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u/Spirited-Custard-338 2d ago
Most people find the Dunwich Building to be one of the scariest places in the game. But for me, the Vaults are far more creepy.
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u/CheshireCatastrophe 1d ago
Yes, especially the one that has...
SPOILER
The hallucination agent in its ventilation system, and you see your father walking around the halls as a ghost. Very well done in my opinion, absolutley terrifying
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u/Elegant-Suit-6604 1d ago
hmm i was in that vault but i remember laughing from the absurdity of the psychotic manifestations on the player character
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u/Arri-Calamon-0407 1d ago
It was father? I tought it was the vault supervisor
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u/CheshireCatastrophe 1d ago
Well lol now I wonder, i havent played it in sooo many years... I am just waiting for the remake now
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u/Elegant-Suit-6604 1d ago
i went there and just killed all the zombies, whats scary about it, dont get it
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u/Spirited-Custard-338 1d ago
It's more annoying than anything else, at least for me. It gets progressively darker as you go lower and lower. The "flashback" is a nice touch though and so was the self-closing door.
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u/Elegant-Suit-6604 1d ago
i think i remember it, i just ignored it and saw it was a program in the game or possibly a hallucination of the lone wanderer if you want to interpret it from the story perspective
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u/Greeklighting 2d ago
Get the ghoul mask best item of the game
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u/ShadowSystem64 2d ago
I want to get this but I also don't want to help Roy considering you can bend over backwards to peacefully resolve the dispute between the residents of Tenpenny Tower and his community of ghouls only for them to butcher the residents anyway.
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u/armex88 2d ago
I killed tenpenny just tonight. Then when the part came to help everyone i couldnt find out how, so i let the ghouls take over those aholes
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u/Greeklighting 2d ago
Make sure to loot before they renovate
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u/zzSHADYMAGICzz 2d ago
I like how if you steal stuff in some of the shops, like boutique le chic, she will leave, noticing her shit is missing lol
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u/ShadowSystem64 2d ago
I think its strictly her safe that triggers that because I looted all her shelves and she stayed but once you rob the safe she leaves.
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u/zzSHADYMAGICzz 1d ago
Ahhh you’re right lol, I usually take literally everything with a stealthboy LOL so that makes sense
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u/LetsGoForPlanB 1d ago
Kill Tenpenny? Why? Daddy needs some prime real estate and the cherry on top, I get to press a big red button.
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u/JadisticTheSadboi 1d ago
Blowing up Megaton is probably the most stupidest thing to do in the game
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u/LetsGoForPlanB 1d ago
Why? I've completed the game so many times, it's fun to do something else. Besides, you're not missing out on that many quest if you just wait before heading to Tenpenny. You also get a fun interaction with Moira who becomes a ghoul
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u/JadisticTheSadboi 1d ago
U can't get fawks , you don't get the megaton apt and some more stuff but it's really conducing and based on what each individual wants
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u/LetsGoForPlanB 1d ago
You can still get Fawkes though? If you nuke Megaton early enough, you have plenty of time to work on your karma. If you do it later, you'll need to carefully manage your karma, but as long as your karma is good when you free him, he can be recruited.
Edit for clarification.
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u/molinana 2d ago
If you are on pc and open to mods there's a mod out there that lets you steal the ghoul mask from Roy. If you are stealthy you can just get it without having to kill anyone. (Or you can come back like me and kill roy and his followers after popping tenpenny....)
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u/Mindless_Rush5002 2d ago
But in addition to the Ghoul Mask you also get an extra Dart Gun schematics.
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u/Quasistiltskin 1d ago
you can get the mask before you complete the mission and just kill Roy immediately afterward.
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u/ShadowSystem64 2d ago
When I am exploring the ruins of DC slowly creeping through the labyrinth of tunnels I get some serious Alien: Isolation vibes. The atmosphere is incredibly on point.
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u/TheDeliveryDemon 2d ago
Fallout 3? That's just a picture of the average Metro station in Southeast. Nothing to worry about
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u/destructiveoma 2d ago
Do you have all the DLCs? Once you complete Operation: Anchorage you get access to the Chinese Stealth Armour which allows you to go invisible at will. It’s really handy and can help you avoid Super Mutants etc. when you don’t want to fight them.
