Fallout 3 vs. Fallout 4: First-Time Experiences

For me, starting something new is always intimidating, and starting a new open world game is intimidating turned up to eleven. There are so many things to do, so many places to go, that I feel like I have to look behind every rock lest I miss something important.

After playing through Breath of the Wild and The Witcher 3, I feel like I have a bit of a handle on this particular anxiety, but there’s one game franchise that still gives me that head empty, heart in stomach feeling when I start: Fallout.

Fallout has been around since 1997, and since then it’s turned into a vast, sweeping, immersive role playing game. The lore is rich and the settings are expansive. It’s heartwarming, and scary, and thrilling, and I played ten hours of Fallout 3 and decided to call it quits.

Now, recently, I’ve picked up Fallout 4; so far I’ve played seventeen hours and I’m not looking to stop. I’m having much more fun than I did playing Fallout 3, but why is that? Aren’t they essentially, down to their base components, the same game? Why am I having such wildly differing experiences?

Let’s explore, shall we?

The Wasteland vs The Commonwealth

Maybe it’s because I like Massachusetts, but I find myself partial to the Commonwealth. Essentially, they’re very similar: barren, nuclear wastes featuring big cities you have to travel to as part of the main quest. Maybe it’s the maple trees, and the spanish moss, or maybe it’s just the superior graphics, but I’m enjoying Fallout 4’s setting much more than I did Fallout 3.

For me, Fallout 3 was gritty, a little more dangerous than Fallout 4. It was less natural, overgrown woodland and more cityscape and flat, decimated environment. This felt scarier for me, which put me on edge while playing, which I didn’t enjoy. Call it hubris, but I feel more in control with Fallout 4. Also, having Dogmeat makes me feel safer as I traipse through the woods in search of carrots (if you know where to find carrots, hit me up, I need them).

Ingrid Hammersmith vs. Tenacious Diane

In Fallout 3 I went more for a Sonic the Hedgehog look, giving Tenacious Diane bright blue hair, and that’s about it. Not much in the way of character creation in Fallout 3; but, as we all know, in Fallout 4 the sliders get a little nuts. For Ingrid Hammersmith, I went full goth: sunken eyes with heavy eyeshadow and liner, black lipstick, jet black hair. I did do a little self insert with Ingrid: I gave her my eyebrows.

When I make characters, I try to make Characters. Character creation is a little intimidating, but once you get into it it’s surprisingly fluid. When I played Fallout 76 once for an hour I made a character who looked exactly like Bjork.

As far as S.P.E.C.I.A.L. goes, Ingrid is pretty balanced. I’m going with a gun nut path, even though I usually trend towards melee weapons. But this time, I’m going guns, and with the Scrounger perk, I’m finding a ton of ammo, which was a problem when I played Fallout 3 and essentially why I got frustrated with it.

This is bad writing, but I actually can’t remember Diane’s stats. I think she was super strong, though.

The Benefits of Power Armor

Power Armor makes everything better, and you get a set in, basically, your second quest. I have to use it sparingly, as I don’t have many fusion cores, but I break it out for those raider-clearing missions when I’m likely to have a lot of people shooting at me.

It also probably helps that I’ve mostly been dealing with scavengers and raiders and not, say, super mutants, like I was in Fallout 3. Raiders are just easier to deal with. Also, I haven’t had to look at centaurs, which was one of the first things I encountered in Fallout 3, along with all the super mutants. My eyes are thankful for that.

Fallout Frustrations

As mentioned previously, I got frustrated with Fallout 3 pretty early. I could never find ammo, I had a shitty hunting rifle and a BB gun that were constantly breaking, and not enough material components to fix them. My only melee weapon was a baseball bat. Essentially, I just couldn’t find the things that I needed to be successful in the game.

Last year, I spent a few months watching my boyfriend play Fallout 76. Because I had that experience, I feel like I was better equipped to start Fallout 4. I started Fallout 3 before I was fully immersed in the lore, so I didn’t know what to look for, didn’t know how to best protect myself in the Wasteland.

I just jumped right into it; before Fallout 3, the only open world game I’d played was Breath of the Wild, so I was a little out of my element. Now, having watched 76 and played through the Witcher 3, I feel a bit more confident in my abilities to conquer an immersive, open world game. The Wasteland is overwhelming, but I feel like I could go back to it and be, if not successful, at least slightly competent.