Fallout 3 (PC, 2008)

Graphics: Breathtaking 9/10
Sound: Great – 8.5/10
Gameplay: Spectacular – 9.5/10
Replay Value – High (for a single player only game) 9/10
Overall – Near Perfect 9.5/10

Please note: I have never played any prior Fallout Titles, and this is from a n00b prospective.

Graphics: Breathtaking 9/10
The graphics are make you look twice – When you first exit the vault and see the landscape, you think to yourself “what next”? The graphic interface, use of PiP Boy and the movements really show that Bethesda took the time and care to make this well worth your hard earned money.

Sound: Great – 8.5/10
The sounds, music, effects, and voices take you immediately into the game. The time specific music, the radio channels, and the voice acting are all A+. The reason for the slightly lower mark is the repetitiveness of the radio, some of the sound effects, but overall, a lot of time, and thought, went into putting in effective music, voice acting and emphasis, and surrounding wasteland. The best, yet simplistic feeling is when you first turn on this gam for the first time, and all you hear is the old 50’s radio sparking on with the tube. Well done.

Gameplay: Spectacular – 9.5/10
Smooth animations, huge world design, and interactive and smart A.I. This game can be streamlined to do the main quest, or you can help the citizens of wasteland in their personal affairs. The single player game takes a lot of chances, but succeeds, in making the player make hard choices and customizing the game to their own path. Some find out too late that it is important to make hard choices to choose which attributes to build up. This aspect alone warrants multiple play times.

Some critics and players are commenting on the ending (no spoiler), but I must say that for the amount of customization a person can have in this game, it goes right along with the story.

Replay Value – High (for a single player only game) 9/10
Even without multiplayer, this game has replay value with the limitless ways you can play as – via good, bad, neutral, thief, etc. This did not feel like an RPG to me, and was well done to the point that I am on my second playthrough.

Overall – Near Perfect 9.5/10
I am not a fan of RPG’s, nor long drawn out games over 30+ hours, but I was swept away in this post apocalyptic wasteland. This holiday season is rough with the shear amount of great games, and this is definitely in the Top 5 for contention of game of the year.

This would normally be a game I would run from, but I rented it, and then bought it. It is so engrossing that others will want to watch you play and help you make those hard choices.

The game is not perfect, but close to. The story flows, as with the action, and it makes you feel as if you were there with your character trying to survive.

It has elements taken from genres such as RPG, puzzlers, action-adventures, but is not pigeonholed into this experience and to say it is an RPG is gives too little credit. This is an experience that should be played by any hardcore gamer.

This is a great game, don't get me wrong, but it is far too similar to Oblivion in scope and is reminicent of Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl and has music quite like that in Bioshock. Although I don't have the ultimate gamer system (P4 2.6, 1GB RAM 80GB HDD, Asus P4G 800V MB, Sapphire Radeeon X1650 Pro)
I was not at all impressed with the graphics. On my same system, I'd have to say the graphics were no better than Oblivion (which came out in '06!) The way the gaming media hyped this game and its superior graphics and
revolutionary "free" environment, I expected a lot more realism. In my opinion, the graphics in Half Life 2 were so much better. There is a lot to see in Fallout 3. Many undiscovered locations, caches, etc. The weapons are many but only a few are actually needed. There are many side quests, which give you a huge amount of gameplay time (especially if you like to explore...like me). The AI characters are not as diverse as I expected. Many of the faces and actions are quite repetitive. There are a few minor glitches I noticed...No smoke coming out of the mouths of those smoking cigarettes, killed enemies wiggling non-stop after death and bodies, both dead and alive, falling and reaching through walls. One thing that I would have like to have seen was a change in the weather. I am only on level 13, but I have yet to feel the acid rain and the cold of the dreary, dark days there (and, also, to have it affect my health!) Are you listening Bethesda? THQ? Valve??? Rather that just kill some enemies throughout a game, I would like to actually LIVE in that different world!!!! A huge LCD screen, fast CPU/GPU and 6GB's of ram still wouldn't fully transport me to that fantastic world. I'm sorry Bethesda, But for the $48.00 I shelled out for your latest release, I'd have to say THQ's Bioshock ('07) beat you hands down on storyline, AI's, and environment (and I only paid 18.00 on that one). I can only say it is a good game. In future reviews, Excellent will be reserved for those games I find actually innovative in terms of storyline, environment and character development.