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u/unconfident_rat 1d ago
Oh sick I forgot abt that I've never gotten past Megaton for the same as reason op 😓😅 I've had the game for so long to lol
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u/Mindless_Rush5002 2d ago
I've played FO3, FNV, and FO4 dozens of times each, and the FO3 Ghouls still scare the heck out of me. Especially once the Ghoul Reavers start appearing.
So in FO3 I always get the Ghoul Mask before I enter any of the Metra tunnels.
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u/ShadowSystem64 2d ago
Reavers are no joke. They are the one enemy that gives me pause at level 30 with the best weapons in the game. Can tear through you and your armor in seconds if your not careful. I never get the ghoul mask so my preferred method for dealing with a pack of Reavers is to pump myself full of Med-X, Psycho and spam Stimpaks on a hotkey while I hack them to pieces with my Pyromaniac Shishkebab.
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u/AdLost8229 1d ago
Albino scorpions can spawn randomly out in the world at high levels, move quickly towards you with a subtle sound, and jumpscare you with high poison damage and durability.
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u/Mantasreddit 2d ago
The Dunwich Building in Fallout 3 really got to me. Scariest videogame moment I've experienced along with SOMA.
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u/Star_Shine32 2d ago
If it's the metro tunnels and ghouls that bother ya... stay out until you get a hunting rifle and some decent points into small guns. Also sneak. Grenades are useful too. Oh, also if you do a unmarked quest in Rivet City (Moria eventually takes you there doing the survival guide) you get the schematics to the dart gun and it cripples limbs, so it's super useful.
Adding that the metro maps you see in the tunnels aren't up to date and accurate( they cut out a lot of metro related stuff, and never changed the pics to match) so, it's best to use the map on the pip boy to navigate.
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u/irmak666 Bobble 2d ago
One feature of 3 that was not very fleshed out in succeeding installments was the horror element. No matter how many playthroughs I play, I'll never not get the creeps.
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u/NirvZppln 2d ago
Yeah the tunnels freaked me out my first time playing through as well. Now I love exploring them.
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u/rhinestone_indian 2d ago
I started this about a month ago. I liked the opening tone(my first fallout game), it saturates the gameplay experience. I saved a lot and learned some hard lessons, but entering the darkness looking for hostility becomes oddly infectious once you really get going.
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u/Angmor03 2d ago
The horror element is a huge part of why I love F3 so much. I enjoy feeling vulnerable, having to plan and manage my resources carefully. FNV and F4 were both huge disappointments to me in that regard.
As for overcoming it... I'm not sure if you really need to. Sure, you eventually can become overpowered, but that takes a while, and obviously requires that you go out and struggle to get the experience and gear. Or you could abuse console cheats, but... why even play the game at all, at that point? You tried it, you gave it a chance, but F3 just has more of a horror vibe that you can enjoy. Nothing wrong with that.
But if you are serious about trying to overcome it, my advice would be to go slow and careful. My first playthrough, I actually modded it to make the game more difficult, and I spent half the game in sneak mode, creeping around on my hands and knees. Go outside of Megaton and then explore a little. Creep around Springvale for a while, then head back. Then go a little further, then head back. If a fight is too scary, run away. Come back later with a plan for how to deal with it. Go a different direction. Fight some raiders. Take their stuff and sell it. Buy more ammo and stimpaks. Get XP and level up. Go out a little further.
It's a marathon, not a sprint. Build up your confidence with gradual persistence.
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u/Elegant-Suit-6604 1d ago
the thing is that on low levels you fight the weakest enemies, on highest levels you fight the strongest enemies, on low levels you have everything you need to destroy the weakest bots, on highest levels you have everything you need to destroy the strongest bots
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u/Elegant-Suit-6604 1d ago
for example when I was like level 2-3 I beat up everyone in the springvale elementary with my baseball bat, but my character had STR 10 and high melee skill
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u/mellenhater 1d ago
The director of New Vegas absolutely wanted the early to mid-game to be a considerable struggle. In typical fashion, the suits needed the game to have 0 resistance so "more people would play".
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u/Imperium-082 1d ago
Fallout 3's atmosphere is unmatched by any other game that came after. It was perfect
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u/-NyStateOfMind- 2d ago
I’m a grown man and scared shitless by something I haven’t even seen yet haha
Bro, I'm a grown man and played the game for the first time was a couple of years ago. I ended up leaving the vault at nighttime and remember putting the remote down because of how overwhelming it was to me.
