"I don't want to set the world on fire. I just want a place in your heart..."
Fallout 3 is the long awaited sequel to a game series developed originally by Interplay. Because the company went under (sort of), Bethesda bought the rights to make Fallout 3, while Interplay was left to make a Fallout MMORPG. Fallout 3 was released a few weeks ago and I picked up the game on day one. Since then i've sunk about 40 hours into the game. I haven't finished the main quest, but i've seen enough of the game to have a review in mind.
So, children, set your PIPBOY to GNR and get ready for the ride of your life as we dive head first into the world of Fallout 3. Please unwrap any mentals you may have before the presentation starts to cut down on interruptions during the presentation.
Don't leave without your hunting rifle and a few stimpaks because it's gonna be a bumpy ride...
[Story]
Fallout 3 puts you into the role of your own custom made character. The game starts you out as you are being born, which is where you will customize your character's gender, facial features, race, and hairstyle. You are then thrown through time to when you are an infant. Here is where you will set up your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, which plays out like a baby book. You will also learn how to jump and move at this stage. Once finished, you are thrown into your 10th birthday where you will meet most of the characters who live in Vault 101. Here is where you will receive your PIPBOY3000. Fast forward to the age of 16 and your character is off to take their GOATS, which is Fallout's version of the SATS. This is where your other stats will be set, whether you manually do it or the computer does it is up to you.
The main story goes like this. You are brought into the world by your father and mother. Unfortunately, your mother dies while giving birth to you. Your father is then left to raise you on his own. After you play through your other ages, you are plopped down into the age of 19 where you are suddenly awoken by your friend. She tells you that your father has left the vault for a mysterious reason and now the overseer is coming to get you. It's your job to get out of the vault in one piece, making choices every way. Do you save Butch's mother from the roaches? Do you kill the overseer and steal his key rather than picking the lock yourself?
Once you leave Vault 101, you are out on your own in The Capital Wasteland, where you can do pretty much whatever you want to in the world. The main quest has you tracking down your father while looking for answers about his departure from the vault.
Fallout 3 lets players write their own tale of Heroism, Neutrality, or Villainy. Each way gives players a different experience and the story somewhat reflects their choice whether it mean different dialog or different objectives during quests. It is here that the first piece of a grand puzzle falls into place (more on that later).
[Sound Design]
Whether it is the various radio stations or the various death gurgles, Fallout 3 has great sound design. The voice acting is better than it was in Oblivion, but there are a few annoying characters here and there. Like Oblivion though, it seems like they got the same actor to play multiple characters so you'll hear the same voice a lot unfortunately.
One of the cooler features in Fallout3 is the addition of a variety of radio stations that feature a ranting president to a cool, mellow disk jockey playing classic music.
The sound design all together is the second piece of a very important puzzle that makes Fallout 3 great. The radio stations themselves are so great that you'll find yourself staying in their range of broadcast just to hear them play over and over. The two main stations are Enclave radio, where you will hear the "President" rant and rave about certain subjects, and Galaxy News Radio, which plays all sorts of classic music. You'll pick up other smaller broadcasts like distress signals.
Other than the radio stations, there isn't a ton of other music. You'll find yourself either listening to the radio or listening to its static when you get out of range.
[Presentation]
Here is the third and final piece to that grand puzzle I was talking about, the presentation. Fallout 3 sports some pretty nice graphics and while they aren't groundbreaking, they do a good job of setting the mood of the environment.
The world of Fallout 3 is a combination of the 1950's with the aftermath of a nuclear attack on DC. Buildings are destroyed, the landscape is devoid of grass or trees, except for those black sticks that stick up from the ground, the roads are all broken up, overpasses have crumbled, etc. I haven't even begun to talk about Downtown Washington DC yet either.
The downtown area of Washington DC is where you'll get most of your enjoyment out of the graphics and setting. DC has just been leveled and everything is destroyed. A lot of famous DC landmarks have crumbled as well whether it is the headless Lincoln statue in the memorial or the Museum of History being overrun with Ghouls.
Fallout 3 has a very distinct look that really draws players in. You'll eat, breathe, and live in the world Bethesda has created and you'll love every second of it.
