Poll: Should I get Fallout 3 or fallout new vegas?

[stringtheory]

with the release of the Fallout: New Vegas ultimate edition on steam, I'm considering buying it or the GTOY edition of Fallout 3, and currently being a poor student, I can only get one, so which one gives "more value"? I know that they are essentially the same game, but is there any kind of continuation between Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, which would justify getting Fallout 3 first? or does one have better gameplay?
plus I've never played any of the previous games, so I'm also asking: which one is the better game to get into the series?
I know this will probably start a flame war, but I do want to know ahead of time which is worth the
money I'll be paying for it
or alternately, you could suggest a similar open-world game (yes, I have Skyrim, oblivion, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat) that would be worth my money more then the fallout series?

 

[Tayh]

Fallout 3/New Vegas is kinda mediocre, unless you're already familiar with, and like, the setting.
Mods go some way to fix this, but only to some degree.

I hear Kingdom of Amalur is a pretty solid choice, though.

 

[Philol]

I love both, but I would say get New Vegas, for me it was more immersive and had a lot more to do, but in terms of DLC Fallout 3 was superior, plus the main story line was more in keeping with its predecessors' than New Vegas. Nonetheless I would suggest New Vegas.

 

[Kimarous]

I'd say hold off for a bit. I think they're going to soon release a super gold edition that includes GOTY editions of both games.

If I'm mistaken, I'd go with Fallout 3 if you want a much stronger post-apocalyptic atmosphere. New Vegas is more political-based and feels less "this world was bombed to shit" and more "when society rebuilds afterwards, shit goes down".

 

[recruit00]

From the choice of either I would choose New Vegas. Fallout 3 is good but no where near as immersive as New Vegas and is so empty. From what I've seen, the DLC for New Vegas is far superior and not as game breaking *coughAnchoragecough*.

 

[Kimarous]

From the choice of either I would choose New Vegas. Fallout 3 is good but no where near as immersive as New Vegas and is so empty. From what I've seen, the DLC for New Vegas is far superior and not as game breaking *coughAnchoragecough*.

I actually found Fallout 3 more immersive BECAUSE of the emptiness. It had a better atmosphere of "post-apocalyptic wasteland" instead of "50s-sci-fi wild west". Also, I found New Vegas's DLC to be kinda... pretentious, I guess is the word.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

If you plan on getting both eventually, go with Fallout 3 first. Because if you get New Vegas first, Fallout 3 will pale in comparison.

 

[Berenzen]

Fallout 3 is more of a sightseeing game. It has a horrid story, and is pretty empty, but that makes the setpieces look fantastic.

Fallout: New Vegas on the other hand has an excellent story, filled with symbolism. However, it doesn't have much focus on the set pieces. It's also more in tune with the idea of Fallout- which is this sometimes wacky, sci-fi wild west setting, focusing more on rebuilding than post-apocalypic wasteland (it has been 200 years since the bombs fell after all, almost all of the radiation should be gone by this point)

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Both games are great, and definitely worth the time and money... but I had more fun with Fallout: New Vegas, admittedly. It continued the story from where Fallout 2 left off, rather than being a spin-off, and it made a whole lot of quality-of-life changes that Fallout 3 was definitely in dire need of.

If I'm mistaken, I'd go with Fallout 3 if you want a much stronger post-apocalyptic atmosphere. New Vegas is more political-based and feels less "this world was bombed to shit" and more "when society rebuilds afterwards, shit goes down".

Though the games are post apocalyptic, part of the immersion for me is admittedly broken in Fallout 3 because of its post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Of the main-series Fallout games, they've been showing that over the years humanity is slowly rebuilding civilization. So the atmosphere of New Vegas actually makes sense in that context. The civilization portrayed in Fallout 3 is still shown as mostly living out of the decaying ruins of pre-war structures built hundreds of years prior to the events of the game, with little or no evidence of ever wanting much more than that. With New Vegas' atmosphere we got some degree of progress, while with Fallout 3 we often got a lot of stagnation seemingly made intentionally to capitalize on the typical image that comes to mind when someone says that "it's post-apocalyptic!"

I dunno. End of the day, both games were a lot of fun.