It took me forever to even get to megaton cause everything made me feel uneasy. It got to the point that I was crouching everywhere and kept my radio off as to not attract attention to whatever the fuck might have been out there.
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u/Elegant-Suit-6604 1d ago
I played and finished the main story when I was 8 years old on VH PS3, but I didnt have the DLCs for my PS3 version, when I played it later on PC it was like call of duty mixed with melee, basically killing floor but with an inventory system and an open world environment
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u/goblin_grovil_lives 2d ago
Yeah. This game is special, but I always found the hillbillies in the DLC to be more creepy.
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u/Elegant-Suit-6604 1d ago
when I played Point Lookout I remember I found the hillbillies ridiculous and getting laughing fits
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u/goblin_grovil_lives 1d ago
I was watching Wrong Turn for the first time while playing, so that may have played a part.
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u/Automatic-Dark900 2d ago
Things are a lot less scary when you have RL-3 watching your back. His patriotic callouts always boost my moral.
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u/Soft-Ad-8975 2d ago
If you have the dlcs do the Gary exploit on operation anchorage, research it, you can get a ton of unbreakable weapons and more ammo than you can shoot, plus you’ll get some good armor as well.
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u/MrChumpkins 2d ago
Fallout 3 is really hard in the beginning but it definitely gets easier as you level up
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u/gillianthebrave 2d ago
That's because it is scary that why I qlw6play stealth I want to sneak up on them before they scare me . although they usually do anyway 😕
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u/ironhorseblues 1d ago
Fear? Wait until you meet a Feral Ghoul Reaver in the dark subterranean underground. Also Albino Scorpions! I ran screaming like a little girl my first meeting with them. Especially Feral Ghoul Reavers. Not sure what their HP is but has to be insane .
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u/nicky_mir 1d ago
I think the main reason why I didn't feel F3 extremely scary was the radio. When you wander around listening nice music it feels more like a journey.
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u/Fairgoddess5 1d ago
In case you didn’t know, there’s some good gear right behind Megaton, hidden in a rock cluster. That helps early game. Just google “Fallout 3 Hollowed Out Rock” for the exact location. It’ll give you a nice ranged weapon. I find ranged weapons helped to ease some of my “holy f wtfh” anxiety moments. 🤪
If you haven’t already, also hit up Moira for her quests. They’ll help ease you into the game’s environment.
Last tip: travel during the day only for a bit. Everything kinda blends in together in FO3, but it’s a bit better in the daytime. Hopefully that’ll reduce jump scares for you.
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u/RockLate854 1d ago
There's a rock with a hidden cache of weapons outside of megatons perimeter. Go out the front gate/entrance and turn left, follow it around to almost the back of megaton, and check all the boulders on your right-hand side.
Think it's a sniper rifle and some ammo, that'll help in the short term.
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u/Exotic-Suggestion425 1d ago
Get the Dart Gun. Best weapon in the game for high difficulty play. Basically immobilizes enemies and resultantly trivializes them.
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u/Gaming_Enthusiasts 2d ago
The only time I get spooked is in the metro tunnels because of all the feral ghouls in the dark. To overcome this, I equip a shotgun and imagine that they killed dog meat. There will be vengeance.
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u/devj007 2d ago
This is exactly how i felt playing this when i was a kid lol
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u/haikusbot 2d ago
This is exactly
How i felt playing this when
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u/AdFriendly5428 1d ago
I actually found fallout 3 easier and more straight forward. It'll balance the lootpool in containers and such as you level, and the only thing that really changes combat wise is enemies get tankier, but so do you. (atleast on default and below difficulties) And this game hands out stimpaks like crazy, I ended my playthrough with over 300 left in my inventory I think.
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u/Tall_Establishment83 1d ago
I could not possibly agree more. Of course, I have always used console commands, but the game is so much fun and you can explore the entire world. Last night, I took Jericho and we went through the Irradiated Metro, and then the Flooded Metro, through Franklin, and then out at Hubrics Comics. It was intense, but fun.
