Anyone who knows me online might have been wondering why I haven’t been playing Wow very much recently. Well it’s all thanks to Fallout 3 (and Christmas) a fantastic FPS open world RPG. I would suggest that this game is just as addictive, if not more so because it something completely different, as wow.
Fallout 3 is set is a post apocalyptic alternative earth where a world devastated by nuclear war is fought over by various faction of different moral standings. Throughout the game you level up your character and customize it to match your play style though skills and perks. Additionally your every action has an impact on the world, altering who you can talk to, how people will react to you and how the world appears. Overarching this is Karma a measurable indication of your actions in terms of good and bad. Karama has the most impact on how you experience the game, massacre settlements, enslave people and eat corpses and you will be unwelcome at towns and loved by slavers. However if you help out strangers, rescue people and kill slavers you will not only be rewarded by some of the townsfolk but a bounty will be placed on your head and Mercenary forces will start to hunt you down.
Combat can take several forms, you can fire all your weapons freestyle or you can enter V.A.T.S when essentially pauses the game and lets you allocate where your next few shots will land. This system is limited by your AP a regenerating value which determines how many shots you can fire in V.A.T.S at that time. The ability to sneak give you the option, to a limited extend, of back stabbing people or just sneaking past them and you can sometimes talk your way out of a fight. The mechanics also include the ability to critically hit, disable limbs and head shot.
The world is immersive, the game smooth and beautiful and the story engaging and complex but Fallout is not without its flaws. The worst so far has to be the poor AI, enemies seem to either charge straight at you or stand and shoot. Difficulty is only ensured by the toughness, damage output and number of enemies or a lack of ammunition. To make matters worse quite often enemies don’t path well around corners, obstacles and walls. On several occasions I have been able to take out Minigun wielding Super Mutants by trapping them in rooms and bouncing grenades in to them. I would have liked to see the enemy use cover, attempt to surround you and other simple but challenging tactics. My other annoyance was that upon achieving a new level you have to choose your skills and perk immediately this resulted in several very unwise choices that are irreversible. Allowing the player to skip assigning them immediately and return later and the ability to reset them (perhaps at a very high cost) would have been an excellent addition.
Overall it is a fantastic game well worth the asking price and the significant time investment. You can visit the official site with plenty of information about the game or visit the game Wiki which has details about all the skills, perks, quests, characters etc.
Images from the Fallout 3 Official Site
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tangent Time - Fallout 3
Patch 3.0.8 for Protection Warriors
For the last few weeks a new patch 3.0.8 has been on the Public Test Realms, this patch includes a couple of notable (positive) points for Protection warriors.
Targets will now agro on the use of any spell/ability, this change seems aimed at Warlock and Priest damage over time spells which can take a moment to actually damage a mob, during this time it can be stolen by another player. However it also means we can now “tap” targets with Taunt and Demoralizing Shout which will make gathering up groups of mobs a bit easier in a competitive environment.
Two new enchants are to be added which fill some enchanting gaps for tanking classes. Enchant Weapon - Titanguard will add 75 stamina to a weapon and will be the best tanking enchant available. The second is Enchant Bracers – Major Stamina which adds 40 stamina to your bracers, this supplements the existing bracer enchants which add 15 expertise or 12 defense (Burning Crusade enchant that you might you if your desperate for defense).
An increase to the range of Taunt, from 20 yards to 30 yards, is the only ability change for Protection Warriors. This will be useful for a few fights where you are required to pick up lots of spread out mobs and in picking up mobs which have appeared from behind your party.
Presently there is no indication of when this patch will go live but considering it has been on the PTR for a while now it shouldn’t be too long.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Child's Play
You may have heard about the Child’s Play charity, it was established in 2003 by the guys over at Penny Arcade to raise money for sick children. Now thanks to this charity gamers and industry organisations work together each year to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars (though this year they hit 1 million) which is directed to hospitals around the world. I would encourage everyone to donate to this highly worthwhile cause!
You can donate via PayPal by clicking the image above.
