Fallout 3 E3 Preview

It just wouldn’t be the same without at least one more E3 preview of Fallout 3 to report about tonight. This time around, it’s at Bits Bytes Pixels & Sprites, a site I’ve never heard of that apparently received a highly coveted E3 invite:

I’d like to focus on a few things I noticed during the demo that I think fans are really going to like. First is the fully functional 3rd person mode. Unlike in Oblivion when 3rd person was essentially a broken mess this time it’s being integrated well enough that you could play the entire game in 3rd person if you wanted to.

Second up is something they’re calling the V.A.T.S. (Vault Assisted Targeting System). What you’re able to do is freeze the game and choose where on your enemy you’d like to attack. So you can go for a head shot for max damage (but low probability of hitting) or aim for the arms/legs/torso. So you can cripple guys running at you with melee weapons and shoot the arms of those guys trying to handle firearms. You use a pool of points to pull off these maneuvers and you’ll have to let them recharge over time, so it’s not something you’ll be able to totally rely on.