2023 review: To properly review this quest mod I needed additional time after my playthrough and now hopefully I can summarize all good and bad sides of Evil Forces. But before I will give my impressions about main content of the mod, I strongly recommend to check my separate review for English translation of Evil Forces (which you can find in the comment section by using hyperlink or on ModDB), since it has some hints and my little critique as an actual translator for few downsides of English version. Also I will try to make this review completely "spoiler free" for all new and returning Fallout 3 mod players, so don't hesitate to read it even before playing this mod. Now let's look at original Evil Forces mod. First of all, it is a huge project, very hard and deep work from team of actual passionate gamers. And one of the real hidden gems of Fallout 3 modding era like many different Russian and German quest mods which didn't have full English translations and adaptations untill recent years. And today it's amazing to see such a great content addition for Fallout 3 which was laying down for almost a decade without being properly observed by modding community. For more convenient reading this time I will cut my review in several subcategories, depending on gameplay or some technical aspect of the mod.
Story/Narrative: Of course, the most important part of Evil Forces is main quest and story which it tried to tell. You will meet dozens of different new people on your journey who will also need your help in some way. From some new factions to nicely done wastelanders in another region of the world. Some parts of the quest were definitely a bit smaller (and "rushed" in some sense) than other main sections, so the pacing of new story can feel very unusual and uneven. For example, in "prologue" sequence you can spend around 1-1,5 hours, but after that every new location (aside from new "gameworld") will be more smaller and inconveniently shorter. You will jump from one sequence to the next within 10-15 minutes, not even properly understanding what is going on right now. And main story has several very unnecessary plot twists, most of which will be "uncovered" only at the final stage of the quest by showing you our favourite "story slideshow" and one particular NPC's monologue. And, oh well, it was 2010-2011, so you can expect very familiar "dream/vision/nightmare" type sequences in which you will have access to new information while exploring some strange locations (aka hallucinations levels). Overall, I didn't feel strong connection to the main story, but other gameplay and audio/visual parts of Evil Forces were so good, that I couldn't stop playing it until the very end.
Gameplay/Locations Design: Now that's side of this quest is amazing in my opinion. So many interesting and engaging new vertical type levels, broad variety of dungeons with actual "maze/puzzle" type sequences. And my favourite parts were decently made "jumping" sequences. Yes, you wiil need to actually jump from time to time to complete some sections of new quest and to continue your journey. Of course, there are a lot of limitations in the technical side of things, but I still got that fresh feeling of adventure aka "Indiana Jones style" after overcoming another dangerous cave with traps and bottomless pits. New "gameworld" was so nice to look at, but sometimes boring to actually explore. It is enormous new open-world type of locations with one big town and several mini-dungeons which you will explore in the process of moving from one stage to another of the main quest. So, there was no proper goal or reason to visit any of new locations on this map on your own. Either you will visit some locations by progressing through the main story or by getting few new side quests to help subsidiary NPCs. And there will be a lot of combat parts, trust me. New creatures and enemies are waiting for young Vault Dweller to step in and take a shot in the battle with them.
Music/Voice Acting: It would be hard to talk about Evil Forces without mentioning new soundtrack which were composed for our big adventure. Some ambient tracks were instantly transfered to my smartphone and I regularly listen to them if I have a proper mood. Several new "Dungeon" type tracks were particularly well-made. They helped to bring stong identity for Evil Forces mod's content while providing some fresh vibes into familiar ambient selections of vanilla Fallout 3 OST. New "Explore" type tracks were also nice to listen to, but after spending in main "gameworld' location more than 2 hours, it was a bit annoying to listen to the same 2-3 tracks other and other again. It would be better to mix some vanilla's "Explore" tracks to compensate lack of bigger variety of new tracks. As for voice acting, it was good and enough to try to understand every new NPC which I have encountered on that journey. Can't say anything about accents or acting skills, since my field of linguistic knowledge only is limited to English, Spanish and Russian languages. But I think every voice actor did a great job nonetheless.
Technical Aspects: Even though we should consider Evil Forces as an "old mod", it is very stable and bug-free. No CtDs or bugs were encountered in my playthrough after spending almost 5 hours while trying to experience every part and chunk of new content in that mod. Of course, you can have some serious load order conflicts with other quest/location mods since Evil Forces slightly uses some vanilla worldspace parts of gameworld to add few new locations. And, yes, I will repeat the same warning from GUSX1 (English translator of Evil Forces mod) - turn off Visual Objectives mod right before travelling to new gameworld area otherwise you will have constant CtDs. Aside from that, every puzzle or "maze" section can be completed without using TCL or any other console command, just be patient and you will understand what you need to do.