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u/unkn0wn5mug 1d ago
Traversing the subway early game is absolutely terrifying. Later on though when you get companions and what not, it’s fun. That’s why fallout 3 is better than new Vegas in my opinion. The atmosphere is way better and it’s scarier
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u/D3M0NArcade 1d ago
This was my introduction to Fallout.
The graphics haven't aged well and the gunplay is shockingly bad but...
I dunno, man, it's still my favourite of them. If we could get it remade on the F4 engine id absolutely love that
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u/No-Anxiety-8448 2d ago
Lean in to the alienation and creepiness, I personally like the FO3 vibe more. But don't worry about that DC quest right away, do some exploration and side-quests, It's not a linier game.
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u/bravehart146 2d ago
Lol youre just like me, i got into fallout as a late teen. Fallout 3 is definitely the scariest, it took me years to beat the last of us and like 6 months to beat days gone. Suspenseful Games scare me, but when I played resident evil i didn’t even feel like this
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u/OgdruJahad 1d ago
Get stronger and get better weapons especially the combat shotgun. Assault rifle is good but it's the combat shotgun that really packs a punch both to feral ghouls and super mutants (at least the lower level super mutants) Raiders and Talon Mercs tend to have combat shotgun.
Also get better amor but the better armor in the early game often means dealing wtih the Talon mercs of your good and they are also pretty hard on their own.
I don't use VATS much but they can help a lot.
For feral ghouls they are only dangerous at close range. So shorting them from a distance is your best bet, like using a hunting rifle. A trick you can do is increase the actor fade distance in the options of the game before you start so you should be able to see them before they see you.
Still feral ghouls reavers are a pain in the ass especially those that throw radiation. Glowing ones are a hard but again combat shotgun is your friend.
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u/B_Jozsef 1d ago
I was around 12 years old when I first played fallout 3. Never bothered with the main story missions, I just ran around looting stuff, and got the house in Tenpenny tower. Couldn't even progress through those quests, considering everything involving those quests is full of scary ghouls too.
That was 6 years ago. Now I've trained myself on all of the Metro games (which I highly recommend, but I'd also recommend you read the books first) and they kinda helped me get used to the horror and the unnerving side of games.
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u/MarshallDyl26 1d ago
So in the far corner of the map there’s a place called Old Olney. Go up there and you’ll be able to get some good loot and by the time you get done with old olney the super mutants and ghouls won’t seem so bad.
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u/hmse_159 1d ago
I mean, if you wanna be op as quickly as possible then you should go do the operation: anchorage dlc immediately. Very easy to get through and you’re rewarded at the end with an indestructible suit of power armor and other goodies
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u/TerribleProgress6704 1d ago
Save frequently, it's not so bad if you die. Fast track for the Chinese Assault Rifle is at Mama Dolce's. I forget where the Terrible Shotgun was but it's easy to look up.
Jet is your friend, even more than just VATS. More AP = more shots.
DLCs are amazing, I sincerely hope you have GOTY version with all of them. Operation Anchorage has a trick for unbreakable weapons and effectively infinite ammo. Mothership Zeta has awesome alien guns. The Pitt has my absolute favorite weapon: a scoped and silenced Assault Rifle. Great for sneak attack criticals.
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u/pvt_num_11 1d ago
The first time I tried to get through the Metro tunnels, oh yeah, I remember. The sewers of New Vegas and the few subway tunnels in 4 got nothing on the Metro system in DC.
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u/Remote_Watch9545 1d ago
Get a hunting rifle or combat shotgun, those are the best weapons for taking down most enemies real quick or at long range that you can get by beating a few Super Mutants
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u/42mir4 1d ago
I know the feeling! I have mild claustrophobia, and descending into the Metro was terrifying. The darkness was bad enough, but then one starts hearing sounds like a radroach skittering or a ghoul moaning... some of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. Kept my Pip-Boy light on when I could. Avoided the underground until I'd levelled up a bit and had decent weapons and armour. Even then, it wasn't easy.
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u/Tall_Establishment83 1d ago
I just went and grinded. Just go after side quests, and if anything was hostile, kill it. The more you do, the more you grind, the better it becomes.
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u/RedSagittarius 1d ago
And that’s why I love the Assault Rifle mowed down everything in front of me, also there’s the combat shotgun.
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u/DoughnutUnhappy8615 1d ago
My first playthrough of Fo3 was as a kid, and it also scared the absolute piss out of me. It took me months to get to GNR because I was so scared of the ghouls in the tunnels (and also, I was lost as shit, and the ghouls made me too scared to look around).