UPDATE: I've finished the game and I would have to give it a "Very Good" rating now. after level 13 (where I left off in this review) some interesting things happened...most notably, the arrival to vault 106 (?) when the computer simulation occurs. Very intriguing! Also, how very difficult it is throughout the game to remain virtuious (even without having killed good civilians!). Going to play again now...going to make different choices. For the good of humanity!! (All in all, a 9 out of 10).

The Good
- Fallout is like Oblivion with guns!!! And that's just awesome.
- V.A.T.S. targeting system brings a whole new level of cinematic immersion to gaming
- Hundreds of hours worth of gaming here. Really, really great gaming too.
- So many choices and so much re-playability.
- Character building is addictive.
- A feast of special effects. Lots of weapons and armor and enemies and allies.
- A lot more action oriented than RPG oriented.

The Bad
- The hugeness of the game makes it hard to pick up for only a few minutes at a time.
- Combat is a little clunky outside of V.A.T.S.
- Too many ways you can mess your character up completely and miss rewards in the game. (Study up on your perks. Get the strategy guide to learn your best choices available. Save multiple times. Save often.)
- Learning curve may be pretty steep for most people. The game is a time consuming monster. You may forget you even have a real life. Be warned.
-Crashes suck. Remember to keep your cache cleared.

The Verdict
This game is more addictive than drugs. So take fair warning. Complete must have. Awesome value for your money. Could very possibly be the best game ever.

What can I say? I'm sometimes a bargain shopper, but a major video game player. I picked up fallout 3 on Ebay for $18, and I think its the best $18 I've spent on a PC game in a while. My Xbox 360 and Ps3 collection continues to expand, so why don't i expand my PC collection. Fallout 3 makes a great addition to my collection because of its quality and hours and hours of game-play.

The story is unique. you start off as a baby inside of vault 101. You grow up, and one day, Your father leaves the vault, and this forces you to do the same in a life or death situation. The game-play feels similar to The elder scrolls IV: Oblivion. You have the choice to play the game in either first or third person view with the press of a button. The combat system will keep you on the edge of your seat, with the new V.A.T.S. system which will allow you to target a specific location on your enemies' body determining how he will attack during battle.

The Leveling system is just like any other RPG, when you level up you have the choice to put attribute points into whatever stat you want allowing you to advance in difference parts of the story.

I'm not going to give away all the features and story plot to this game. You will have to experience this game for yourself. But be aware, This game is rated M for mature for blood, violence and other material that may not be suitable for people under the age of 17 or 18 depending on where you live.

Although not as quirky as it's predecessors, Bethesda's vision of the Fallout universe retains a lot of the trademark humor--but that being said, it is a little more on the serious side. That isn't necessarily a good or bad thing--but given the first two installment's modus operandi, it would have done well to satiate the die-hard fan's yearning for the series staple myriad easter-eggs, mixture of light and dark humor, low and high comedy, and sprawling environment.

Bethesda's version has all of these--but to a much lesser extent. Fallout 3 is a more concise, deliberate undertaking with clearer objectives. It is an evolution to the series though--since we're hoping that subsequent installments of the Fallout series will be a bit more grand in scope, this smaller version was still a joy to go through, especially in the immersive 1st person perspective. This smaller, less open-ended method of delivering the Fallout experience lends itself very well to multiple Fallouts to explore the limitless story arcs that is the Fallout future.

I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and every aspect of it--from the excellent voice acting, menus, character interaction, dialogue, combat, environment, story, and look/feel. The real-time combat can sometimes be a bit on the "clunky" side, but that's what the VATS [Vault-Tec Assisted Targetting System] is for, which allows the user to stop combat and que up attacks, with associated % to hit to specific body parts. This can be one of the most enjoyable affairs in the game, to queue up attacks in VATS and watch limbs be blown off, or heads be blown away--in cinematic slow-motion.

Although not as quirky as it's predecessors, Bethesda's Fallout 3 has potential to be everything the Fallout series was, and what it can be, in spades. Can't wait for the next installment.

If you like games like Dead Space, Oblivion, F.E.A.R., and any other 1st person shooters/RPG's, you won't be disappointed with Fallout 3.