In the end, it was nice to experience such a big and colorful new world region in Fallout 3, even though some sides of Evil Forces can feel a bit rushed or not very well-made. So, should you try this mod in 2023? Yes, if you prefer to have some genuinely well-crafted dungeons/locations, you have a strong desire for some new story content and you love to explore new big gameworlds in Fallout 3 mods. Evil Forces can be a good choice for your several evenings after job and another adventure for your Vault Dweller from Vault 101. Endorsement and big gratitude from me to Mindcrusher Studios for bringing that project to life for Fallout 3 modding community.
naja wen man wersucht mit vollkorn mehl eine torte zu backen. ich meine man hat sich schon angestreng,t aber bite? vor dem mini muti abhauen? beim fehlschag einer quest einfach einfriren? ne leute, fallout ist kein gothic. es ist zwar gute arbeit, hat aber in fallout nichts ferloren.
Without a doubt I have to say that this is one of the best Story mods for FO3. Beautiful and well made and very long! Longer than any of the DLCs actually. One downside though, the mod is ONLY in German. I am German so there is no problem. But others probably cant enjoy it. Also Im mostly playing the game English because of mods, etc. Kind of distracting to have this in German. Always wondered why this mod didnt get more attention and a proper English version. Seems like once there was one planned but it never happened. Im very sorry for all the other Fallout 3 gamers to miss out on such a masterpiece. Definitely the best and biggest story mod for FO3. But most non German persons dont seem to know this mod anyway.
"Thanks for the mod, but... is it just me, or I'm seeing right and everything is only in german!
Without been rude, I'm writing this in ENGLISH, so everyone can understand, not in my native language, in Spanish (which is undoubtedly talked by more people than the German). Because this is an INTERNATIONAL forum. And if it's true that we all should be thankful for your mod, it is also true that you already downloaded a lot of stuff thanks to someone who, in respect for everyone, posted in a language internationally accepted as standard for international communications. I would prefer my own language with the argument that it is speak around by more people than the English... maybe you would prefer your own, using another so valid argument as mine, but nobody asked us to decide that kind of stuff, right? So please, be kind, respect us all (even if not German speakers) and post in English (at least every time you are not posting something in private).
Cheers!"
Hombre, pro qué tan agresivo?! Has olvidado tus modales en el armario?
This modification was released two weeks ago. They had worked two long years to finish it. Now they are collecting the small feedback, they get, for bug-fixing, polishing and optimizations. The german Fallout-Forums are small, therefore activity on these forums is low, feedback also. Really, I wish, it would be more, the mod deserves it. Don't force people to use English, if they don't feel good enough to use this language. The alternative would be: Silence. And for the modders: Demotivation. It does not matter (for the moment and in my opinion), if posts are in German, Spanish, English or Swahili. I am international enough to make a - maybe rather dusty - transloation of these posts for myself.
An english transloation would be graet, I confirm. Now, are there people around, maybe native speakers with international experience, who will ask the modders: Hey guys, can we make an english translation of this mod?
Also ich hab die Mod durch gespielt und das meiste hat mir sehr gefallen,aber mir stören z.B die Waffen. Also bei der Pump Gun höre ich keine nachladen und da fehlt auch die Nachlade Animation tut.Und bei den Sturmgewehren geht auch irgendwie die Iron Sight mod nicht,ich kann nicht durch Visier gucken oder bei den Standard Sturmgewehren ist die Zielvorrichtung voll im weg.Hoffe mir kann da jemand mal helfen weil es sind echt tolle Waffen. Das sind die einzigen Aspekte die mich stören aber von der Story usw richtig gut.Wäre mal richtig geil wenn ihr so ne richtige Horror Story erstellen würdet wie Resident Evil 1 aber auch nur mit Untoten.Und noch was,wie kommt man denn zurück?Der Eingang ist ja zu.
Danke für dein Feedback Nerewarine1, aber es hat nie geheißen, dass wir uns an Fallout 3 orientieren. Genau im Gegenteil, es wird viel in Evil Forces extra anders gemacht und es wurde auch viel ausprobiert.
Der Spieler soll neues erleben und nicht immer das gleiche grau/grau, was er aus dem Ödland kennt, was außerdem sehr öde ist wenn man ohnehin schon so viele Stunden dort verbracht hat.
Außerdem hört es sich so an als wärst du nicht sehr weit gekommen, man flieht an der Stelle auch nur, weil man sozusagen total überrumpelt worden ist und der Spieler in dem Schreckmoment fliehen soll. Niemand sagt das er nicht stärker ist als wie der Mutant, was auch dann später geziegt wird?!
