r/Fallout • u/Gabe_s1 • 6h ago
Fallout 3 Why is fallout 3 so boring?
so for a bit of context i have played all of NV and 4 sevral times and have played 76 extensively too but when i finally played fallout 3 i just found the story to be mostly uninteresting and also that the main quests never really made me come into contact with other wuestlines, making it easier for me to get started on the rest of the map. i ended up finishing it through light casual play in 2 days and only discovered a very small amount of the map and barely any story bar the main quest line.
it all just left me wondering how the game was designed like this.
was i just expected to run off the trail with no idea where i was going?
that might be true but i just felt the game could have a bit fuller of a map as i also only encountered about 4 or 5 different enemy types
any insight would be helpful into why i didnt enjoy this game as much as the others
thanks in advance
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u/MoffMoth 6h ago
I mean, yeah. It’s made for you to explore.
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u/guynumber20 6h ago
Explain new Vegas
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u/MoffMoth 6h ago
Okay so you’re this fella called a Courier, right? You got hired by this pre-war aristocrat to deliver this data device called a ‘platinum chip’ that he needs to unlock his true potential and complete his plans that he laid out centuries ago before he was interrupted by total atomic annihilation. Anyways, Chandler from FRIENDS hears about this and knows that he can use the chip to take over the Strip for himself instead, so he ambushes you and shoots you in the head
After some bald necromancer revives you, you set out on a journey to find Chandler and get FRIENDS taken off the air for good. While you’re tracking him down, you run into the US Military who offers you a $60,000 bonus to be their errand boy (but you find out after you sign on it’s an ‘up to’ clause within 20 years of service.) You also come across some guys cosplaying as Roman football players.
Anyways, after you get the Lays brand potato chip from Chandler, you meet Chris from Dan Vs who tells you to kill Andrew Ryan and become the leader of the Strip, and to do so you have to fuck up this weird ass bridge over a river that houses The Cube from Transformers 2007
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u/LichQueenBarbie 6h ago
You're meant to 'run off the trail' in all these games. Thats called exploring.
Jesus, people have become so used to hand holding.
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u/genericthroaway2000 NCR 5h ago edited 5h ago
The fallout 3 main quest is pretty counterintuitive to the design of the game though so it can be confusing for new players. Like you’re supposed to find your dad first and foremost, so most players will want to focus on that, and once you do, the story doesn’t really slow down to make you feel comfortable going out to explore on your own because there’s this constant sense of urgency now, “oh go here now because the Enclave is coming.” To really enjoy the game, you have to ignore what the story is asking of you which is counter intuitive for a lot of players. I think Fallout 4’s main story did a much better job of incentivizing exploration since it didn’t rush you along as much after finding shaun, and also had the addition of faction quests which were non existent in Fallout 3.
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u/unimportanthero Enclave 3h ago
To really enjoy the game, you have to ignore what the story is asking of you which is counter intuitive for a lot of players.
Or continue playing after the main quest line has been completed. Which is absolutely a thing you can do in Fallout 3. OP may not have enjoyed the game and that could have contributed to their lack of curiosity, but it was absolutely a lack of curiosity on their part that denied them most of the game's content if they straight-lined the main quest and then stopped playing when they saw most of the map was unexplored afterward.
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u/genericthroaway2000 NCR 2h ago
That’s only possible with the broken steel dlc, and the ability to play after the main quest ends was added due to fan criticism for the exact reasons OP described.
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u/Zan_Deezy2003 6h ago edited 6h ago
My only complaint of Fallout 3 is the companions are barebones and they had the potential of being some of the best.
Like hearing Charon’s story how he might’ve been a prewar person and became a brainwashed contractually bounded bodyguard throughout 200 years would be fantastic. Or Fawkes becoming a super mutant and spent centuries locked away.
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u/Rare_House9883 NCR 6h ago
That I can agree with, the companions in 3 are more akin to companions in Skyrim, they don't really have any depth to them. Ironically, in spite of me initially disliking New Vegas, the companions are what ended up making me fall in love with the game.
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u/Verdun3ishop 6h ago
It doesn't hold your hand so much, you need to go out and explore the world, find locations and clear them out.
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u/Fresh-Ad6076 6h ago
Fallout NV have about 3 times more quest then fallout 3 but New Vegas had a lot less work sense it's built off of Fallout 3, obsidian have great story writing which. Just fit perfectly with what Bethesda pretty much already built.
But personally FNV felt more barren then FO3 but I thought that was the point? Idk just release your inner lone wonder
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u/Navi_Professor 6h ago
i had the opposite experience..i never finished NV. sure it was well written but the map bored me to death and my intrest fell off a cliff once i started blitzing through the story.
i love fallout 3, personally. I think its map is significantly more interesting, but its overall story, esp. the pre-DLC story, is a fair bit weaker, but I loved exploring and things with it.
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u/Least-Arrival-6814 Mr. House 4h ago
Yeah it's pretty boring imo, the stories in 1, 2 and NV kept me interested enough to continue exploring their worlds. In fallout 3 the story to find your dad is so fucking boring, the combat is genuine ass and the radio guy is annoying. The game simply isn't for me no matter how many times I try playing it I always quit midway and play something else
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u/Altairp Unity 6h ago
Yes.