Fallout 4

[Ace]

New Vegas is a whole new game. Was made by Obsidian, not Bethesda.

[Bobfoc]

New Vegas is a separate game. When it first came out, it was packed to bursting point with bugs, but the major ones are more or less all fixed now. While Fallout 3 is a bleak post-apocalyptic RPG with a sprinkle of dark humour here and there, New Vegas is a more light-hearted and humorous game, in keeping with the series' origins. They're both good games, but I found New Vegas more fun.

[gunnar hendershow]

Aww, so I'm gonna have to play Fallout 3 before I play this? Damnit, I still have Skyrim to play!

I wouldn't worry about it. Most "callbacks" will be easter eggs, and if you have a serious question about the universe there is a very in-depth wiki that explains everything.

[SeanDMan]

the setting is shifting from dc to boston, which is far enough that it likely won't be a direct sequel.

You should play all the previous games. You can skip tactics if need be. Also point lookout and mothraship zeta are dumb.

[9 to 5]

I liked Point Lookout, but the alien stuff was crap.

[Walker]

I liked all the DLC to be honest. Broken Steel and Operation Anchorage are the only ones I'd say make a big impact on the experience though.

[ADG]

There was a girl on Reddit last year who claimed to be a fired Bethesda employee who said at the time that the first reveal would happen in June 2015. Could be a lucky guess but if she is legit she said the game would release in October.

[Avenged Probably]

I liked all the DLC to be honest. Broken Steel and Operation Anchorage are the only ones I'd say make a big impact on the experience though.

I can't remember which one is which, but I loved the one where you go into the simulator and its in the past.

[Walker]

That was Operation Anchorage. It unlocked loads of amazing weapons and apparel as well. Made the early levels of FO3 a piece of piss.

[EWB's Best Poster.]

Can't wait to start hoarding!

[Meacon Keaton]

As fate would have it, Steam is going to have the Fallout games at 50% off this weekend.

[thatshortguy]

As fate would have it, Steam is going to have the Fallout games at 50% off this weekend.

Careful, as it'll probably go on sale further during the Summer Sale.

[Meacon Keaton]

With their new refund system, who cares?!

[thatshortguy]

Ahhhhh, all the hassle though. Oy.

[Ace]

GameStop Italy apparently has their release date as 23/10/2015.

Probably unremarkable, except apparently they've leaked release dates before (GTAV?)

[SeanDMan]

I liked Point Lookout, but the alien stuff was crap.

Point Lookout is not immersion breaking except for the idiotic GECK values. There is no way that hillbilly hides and torn up flannel vests should have the same kind of armor values, or better, than Enclave power armor. With the values modified, it's fine.

Mothership Zeta is canon breaking and illogical, entirely worth skipping.

I'd consider Old World Blues non-canon but it very much fits the pulp sci fi vibe and if you consider it one big running inside joke, it's fun.

The best DLC is The Pitt, followed by Lonesome Road.

[MDK]

[JasonM]

Is New Vegas just a DLC addon, or is it like a full expansion?

Humble had a sale on them a while ago and I meant to pick it up, but completely forgot.

A bit of a late answer, but generally this...

New Vegas is superior gameplay, MUCH better mod support, and interesting stuff that makes the game simply more awesome to play than F3.

Fallout 3 still has the superior story for me personally.

If you got both games, you can also download the Tales of the Two Wasteland mod which organically places the Fallout 3 game into the Fallout: New Vegas engine. It also rebalances the game a bit so that once you beat one you're not just going to rush through the other one because you're hugely overpowered...

Basically if you want to play Fallout 3 but with better gameplay, TOTTW is a great shout.

[SeanDMan]

Personally I don't get how anyone can prefer the story of Fallout 3 to New Vegas.

Big spoilery rant about Fallout 3 within, if you want to experience it spoiler free, don't read.

Firstly, the plot of the game is really linear. "You are a hero/this is your dad/your dad is dead avenge your dad/here is a bullshit ending that makes no sense/profit!".

For people who were around for Fallout 1 and 2 might remember that one of the things Fallout 1 was praised for was the option to throw everything away and embrace evil. Sure, it didn't amount to much more than a cool cut scene but at least you had the option. Fallout 2 completely removed that option, thus meaning if you did the main questline, it ended only 1 way. Instead of learning from that mistake. Bethesda went ahead and made a completely on rails main quest with basically no deviation (the only way to get a different experience is if you accidentally walk off the handheld path and miss a chunk of it, which you can then replay later). There is no choice and thus no consequence; you are a hero, and you will do what you are told to do Mr. Hero. Thankfully New Vegas was the polar opposite of this.

Also, thanks again Bethesda for hiring a famous actor to do a half hour of voice acting work. He really made a huge impact on the game for the five minutes he was there for.

Then there's the setting. I heard someone describe Fallout 3 as "a cool theme park with different themed rides, but no cohesive ties that bind them together". Which is mostly accurate. You have the vampire town, the cannibal town, the town that is full of mines because why not, the little kids/goonies town, the town on a big boat town, the town built around a bomb town, etc etc etc. Each town is a cool little themed town, but there is no overall cohesion to the world; no logic to how it is set up. And given that the main theme of the game is essentially a region wide infrastructure project, that only serves to highlight the absurdity.

BTW: want to know how to filter radioactive fallout from your water? Boiling and distillation. Solid containments, which are radioactively unstable, get left behind as solid particles. SCIENCE.

But let's talk about the bullshit ex machina they invented for what they laughibly call a plot. So, earlier in the story, you have to get a GECK (for reasons). Then, you get to a chamber with too much radiation for you to survive. But it's cool; you have a friendly supermutant nearby, and he's totally down to go into this chamber and get the GECK for you (for reasons). However, your GECK gets stolen, and you end up fighting your way out of jail, where you supermutant friend then shows up and starts shooting down helicopters. Then, finally, you get back to the magic water maker drinkable machine (because no one can boil water in the future) and find out that, shit, fuck, it's filled with too much radiation to survive turning it on. Well, fortunately you have a big friendly supermutant nearby who can... wait, what the fuck do you mean no? WHAT THE FUCK, DESTINY? Are you fucked in the head mate? You can WALK IN THERE, NO HARM DONE, and flip a switch to turn on the water and let everyone drink, but instead, (for reasons) I have to choose to die instead? What the fuck kind of sense does that make? Who wrote this shit?

Overall okay game 6/10, New Vegas better in every way.

[TCO]

Yeah I think New Vegas is better is every way. Way more fun to play and explore and the plot is cohesive with actual branching storylines that has an effect on how you play.