Fallout 3 is a magnificent game. I say that while also assuring you that I have played and loved Fallout 1, 2 and NV. The originals were awesome but Fallout 3 has many, many strengths and it captures the feeling of the originals as well. Early on you will be reminded of Fallout 1. After a unique growing-up segment you hesitantly exit your familiar vault home and are presented with a formidable wasteland to explore and to fear. Off in the distance is a ruined Washington DC. It's a breathtaking sight. You wonder where to go next, what's going to kill you, and who is going to help you. You feel helpless. The alien world into which you have stepped feels very broken, very poisoned and very deadly. The cast of characters you'll soon meet are often funny, often lethal, extremely well voiced, and superbly scripted. They will set you upon quests that are never trivial. They are highly developed mini-stories that have dedicated locations and multiple characters whom you will meet. You will have to take sides and make some unpleasant choices. These colorful tasks don't feel tacked on. Rather, they feel born of this ruined world. As for the presentation, Fallout 3 even stands out over the originals; its use of the first person perspective is VERY immersive. You will feel as if your heart is beating right where you stand. That's significant because Fallout 3's location is truly awesome. Exploring Washington's numerous monuments, now wrecked or inhabited by monstrosities, is a gaming experience I'll never forget. Most noteworthy might be the Arlington Cemetery. Out of respect, no enemies appear here; a very classy thing for the developers to do. The game also retains Fallout's dark apocalyptic humor and sometimes funny and always consequential perks. As for the DLCs, with the exception of the Anchorage DLC, they are quite good, with Point Lookout and Broken Steel the standouts. Give Fallout 3 a chance, you won't be sorry. It may even become the best game you've ever played.
I enjoyed Torchlight 2 but it just did not match the intensity of Diablo 2. Torchlight 2 is fast, it is fun, somewhat addictive but, in the end, Torchlight gave me the same sort of satisfaction I might get from an arcade game; I wanted to keep playing it for the fast action but I never felt immersed in it or completely satisfied by the experience. So what made Diablo 2 so much better? First, the story. Diablo 2 had a dark and foreboding story accentuated by cinematic inter-chapter cutscenes. The voice acting, although limited, added to the real feel of the places I visited. In Torchlight the story felt dull, over-complicated, and derivative; instead of magic crystals we had embers. Yawn. It reminded me of the quests in the MMO, Rift. You just have to read Torchlight 2's plot summary in Wikipedia and you will see what I mean. Also, the lack of voice acting kept the story distant. It felt as though I was reading a boring fantasy novel. The dialogue was never clever or witty and nobody spoke like a real person. Second, the boss fights in Diablo 2 were far more intense. In Diablo 2 you prepared for these fights. You either went through them, died a few times, and learned a very specific and clever strategy to win or you read a few walkthroughs and tried someone else's tactics. Either way, the outcome always seemed uncertain and the consequences of death were formidable enough to cause real panic during the fight. In Torchlight 2 I never found the boss fights to be much of a challenge and I mostly used the same run and gun strategy over and over again. Third, I found Diablo 2's skill trees much more interesting and consequential. That said, I loved Torchlight's cartoon style graphics more than Diablo's grainy style and I also preferred the far less restrictive inventory system. Am I glad I bought and played Torchlight 2? Definitely and I recommend the game. But did I cherish it like I cherished Diablo 2? Sadly, no, but I am still very happy to see it on GOG.
I just finished playing this with my daughter. We both loved it. There are some matureish themes and a few scary moments but none that I worried about while she played with me. The story is colorful, often witty and surprisingly nuanced. The dialogue is very good and the voice acting is right on. Anna speaks in a monotone but it really suits her. The cartoon graphics fit the themes perfectly. The screenshots may make the style look impersonal but they prove to be very immersive when actually playing the game. But is this adventure game fair? In all but one case, yes. Nearly all of the puzzles are just challenging enough to be satisfying but rarely cause the dreaded adventure game stall. Thus, the story moves along. A few puzzles are more challenging but remain fair. We only found one puzzle to be completely unfair. Without giving the solution away I will just tell you to beware the Swan Prince. I wouldn't feel guilty using a walk through on that one. My only other complaint is that the game got a tad heavy handed toward those who are not vegetarians. As for the ending, I found it to be moving, fascinating and compelling and it revealed that there is a lot more character complexity in this game then I ever expected. Now that doesn't mean my daughter didn't cry at the ending. She did. But she cried because the game was over. She wanted more. I would give it four stars and she said give it a thousand so the average for us is, well, sorta five stars with maybe a few plusses.
It's underlined on the store page. I recommend GoG customers boycott this game and any other EA game that requires this EULA. This is exactly the kind of spyware/limited ownership EULA most people don't want on GoG. Obviously, it's your right to purchase anything you wish but this is the kind of EULA I've grown to expect on Steam and not here. It would be nice to keep GoG true to it's policy of no-strings-attached game purchases and, if GoG doesn't carry this title, EA loses business. Maybe then EA will pull this EULA on GoG.
