Awww, Doggums!

Big Sis Prinny has been bugging me for awhile to recruit Dogmeat in Fallout. I've been trying to avoid NPCs for the most part, as I'm really more of a lone wolf. However, in trying to establish a respectable energy weapons collection, I endeavored to add the unique Laser Pistol Smuggler's End to have 'longside A321's Plasma Rifle. Elder Lyons' safe contained the elusive weapon, and unfortunately this time through I lacked both the 100 level Lockpick or Science skill to crack it. A quick trip to Scrapyard and a fast travel to the Citadel later, I am in possession of the desired scifi sidearm. Now where's that Alien Blaster...


Damn, I'm looking good. Tesla Armor FTW. (Oh, btw, that's A321's Plasma Rifle pictured. This was still at Scrapyard.)

Dream Crusher

(I have a lot of FO3 stuff to discuss, this is just a tidbit.)

An interesting perk I missed out on: Dream Crusher. Ran across this while digging up Pipboy icon images for a cap I'm devising. I'm a big proponent of the Wasteland Survival Guide quest, but it turns out you get a pretty cool perk if you talk Moira out of the whole thing, too. Not only does this reduce an enemy's critical chance against you by half, but you get a 30% discount at Craterside and Moira's repair skill will be higher than if she was wasting her time writing the damn thing. Who knew?

Please be sure to weigh that against all the optional bonuses from the Survival Expert.

Far Out

(Always with the Engrish puns...)

So, yeah. Bandwagon or not, I'm calling it: Fallout is Game of the Year.

I haven't played LBP, or Fable 2, granted. And yes, in my heart of hearts (read: aorta) I really liked Guns of the Patriots more. But sometimes you just know. I don't know my playtime off the top of my head, but I've barely begun to scratch the surface.

I didn't play Oblivion, though I did watch Big Sis Prinny play it a bit, so comparisons are not completely lost on me. Yes, it is very similar to that game, but, to me, it feels exactly like something else. It feels exactly like the original Fallout. All the little gameplay nuances, character interaction, inventory management, quest structure, the perks... I think they could remake the first game with this modern tech and do it proud.

Every time I sit down to play I just want to keep playing longer. Go check out that next location, go finish that next quest. I just keep wanting to go do stuff. My current karma ranking is the positive Urban Avenger, not due to some intrinsic want to do good in the Capital Wasteland, but just from the way I see quests through to their logical conclusions. Sure, I'll blow up Megaton, but only after I complete every single last motherfucking mission and steal everything that isn't bolted down in that shithole crater.

I get the feeling I'll be playing this one for a long time... Might still be playing it when it sweeps the various GotY contests.