Unlike Oblivion before it, Fallout 3's locations seem more unique. Every location seems like it was made on its own instead of just copy and pasting the same dungeon or cave across the land. Every location is diverse from the next with only a few resembling each other, especially when you get into the heart of DC.
[Gameplay]
Whether you wanna believe it or not, Fallout 3 is basically Oblivion with guns. You are just going to have to accept that. Things play out very similarly to Oblivion in numerous ways. Let's see if you can spot them...
The game starts you out in the Vault, where you will acquire important items you need like the PIPBOY3000. The vault scenes are a glorified tutorial that lets players set up their ideal character. Fallout offers a wide variety of ways to play the game, whether you wanna be a beefy gun nut or a sneaky ninja type character is all up to you.
Once you exit the vault, the game really begins. Unlike Oblivion, Fallout's world is small and a lot easier to navigate. The draw distance is much larger than Oblivion and that means you can see more of the world you are in. Bethesda has made it so that you can go anywhere from the start. If you can see it then you can go there, unless you are at the edge of the game world. In oblivion, there were numerous hills and mountains that you could never climb. Fallout 3 gets rid of most of this idea and lets players walk almost everywhere, with a few paths blocked. The oblivion hills have been replaced by giant piles of rubble that players cannot climb over no matter what. Unlike Oblivion again, Fallout gives players a nice amount of Metro Tunnels they can traverse through to get past the rubble instead of having to walk all the way around.
The game plays out like Oblivion with guns. You can play the game like a standard FPS if you want, but Fallout adds a new unique feature in the form of the Vault Assisted Targeting System, or VATS for short.
VATS allows players to stop time and target individual points on an enemy to strategically pick apart their enemies. You can shoot enemies legs to cripple them and stop them from running, shoot their guns to destroy them and disarm the bad guy, and you can even blow their head off in a bloody mess. VATS automatically lets the computer control your shots depending on the percentage above the body part.
The targeting for Fallout is pretty solid, but it isn't completely accurate. If you rely on the aiming alone, you are gonna miss a lot. Everything comes down to your skill with certain guns.
Everything in Fallout 3 comes down to your skills, whether it be shooting certain guns or talking to people around every corner. If you are mainly going to use small guns, set your skill high on small guns. If you wanna be a smooth talker, set your skill high on speech. Skills are very important in developing your character. If you haphazardly just set random skills, you aren't going to have a good time. If you just wanna shoot people with big guns then you are probably playing the wrong game.
Everything you can equip has a condition attached to it. The more you use a weapon or take damage while wearing clothing, the condition of your stuff will go down and eventually break. When things break or you just wanna get something beefed up, you can go to certain people who will fix your stuff, for a price. Keeping weapons and apparel intact is essential in Fallout because when things are kept intact, they will either do more damage or protect you more than they would if they were of lower condition.
When you set your skills and acquire enough EXP, your character will level up. When you level up, you get points to set on your skills to beef them up. You also get something called a perk. Every level gained gives you a new perk and meeting certain stat requirements unlocks more perks. Perks can range from everything from beefing a few skills in one go, give you certain buffs for resistances against RADS and damage, or some just allow players to blow their enemies into little pieces (I wuv you Bloody Mess perk).
Once you get the basics of the game down, you can go out into the world and take quests from people. Unlike oblivion again, I found the quests in Fallout to be more diverse instead of just finding items in a cave for someone. You can do things like liberating slaves by killing everyone of the slavers, saving rangers stuck on top of a motel by murdering dozens of super mutants, disarming an atom bomb in the middle of a town or even jumping into a computer created reality where you live out a mundane life as a small boy in the 50's, black and white tone in all.
Fallout 3 has plenty to do in the world. There is plenty of money to find, items to collect, and things to kill. Fallout 3 gives players many opportunities to find schematics for special weapons that can be created at workbenches. Once you get the schematics, you can travel the world and find random crap like spoons, lawnmower blades, paint guns, pilot lights, etc. When you find certain items that the schematics call for you can take those items to a workbench and create a weapon like the Rock-it launcher, that you can load with useless crap and fight it at enemies with brutal results. Once you dismember someone with a teddy bear you will understand.
