辐射3试玩感受

roy986

With no magazine to finish this week, executive editor Shawn Elliott and editor-in-chief Jeff Green went to a hotel in downtown San Francisco in the middle of the day, sat down on a couch, and got a demo of Fallout 3 from Bethesda's Pete Hines. Here is their report.

Jeff Green: I've played a lot of games in my life, and a lot of weird games, and a lot of weird games that have had weird beginnings. But I don't know if I've ever played a game that started with me emerging from my mother's womb.

Shawn Elliot: Prey's sphincters are as close as I've come, but sure, Fallout 3's "opening" moments are more than a perineum away. I'm sorry. I really wrote that. Seriously, though, the cunning way that Bethesda takes the thinking behind traditional tutorials and character creation interfaces and naturally integrates these game conventions into the game's narrative is impressive. You crawl around a playpen in first-person perspective; you press a button to cry and call for daddy; you learn about strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, and other RPG traits by browsing children's books -- has any game truly attempted to tell the story of a life from birth to death?

Jeff: This is great. Now anyone who Googles "womb" and "sphincter" will come straight to this article.

Shawn: And perineum -- where heaven meets hell. T'aint an RPG, t'aint an FPS.


SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Fallout 3 screens.

Jeff: Uh, anyway. Yeah, Bethesda did that same kind of cool in-game character creation in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- but this one is so startling because of this whole birth/baby thing. I mean, it's kind of a bold and strange thing to do given how many (male) gamers need their testosterone validated in their games. And Fallout 3 does have this dark, badass image to it. So gamers are going to bring the game home, rip open the box, and think they're about to start blowing the heads off radiated mutants...and instead they're going to be crawling around in a playpen saying "Dada." Yes, this is essentially just the opening tutorial and won't take up more than 10 minutes, but still, I can see tons of guys yelling "WTF" at their screens and praying that their brother or mom or friends don't walk in to see them playing the baby simulator.

Shawn: Ten minutes of infancy, that is. Then comes the jump cut that brings us to our 10th birthday/introduction to dialog trees. No matter how hard you try to guarantee that you'll grow into a freckle-faced, pig-nosed person in need of a YouTube video blog, you can rest assured that the other Garbage Pail kids at your party are uglier than you'll ever be. Bethesda's faces are far, far better here than any in Oblivion, but to be frank, I doubt that Vault 101, where we're born, is really radioactivity-free.

The neat thing is, as you choose to be bratty or craven with these kids, your karma stats change to reflect your behavior. Oh, and the other 10-year-olds whispering about forming a Greaser Snake gang? Bethesda's Pete Hines leads us to think that we'll encounter them later in life after they've done just that.

Jeff: Yeah, with all due respect to Bethesda's immense talent in many areas, I don't think I'd go to them for plastic surgery. Anyway, yes, karma factors big in Fallout 3, and the choices you make, starting way back from that 10th birthday party of yours, will follow you throughout your life, affect how NPCs will react to you (start being a bad guy, and other bad guys will come out of the woodwork to...do bad things with you) and even affect the game's ending. Bethesda is promising something like a zillion endings -- OK, 500, but that sounds equally preposterous -- all based on the decisions you make and actions you take, however minute they might seem to you at the time. And though what I wrote makes it sound like I don't believe they can pull it off, I actually do. The original Fallout did that very thing.

OK, so back to the demo: They skipped the rest of the childhood stuff at this point -- including the key narrative events that lead you to leave Vault 101 and begin the real game -- and then showed us hooking up with good ol' Dogmeat, the canine companion from the original game who fanboys prayed would make it into this one. Well, he did. Note, however, that this is not the same Dogmeat, since this game takes place over 100 years after the first two games. I think I might like this Dogmeat better though -- he does some cool tricks. Being able to send him out on missions to fetch items you need should reduce time spent wandering the world yourself looking for crap. I thought that was a cool touch.


SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Fallout 3 screens.

Shawn: Totally. He fights for you, too. And when you order him to hunt for weapons or food, he'll wander around the world actually searching for stuff. In other words, he won't simply slip offscreen and suddenly return with whatever bounty an algorithm bestows on him. And if you take proper care of your pet, he'll follow you to the finale of what Hines is now saying is a 70-hour-long game. And that's about as much time Jeff has spent with his real bitch.

