes every other rpg look 'dumb' in comparison.
Years from now people will realize just how great FNV really is. Its unique games like FNV that hardly get made these days, which is more reason to really support it imo.
13 years, 5 months ago
Totally misleading title! New Vegas is a far superior game to Fallout 3. Far better characterisation and quests, better variety and a far better handling of the source material. If you were true Fallout fans (i'm talking to you Brad and Joseph) maybe your biased opinions would hold some weight.
Fallout New Vegas two steps forward.Nuff said!
13 years, 5 months ago
Although what your saying maybe true I still think that nv is a better game in my opinion.
The main reasons being that I felt in fallout3 that you never really were immersed in the world and all the different factions, when I saw a bos palading I wanted to be apart of their order from the start so that I could develop an identity for my character which would affect my time in the wastes, but of course this was not obtained for me untill it really didn't matter and I did not really have a choice. Another problem about the immersion I had was there were never really factions it was just most human hostiles would be raiders or slavers and all super mutants were hostile except for Fawkes and that random encounter( who didn't really provide with any useful insights on the mutant condition anyways) . Without this distinction the world felt shallow and I started to not about anybody in the world because they just became like everyone else.
In new vegas I saw this fixed I could choose who I fought for, most mutants were not hostile and were rare and powerful like they should have been and are in the earlyer games, I knew my enemy and I knew I felt compelled to find out what they were doing and why they were there, diologue was better, the game did not take its self seriously like a true fallout game and ended up feeling more genuine because of it, story was better and less linear and it felt like a real world because from the moment you start there are stronger creatures than you which prevent you from travelling to certain places.
Maybe I don't feel as strongly against this game because I played it on a computer where the loading screens where much faster and the glitches seemed less game breaking but I just found this game to be more appealing and traditional/genuine to fallout3. Don't get me wrong fallout3 was a good game but just in a different way.
13 years, 5 months ago
I can't completely talk for New Vegas yet...I'm about 35 hours into it.
I clocked up about something ridiculous on Fallout 3 like 250 hours between two seperate playthroughs (including DLCs). So I have a long while to go to with NV!
However, I heartily agree it lacks the immediate 'hook' of FO3. There's none of the impact of leaving the vault and the character is nowhere near the blank slate of your character in the former game. FO3 was a slow-burner but this is even slower. It wasn't until a good 20 hours or so in that I've really got to grips with the new environment, factions and history, developed my skills to the point where I can have a bit of a swagger in danger zones and just got properly immersed into the atmosphere of the thing.
Thankfully, now I have, I'm having a lot of enjoyment with the game. I appreciate the need to have to consider your reputation with different factions. I most definitely like Hardcore mode, the different aspects are not as pronounced as they could've been but they add a little something to your virtual existance that I hope is developed further in the future. I even liked that you're not handled a house (or chance of one) very early in the game, meaning I spent several in-game days living off my back and sleeping rough where I could. I certainly appreciate my little hideout in Novac now!
Fallout 3 remains the superior work, I'd say so far. But NV has its own charm, and if it's an interior sequel, I'd say just a half-step back and one to the side perhaps ;)
13 years, 5 months ago
New Vegas is very addicting but man did Bethesda really screw up hardcore when it came down to debugging and game testing. My current saved game has what they call the black screen of death. Thats when at anytime you go into the Vegas Strip the screen turns black and everything freezes up. I can start a new game but with a game deep as this you stand to lose ALOT of progress if this bug hits you later on (I was level 10 when it happened).
I've played all of Bethesda's best games and usually the same glitches remain the same for over the past 15 years. In NV I think some people have even experienced the glitch with falling through the floor which was a game breaker back in the days of Daggerfall. So until Obsidian/Bethesda create a patch to fix some of these serious issues in NV then this game is quite a mess.
13 years, 5 months ago
I don't know. I mean YEAH I absolutely LOVED Fallout: 3. I played all the side quests and the expassions. Yet, when I played New Vegas I felt there were more options on the outer outcome. In F3 You can only be good or evil. On NV there are MANY MANY MANY MANY MANNNNYYYY outcomes to the end. Being evil and destroying this tribe or being good and helping this one and that one. And each one you visit the greater your way to saving Vegas IF you plan to take for yourself from Yes Man. And thats another reason too. I mean yeah I hate the constant running to place to place and loading screen beyong loading screen but just on how sooooo many descions you make ACTUALLY affect you in some way either then or later in the game. I love how if you wear this factions armor your considered one of them. That itself is a great add-on. I mean yeah I love F3's story a whole lot and how you can make more stuff and ect. But I still get wow'd everytime I play NV.
13 years, 5 months ago
I personally believe New Vegas is vastly superior to Fallout 3. Especially the hardcore mode.
13 years, 5 months ago
While I agree that the story in the first was superior, I have to admit NV is much superior in the gameplay department.
I was able to breeze through FO3 on hard(I found very hard to be irritating in how many bullets an enemy could soak up), because of the odd balancing choices and how easily you stock-pile things and money.Also the variety in enemies was much lesser.
NV was much better on that front, especially thanks to the Hardcore mode.
Stats made more (difference in my opinion).The perks worked better because you didn't get one each level making you a completely overpowered beast that chews through any enemy along the way.Traits gave your character some personality and a couple of weaknesses.I didn't have hundreds of all the drugs and etc in my inventory(I did kind of stock-pile stimpaks).The added campfire,and reloading bench worked better.The fact that you needed a certain amount of skill to pass dialogue checks instead of luck rolls.
I do admit though that FO3 managed to suck you into the story a lot better even though the moral choices seemed bland to me in that game.Most of the evil choices being only a sort of moustache-twirling caricature type.
Though enough of my ranting, they both to me were engaging and interesting games worth the money and time invested in them.
13 years, 5 months ago
I only spent 40 hours with Fallout 3 and only 5 with New Vegas so far but NV feels much more like a delicatly crafted world. I feel the flavors of the world Obsidian created are far stronger than in Fallout 3. While Bethesda may have had the time to craft an excellent world and narrative they did a less impressive job of filling that world with interesting people.
13 years, 5 months ago
I have read hundreds of articles on gaming , movies and books and I must say that never have I ever read an article that reads as if I had written every single word, and all I kept saying to myself is when the did I ever write an article and who's this Joseph guy who stole my thoughts (Inception style) about Fallout New Vegas and posted then on this website . All joking aside this is the best article I have read about the lack of truly memorable moments in Fallout New Vegas. By the way New Vegas is not a sequel to fallout 3 in any way but gameplay , it is a sequel to the first 2 Fallout games and in my opinion that was the mistake . I dont know maybe its me but after killing Benny , I had no motivation to continue with the game . After 500 hours in Fallout 3 and only 50 in New Vegas I am very disappointed I had HIGH HOPES , I mean did Obsidian even play Fallout 3 .
12 years, 6 months ago
Just to add my 2c... I stumbled across F3 by accident and became lost in it - I loved exploring and carving out my own story. When F3:NV came out, I was really looking forward to it. Perhaps that was the problem - I had really big expectations. For me F3:NV failed to deliver. I was really looking forward to getting to NV - The twinkling lights on the horizon leading me on across the desert. It had promise and allure.
I finally arrived and instead of a bustling metropolis with hundreds of characters all trying to get ahead, it felt about as populated as Megaton. What a let-down. Nothing that had happened to me thus far had inspired me to fight to the death for one faction or another. I had an overwhelming feeling of "Meh",
I can see why others like it - especially if you didn't get caught up in F3 but I was hoping for another symphony and it felt like nothing more than a hollow echo.
Oh and the bugs, glitches and (still) mediocre UI really just killed any chance at immersion.