Everything you do in Fallout has consequences, Karma, whether they be good or bad depends on the event. If you rob an elderly shop keeper she might up and leave the town all together, which takes away one more place to buy stuff. If you do enough good deeds to increase your REP, people in towns might randomly give you stuff like bottle caps, water, and stimpaks. Being good and bad both have advantages and disadvantages so there are plenty of ways to play the game. It felt like the choices in Fallout were more immense and it really came down to morality of the player. It really makes you think about what you do and what you shouldn't do.
A weird feature in Fallout 3 is the use of drugs. Fallout has a variety of drugs that you can take to boost stats briefly, give you more AP, or make you resistant to damage for a short period of time. If you take to many of a drug, you will become addicted. I cannot believe I just said that, but it is true.
[Major Flaws]
Because Fallout 3 was so hyped up, the short comings stick out way more.
Like oblivion, the animation is very robotic in Fallout. People and creatures don't move fluidly like they do in other games.
Fallout 3 is still a big game, even if it isn't as big as oblivion. Being a big game, there will be a lot of walking around. Unlike oblivion, Fallout 3 suffers from there being too many times where there isn't anything going on and the space is just vacant. There are moments where you are just walking for long periods of time. Unfortunately, this is the only way to get to new locations, by walking to them. Sure, there is a huge intensity when you are attacked by something that came out of no where, but those moments are too few and far between. I will admit that I jumped out of my seat when something came out of no where and attacked me.
Unlike Oblivion, which threw money at you like it was toilet paper, Fallout 3 has a problem with giving you a lot of money. There is a strange scarcity of money in Fallout 3. I never found myself with more than 2000 bottle caps at one time because there was always something I needed to do that was money associated, whether I needed stimpaks or something was broken.
The VATS system is fun, but it feels like it makes things too easy.
In Fallout 3, there is an overabundance of useless crap. There is just too much stuff to find with everything you inspect having something inside that you can pick up for some odd use.
Unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't think Fallout 3 has such great graphics. I know everything is supposed to look apocalyptic, but there was just too much Grey and brown colors, even a lot of the characters looked Grey, especially the raiders. I just think that Fallout 3 could have done a better job with the graphics.
Speaking of raiders, there aren't too many different types of enemies in Fallout 3. You'll fight the same raider, talon company merc, or creature a lot through out the game. When it comes to the super mutants, there isn't anything to distinguish them other than a helmet. Some of the other enemies are just cut and pasted through out the game. There are only so many different kinds of raiders I can see before I get bored with them.
My biggest complaint with Fallout 3 is that there are plenty of bugs to find through out the game. Here are just some that I found...
1) A large amount of clipping through solid objects. There were times where enemies would pass right through doors and even get stuck in walls.
2) The sound cuts in and out numerous times, especially when firing guns and such.
3) There was a really weird moment in a place called "Clifftop Shacks". This is a place in the north eastern corner of the map that is overrun with Mutants, with a few captives in the place. After I killed all the mutants and freed all the people, I noticed that while I was turning around that the game world was starting to tear apart. There were big grey and black polygons blocking my view of everything, HUD and all. This stuff wouldn't go away until I left the area, even then the polygons kept appearing. It was really annoying...
4) When I made the Railway Rifle, every time I went into VATS or just plain fired the gun multiple times, the entire game would CRASH without a warning. This didn't happen at any other time, but it did when I got this specific gun. Also, really annoying...
[Final Verdict]
Even though it has its share of short comings, Fallout 3 is still one of the best games of the year. I'm 40 hours into the game and I still haven't found everything there is to find.
Fallout 3 is one of the most immerse games i've ever played. I found myself being completely sucked into this world and ending up playing for hours without noticing. The sound, presentation, and story really makes it feel like a 50's world in an apocalyptic future. If this game doesn't suck you in then I really don't know what will.
Fallout 3 is a tough game to score because it isn't a 9, but it isn't quite a 9.5.
I give Fallout 3 a strong 9.25 out of 10.
Please dispose of any empty Nuka-Cola bottles in your possession at the door. Be sure to tip the attendee waiting with your coat. Thank you for your time and be sure to drive safely.
Have a nice day
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
This has been a Vault-Tec Presentation. Vault-Tec copyright 2077.