If you plan on getting both eventually, go with Fallout 3 first. Because if you get New Vegas first, Fallout 3 will pale in comparison.

Yeah, I agree with that. Didn't even think of it from that angle. I tried to go back to play Fallout 3 a month or so after I beat New Vegas, and really didn't get very far before going back to New Vegas.

 

[evilneko]

Get Fallout New Vegas IF:
* You want something with more of a wild west feel than a post-apocalyptic one
* You want more silliness
* You prefer being led around by the nose
* You don't care much about random encounters while traveling, you'd rather just get where you're going.
* You like the idea of a plot driven mainly by seeking revenge, that ends less than halfway through the game.

Get Fallout 3 IF:
* You want your post-apocalypse to be more post-apocalyptic
* You want less silliness (but not quite none)
* You like the idea of more random encounters while out exploring the wastes
* You like the idea of tracking down your estranged dad and bringing his dream to fruition, while taking a massive step towards rebuilding civilization at the same time.

Wait for a nice sale and get BOTH if you like all those things.

There are a ton of differences between the two games that I did not list. Iron sights and hardcore mode in NV, variety of weapons and enemies, crafting, that sort of thing. I left these out mainly because of mods. With mods you can add, remove, or change most if not all of these features. If you want, say, iron sights in FO3, you can have it. There's a mod for that, a very good one actually. If you think you'd like NV better but hate iron sights (I find them annoying, actually, but not enough to mod 'em out), there's a mod for that too.

I don't really think either one is objectively superior to the other. People rag on the story of Fallout 3 all the time, but I think most of those people just haven't thought through the implications of what you're doing in it. I like it better than the generic revenge plot of NV.

 

[putowtin]

New Vegas, I could never get into Fallout 3 but have lost days to the Mojave!

 

[Iwata]

I honestly couldn't choose. I had a great time with both, and see them as two parts of the same game.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Personally I would say New Vegas for reasons too extensive.

* You want less silliness (but not quite none)

Didn't Fallout 3 feature a giant robot that shoots lasers and hurls nukes like a football, a launcher that fired eight mini nukes at once, bobbleheads with mytical powers and of course...aliens?

I don't really think either one is objectively superior to the other. People rag on the story of Fallout 3 all the time, but I think most of those people just haven't thought through the implications of what you're doing in it. I like it better than the generic revenge plot of NV.

That's because civilisation has been going strong for decades since before the events of Fallout 3, people on the east coast or just slow.

NV is not a generic revenge plot. It's a story that begins with seeking someone out (you don't have to hold a grudge (it is a role-playing game after all...)) and then evolves into an exploration of the political and societal implications of a post-post apocalyptic world brought on by humanity.

 

[SeeIn2D]

I'd say Fallout 3. I didn't really like New Vegas. 3 definitely had a mediocre story line and a fairly bland landscape, but 3 was just pure fun. I feel like New Vegas took itself too seriously and tried to do too much.

 

[Fleetfiend]

I really enjoy both of them, but I have to go with Fallout 3. I just enjoyed the whole FEEL of the game, if that makes sense. It just feels a lot more solid, and in a weird way, more real. It's kind of hard to explain, but I just enjoy the atmosphere and the setting a lot more than in New Vegas.

Also, New Vegas loses a lot of the humor that made Fallout 3 so quirky in the first place. For some, that's not necessarily a bad thing, though. Some of it is still there, but again, it's just not the same, and feels a little off-putting and like when they do use it, they are trying a bit too hard.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I spent tons more hours on Fallout 3 compared to New Vegas. Plus, there are more mods for Fallout 3.

Just my two cents.

 

[Octobot888]

I've spent much more time playing Fallout: New Vegas opposed to Fallout 3. There may be some bias in my decision considering that I own New Vegas and have only played Fallout 3 at a friend's house, but in my opinion, New Vegas is the better game.

 

[king_katchit]

I could never get into Fallout 3, I just lost interest around the 10 hour mark. Probably the greyness.

New Vegas, however I loved... right up until it corrupted my save about 60 hours in. Haven't played it since.

So if pushed I'd say New Vegas, but I'm pretty sure that Steam usually has a sale over Easter, so I'd consider waiting for that and getting both.