Aber jeder darf seine eigene Meinung haben und wir freuen uns über Feedback aller Art, aber man sollte sich auch nicht zu früh eine Meinung bilden und das spiel abbrechen weil ihm ein Level nicht gefällt.
79 comments
The user GUSX1 from nexusmods provided an english version of Evil Forces English Version . So you can give it a try now with english subtitles.
But before I will give my impressions about main content of the mod, I strongly recommend to check my separate review for English translation of Evil Forces (which you can find in the comment section by using hyperlink or on ModDB), since it has some hints and my little critique as an actual translator for few downsides of English version. Also I will try to make this review completely "spoiler free" for all new and returning Fallout 3 mod players, so don't hesitate to read it even before playing this mod.
Now let's look at original Evil Forces mod.
First of all, it is a huge project, very hard and deep work from team of actual passionate gamers. And one of the real hidden gems of Fallout 3 modding era like many different Russian and German quest mods which didn't have full English translations and adaptations untill recent years.
And today it's amazing to see such a great content addition for Fallout 3 which was laying down for almost a decade without being properly observed by modding community. For more convenient reading this time I will cut my review in several subcategories, depending on gameplay or some technical aspect of the mod.
Story/Narrative: Of course, the most important part of Evil Forces is main quest and story which it tried to tell.
You will meet dozens of different new people on your journey who will also need your help in some way. From some new factions to nicely done wastelanders in another region of the world.
Some parts of the quest were definitely a bit smaller (and "rushed" in some sense) than other main sections, so the pacing of new story can feel very unusual and uneven. For example, in "prologue" sequence you can spend around 1-1,5 hours, but after that every new location (aside from new "gameworld") will be more smaller and inconveniently shorter. You will jump from one sequence to the next within 10-15 minutes, not even properly understanding what is going on right now. And main story has several very unnecessary plot twists, most of which will be "uncovered" only at the final stage of the quest by showing you our favourite "story slideshow" and one particular NPC's monologue.
And, oh well, it was 2010-2011, so you can expect very familiar "dream/vision/nightmare" type sequences in which you will have access to new information while exploring some strange locations (aka hallucinations levels).
Overall, I didn't feel strong connection to the main story, but other gameplay and audio/visual parts of Evil Forces were so good, that I couldn't stop playing it until the very end.
Gameplay/Locations Design: Now that's side of this quest is amazing in my opinion. So many interesting and engaging new vertical type levels, broad variety of dungeons with actual "maze/puzzle" type sequences. And my favourite parts were decently made "jumping" sequences.
Yes, you wiil need to actually jump from time to time to complete some sections of new quest and to continue your journey. Of course, there are a lot of limitations in the technical side of things, but I still got that fresh feeling of adventure aka "Indiana Jones style" after overcoming another dangerous cave with traps and bottomless pits.
New "gameworld" was so nice to look at, but sometimes boring to actually explore. It is enormous new open-world type of locations with one big town and several mini-dungeons which you will explore in the process of moving from one stage to another of the main quest.
So, there was no proper goal or reason to visit any of new locations on this map on your own. Either you will visit some locations by progressing through the main story or by getting few new side quests to help subsidiary NPCs.
And there will be a lot of combat parts, trust me. New creatures and enemies are waiting for young Vault Dweller to step in and take a shot in the battle with them.
Music/Voice Acting: It would be hard to talk about Evil Forces without mentioning new soundtrack which were composed for our big adventure. Some ambient tracks were instantly transfered to my smartphone and I regularly listen to them if I have a proper mood.
Several new "Dungeon" type tracks were particularly well-made. They helped to bring stong identity for Evil Forces mod's content while providing some fresh vibes into familiar ambient selections of vanilla Fallout 3 OST.
New "Explore" type tracks were also nice to listen to, but after spending in main "gameworld' location more than 2 hours, it was a bit annoying to listen to the same 2-3 tracks other and other again. It would be better to mix some vanilla's "Explore" tracks to compensate lack of bigger variety of new tracks.
As for voice acting, it was good and enough to try to understand every new NPC which I have encountered on that journey. Can't say anything about accents or acting skills, since my field of linguistic knowledge only is limited to English, Spanish and Russian languages. But I think every voice actor did a great job nonetheless.
Technical Aspects: Even though we should consider Evil Forces as an "old mod", it is very stable and bug-free. No CtDs or bugs were encountered in my playthrough after spending almost 5 hours while trying to experience every part and chunk of new content in that mod. Of course, you can have some serious load order conflicts with other quest/location mods since Evil Forces slightly uses some vanilla worldspace parts of gameworld to add few new locations.
