Fallout 3 demo not possible

By Robert Purchese Published 21 April, 2008

Couldn't capture the fun, says Hines.

Bethesda's Pete Hines has confirmed that there will be no demo for Fallout 3.

Speaking exclusively to Eurogamer in the shape of Kieron Gillen, Hines said there was "no way" to slice a portion of the world off and have it stand on its own.

"When you build it as one thing, there's no way to portion off a section and have it stand on its own without putting the whole game in the demo, which we're just not going to do," said Hines.

"And it doesn't really capture the fun of a game like an Elder Scrolls or a Fallout, where you can go where you want and do what you want. So no demo, sorry."

Fallout 3 is a post-apocalyptic role-playing game aimed at a mature audience, and will be out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this autumn.

Like previous behemoth Oblivion, Fallout 3 will also feature some famous voices - Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart starred in the former.

"We pick out key roles for people and who we'd like for those roles, and we always thought Liam [Neeson] was the perfect Father figure," added Hines.

"We have one or two other roles which we have for which we have things in mind, but the bulk of it - and we have a lot of voice-acting in the game - is done by voice-actors."

Join us soon for our full chat with Pete Hines, to find out why he called the BioShock team buggers, and what licence he would use if given the choice.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • t-bizzle #1 4 years ago

    I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I'm actually looking forward to this even more than GTA4.

    /ducks

  • asphaltcowboy #2 4 years ago

    "When you build it as one thing, there's no way to portion off a section and have it stand on its own without putting the whole game in the demo, which we're just not going to do," said Hines.

    lol!

  • UncleLou #3 4 years ago

    Not really surprising. Some gameplay footage would be nice, though. It's supposed to be out this year, we already know the details of the special edition, but haven't seen anything, really. :-/

  • Miths #4 4 years ago

    Why the hell would you need a demo for a game like this anyway? It's Fallout - you just buy it :).
    And even if it turns out to be a disappointment (and based on what we've seen so far, I definately don't think it will, but I'm admittedly not among the Bethesda and Oblivion/Morrowind haters), it was really still a game you needed to play anyway.

  • Xerx3s #5 4 years ago

    "So the tutorial/intro in the Vault wouldn't function well as a teaser?"

    It would be very good for the fans but others might get the wrong impression.

  • Xerx3s #6 4 years ago

    "Why the hell would you need a demo for a game like this anyway? It's Fallout - you just buy it :). "

    Because 50% of todays gamers are muppets who weren't selfaware back then. A large chunk of the console gamers have never tasted fallout goodness and would rather go for the next generic jrpg than play this.

  • jellyhead #7 4 years ago

    I'm looking forward to it but if there's no demo then i'll be holding off on a pre-order until i see some previews/reviews and actual gameplay. I'm not up for supporting a game that may wee all over my rose tinted memories until i'm sure it's a fun-filled, uber-mutant jamboree.

  • Fyzzu #8 4 years ago

    The first Fallout actually had a pretty good demo. One town, which was quite clearly based around Junktown, with a couple of opposing questlines for the factions in there, and a good smattering of weapons to find. Small, but replayable a few times, and still let you murder absolutely everyone if you felt like it. Fairly rough dialogue, though.

    A shame, but I really wasn't expecting a demo for F3 anyway.

  • Freek #9 4 years ago

    They tried to do this (portion of the world for demo) with Burnout Paradise and did more harm then good for the reputation of the game.

  • Eighthours #10 4 years ago

    I hope that they learn some lessons from Oblivion, and have a few more voice actors!

  • paulf #11 4 years ago

    if they sort out the copious amounts of loading screens that plagued oblivion then this could be a goodie

  • sirtacos #12 4 years ago

    The voice acting in Oblivion wasn't very good, though I suppose we should be glad it wasn't nearly as retarded as Fable's.

    I played the first two Fallouts a few weeks ago and I loved them. My one wish was for a sequel which would incorporate the greatness of Fallout with the gorgeous looks of today's third-person RPGs. My wish was immediately granted as I googled 'Fallout 3'.

    Good thing I didn't have to wait for years unlike some of you. Ha ha ha ha ha ha you suck ha ha ha ha ha

  • Inigo #13 4 years ago

    I hope that they learn some lessons from Oblivion, and make it good!

    /posts on no mutants allowed

  • RandomTerrain #14 4 years ago

    More voice actors are definitely needed.
    And make them sound like they mean what they say.
    Some of them in Oblivion sounded like they were reading lines from a book for twelve hours straight and just gave up caring.
    Hoping this will be the business.

  • Drakron #15 4 years ago

    There is also no way I want this.

  • dryden555 #16 4 years ago

    that means we should wait for several full reviews before spending money on the game

  • Guv #17 4 years ago

    Wasn't expecting a demo either. Should be a fun game though, not up to fallout I or II standards perhaps but I'm just glad it got made at all.

