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6. Improve the script and dialogue

"You bear the look of one who is haunted, but I am proud to say that my wares can protect you from even the clutches of death itself."

So speaks the travelling merchant named Crow, when you foolishly stop to say hello. We know that the world has changed a fair bit since WWIII, but does that really explain why this guy is talking like a complete knob? To play Devil's Advocat, you could argue that Crow is supposed to be an eccentric weirdo, but the fact remains that much of Fallout 3's dialogue is as hammy as a pig sandwich. Most of the time it's bearable - sometimes it's even quite good - but in certain key moments, the storytelling screws the pooch. We blame the scriptwriters more than the vocal talent, but they both have some culpability. Emotionally intense scenes simply won't cut it if the right tone isn't established, so we'd like to experience some tighter writing on our next wasteland excursion.

5. Adopt an urban renewal programme

Players are pretty spoilt for choice when it comes to places to visit in Fallout 3, and we're certainly not complaining about the variety of towns and ruins. All the same, the one thing we felt was was missing from the game was the presence of one or two larger settlements - something like The Hub from the original Fallout. We're certainly not asking for a wastleland dotted with large cities, but it does make sense that a couple of such places might have sprung up in the 200 years since the bombs dropped. Our other location-based request is that we'd like to see more done with the Vaults you find. Those you find in Fallout 3 are (largely) empty, but we're sure than one or two might have evolved. Bethesda put a lot of work into the bureaucracy of Vault 101, so why not expand on that somewhere else, contrasting the free-for-all wildness of the wasteland with the straight-laced conservatism of the vault-dwellers? The oppressive Vault City was one of the best things in Fallout 2, and we'd like to see this territory explored again.

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