FOnline: Reloaded made some serious changes this past wipe.
Were they for the better?
Today I will be talking about FOnline: Reloaded Season 3.
Discussing the big changes made and rating it on what it has to offer not only a single
player, but a group.
It's Mantis here!
This is the FOnline: Reloaded review!
One of the biggest changes made to FOnline: Reloaded this season was the way loot works.
In Season 2, you would drop all the loot you were carrying and respawn at the nearest respawn
point.
Easy as that.
Now in Season 3, you keep your loot when you die.
Making it easier to continue your wasteland plans.
No longer making you worry about possibly losing your fancy new tent or that awesome
gun you just found in a locker.
This also affected the PvP aspect of the game.
Returning players who were once too scared to venture into the wasteland looking for
firefights with the nearest player, now had the confidence of retaining their loot.
Organized PvP players may not have liked this change because a large majority of faction
based player vs player combat is based on a loot reward/risk system.
Players risk the gear they have in order to procure the other players gear by victory.
Often times factions will split this loot up, say after a successful town control battle,
so that every player that had a role in the action feels rewarded.
Without this system.
Players do not feel as rewarded for their participation.
I will get into the changes in town control later.
Some lootable items that were once rare, are actually quite common in this season.
Such as green condoms, which may have only had 4-5 on the server last session period.
Little odds and ends like that became more common, as tier 4 weapons and armor has gone
the opposite way.
Not entirely rare, but definitely a lot less common than in last season.
Players will also see a decrease in gear condition when they die, which is a way for compensating
for the no loot drop I presume.
So I would encourage players to have a character with high repair to fix gear you may die with.
Along with deterioration, players will lose experience points when they die this season,
which I again assume is a way of making up for not losing your loot.
Overall, I prefer the loot system of Season 2 Reloaded.
I enjoy the risk of losing my good gear when I feel the need to use it.
It adds suspense and action to the game.
Without it, I feel unrewarded in player vs player combat and that is a shame.
Perhaps the devs were trying to steer the server into a more player vs environment kind
of thing, I just liked the old system better.
Judging it on it's own merits without considering Season 2.
I think new players and PvE fans will enjoy this system.
Grinding gear is fun and the fear of losing it is gone.
So filling up bases is a breeze!
PvPers will just have to enjoy the thrill of battle.
Which can be enough for some folks.
Town Control, or TC is handled a lot differently this season.
Instead of simply holding the town for set amount of time, usually anywhere from 10-15
minutes.
Then having control of the town until another faction starts the timer.
Players this season can only hold a town if their faction is currently in that town.
Meaning that you must have a strong enough team, three in small towns, five in large
towns.
You must be wearing strong enough gear, with condition preferably at 70% or above.
And as long as you stand in the zone, your faction holds the town.
Other players are free to come and go, doing business within that town.
Which is to your benefit in this season, because when a player uses the shops at your town
you get a percentage of the caps in the TC locker.
You will gain around 1000 experience points every so often as well.
Militia are a lot more powerful this season.
Making it a bit more difficult to take them on.
The good news is, once you are in control of the town, the Militia will help you against
any faction or player causing trouble in the neighborhood.
Compared to the previous seasons system I think it falls short.
In the PvP sense.
Every Town Control scenario I had ever been involved in was pretty player vs player based,
and though some may argue this is too, it really falls short compared to Season 2.
On it's own.
I had a great time pretending to be the police and harassing players as they came to town.
So if your faction likes to role play.
This may be a very fun TC system for you.
Quests have improved greatly in this season.
Season 2 had quests but this season doubles the number that was available before.
There is an addition of a 'Main Quest' as well, to give your wasteland adventure
a little more spice.
After the 'Tent in the Wasteland' quest, players are greeted by a strange NPC and this
quest becomes available.
Random quests show up in the form of random encounters.
You may encounter talking plants or a broken well.
Perhaps a fellow wastelander needs your help.
These quests show up frequently and have a high value of experience points to be acquired.
Boss quests have been included in this season.
As well as a final boss, The Puppet Man.
Using the Frank Horrigan skin from Fallout 2, he proves to be a worthy opponent even
for large groups.
Static bounty hunting quests show their face.
You can now approach guards in towns and take bounties on local creatures.