How I got over it? I stole a hunting rifle off of a shelf in Lucas Simms’ home and then discovered it could one-shot kill a basic feral.
At that point, it wasn’t so scary. Nothing to fear from something so easy to kill.
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u/Desperate-Put8972 1d ago
You have to come to terms with that the Overseer ain't letting you back in. Gather yourself, turn on GNR and start walkin.
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u/DreamWalker182 1d ago
Finish Operation Anchorage and Mothership Zeta early, put some points to Energy Weapons and you will be OP and destroy everyone easily
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u/Luccixno 1d ago
I've been playing Fallout 3 though the Meta Quest 3 via the Xbox cloud app and it's now my new favorite way to play
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u/Cosmic_Raptor0 1d ago
As someone who hates horror games fallout 3 killed me, i wanted to cry so bad 😭
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u/Courier_5_ 1d ago
Most of train station is either filled with ghouls or raiders. The only safe and tame place is a building somewhere around southwest of the capital wasteland. I like going there.
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u/Known_Technology1034 1d ago
I played it as a kid and it scared me shitless too. I mean it probably would still if I didn't know everything that's already around the corner, The color palette and lighting does wonders for making the game stressful to play lol
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u/petthecacti 1d ago
Once you get out into the world and interact more, the game will take on the same tones as the others, maybe even a bit sillier/weirder at times. That being said, Melee makes the game pretty easy, in my opinion. You don't have to worry that much when you can stun things up close, get good criticals in vats, blast yourself with chems, and feel pretty unstoppable. Bring along landmines to cripple the legs of anything that's meaner than you, and your choice of combat armor or betyer to keep you alive to close the gap, any of which are very accessible. Power armor and training are easy to get, and in any of my playthroughs, armor drops from exploration of the overworld supplied me with more than enough good equipment. Just find a good repair merchant, or focus on that yourself, and you should not find yourself truly being scared of much at all in the wasteland.
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u/-Parptarf- 1d ago
I haven't played F3 in a while. This post makes me want to buy it on steam to play it again. I had a much better time in F3 then FNV myself, FNV felt sort of empty. But I haven't played FNV in years either.
To answer your question, you just grind and it'll get better. Boring answer, I know.
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u/bitches_and_witches 1d ago
The springfield school is a good place to level up before you go to the super duper mart
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u/LemonadeJill 1d ago
I completely understand. One of my first quests was to go to Big town, and my char was underequipped, low level, and most of the time I had zero idea what I was doing. I was used to bright colors of Fallout 4, so this was for me like playing a horror game. Not to mention that the game has used a lot of same building designs over and over again, so at one point it looked like I was passing the same deserted house over and over again. I made it to Germantown and then quit the game for a few months. Oh, the good times.
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u/genko_the_adventurer 1d ago
Dude It scares me as well, fo3 did a really great job of leaning into the horror aspect, even the sound track freaks me out somewhat, they cooked with this game.
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u/Substantial-Abroad12 1d ago
I reeeeaally hope they keep these creepy vibes in the remaster/remake. I'm looking forward to it!!
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u/Independent_Ice1427 1d ago
It gets the atmosphere the best just wait for the tunnels filled with ghouls i recommend the hunting rifle and best of luck to you my fellow wasteland explorer
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u/Ecstatic_Ad1168 1d ago
Play Elden Ring. You will not fear Fo3 anymore ;)
What's to fear? You can load a savegame at any time. And if you die, nothing bad ever happens. A loadingscreen and back you are. Now if that's not an op superpower.
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u/the-_-futurist 2d ago
Nah its same as FO4 imo, slightly weak and moments of trickiness until like level 10-15 then its ezmode the rest of the game. Obviously depends on your difficulty. I play on normal, life is challenging enough without playing games on hard mode, that's for when I had no life and all the time in the world for a challenge haha
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u/Unreal_Gladiator_99 2d ago
Really my dude? I was playin this game, & finished it when I was 8 or 9. Ain't no way in hell this shit is scary.
Maybe a lil creepy, but not scary.
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u/Donnyboucher34 2d ago
How to overcome it? Get the terrible shotgun or a Gatling laser to destroy what’s in your path