July & August 2024 Videos – Football and buggy dogs

This time you'll get 2-in-1! Mostly because that is how many videos I have uploaded in July and August.

Revisiting Fallout 3

I played through Fallout 3 years ago and it was okay. Not great, but okay. I enjoyed my time with it though, but for some reason in my head I created this attitude towards the game that it was complete poop. Maybe it’s because newer Fallout games have so special place in my heart, maybe I didn’t appreciate this old schoolish FPS/RPG enough. Whatever the reason was, I just felt that I wouldn’t ever return to Capital Wasteland.

Until I did. 

Drugs. Not even once.

Emerging from Vault 101 to face the dangers of Wasteland felt different this time. I decided to skip the main story and just went wandering, which was the best decision I could have made. Exploring and finding new places while escaping dangers was much more interesting than following the main story line which in my taste is pretty bland. And taking a different path led to some interesting adventures, like searching for Nuka-Cola Quantum, making money by selling slaves and hunting Deathclaws for sport for example - my character became a little bit a psycho to be honest, but that was fun. Throwing Tenpenny’s body out of his tower and walking around in his suit without anyone noticing what has happened made me giggle out loud, like so many other silly thing that just happened, thanks to broken game engine and AI that does whatever it wants.

I have still my problems with Fallout 3. It’s showing it’s age at this point, and sprint function is something that it needs, though there is mods for that (which I forgot to download…). Difficulty is varied, as some points are just too easy and the next moment you’re getting your ass kicked by swarm of radscorpions that came out of nowhere. Then again, this keeps exploring interesting as you never know what kind of fight to expect. There are some cool and interesting NPC’s and quests, but too many just start repeating themselves pretty soon, and as the map itself is empty compared to later Fallout games there’s sometimes nothing to do. Don’t get me wrong, I like to get bored in open world games (and that’s a whole different blog post I could write!) but world of Fallout 3 is mostly just boring. It underlines the fact that this is supposed to be a destroyed city though pretty well. Maybe my decision not to fast travel has something to do with this too.

This guy had a lot of problems.

I had few mods installed but nothing too fancy. Mostly quality of life stuff and some cool armors. 

Unfortunately my adventures came to an end thanks to updating my OS to a newer version. After that Fallout just broke and is not launching at all. But that's okay, I got to do mostly everything I wanted and more - and as I had no clear point set where I wanted to stop my playthrough I think this ''forced'' one worked pretty well.  

In general, Fallout 3 felt better second time around. Yes, it’s getting old and outdated and might be a shock to play for younger players but it’s still something that should be experienced, at least to be able to appreciate how far open world games have come. 

Your typical Fallout experience.

Ps. I'm back! Though don't expect too many blog posts in the near future as I'm still wondering what kind of texts I want to write and I just don't have enough  free time right now. I'm playing Dragon Age: Origins, Earthbound and The Legend of Zelda: Oscarina of Time right now, so there might be some blogs about those games coming at some point. Until then, stay safe out there. And play games.

Some Thoughts on Fallout 3

I've been replaying Fallout 3 after, I don't know, many years. It's a weird game, because when I originally played it through I enjoyed it but didn't love it. It felt empty and blunt compared to Fallout: New Vegas for example (which happens to be one of my favourite games ever). Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate Fallout 3 - I thought and still think that it's magnificent game but at the same time it feels like it's missing something. And somehow I managed to skip half of the (somewhat boring) main story when I first played Fallout 3.

Now that I've been visiting ruined DC area again even though game feels better than before - maybe I've grown as a gamerrr - I still feel that emptiness and boringness when I'm playing Fallout 3. But as I've approached it differently this time, taking my time, exploring new places and not using fast travel instead of rushing through story as I did on my first playthrough, I'm beginning to understand why people love this game. It's truly apocalyptic and unforgiving experience at the times, with some sugary nostalgy on the top. There's something about older Bethesda games and clunkiness they have that drives us towards them over and over again.

I already knew it back in 2015: ''somehow wacky A.I. fits already dotty world of Fallout.' And I still think so. These games wouldn't be the same without all the bugs and glitches - in this point those are almost like features.

Anyway, now it's time to go kill some super mutants.

E3 2021 Hopes & Dreams

There is only one thing that I want form E3 this year:

Half-Life 3.

I would also be happy to get a new Fallout game or something Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress related, but I'm pretty sure that none of that is going to happen for a while...

To be honest, I would like to see some new and interesting single player games with old school FPS mechanics. Co-op and multiplayer is all fun and stuff but a good and polished single player campaign beats everything to the ground. For example, Outer Worlds has been one of my favourite games lately and a sequel would be cool. I just need a good sci-fi game to be happy!

But I guess that multiplayer is the thing right now. Multiplayer, skins and unlocks and all that stuff. I'm not really sure anymore because I haven't been following what's going on the gaming world lately - I've been too busy playing games.

And that's what I like about E3 and other gaming conventions - it's fun to know what are the latest trends in the gaming.

The fact that E3 is virtual this year is pretty cool, because there is no chance to gather like that because of the pandemic. It also opens doors to those who haven't been able to get there previously for any reason. Maybe the future of gaming conventions is virtual? Who knows?

Anyway, now I need to get back to my Animal Crossing island and pull some weeds.

Few words about Fallout 76

I am a huge Fallout fan, but at the beginning the idea of multiplayer experience didn't really click with me. I skipped the whole Fallout 76 and kept playing Fallout 4, until last Autumn (2020) the game was on sale on Steam and as I had nothing else to do, I decided to buy it. That’s been one of the best decisions of my life.

Core mechanics of Fallout 76 are pretty similar to Fallout 4 and any other Bethesda game, but the interactivity with the other players makes it so much more interesting for me. You can choose to join up with them, ignore everyone else or play the role of the bad guy. It’s always a different experience and you can’t really know what to expect when you start playing. The surviving, crafting and camping aspect of Fallout 76 makes sure that there’s always something to do but unlike many other similar games, the fact that it takes place in Fallout universe really keeps me paying. I enjoy the atmosphere, the characters and locations and even when I get bored I can just sit down on my C.A.M.P. and play guitar or piano - that’s really all I need from games like this.

PS. Hi, after 5 years I'm kinda back! I have few ideas for this blog, let's see how they turn out - I have few new posts coming this month. But for now you can go watch my Youtube videos and/or follow my Twitter for some funny screenshots.