Fallout 3 is the long awaited sequel to a game series developed originally by Interplay. Because the company went under (sort of), Bethesda bought the rights to make Fallout 3, while Interplay was left to make a Fallout MMORPG. Fallout 3 was released a few weeks ago and I picked up the game on day one. Since then i've sunk about 40 hours into the game. I haven't finished the main quest, but i've seen enough of the game to have a review in mind.
So, children, set your PIPBOY to GNR and get ready for the ride of your life as we dive head first into the world of Fallout 3. Please unwrap any mentals you may have before the presentation starts to cut down on interruptions during the presentation.
Don't leave without your hunting rifle and a few stimpaks because it's gonna be a bumpy ride...
[Story]
Fallout 3 puts you into the role of your own custom made character. The game starts you out as you are being born, which is where you will customize your character's gender, facial features, race, and hairstyle. You are then thrown through time to when you are an infant. Here is where you will set up your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, which plays out like a baby book. You will also learn how to jump and move at this stage. Once finished, you are thrown into your 10th birthday where you will meet most of the characters who live in Vault 101. Here is where you will receive your PIPBOY3000. Fast forward to the age of 16 and your character is off to take their GOATS, which is Fallout's version of the SATS. This is where your other stats will be set, whether you manually do it or the computer does it is up to you.
The main story goes like this. You are brought into the world by your father and mother. Unfortunately, your mother dies while giving birth to you. Your father is then left to raise you on his own. After you play through your other ages, you are plopped down into the age of 19 where you are suddenly awoken by your friend. She tells you that your father has left the vault for a mysterious reason and now the overseer is coming to get you. It's your job to get out of the vault in one piece, making choices every way. Do you save Butch's mother from the roaches? Do you kill the overseer and steal his key rather than picking the lock yourself?
Once you leave Vault 101, you are out on your own in The Capital Wasteland, where you can do pretty much whatever you want to in the world. The main quest has you tracking down your father while looking for answers about his departure from the vault.
Fallout 3 lets players write their own tale of Heroism, Neutrality, or Villainy. Each way gives players a different experience and the story somewhat reflects their choice whether it mean different dialog or different objectives during quests. It is here that the first piece of a grand puzzle falls into place (more on that later).
[Sound Design]
Whether it is the various radio stations or the various death gurgles, Fallout 3 has great sound design. The voice acting is better than it was in Oblivion, but there are a few annoying characters here and there. Like Oblivion though, it seems like they got the same actor to play multiple characters so you'll hear the same voice a lot unfortunately.
One of the cooler features in Fallout3 is the addition of a variety of radio stations that feature a ranting president to a cool, mellow disk jockey playing classic music.
The sound design all together is the second piece of a very important puzzle that makes Fallout 3 great. The radio stations themselves are so great that you'll find yourself staying in their range of broadcast just to hear them play over and over. The two main stations are Enclave radio, where you will hear the "President" rant and rave about certain subjects, and Galaxy News Radio, which plays all sorts of classic music. You'll pick up other smaller broadcasts like distress signals.
Other than the radio stations, there isn't a ton of other music. You'll find yourself either listening to the radio or listening to its static when you get out of range.
[Presentation]
Here is the third and final piece to that grand puzzle I was talking about, the presentation. Fallout 3 sports some pretty nice graphics and while they aren't groundbreaking, they do a good job of setting the mood of the environment.
The world of Fallout 3 is a combination of the 1950's with the aftermath of a nuclear attack on DC. Buildings are destroyed, the landscape is devoid of grass or trees, except for those black sticks that stick up from the ground, the roads are all broken up, overpasses have crumbled, etc. I haven't even begun to talk about Downtown Washington DC yet either.
The downtown area of Washington DC is where you'll get most of your enjoyment out of the graphics and setting. DC has just been leveled and everything is destroyed. A lot of famous DC landmarks have crumbled as well whether it is the headless Lincoln statue in the memorial or the Museum of History being overrun with Ghouls.
Fallout 3 has a very distinct look that really draws players in. You'll eat, breathe, and live in the world Bethesda has created and you'll love every second of it.