Here's what I'm wondering. Players develop addictions to the performance-enhancing drugs they take as well as the curative alcohol they drink. We know that Dogmeat heals with the same stimpack treatment, but does he develop similar addictions? Is that an asinine question? When Fallout 3 allegedly offers over 500 outcomes, it's tempting to think that things are as deep as that. After all, this is the developer whose Elder Scrolls RPGs made vampirism a viable survival strategy. However, I was a bit bummed when Hines said we won't be able to become mutants.

Jeff: And that bitch's name is Shawn Elliott. So Dogmeat -- well, the other Dogmeat -- fought for you in Fallout as well. Dogmeat 2 here is more versatile and better trained. And, yeah, I liked the fact that the canine will only find items that actually really exist in the game world -- items you yourself could find. Very cool.

I don't think the dog can get addicted to drugs, no. You'll have to make that game yourself. (And, wow, I'm glad you didn't ask that question at the demo, or I would have had to pretend I didn't know you.) I do hear you though, Bethesda does tend to go deep when thinking things through in their world-building. And to be clear, when they say "500 endings," I think we are talking about granularity mostly. Like, there are probably just a few real endings on the big plot points, but you'll hear anecdotes in voiceovers, and/or maybe with art montages, saying what happened to this person, or that town, depending on your actions throughout the game. Or maybe I'm just making all that up. And I keep wanting to type now that your idea of the player becoming a mutant is a stupid one, except, unfortunately, the more I think about it, the cooler that sounds.

Shawn: Nor did I ask about downloadable Dogmeat armor. That wouldn't have been funny, but then it wasn't funny when another media dude at this demo watched what has got to be one of the finest opening scenes in a first-person game this side of BioShock and Half-Life 2, and then decided to ask about downloadable content. Really? Hines says 500 endings and, what, you want to buy a 501st?

Interestingly, the fact that we'll have different Fallout 3 stories to tell when we meet at the nonexistent watercooler or Brawndo vending machine bothers a few anal-retentive types. I've read message board posts by people saying they'll feel shortchanged if they can't experience every possible outcome in a single playthrough. They'd rather not miss a moment than make any meaningful decisions, such as whether or not to nuke the town of Megaton (where detonating the dormant atom bomb in the city's center will wipe the place and its population off the map).


SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Fallout 3 screens.

Jeff: Well, yeah, but the game is an RPG, and RPGs are ostensibly about making decisions. At some point you need to (or should) commit. If you need to see every available outcome of every action, then play the game 500 times or shut up. Let the rest of us actually enjoy taking the risk, since most games don't offer any.

The other big decision that I guess you'll constantly be making is how to approach combat. Do you just play it shooter-style, guns blazing? Or do you take the time to pause and use V.A.T.S (Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System), which approximates, sort of, the turn-based combat of the original Fallout games by letting you spend action points to target specific body parts. The latter will provide more precision, and will assist those who are shooter- or twitch-challenged. And thank god for V.A.T.S., because without it, well, the game really is just a shooter. Which is another thing -- or maybe the biggest thing -- that is pissing off the angrier of the nerdcore fans. We asked if you could just play the game and win without ever going into V.A.T.S, and the answer was "yes." You can run and gun your way through this game if that's how you want to do it. And I don't know how I feel about that yet either. Maybe I'm an angry nerdcore guy too.

Shawn: Oblivion isn't an RPG? I agree that role-playing means making decisions, but not with the assumption regarding die rolls, real or virtual. I appreciate that I can choose to manually target opponents or opt for V.A.T.S. In fact, I suspect that every player, no matter how comfortable he or she is with FPS-style combat, will want to flip back and forth between both options. If I'm bleeding and boxed in, a V.A.T.S.-enabled string of slo-mo headshots increases my odds of surviving. But say I'm feeling fine and stumble upon another Radscorpion -- why prolong a petty encounter? I appreciate that I can play the entire game from first- or third-person perspectives. Oh, and I appreciate that I'm able to be good or bad or anything totally in between the two. Hines' says it best in this snippet from our interview.

