Judging from the graphics + bethesda past experience, must need a killer rig to run the game smoothly. I hope its not like crysis lo.

Actually F03 has 2 views (first person & third person), according to reviewers both are equally balanced (not just Fps like oblivion)

Very few RPG games venture into FPS view but i can name a few
- Gothic 3 (huge failure - so many bugs it makes you cry) A new installment are coming up (with revamped staff of course)
- Hellgate london (great innovation by ex-diablo developer bill roper but like gothic 3 huge dissapointment)

Now the ever famous Third person view :
- Two worlds (i really like this game at the begining, great story... but its repititive gameplay & bold statement by its developer :
"world of Two-worlds is huger than oblivion" yeah so ,there is not much interaction like oblivion did by Bethesda
- Neverwinter nights (very good by bioware) watch below
- Neverwinter nights 2 (apart from its story & campaign tool) i will not recommend this (bugs, poor camera, graphics)
- Witcher (This is one of the best RPG i have ever played BUT super long loading times, when i brew my coffee & came back still loading)
- Mass effect (very good again by bioware, except a bit repetitive)

Now according to metacritic (it aggregates all critics review) It score way over 90+++. In the post 2000 year only Mass effect & few others even reach the point (like kotor 1).

I have no doubt Bethesda will deliver (apart from few bugs) at Graphical level, story, voice-over (so many talented ones) & gameplay (variety)
However judging from an interview F03 when reach ending, the game just finish like that (with credits rolling) i really like oblivion concept of running around after game ends (so many thing to explore)

Actually FO3 was not out yet, so i can only comment from E3 demo & Bethesda latest past game (oblivion).
It true that oblivion was not perfect (bugs, 3rd person view) but how many other games can match this feat
- aggregate score of 94% on both game ranking & metacritic .
- editor choice for IGN, Gamespy, Gamespot, Pc gamer Us & uk.
- sold over 3 million copies by January 2007.

Can you name a decent / better action-Rpg game that can match Oblivion ?

Well you are not comparing like with like at all :
Diablo 2 : great game but how many eons ago.
It uses isometric view (not first or third person view) .
Zelda series : It was not a sand-box title at all to begin with. It was more of an adventure game than RPG like Final Fantasy.

I am sure plenty of games that can outstripped oblivion (like GTA 4) but regarding the genre (oblivion has no real clear competitor) like God of War which are still the the "king-pin" of action adventure game.

The closest game i can think of that (uses 1st & 3rd person view) that can match oblivion is Hellgate (do you have fun playing it ? ).

Definitely oblivion was not "perfect" but the high ranking bcos its like "one of a kind" feel.
There are couple of games that tries to imitate oblivion (like two worlds) failed considerably.

Some games has poor looting system (ie : witcher & oblivion) while others has tons of it (hellgate & diablo) it depends on the gameplay lo.
Speaking of which, fallout 3 really resembles stalker atmosphere & theme (hope it was not as buggy though).

I was a "big" fan of witcher if not of one major flaw which has still haunt me to this day "SUPER LONG LOADING TIME".
I finished the game in 1 month bcos of this reason (i really enjoy every chapter of the story which they gave you 2 options to carry it to next chapter). They create another "enhanced witcher" to rectify this problem.

Uh-Oh, I really hope that I won't encountered that "long loading" time in Fallout 3. Just to enter into a building it takes 1 minute
I really hope Bethesda can scrape it this time

There is only i element from oblivion that i hope will never be delivered to fallout 3 ;
The stupid levelling system (7 attributes).
I mean i must sacrifice a level (which i can increase + 5) just because i don't need it too much (ie : personality).
Its like take it or leave it kind of situation.
Why can't we just increase all the attributes at once (no problem here)

Well fallout 3 was also developed for consoles (there is where Vats comes in).
Its quite puzzling why bethesda fight for the license anyway (after black isle studio liquidated) since its RPG orientated.
F03 now combines a hybrid of First person shooter with role playing game (very few genres out there).
Well if anyone looking to benchmark Fallout 3 with similar game this year it has to be Stalker : Clear sky.
Any takers out there ?

By the way Fallout 3 has become "unbanned" in Australia. They banned it bcos of some drug application (CHEM) in the game.

I have notice a very strange resemblance of Fallout 3 with Bioshock ( b4 you go or let me share my view here )
Bioshock was more FPS with some RPG elements but like fallout it was continuity from famed system shock series.
System shock has incorporate (FPS with RPG) so well it inspired Stalker & deus ex respectively.
(It doesn't take a genius where F03 developer get their inspiration from).

Some may said Bishock was more FPS in nature but (indirectly) it has RPG elements inserted so well it blends with the whole story without you realising it. (ADAm & upgrades thingy).

What makes me fear is that Bethesda insist of only using gamebyro engine opposed to Bioshock unreal engine.
Gamebyro has history of laden with bugs although versatile (for many platforms). Although Bioshock was not a sand-box title but no one can argue
with its smooth gameplay & graphics like half life 2. Again Fallout 3 is moving into that direction with even bolder risk of open world gameplay.
Since bioshock has been hugely successful (except the revival thing) maybe fallout3 can do the same too (stalker can do it even ridiculed by critics
over its ageing graphics & bugs)

This post has been edited by Topace111: Aug 13 2008, 06:30 PM

Initially Interplay created through its 2 developers Black isle studio & Bioware develop games purely for RPG fans.