Unlike Oblivion before it, Fallout 3's locations seem more unique. Every location seems like it was made on its own instead of just copy and pasting the same dungeon or cave across the land. Every location is diverse from the next with only a few resembling each other, especially when you get into the heart of DC.
[Gameplay]
Whether you wanna believe it or not, Fallout 3 is basically Oblivion with guns. You are just going to have to accept that. Things play out very similarly to Oblivion in numerous ways. Let's see if you can spot them...
The game starts you out in the Vault, where you will acquire important items you need like the PIPBOY3000. The vault scenes are a glorified tutorial that lets players set up their ideal character. Fallout offers a wide variety of ways to play the game, whether you wanna be a beefy gun nut or a sneaky ninja type character is all up to you.
Once you exit the vault, the game really begins. Unlike Oblivion, Fallout's world is small and a lot easier to navigate. The draw distance is much larger than Oblivion and that means you can see more of the world you are in. Bethesda has made it so that you can go anywhere from the start. If you can see it then you can go there, unless you are at the edge of the game world. In oblivion, there were numerous hills and mountains that you could never climb. Fallout 3 gets rid of most of this idea and lets players walk almost everywhere, with a few paths blocked. The oblivion hills have been replaced by giant piles of rubble that players cannot climb over no matter what. Unlike Oblivion again, Fallout gives players a nice amount of Metro Tunnels they can traverse through to get past the rubble instead of having to walk all the way around.
The game plays out like Oblivion with guns. You can play the game like a standard FPS if you want, but Fallout adds a new unique feature in the form of the Vault Assisted Targeting System, or VATS for short.
VATS allows players to stop time and target individual points on an enemy to strategically pick apart their enemies. You can shoot enemies legs to cripple them and stop them from running, shoot their guns to destroy them and disarm the bad guy, and you can even blow their head off in a bloody mess. VATS automatically lets the computer control your shots depending on the percentage above the body part.
The targeting for Fallout is pretty solid, but it isn't completely accurate. If you rely on the aiming alone, you are gonna miss a lot. Everything comes down to your skill with certain guns.
Everything in Fallout 3 comes down to your skills, whether it be shooting certain guns or talking to people around every corner. If you are mainly going to use small guns, set your skill high on small guns. If you wanna be a smooth talker, set your skill high on speech. Skills are very important in developing your character. If you haphazardly just set random skills, you aren't going to have a good time. If you just wanna shoot people with big guns then you are probably playing the wrong game.
Everything you can equip has a condition attached to it. The more you use a weapon or take damage while wearing clothing, the condition of your stuff will go down and eventually break. When things break or you just wanna get something beefed up, you can go to certain people who will fix your stuff, for a price. Keeping weapons and apparel intact is essential in Fallout because when things are kept intact, they will either do more damage or protect you more than they would if they were of lower condition.
When you set your skills and acquire enough EXP, your character will level up. When you level up, you get points to set on your skills to beef them up. You also get something called a perk. Every level gained gives you a new perk and meeting certain stat requirements unlocks more perks. Perks can range from everything from beefing a few skills in one go, give you certain buffs for resistances against RADS and damage, or some just allow players to blow their enemies into little pieces (I wuv you Bloody Mess perk).
Once you get the basics of the game down, you can go out into the world and take quests from people. Unlike oblivion again, I found the quests in Fallout to be more diverse instead of just finding items in a cave for someone. You can do things like liberating slaves by killing everyone of the slavers, saving rangers stuck on top of a motel by murdering dozens of super mutants, disarming an atom bomb in the middle of a town or even jumping into a computer created reality where you live out a mundane life as a small boy in the 50's, black and white tone in all.
Fallout 3 has plenty to do in the world. There is plenty of money to find, items to collect, and things to kill. Fallout 3 gives players many opportunities to find schematics for special weapons that can be created at workbenches. Once you get the schematics, you can travel the world and find random crap like spoons, lawnmower blades, paint guns, pilot lights, etc. When you find certain items that the schematics call for you can take those items to a workbench and create a weapon like the Rock-it launcher, that you can load with useless crap and fight it at enemies with brutal results. Once you dismember someone with a teddy bear you will understand.