中文翻译
转帖于13号避难所作者:winddancez

Jeff Green（以下简称J）：我这辈子玩过很多游戏，包括很多怪异的游戏，也包括很多有怪异开头的更怪异的游戏。但是我不知道我到底玩没玩过一个开头就是我从我妈的子宫里出来的的游戏。

Shaon Elliot（以下简称S）：我出来的时候，Prey的“括约肌”离我很近，但有一件事是确定的，辐射3的开头时刻不仅仅只提到了一个“会阴”。（译注：原谅我，这个地方实在不太会翻）不好意思，我真的把这俩词写下来了？但认真的讲，这种有悖于传统的游戏教程、角色创立方式、和自然而然的把游戏习惯加入叙事过程的方式，很让人惊奇。你象婴儿一样在小床里边爬来爬去；你按某个按键，发出哭声来叫你的爸爸；你需要通过学习婴儿书籍来增加你的强壮、感知、耐久、魅力、智力等等RPG属性－－好像还真没有哪个游戏是把一个故事从他的出生讲到死亡。

J：其实这也不错，现在如果有人在Google “Womd（子宫）”或者“Sphincter（括约肌）”，那结果肯定直接把他带到这篇文章。

S：还有“Perineum（会阴）”，一个天堂与地狱交接的地方。这不是一个RPG，也不是一个FPS。

J：虽然Bethesda在《上古卷轴》用了类似的角色创立方式，但在辐射3中的这种“出生、婴儿”的方式实在是让人感到惊奇。我的意思是指，对于某些需要游戏来刺激他们雄性激素的（男性）玩家来说，以为把辐射3买回家，撕开包装扔入游戏，然后要做的就是爆掉变种人的头了。但相反的是，他们需要先做一个婴儿，然后学习如何开口叫“爸爸”。虽然开头的教程不过不会超过10分钟，但我还是可以想象，有多少人会目瞪口呆的骂道“WTF（[文明用语]）”，然后祈祷他的哥们或者父母不会这个时候进来，看到他在玩一个“婴儿模拟”游戏。

S：10分钟的婴儿时代，然后游戏直接把我们带到了10周岁的生日上，这时，游戏会介绍“对话树”。你也不必担心你10岁的时候会有多丑，即使你满脸雀斑、长了个猪鼻子，你也可以放心同你一通玩耍的10岁儿童们只会比你更丑。这回Bethesda的面部制作比上古卷轴要强了太多，但坦白的说，我真是有点怀疑“101避难所（我出生的地方）”是不是真的防辐射。

不过有件事还不错，无论你是选择顺从还是反抗这些孩子，你的选择都会影响到你以后的行为。哦，其它孩子在商量着组建一个“大蛇帮”？那谁也不知道在你以后的游戏过程中，是不是会真的遇到一个这样的帮派。

J：对了，出于对Bethesda能力的佩服，我不觉得我重新遇到“大蛇帮”的时候，只是请他们给我做个整容手术而已。无论如何，你的因果选择在辐射3中是一个非常重要的因素，它不仅仅只影响你的10周岁生日聚会，而是会贯穿你的整个游戏过程。它会影响NPC们对你的态度（如果你成为一个坏人，那其它坏人也许会从密林中跑出来找你一起做。。。做坏事），也会影响你的游戏结局。Bethesda承诺无数的结局方式－－好吧，其实只是500个不同结局，不过听起来跟无数也没差多少－－这些结局都是基于你在游戏中所做的不同决定。

回到试玩：游戏略过了童年时代－－包括使你你离开“101避难所”的关键事件而步入真正的游戏世界－－然后，游戏把你以后的游戏同伴“Dogmeat”，一条来自前作伴随你游戏的犬类带给了你。当然，这个游戏发生在前两作之后的一百年，这个Dogmean不会跟之前的是同一个。但我人我我更喜欢这条Dogmeat，它懂很多的窍门。比如说可以让它出去寻找你需要的物品，可以节省你大量时间。

S：不光如此，它还会帮助你战斗。如果你命令它出去寻找武器或者食物，那么它会真的跑出去到处找一找。换句话说，它不会根据某种算法跑处屏幕外，然后突然就叼着东西回来，而是尽量与真是世界相符。如果你好好照顾它，那么它会一直伴随你的游戏时间（据说有至少70小时）。