And, yes, I will repeat the same warning from GUSX1 (English translator of Evil Forces mod) - turn off Visual Objectives mod right before travelling to new gameworld area otherwise you will have constant CtDs.
Aside from that, every puzzle or "maze" section can be completed without using TCL or any other console command, just be patient and you will understand what you need to do.
In the end, it was nice to experience such a big and colorful new world region in Fallout 3, even though some sides of Evil Forces can feel a bit rushed or not very well-made. So, should you try this mod in 2023? Yes, if you prefer to have some genuinely well-crafted dungeons/locations, you have a strong desire for some new story content and you love to explore new big gameworlds in Fallout 3 mods. Evil Forces can be a good choice for your several evenings after job and another adventure for your Vault Dweller from Vault 101.
Endorsement and big gratitude from me to Mindcrusher Studios for bringing that project to life for Fallout 3 modding community.
ne leute, fallout ist kein gothic. es ist zwar gute arbeit, hat aber in fallout nichts ferloren.
Beautiful and well made and very long! Longer than any of the DLCs actually.
One downside though, the mod is ONLY in German.
I am German so there is no problem. But others probably cant enjoy it.
Also Im mostly playing the game English because of mods, etc. Kind of distracting to have this in German.
Always wondered why this mod didnt get more attention and a proper English version. Seems like once there was one planned but it never happened. Im very sorry for all the other Fallout 3 gamers to miss out on such a masterpiece. Definitely the best and biggest story mod for FO3. But most non German persons dont seem to know this mod anyway.
"Thanks for the mod, but... is it just me, or I'm seeing right and everything is only in german!
Without been rude, I'm writing this in ENGLISH, so everyone can understand, not in my native language, in Spanish (which is undoubtedly talked by more people than the German). Because this is an INTERNATIONAL forum. And if it's true that we all should be thankful for your mod, it is also true that you already downloaded a lot of stuff thanks to someone who, in respect for everyone, posted in a language internationally accepted as standard for international communications. I would prefer my own language with the argument that it is speak around by more people than the English... maybe you would prefer your own, using another so valid argument as mine, but nobody asked us to decide that kind of stuff, right?
So please, be kind, respect us all (even if not German speakers) and post in English (at least every time you are not posting something in private).
Cheers!"
Hombre, pro qué tan agresivo?! Has olvidado tus modales en el armario?
This modification was released two weeks ago. They had worked two long years to finish it. Now they are collecting the small feedback, they get, for bug-fixing, polishing and optimizations. The german Fallout-Forums are small, therefore activity on these forums is low, feedback also. Really, I wish, it would be more, the mod deserves it. Don't force people to use English, if they don't feel good enough to use this language. The alternative would be: Silence. And for the modders: Demotivation.
It does not matter (for the moment and in my opinion), if posts are in German, Spanish, English or Swahili. I am international enough to make a - maybe rather dusty - transloation of these posts for myself.
An english transloation would be graet, I confirm. Now, are there people around, maybe native speakers with international experience, who will ask the modders: Hey guys, can we make an english translation of this mod?
Also bei der Pump Gun höre ich keine nachladen und da fehlt auch die Nachlade Animation tut.Und bei den Sturmgewehren geht auch irgendwie die Iron Sight mod nicht,ich kann nicht durch Visier gucken oder bei den Standard Sturmgewehren ist die Zielvorrichtung voll im weg.Hoffe mir kann da jemand mal helfen weil es sind echt tolle Waffen.
Das sind die einzigen Aspekte die mich stören aber von der Story usw richtig gut.Wäre mal richtig geil wenn ihr so ne richtige Horror Story erstellen würdet wie Resident Evil 1 aber auch nur mit Untoten.Und noch was,wie kommt man denn zurück?Der Eingang ist ja zu.
Der Spieler soll neues erleben und nicht immer das gleiche grau/grau, was er aus dem Ödland kennt, was außerdem sehr öde ist wenn man ohnehin schon so viele Stunden dort verbracht hat.
Außerdem hört es sich so an als wärst du nicht sehr weit gekommen, man flieht an der Stelle auch nur, weil man sozusagen total überrumpelt worden ist und der Spieler in dem Schreckmoment fliehen soll. Niemand sagt das er nicht stärker ist als wie der Mutant, was auch dann später geziegt wird?!
Aber jeder darf seine eigene Meinung haben und wir freuen uns über Feedback aller Art, aber man sollte sich auch nicht zu früh eine Meinung bilden und das spiel abbrechen weil ihm ein Level nicht gefällt.
Grüße
@ Remq:
Sorry buddie, I dont visit this site a long time ago. There was a time, were we have a server-change maybe this was the problem at this time.