  • hybridial #18 4 years ago

    "Because 50% of todays gamers are muppets who weren't selfaware back then. A large chunk of the console gamers have never tasted fallout goodness and would rather go for the next generic jrpg than play this."

    I can't really speak for Fallout 3 (actually I rather like the look of it and will probably buy it), but on the other hand, I found Oblivion and Morrowind atrociously boring. Freedom in the sense those games employed it felt so pointless to me. JRPGs, for their faults (including the immensely overrated Final Fantasy being the most successful series) offer usually a great story which drives the gameplay, and it does a better job of it than my own enthusiasm with RPGs.

  • mentil #19 4 years ago

    Short list of games that ended up as commercial failures due to not having a demo: Doom 3, Half Life 2, GTA3, Halo, Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
    That Bioshock and God of War had demos are AGAINST the norm.

  • mkreku #20 4 years ago

    Damn, this title really needed a demo too. I mean I love Fallout & Fallout 2, but I despise the shallowness of Oblivion (and the atrocious AI and the horrible levelling scheme and the samey dungeons and and and..). I just don't trust Bethesda enough. And Eurogamer neither!! Oblivion 10/10?! WTF?!

  • bengray66 #21 4 years ago

    I hope they have the "bloody mess" perk still. I could not imagine anyone starting a game of fallout without. Those that preferred genuine perks must have missed sooo much...

  • kangarootoo #22 4 years ago

    No big surprise really. It doesn't seem to me like the sort of game that needs a demo.

    1. Its Fallout
    2. Its made by Bethesda.

    If that doesn't seal the deal for anyone interested in this sort of game then just rent it first for total peace of mind.

  • kangarootoo #23 4 years ago

    Well surprise surprise, people have differing opinions on games. If Fallout is anything like Oblivion I personally shall be pleased, and so will millions of others. Others will be gutted, this is also fine, don't buy the game and everyone will be happy.

    Of course some people didn't like Oblivion. That is because it was a game, and some people don't like games that other do like. That is life. Lets not go down the same boring path yet again of filling this thread with Oblivion love/hate. We know, we get it, its old.

  • kangarootoo #24 4 years ago

    @Aspic

    It is an old argument to suggest that hugely successful games are selling purely on "the hype", and its just not true I'm afraid.

    If a games sells in the numbers that AC, Halo and Doom 3 did it is because the majority of people that bought the game actually liked it. Perhaps loved it. Just because you didn't like any of those games doesn't mean everyone else is somehow being fooled.

    Its called a difference of opinion. Why after all these years can people still not get that?

  • InsoFox #25 4 years ago

    Um, while I appreciate that part of the fun of this sort of game is the wide open exploration space, I'd still like to think that I could have fun and get an idea of how the gameplay works in around a 20, 30 minute demo.

    I don't know if Oblivion had a demo, but the way I would have done it is to give players the introductory prison break/sewer section, then give them a peek of what the outside looks like and end with a promo video showing how big and varied and explorable the world is.

    You'd think they could rustle up SOMETHING.

  • Katsumoto #26 4 years ago

    How this will work without a world map i'll never know. Actually, that's not true, I'll know in "fall". AUTUMN DAMNIT AUTUMN.

  • hiddenranbir #27 4 years ago

    Lazy fools.

  • Xerx3s #28 4 years ago

    Making a demo isn't easy. It cost manpower, financial resources, time, QA, etc. Lot's of it. For games such as Fallout, that really isn't needed, these games will sell 2 or 3 million regardless so from a developer pov, they really don't want to waste assets on it.

    It's better for peeps like me that they don't make a demo, we're going to buy it anyway and a demo would only delay the final product.

  • hiddenranbir #29 4 years ago

    Dylan made it easy enough.

  • gmmonkey #30 4 years ago

    I never play demos for rpg etc games with large storys like bioshock. It kind of ruins it for me. I play demos for sports/driving games, though.

  • DuTraveller #31 4 years ago

    So, i will wait for some reviews first. I dont care if its Bethesda or if its a sequel from the previous Fallout.

    Today we see lots of sequels that are bad with lots of bugs.

    I will wait..patiently

  • defdaz #32 4 years ago

    An oblivion style game set in the Fallout universe?? *Gibber*

  • Harmonica #33 4 years ago

    "Why the hell would you need a demo for a game like this anyway? It's Fallout - you just buy it :)."

    Eh? Perhaps because they seem to have lost their midas touch with Oblivion, and it would be nice to be reassured as to the quality of the game world. There were so many awful gaming design decisions in their last game that they need to get right this time.

    The fact that they don't want to make a demo - because it's always entirely possible - is not exactly encouraging.

    These days reviews come in so late that the gaming public generally lack buying guides so they just buy all the big titles on release (not that I think that is good reviewing's main purpose to tell you whether to buy, but there you go).

  • p90gunner #34 3 years ago

    Shame, I'd have liked to play the demo to see whether my computer could handle the game and play decently. Now, I'm gonna have to hold off on getting it, if I get it at all.