不过有件事我不知道。我知道玩家可以通过磕药或者喝酒来形成某种依赖性（上瘾），而Dogmeat也可以通过医药包来进行治疗，那么Dogmet是否也会上瘾呢？也许这个问题比较蠢，不过辐射3既然说它有超过500种结局，那么这种细节也许会包括其中。另外，当我得知我自己并不会变成变种人的时候，不由得有些失望。

J：关于Dogmeat我再补充几句。在辐射3中，Dgomeat具有更多的技能、和更好的训练。S刚刚提到的那点：Dogmeat只能发现真实存在于游戏中的事物（当然你自己去找也可以找到），这点非常酷。

但我不认为Dogmeat也会上瘾。虽然Bethesda也想把整个世界设计的如此详细，并且设计了足够多的所谓游戏结局，但从大面上来说，仅仅可能是几种 “真正的”结局而已。但也许你会从画外音或者一些概念图了解到，在这个主角身上都发生了什么事件，或者某地发生了什么事件。而这些事件则是和你在游戏中的行为息息相关的。也许这都只是我自己的意想，不过我确认认为玩家自己可以变成一个变种人真是一个蠢主意，虽然听起来挺酷的。

S：另外我也没问有关下载内容，Dogmeat的盔甲是否可以通过下载获得对我来说不是很重要。虽然我听说有另外的媒体看过了这个可比美“BioShock”和 “Half－Life2”的游戏开头的时候，仍然关心下载内容。真的么？你已经有了500个游戏结局，你真的想再买第501个？

有趣的是，我们可以在辐射3的世界中讲述各自不同的故事。我曾经看到很多玩家抱怨说，一次完整的游戏过程不能体会到所有细节会很不爽，他们不想错过任何游戏内容。但这样一个通过你的行为来决定以后走向的一个世界中，当你决定用核弹毁灭一个城市的时候，之后的结果难道会一样么？

J：嗯，你是对的。这游戏毕竟还是一个RPG，而RPG表面上看确实是通过你的决定来向前进行的，有些时候，你需要（也许是必须）去做一些牺牲。如果你想体会所有500个结局，那其实也不难，玩500多次就行了要不然就闭嘴。让其他人好好的享受这个游戏好了。

另外一个玩家需要考虑的决定是如何进入战斗。你是想只玩一个射击游戏，还是想通过回合制的使用VATS（Vault－tech Assisted Targeting System战斗辅助系统，类似前作的战斗系统）来进行战斗？不过幸好有了VATS，如果没有的话，这游戏真变成了一个设计游戏了，这对辐射的铁杆来说可不是什么好消息。有人问我们如果从头到尾一直不用VATS的话，可不可以通关。答案是Yes，你当然可以边跑边射击而一直下去直到通关。不过我不知道那是一种什么感觉，因为我自己就是一个辐射铁杆的说。

S：上古卷轴不是一个RPG？我同意“角色扮演”的意思就是进行决定选择，但不是扔骰子来决定结果。可以利用VATS来手动选择对手，我很高兴。实际上，我觉得也许每个玩家，即使他很擅长FPS风格的射击，也会愿意在两种选择之间来回切换。比如说我受伤了，进入VATS来进行精确的暴头射击会让我赢得胜利。

白衣

这游戏看来挺有意思...  有500个结局这么多?   :L

江左

bs靡玩过辐射的家伙:loveliness:

bbgun

我最喜欢的造型，外骨骼+minigun

roy986

白大损失太大了嘛，没wan过辐射是:L

[ 本帖最后由 roy986 于 2008-4-18 09:46 编辑 ]

猪样年华

bs bs 白大大的家伙，唔唔:lol

膜拜白衣大大

roy986

:lol

roy986

500种结局，那我得玩500遍？！

bzaku

唉,老了,就怕没功夫没时间玩辐射哈。

白衣

原帖由 roy986 于 2008-4-17 11:49 发表
白大损失太大了嘛，没wan过辐射是:L

哎，工作一来挺忙的，二来还要陪陪太太小孩，剩下的时间少睡些也只够玩那么几个太空游戏而已... 巨汗~~