Sadly the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital was not added to the list of receiving organisations this year. Additionally I did not get an opportunity to run the fundraising event I had hoped to. I guess there is always next year.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Continued Raiding Success
Thanks to some on the spot raiding The Children of Stormwind now have another two raid instances under their belt. Last night a brave band of ten took on the Obsidian Sanctum and The Vault of Archavon. Both bosses fell with only one wipe each and Archavon was only really due to an evade bug and some messy taunting from myself.
The ease with which we completed both of these encounters leads me to one of two conclusions. Either raids are easier or the guild has gotten a fair bit better. I am inclined to think that perhaps it’s more of the former than the latter as there were plenty of silly mistakes made throughout the raid. Additionally although people are working to improve their play I think we still have a way to go maximising our characters performance. However that said we have improved, the guild as a whole have already attempted and begun to succeed at raid content which is a big step. We are also helping each other with crafted items and instances runs more than I saw in the Burning Crusade. Most importantly I am seeing enthusiasm again, gone are the days of running Karazhan for the hundredth time for now everything is new and exciting.
Naxxramas - The Arachnid Quarter
On the 15th of December the Children of Stormwind made their first foray into Naxxramas. The evening began with some minor trouble with the other tank and top healer being at a Christmas party but after some stumbling around we found a PUG healer and got started. The raid is made up of four parts which must be completed to unlock the final bosses. In the two hours we were there we downed the three bosses in the Arachnid Quarter, Anub'Rekhan, Grand Widow Faerlina and Maexxna. We had a few wipes on Anub’Rekkan and Maexxna as we sorted out exactly what we needed to do but the Grand Widow Faerlina when down first shot.
The six epic items dropped were all made excellent use of with Lil getting the best deal and winning two items. For a “stuck our head in and see how we do” attempt we did very successfully. We plan to try again next weekend, this time with more serious game faces and hopefully clear another wing in addition to the Arachnid.
PS Elfarol your going to hate the Arachnid wing, true to it’s name there are a lot of spiders and with you now insisting on this retribution business your going to be getting pretty close to them.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
The Wrath of the Lich King
It was a dark and stormy night when our car charged into the lot of the local Westfield. We escaped the cold outside into cavernous concrete and glass megalith where Electronic Boutique is housed. A short discussion with the staff and we emerged with the numbers 34 and 35. The wait seemed an eternity barely relieved by a call from fellow guild mates in the same situation 1000km away. Then a line formed, watched over by the local store manager dual wielding foam short swords. We were to wait as such until the appointed time. Meer minutes before our turn to collect that which we had waited so long for a sodden rider enters and removes his helm revealing a manly Duke Nukem esk head with metal band drummer beard. Tek finally appeared and in the nick of time; risking the wrath of the noob hordies surrounding us we snuck (as much as you can sneak a 6 foot guy in wet leather). We entered together, diverged our recepts then raising our fists in victory as we emerged with our copies of Wrath of the Lich King. A brief hiatus ensued as we had a catch up with a guy I had only ever seen as a cute night elf female promising the next meeting would involved alcoholic beverages of some variety.
The journey home was framed with brilliant lightning strikes almost as if mother nature was providing a backdrop to our upcoming adventures. Installation was smooth and provided an opportunity to source drinks, snacks and read the art book. Then finally the we were in, starting on our long path to the destruction (or redemption?) of Arthas. 
First glimpses of Northrend revealed ice, penguins and the ominous spectre of Utguard Keep leering over Howling Fjord. Then as time passes, monsters and dragons are slain, Titans ridden, seeds pooped out, flags planted and levels dinged. Zones come and go and the trail of corpses lengthens. But from Utguard all the way to Icecrown the Arthas is ever present. Sometimes directly some times not and even once though a loop hole in time. The world changes around us as we participate in history. Assisting King Varian Wrynn take the Undercity, leading the spearhead for Highlord Tirion Fordring of the Argent Crusade and establishing a foothold in Icecrown for the Knights of the Ebon Blade.
Until at last in the heights of the Storm Peaks the final level is obtained eight has finally been reached. But still the end is not in sight, there are many more foes to vanquish, quest to complete and raids to clear. But soon Arthas, soon we will come for you.
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