Another underwhelming blog....

I love Fallout 3. I just discovered why. It's a barren wasteland with wrecked cars and garbage everywhere. You scavenge to make it day to day. It's dangerous and if you could smell it, you'd likely smell old oil and gasoline everywhere.


Just. Like. A. Wrecking. Yard.


My father has always been the boss/owner of wrecking yards (junk yards to the layperson) and as a child wrecked cars were just part of growing up. Anytime someone asked him where he got something he invariably replied, "I found it in an old wrecked car". I worked for him for 3 years legitimately, but I've spent my childhood around wrecking yards and salvage. Therefore the idea of playing in a huge wrecking yard and salvaging stuff is pretty comforting to me. Now all I need are sugar cubes to steal as a snack (from the coffee area). Part of me likes to pretend that I don't have motor oil in my veins, but... the truth is - I have my wrecking yard tools out in the garage and they look very much like the stuff you see in Fallout. None of them match - they aren't pretty - many have been used to pry and hammer with. I have to admit being long gone from that world makes it a little romantic sounding. Not having rough hands or perpetually scarred skin from the chemicals involved isn't something I miss, but it made me who I am. I've had hard jobs. I've seen things and felt some heat. Anyway... I was just pretty blown away to realize that I've been in this world before.

"Seems like I've been here before" - Iron Maiden

Amazing... even for a PG-13 I'm amazed at the level of cussery and frequency. I'm cutting the more minor offenses (damn, etc.) since I'm in there already.

8:25 - what the!
8:51 - white blast on people
12:29 - damn
13:36 - old lady flips off
13:41 - bitch
14:39 - cheap ass
18:04 - wasted / pissing
19:54 - hell
21:20 - sucking
22:41 - bros before hos
31:51 - what the! - cut scene w/ blades
32:24 - damn
35:14 - busty beauties
38:55 - are you on drugs?
39:47 - mf - cut scene w/ guy getting stabbed
42:13 - shit
44:50 - gd
45:49 - shut up
50:31 - shit (2)
52:01 - ass
58:08 - pissed
1:00 - boned
1:03 - bitches
1:08 - shut up (twice)
1:14 - hell
1:15 - masturbating
1:18 - ass
1:20 - ahole
1:40 - hell
1:45 - screwed
1:48 - hell
1:51 - mf - oh shit
1:54 - hell
2:01 - robot grabbing girls face

Anyone who has played video games much will likely know what Sandbox means w/ respect to gaming. Basically a big area you can play around in. Grand Theft Auto 3 was most people's introduction into this style of gaming. You actually end up with about 4 different games (depending on who developed it) times the number of disciplines to master.

• Good vs Evil (you can go either way). Even if you are playing "good" the first time through, you can still indulge in a little evil even if it's just post final save for the session and you just want to watch someone's head explode.
• Quests (that you can either follow or ignore). This is the "work" of the game. You are rewarded, but this generally takes more effort than just exploring so it usually is what levels you up and gives you more capability.
• Exploring (where you just look around and check things out). This is probably my favorite part. Just walking around appreciating the work the artists and level designers did and marvelling at the wonder of virtually walking through this wonderland of death and destruction.
• Disciplined play (where you learn certain things and go through the game getting a different experience based on what you CAN do - ex. magic user vs. swordsman vs. ranged weapons). This is where the game developers guarantee you'll play it again. You beat the game slinging a sword or pistol, but... how much fun would it have been to beat it using magic or stealth? These different aspects of the game style add a lot to the depth of enjoyment and many many hours to the time you can experience their world. I never play a game like this without going through it at least 4 times to experience each different skill style. Nothing is as satisfying as confronting a bad guy that gave you trouble as a swordsman, but is cake when you have a fireball on hand. :)

So... what's brought this on? I'm finally playing Fallout 3. Yes, the 3rd version of the Steve Jackson game only this time being built by totally different people. It's still his idea basically, just more awesomer. (side note - I wrote Steve Jackson and got his autograph back in my GURPS days w/ Will)

Cody has given me glimpses of Fallout, but to be fair you can't experience it without doing it yourself. You can think the graphics are pretty cool, but without the build up you can't really understand why an area is creepy or what sounds you should be afraid of.

The awe of walking through Washington D.C. after everything has been nuked is pretty amazing. To anyone who has seen "I Am Legend" this is alot like that only blending in lots of "Road Warrior" along with a fair helping of "Dawn of the Dead". The odd thing about zombie movies (that I've only within the last year discovered) is they are actually urban post-apocalyptic survival movies and the zombies are just there to give the protagonist something to run from / fight. That being said the mantra "Melee weapons don't run out of shells" has run through my head many times as I heard the clicking sound (empty chamber of my gun) while a feral ghoul was running at me and I swapped for my trusty sledgehammer thereby delivering a solid whack (and hopefully getting a critical hit).