Returning the bounty usually gives caps and experience points.
Various profession guilds have been added to the wasteland and have their own quests
for you to discover to join their ranks.
Jobs are offered in the form of crate deliveries that pay well in both caps and experience.
Overall I love these changes to the game.
Doing jobs and making a living while other players are doing the same is something that
drives me to play FOnline, and this season makes it easy to get immersed in that style
of play.
Adapted from the first two Fallout games.
This game plays similarly, but not identical.
You can choose between Real TIme or Turn Based combat, which is a luxury the original Fallout
games did not have.
Building a character that is geared to do well in Turn Based may influence you to play
the game one way and of course the other way around.
Most PvP battles end up being Real Time, but players can set world map traps, set in Turn
Based, to take full advantage of such characters.
The combat modes mainly decide how you will be fighting the NPCs you encounter in the
wasteland.
So picking between the two can be seen as a PvE strategy, and most players base that
decision on what NPCs they will be fighting.
Most of the game can be played entirely from your mouse, but it is greatly beneficial to
have hotkeys setup on your keyboard for fast access to tricky moves, such as using a super
stimpak, going into attack more, or reloading your weapon.
Long distance travel looks identical to the Fallout games you know and love.
World map travel with enterable settlements and encounters.
You can acquire a tent, or with the right perks a safe house, and build that anywhere
on the world map you would like.
The location will only be known to you.
Though you are able to make maps, giving them to a friend you then uses it in their inventory
will allow your friend to see your house as well.
Just make sure that your map doesn't fall into the wrong hands, as players can then
read it, go to your house, and rob you.
There is a tagging system, allowing you to follow and to be followed onto the world map.
Though you do not have to approve this, so you should watch your party closely to make
sure no one is sneaking around with you.
Leading someone to your base or house will not give them the location on their map, but
it will leave your belonging vulnerable.
In order to travel faster players can purchase cars from a couple places in the wasteland.
A junkyard and New Reno.
The cars can be pricey but are well worth the price.
Cutting travel time in half, with faster cars, and possessing a trunk that you can store
loot in.
You are issued with a key when buying a car.
If that key is in your inventory then you will have access.
If not, you can lockpick the car and trunk.
Making the key useless.
Other players can do this too, so make sure that you only have your car around people
you trust.
It is not the best idea to park it at a populated town either.
Reloaded uses the same HEX system that Fallout and Fallout 2 used.
Pretty much meaning that the map you use is made of hex boxes and your character moves
within those.
Which is why you may see your character zig-zagging from time to time.
Grinding and farming are a large part of the experience here.
I enjoy it.
The Fallout universe is perfect for these mechanics and grinding is enjoyable here.
You can take on the role of a crafter and grind materials to craft great weapons and
armor.
You could farm certain NPCs for their gear and experience.
Just like other MMOs, this is pretty much a standard and it fits right in here.
Dungeons are available to those who want to take them on.
Such as the Glow, Warehouse, and New Reno.
Gear is offered in lockers and the NPCs are a bit tougher than their counterparts in the
wasteland.
Reloaded uses the SPECIAL system, made famous by Fallout.
So building a character is familiar to Fallout fans.
Though Charisma remains slightly useless in this season.
Which is unfortunate.
The pretty much sole purpose of charisma here is to raise your party points allowing you
to have more people follow you.
I would love to see some unique things come from having high charisma on one of these
FOnline games.
Players can easily sell their loot to vendors.
Most barter for things like drugs or ammo, though caps are easy to come by as well.
Starting a business here is easy.
Perhaps grinding jobs and caravans for caps.
Using those caps to invest in things that will allow you to flourish in the wasteland.
Or just crafting and selling your wares.
You can easily make caps in Reloaded if you put your mind to it.
Players are usually open to trade as well.
So going into the Hub and asking around about something you need is a good way to find it.
With caps being so common in this season, it is easy to start your money making ventures.
When players are around, you can sometimes find good deals that will help you out greatly.
I would say both the player economy and vendor economy is decent.
You should be able to accomplish the financial goals you set.
Like mentioned before, the combat takes place in either Turn Based or Real Time.
Turn Based structures the battle in a series of timed turns.
Allowing players to make their choices in a paused battlefield, like the original games.
Real Time allows all played to move freely and make combat decision in, well real time.
