Okay, I've put in 30+ hours and beaten the main storyline and then gone back to a save just before to continue playing.
I repent all wrongs I said about this game. Well, sorta. They still exist, but once you get over the hump the sheer immersion and depth this game provides is just amazing.
Last night I was on my way to Vault 92, it was the middle of the night, full moon so visibility was good, when I stumbled upon an Enclave detachment. I was in sneak mode so I could approach undetected. But I noticed they weren't just standing around blankly. They had some sort of enclosure set up and I could see someone blasting away with a flamethrower inside. From accessing computer databases on the Enclave previously, I had a pretty good idea what disgusting shit they might be up too.
But as I didn't know what awaited me in Vault 92 I didn't want to blow through a bunch of ammo fighting an unnecessary battle. So I skirted the edges of their position and headed on.
I emerged from Vault 92 the next day, high noon. Stradivarius in hand, a relic of better times. A little unnerved, as usual, at discovering the horrible depravity of what happened in many of those tombs.
I made my way back down the hill to where I had seen the Enclave the night before. They were still there. Sneaking up to a bluff overlooking their position, I headshotted the first guard without warning. There was an officer nearby at a computer terminal. He proved more challenging, but eventually his head as well was blasted off. The rest went easily.
Inside the enclosure I found what they had been doing the night before. Bodies. Human beside Ghoul beside Feral Ghoul. All the same to the Enclave. Curiously they had bottles pure water on them.
Investigating the Officers Computer I found they had been instructed to lure Wastelanders with water. The Officer had a log where he wrote with puzzlement at one Wastelander who did not fight back, did not try to harm them at all. And followed them back to their position peacefully. He was puzzled.
This is Fallout 3's greatness. It both shocks you with the sheer horror of what is going on and what has gone on. I was just walking by, on my way to a sidequest, and I stumble upon this. The world is so large, yet so dense with content. And above all, it makes you care. It outrages you. Fuck the Enclave. I won't be sneaking around their genocidal bullshit next time, I'll be launching a tactical nuke into their midst.
The Vaults instill a similar outrage. How could they do this to people? I remember the logs of Roger Maxson about how when he and the rest of his Security Team found out about the FEV and what it did to people, he systematically killed all the scientists despite their pleas of following orders. The complete loss of morality, the essence of Fallout's world.
It's just a fascinating game. I never played any of the previous games, unfortunately. Well, I tried, but could never get into them. But the story has really hooked me. After fucking elves and ogres bullshit, this is so much more interesting.
The games still not perfect. The dialogue system is poorly staged. Half the time I can't see the face of whom I'm talking too and, when I can, their eyes rarely look a me, instead staring cockeyed out. But on the flipside, the game makes enormous use of the speech skill to avoid conflict.
And the beginning of the game is still something of a problem. I think it will turn off a lot of people. It took me 6-7 hours to really get my legs under me. I don't see to many of the more "casualcore" Xbox users being willing to stand that before returning it. A shame.
And of course there are technical issues, and maybe some balance problems.
But fuck it, does this game reward the effort. A rare game were you can go from main quests to side quests and notice no real drop off in quality. As hardcore of a game as there ever was one and an instant classic in my book.
