by Matt "Volkov" Schmidt

Sources: Kotaku (http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/category/kotaku) | CVG (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=175852)

In an interview with CVG, Bethesda’s Pete Hines spills the beans on Fallout 3. The interesting tidbit in the dialogue concluded there will be nine to twelve single player endings to unlock. Each one is triggered by certain events that the player influences during the game.

What? Listen up.

Multiple endings to video games do NOT mean instant replay value. Having to play through the entire storyline again just to see a different cutscene shouldn’t be a standard. But, this is TWELVE times! By the time I unlock the ‘correct’ ending, I’ll have moved on to Fallout 5.

It didn’t work with STALKER, and it was pretty meaningless in Bioshock. Stop using this stupid gimmick, and use the time to develop the gameplay on a deeper level.

Brought to you by the Stop Wasting My Time Foundation, and from readers like you.

by Matt "Volkov" Schmidt

In an interview with CVG, Bethesda’s Pete Hines spills the beans on Fallout 3. The interesting tidbit in the dialogue concluded there will be nine to twelve single player endings to unlock. Each one is triggered by certain events that the player influences during the game.

What? Listen up.

Multiple endings to video games do NOT mean instant replay value. Having to play through the entire storyline again just to see a different cutscene shouldn’t be a standard. But, this is TWELVE times! By the time I unlock the ‘correct’ ending, I’ll have moved on to Fallout 5.

I doubt they meant this to come across as a replayability factor. Fallout 2 was one of the first PC roleplaying games to do this -- show how your actions affected the world as a way of closing out the game, and I loved it. It was always neat to see how "you did X, which led to Y, which caused Z."

I agree that this doesn't add to the replayability of the game, but it is good to see that they're making an effort to avoid one of the cardinal sins of roleplaying games, ie. creating a world where your actions mean nothing, and you're really just there as a spectator.

Just my $0.02

CR

This reminds me of the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books from back in the day. They were kinda lame as a book and will probably be just as lame as a video game.

If they stay true to the feel of the original Fallout games, it won't be. What this will probably be is just a summation of the choices you made throughout the game (aid the town vs. join the bandits, steal the nuclear fuel vs. blow up the reactor, etc.) and the consequences that flow from them, as presented in a cutscene format.

I don't think there's any evidence that these different endings are going to somehow dominate the game and control what you can or can't do in it.

CR

9-12 different endings might be too much, but the sad thing is that I would probably play the game over and over again to see them all.

i could see myself playing a game two or three times max, im sure the rest i can see on you tube.

I could easily see myself playing through that game 12 times to try and get each ending, as long as the game itself is fun. I mean, I've played through Star Ocean 2 more times than that to get all the different endings, and voice collection as well (not to mention it's one of my favorite RPGs.)

heh... AFter you se the 12th, final ending, you see the following:
"Achievement unlocked: Don't you have a life?"