Turns are used when all of a player's actions points, or AP is used.
Players with high agility or perhaps gear with bonus stats that boost AP or Agility
will have more points to use in combat.
A player with ten agility will have ten action points to be used in combat.
This can be affected by various perks and stats.
Weapons use AP when engaged in combat.
A 10mm pistol could need say five action points to use.
Meaning you could shoot the gun twice in combat without moving if you had ten action points.
Move one hex costs one action point.
Perks can be obtained to not use AP while moving.
Line of sight and range are important to combat as well.
A player with high perception could get the drop on a group with a sniper rifle.
So the game offers a great variety of ways to play and fight.
Combat builds are almost treated like religious relics by the community though.
So there are many arguments on what makes a build 'good'.
I have the most fun playing around with the SPECIAL and seeing what I can do.
Every combat style has accompanying perks a player could take to make them more effective
in combat.
You may hear the community using a term called 'one hexing'.
This refers to a player using a burst weapon at one hex range to another player.
In Season 2, this would cause major damage and most of the time kill players in one hit.
This was used as a strategy for burst build characters in fights.
Season 3 has removed one hexing.
You can decide if you like that more or not.
Simply because this is a game review I am going to talk shortly about the way the game
visually looks.
It takes after Fallout 2.
Isometric design, which I am a huge fan of.
Some people may be put off by this design.
I would say give it a chance.
Growing up on this series makes it a bit nostalgic for me though.
So the visual presentation is shown to me with great bias.
I loved these games growing up, and I love them online.
If you are shy about trying Fallout and Fallout 2 because of graphics, perhaps try this to
get used to it.
You miss out on great things sometimes over small things like visuals.
Reloaded uses the same sounds as Fallout 2.
Hearing those classic sound effects and the music again is great.
People new to series would probably appreciate the audio as well.
The soundtrack is performed by Mark Morgan and it sets the tone nicely.
The sound effects were perfect back then and they are perfect now.
The crack of a shotgun and the classic death yells are amazing to hear in battle.
You can also easily adjust your audio settings in your FOnline folder, in the config file
in the game.
You can control the master volume, as well as the music and sound effects separately.
FOnline: Reloaded has made a lot of changes since wiping Season 2.
While I have heard a large majority of PvP fans rant about these changes.
Making very good and valid points.
I still recommend this server, but on a more casual level.
If you are someone who wants to have a wasteland adventure, online, in the Fallout setting.
Then try this.
You will meet people who want to do the same.
You will have fun adventures.
If you are a hardened PvP vet, this probably isn't the server for you.
A player or clan that enjoys the PvP norm would not find this server appealing.
The lack of loot drops and the lack of a straight forward risk and reward system for said PvP
makes battles feel dull and frustrating.
The Town Control system discourages factions from wanting to participate, partially for
lack of reward, but also because their faction doesn't have control of the town.
What used to be a fun countdown to battle.
Has turned into who can stay hidden and AFK the longest.
And when all the smoke is cleared it still says 'Unknown' under the town name when
you are down.
So factions are not feeling ownership of their battles.
For a solo person, who wants to try a Fallout game, online.
This is a great choice.
Grinding is fun and profitable.
Immersion is easy to achieve.
Housing and cars make you feel like you have ownership of something in game.
Hoarding loot in your base or home is fun and decorating is enjoyable as well.
People playing with friends who aren't seeking the above mentioned PvP experience will also
enjoy it.
Grinding together, making a faction, and building a base are very fun activities.
Overall I would say FOnline: Reloaded is for the PvE MMO experience.
You can kill players.
The risk and reward isn't there.
So play it if you are looking for the wasteland immersion MMO experience.
Find yourself a job and grind.
Become a champion of the wastes and grind Deathclaws.
If you are new, why not try it.
Free Fallout Online game.
If you have played FOnline before.
You know how to decide.
I Hope this review has been helpful.
See you guys in the wastes!
It has been Mantis!
The world champion of FOnline!
Yeah!
Well let me tell you something brother!
He's got the best gaming videos dude!
I heard he was the best at Fallout!
Yeah!
Just a big green bug in the wasteland dude!
So what'cha gonna do!?
When TKs-Mantis runs wild on you!
Oh yeah!
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