At first Black isle was more successful in devloping Fallout 1 & 2 but some of its key members pursue to form a new company (Troika) to develop other games (in 1st & 3rd person view) which no longer concentrates on isometric games alone. Ultimately they failed & gone bankrupt like
what key employees of Diablo 1 & 2 left to develop hellgate. (the same history)

Bioware has develop equally successful baldur gate series. They recognise that games cannot remain forever in isometric view, so they develop
never winternights, Kotor, jade empire & mass effect & now dragon age. With each game they make breakthrough in every genre, R & D, Space
fantasy, fighting RPG, science fiction , etc. (no more isometric after baldur gates)

I don't mean isometric view is not good (Diablo 3) but its very risky for comp to dwell back on its roots (especially bethesda).
Technically F03 was not a "spiritual successor" to fallout series as what Diablo did but rather like "elder scrolls 5".

This year was rather sombre mood for RPG fans.
The ratio is like only 1 or 2 good RPG title every year (sigh).
Those comp making RPG games now switch to mmorpg or other genres.
This year i have only F03 RPG & Rise of Argonaut to look into (hopefully its a good title).
Next year maybe Dragon age or possibly Diablo 3 ???.

Market has been overabundance with shooter, last year they got (COD4, GOW, Bioshock, orange box, crysis)
This year they came back again (COD world at war, GOW2 but not pc yet, crysis warhead, far cry 2, origins, legendary).
last year i only have witcher to get going.

Every gamers have a similar prefrence / interest on "post-apocalyptic" ambience in games :
Stalker : Although it was riddled with bugs & outdated graphics but the atmosphere is "the core factor" that it was well received among gamers worlwide (especially eastern europe)

Call of Duty 4 : Surprised isn't it. surveys on several websites which enquire about gamer's favourite chapter & guess what they all vote
for the "Chernobyl chapter" where the protagonist wanders around an abandoned city with radiation all around the place.

Maybe both games are inspired from Fallout series (who knows ??).
Lets see whether F03 can eclipse or even beats the 2 above.

I think most fans here (F3 not bethesda) want the "feel or ambience" of the post apocalyptic environment on F3.
One of very few games which "ticks" me on that was : Stalker.
For a neutral gamer F3 certainly will be regarded as one of most awaited game this year.
We cannot judge the game from its preview alone (we can only speculate)

COD 4 did not garner as much fans as Crysis did b4 its release, however from sales alone COD 4 easily beats crysis (gameplay too i suppose judging from multiplayer)
The reason this game was suffering scathing attacks was bcos of its long awaited sequel (Like the recent indiana jones movie).
Maybe this games has some surprise up its sleeve (like Oblivion compared to morrowind)

Now to those "old school", hardcore, interplay loving fallout 1 & 2 series (especially those who hate bethesda, which i don't). This may be a good news to you :
"Interplay relaunches site, rehires original Fallout dev"
"Flush with Fallout IP cash, the once-mighty publisher reestablishes Web presence, announces Chris Taylor on board for Fallout MMOG. "
"Not to be confused with Gas Powered Games' Chris Taylor. "

I get this quote from IGN :

While there aren't any particularly major differences between the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC versions in terms of features at launch, there are some smaller ones. Fallout 3 PC will use Microsoft's Games for Windows – Live, meaning gamers will sign in using an account and amass achievement points and all the other associated features of the service.

Well i knda worried about this since EPIC games (Gears of War & UT3) also use similar features & this 2 games have 2 VERY MAJOR ISSUE.
It was related to the saving game mechanism. GFWL has lock those saves game in internet so when you shut down your PC those games that you saved will immediately dissappear. This has drwan many flaks from the community & only a patch can save the day.
Hope this won't befallen FO3.

By the way gives the new developer a chance (since the game is not even out yet)
Both Fallout 3 & Far cry 2 has famous predecessor developer in black isle studio & crytek.
It was just that the game was franchised to another developer who has a different mind-set.

This post has been edited by Topace111: Oct 1 2008, 03:48 PM

Well the game has another 20 days to its release, have fun publicised it until your chance run out.
Everyone has criticised & boycott daniel craig for the james bond role b4 the movie casino royale was released.
Now everyone has to eat back their every single word.

Fallout has gone gold & this is from IGN :
"Bethesda also released minimum and recommended system requirements for PC today. The minimum requirements are a PC running Windows XP or Vista with 1GB of RAM for XP users, or 2GB of RAM for Vista. A 2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor and DirectX 9.0c video card with 256MB of RAM will also be required (either an Nvidia 6800, ATI X850 or better). Recommended requirements are an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2GB of RAM, and a DirectX 9.0c Video card with 512MB RAM (either an card from the Nvidia 8800 series or ATI 3800 series). An additional list of supported video card chipsets can be found on the official Fallout 3 website. In development since 2004, Fallout 3 has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB"

Game should only be reviewed when they are played not imagined.
Bias reviewers (hate the game) will start the rating from 0. (add when found something worthwhile)
Bias reviewers (love the game) will start rating from 100 (deduct when something is broken)
Neutral reviewer will start at 50.
Why criticise something when you have not even try it yet (who know got extra surprises in store)

Lets dwell on history of pure RPG shall we :
The best RPG publisher Interplay (pre 2000) create 2 comp to target 2 RPG market
- Black isle studio on fallout series (deemed best of its own genre)
- BIoware on D & D franchise (especially baldurs gate series) deemed the best game of all time.

After 2000
- Bioware develops KOTOR (a daring innovation) & Neverwinter nights (old school D & D)
- Obsidian takeover any Bioware sequels KOTOR 2 & NW2 s*** big time.
- You have this open world RPG theme (bethesda)
- RPG + FPS (deus ex & system shock 2)

RPG + FPS still remains the holy grail of success in gaming which many companies have tried to penetrate (& failed considerably) but hey according to ex intel president in 1990s only paranoid can survive in this world, you gotta give chance for people to take risks. To those people has claim that early reviews of the game is mediocre at best, well there is no demo, the game has no early release to prof previewers, so why not wait for the mass consensus b4 decide emm. (best aggregator : game ranking & meta critic)

I am expecting more surprises in store for pc platform.