Everything you do in Fallout has consequences, Karma, whether they be good or bad depends on the event. If you rob an elderly shop keeper she might up and leave the town all together, which takes away one more place to buy stuff. If you do enough good deeds to increase your REP, people in towns might randomly give you stuff like bottle caps, water, and stimpaks. Being good and bad both have advantages and disadvantages so there are plenty of ways to play the game. It felt like the choices in Fallout were more immense and it really came down to morality of the player. It really makes you think about what you do and what you shouldn't do.
A weird feature in Fallout 3 is the use of drugs. Fallout has a variety of drugs that you can take to boost stats briefly, give you more AP, or make you resistant to damage for a short period of time. If you take to many of a drug, you will become addicted. I cannot believe I just said that, but it is true.
[Major Flaws]
Because Fallout 3 was so hyped up, the short comings stick out way more.
Like oblivion, the animation is very robotic in Fallout. People and creatures don't move fluidly like they do in other games.
Fallout 3 is still a big game, even if it isn't as big as oblivion. Being a big game, there will be a lot of walking around. Unlike oblivion, Fallout 3 suffers from there being too many times where there isn't anything going on and the space is just vacant. There are moments where you are just walking for long periods of time. Unfortunately, this is the only way to get to new locations, by walking to them. Sure, there is a huge intensity when you are attacked by something that came out of no where, but those moments are too few and far between. I will admit that I jumped out of my seat when something came out of no where and attacked me.
Unlike Oblivion, which threw money at you like it was toilet paper, Fallout 3 has a problem with giving you a lot of money. There is a strange scarcity of money in Fallout 3. I never found myself with more than 2000 bottle caps at one time because there was always something I needed to do that was money associated, whether I needed stimpaks or something was broken.
The VATS system is fun, but it feels like it makes things too easy.
In Fallout 3, there is an overabundance of useless crap. There is just too much stuff to find with everything you inspect having something inside that you can pick up for some odd use.
Unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't think Fallout 3 has such great graphics. I know everything is supposed to look apocalyptic, but there was just too much Grey and brown colors, even a lot of the characters looked Grey, especially the raiders. I just think that Fallout 3 could have done a better job with the graphics.
Speaking of raiders, there aren't too many different types of enemies in Fallout 3. You'll fight the same raider, talon company merc, or creature a lot through out the game. When it comes to the super mutants, there isn't anything to distinguish them other than a helmet. Some of the other enemies are just cut and pasted through out the game. There are only so many different kinds of raiders I can see before I get bored with them.
My biggest complaint with Fallout 3 is that there are plenty of bugs to find through out the game. Here are just some that I found...
1) A large amount of clipping through solid objects. There were times where enemies would pass right through doors and even get stuck in walls.
2) The sound cuts in and out numerous times, especially when firing guns and such.
3) There was a really weird moment in a place called "Clifftop Shacks". This is a place in the north eastern corner of the map that is overrun with Mutants, with a few captives in the place. After I killed all the mutants and freed all the people, I noticed that while I was turning around that the game world was starting to tear apart. There were big grey and black polygons blocking my view of everything, HUD and all. This stuff wouldn't go away until I left the area, even then the polygons kept appearing. It was really annoying...
4) When I made the Railway Rifle, every time I went into VATS or just plain fired the gun multiple times, the entire game would CRASH without a warning. This didn't happen at any other time, but it did when I got this specific gun. Also, really annoying...
[Final Verdict]
Even though it has its share of short comings, Fallout 3 is still one of the best games of the year. I'm 40 hours into the game and I still haven't found everything there is to find.
Fallout 3 is one of the most immerse games i've ever played. I found myself being completely sucked into this world and ending up playing for hours without noticing. The sound, presentation, and story really makes it feel like a 50's world in an apocalyptic future. If this game doesn't suck you in then I really don't know what will.
Fallout 3 is a tough game to score because it isn't a 9, but it isn't quite a 9.5.
I give Fallout 3 a strong 9.25 out of 10.
Please dispose of any empty Nuka-Cola bottles in your possession at the door. Be sure to tip the attendee waiting with your coat. Thank you for your time and be sure to drive safely.
Have a nice day
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
This has been a Vault-Tec Presentation. Vault-Tec copyright 2077.
